Après (sequel to Arranged marriage with Adnan)

Chapter 2

I stumbled out, almost falling, but Adnan's arms caught me and supported my weight.

"Thanks," I turned and pecked his lips.

We had just got off the plane and were now in Phuket, Thailand. I hated planes and was so glad the long ride was finally over. Adnan left me to go grab our luggage. I waited patiently and scrolled through Instagram. There was a bunch of photos from yesterday and lots of comments on my latest post.

"Congratulations!"
"Such a cute couple!"
"Wishing you the best in your marriage."
"Love you two."
"So cute!"
"Why couldn't it be me?!"

I don't know, there was a variety of different comments. Some nice, some sweet, some mean, some thoughtful, some nasty, some rude, even some in different languages I couldn't understand. Ever since word broke out that Adnan and I would be getting married I found myself getting more and more popular. I guess that's what happens when you a professional football player's girlfr- wife. Wife. I still need to get used to that one.

"Scarlett," Adnan called, "got the luggage."
"Thanks again, come on."

I pulled my suitcase along behind me. As we walked, I fixed my sunglasses.

"You look cute today. You look cute everyday."

He started at my face and looked down, then back up again. He was observing my appearance today. I was wearing highwaisted jean shorts with a skinny brown belt. Tucked into that was a white button up t-shirt. My hair was thrown up into a messy bun and I wore black Nike trainers with a white sole.

I laughed, "So do you, handsome."
"I love you, you know that right?" We both smiled and continued walking.
"Of course I do and I love you, too," I gave him a wide smile, "So, where're we headed?"
"Here's our ride!"
"Huh?"
"Here," he pointed to a beaten up jeep with a Thai man sitting in the front.
"What," I said it more as a sentence than as a question.
"Hey, man, how're you doing?"

The man from the car got out and hugged Adnan. He had to set down his luggage of course before hugging the new man. I was missing something here... I assumed they knew each other.

"Adnan, um who is this?"
"Scarlett, meet Paulo."
"How do you know him exactly?"
"We met a while ago when the team came to Thailand!"
"I was in Bangkok visiting friends when the Manchester United team came."
"Great, so is he taking us to our resort?"
"He'll be driving us to where we're staying."
"Let's go then!"

I shoved my suitcase into the back on the jeep and Adnan did the same with his. I hopped into the back as Adnan took the passenger seat. Paulo started the engine and drove down the road.

"Scarlett," I looked up when I heard my name, "What a beautiful wife you have," he told Adnan.
"Thanks," he grinned.
"Well nice to meet you, Paulo, and thanks!"
"You're a very pretty girl," his English wasn't all the best, but I could easily understand him.
"Awh, thank you, but look at yourself!"
"What? I just came from working outside all day! How can I look nice?"

We laughed and joked around some more. Paulo seemed like a nice guy. From more talking, I found out that he lived in Thailand his whole life and helped out his mother when his father passed away from an illness. As a young boy, he became independent and learned how to take care of himself and others. Now, he was twenty four, making him four years older than Adnan and I.

The jeep turned onto a narrow road. Well, it wasn't really a road. More of a dirt path or trail in the middle of nowhere. We were surrounded by the exotic forest with cool looking trees and plants. It was pretty, I've never seen trees and plants like these ones! It was quite interesting.