Don'ts Of An Arranged Marriage

25. Don't Go Weak

SHIN

There was no use in making a fuss. He won't reveal the details of what happened after I got drugged. His charitable response so far was to smirk at me while ignoring my sulking dignity. By the attitude he had been such a tease lately, there wasn't an argument left in me. I know I did or said something that can backfire on me if I don't get to treat it before it erupts out of nowhere.

But Lee was stubborn. More than I was. So it wasn't a fair play. For two days I had been taken well care of, I felt like a princess by how my tooth extraction turned out. I received food on my bed, piggyback rides during the beach strolls, a customized padded suit, and a backpack embossed with my name on it when we went on a trekking tour. The mountain excursion which had Lee and me in envy as we watched Edmund fleetingly scamper over the rocky surface as if he was gliding through a skating rink. Transcending swiftly through one corner to other, sometimes pausing to look down at us literally with disgust and pity.

But we looked down at Fisher who with an aging man probably in his sixties, struggled a couple of meters behind us. Lee and I broadcasted the judgment from Edmund further to him. It made us perceive our stamina better, even if it was just illusion. But it was worth it- the view had us in a trance as four of us stood at the peak while the mountains covered the sun that sank beneath. The last trace of light was the golden spectrum scattered by the sky that slowly diminished with its source gone. This island gifted me with memories that I couldn't have made if it wasn't with Lee beside me. And oddly, Edmund and Fischer too had joined into the cause. They were my friends- even if I liked it or not, its what Edmund had announced after a toast at the bar last night.

"And it has nothing to do with you agreeing to the terms of contract tonight," he said with a grin as Lee picked my glass of liquor in exchange for a chocolate milk carton with a straw tucked in. For how long has been carrying them for me?

Since I can't have alcohol with the antibiotics I was taking for my wound to heal- he proclaimed himself to be in charge of my diet, sleep, and how to not kiss me as my jaw was still sensitive. Since Lee gets carried off in those predatorily smooches – it takes him just a consenting touch from me to jump from gentle to demanding in a second. So he often joked about how I should just relax during the calm before the storm since doesn't get to kiss me now.

I like to think that he jokes.

He doesn't.

So when he hugged me from behind after the sun was bleak, I merely wanted to bask in the feels of it. But Edmund turned with my eyes growing wide as we both simultaneously blurted-

"Casper deserves to be killed here"

Lee's chin slipped from my shoulder as Edmund and I couldn't help out a grin. We hi-fived at the great analogy we did- of course, it had been like this for the past two days. Visiting an island was my wish because of the imagery of such a nation that I had often used in the book- it was all based on research and I had never been to one in person. So I always craved to experience what I wrote.

For Edmund- he was here even before he knew of me to do the same. To bring a written narrative on screen. To give it life. It baffles me how fate works. What bothers me more was how confident these people were.

He was out here in search of locations when I hadn't sold the script yet. This kind of dedication requires - power?

Edmund during his policies looks like he would even get a gun to one's head to get the job done. But instead of shooting- he would tickle them till they gave in with it.

But by how they keep mentioning their friend Alexander- generally addressed as Alex- I bet he was someone who might actually consider pulling the trigger.