CEO's Escape

Strangers

The island was beautiful, remote and had a population of less than one hundred people and nobody bothered you. Just the way Harry liked. It wasn't a majestic area, the Australian air thick with humidity yet somehow it was cool. Harry loved the tranquility it offered.

Waves crashes gently against the rocks, the calmness an unusual sight but not one that was unpleasant. Harry sat at the edge, his legs crossed at the ankles and swinging freely. His hands picked at the small stones littering the gravelled pier as he stared out into the ocean. His mind wandered to a place he imagined every night. One that wasn't necessarily bad but certainly wouldn't be recommended by his therapist.

He'd dream of a world where his best friend didn't go missing when he was only seven. A world where his father cared enough to contact. An alternative life in which his mother didn't struggle to put food on their table and work two jobs so they didn't eat beans on toast every day. He thought of a life that didn't consist of him being gay and a being assured daily that he was disgusting, a freak, faggot and every other homophobic word the world had to offer.

None of these worlds were real, and Harry knew this.

He was only five when Max went missing but he knew well enough to know that Max had been taken, his mother's constant words of staying close to home always floating in his mind whenever he tried to remember the moment he realised the older boy wasn't there anymore. Max was a lovely boy, he always played with Harry even though he was technically Gemma, Harry's sisters, friend. He had curly blonde hair and dark blue eyes, and as Harry grew older he'd hear the whispers of how it was the perfect combination of a child who was used in a child trafficking ring or a child who was taken to be sold.

Harry sighed, allowing his eyes to close as the sun set and a slight breeze nipped at his nose and caused bumps to rise on his bare arms. He knew it was a bad idea to come out without a coat, but he just needed to breathe and get out of the house.

He could hear the birds overhead and as he looked down at the beach if he squinted enough he would see the silhouette of a figure sitting there the same was they did every night. Harry had no idea about the person, only that they had appeared randomly a few days ago. He was curious of course but Harry wasn't the type of person to approach someone he didn't know to ask if they were okay. Besides; he could have been a murderer.

~~~

Louis sat on the beach watching the waves come in and out. The slight whoosh as they reached the sand soothing his bones and mind. He had only been here for a few days and already he felt calm and collected, nothing like he felt back at home where he was dictated. Ruled and regulated to act a certain way, behave to a standard many deemed responsible.

He wasn't a difficult person, not at all. He just hated being told what to do and his job meant that's exactly what happened on a daily basis. He might have been his own manager, but he still answers to a board and sometimes to put it lightly, they're asses.

People expected a lot from Louis. Sometimes it was money and other times it was simply attendance to show face. It drained him. They complimented him often - of course they did. Brown hair sweeping his face with oceanic blue eyes ever piercing their souls. It wasn't hard to miss the attraction, however this wasn't what Louis wanted. It made him feel unimportant, as though everyone was there to look at someone who was part of an art exhibition.

Some may say he was a piece of art, someone who should be stared at on a regular basis.

Louis watched the figure who sat on the pier above, his legs swinging as they do every night. He wondered what brought the stranger here every night, but much like himself he imagined it was an escape. He was curious to say the least, Louis always had been and maybe one day he'd put a face to the legs.

Louis laid down on his bad, his lean arms propping his head from the bed of sand crunching underneath him and stared at the sky. The twinkling of stars barely visible under the mountain of clouds forming. He didn't know how long he planned to be on the small island for, but he knew one thing.

He was going to talk to the stranger on the pier.