Moving Forward

Chapter Thirty Three

It had been ten days since I last spoke to or seen Rion. I tried calling his cellphone but it went straight to voicemail. He was avoiding me. It felt like if he had dropped off the face of the earth.

I went to work everyday as usual and did my normal routine. But somehow it felt different. At times I got caught up in my thoughts until Anya snapped me out of it. My mind kept travelling back to our kiss. My first kiss...

"Maliah! Oh my God! You're doing it again. It's the third time for the day. What's wrong with you?"

"I... I was reading the file."

"You're such a bad liar. I was watching you for almost five minutes. Your eyes hadn't moved and the page also."

I brought the file that was on my desk  closer to me and then flipped the page. Since my last encounter with Rion, I told Anya about my near death experience and how I was able to feel the water at the shoreline. What I didn't tell her, of course, was Rion's revelation and our kiss. She would have gone mad. She would have berated me about her being right and I wouldn't have heard the end of it. But since my daydreaming spells were on the rise, I figured she knew something had happened. Maybe she was just waiting for me to say.

"So what are you going to do after work? Need a ride?" Anya asked as she carefully ejected her flash drive from her computer.

"No thanks... I'm going to the beach."

"Again?"

I nodded my head.

"Wow! Rion's really working overtime  to help you out. I need a trainer like that for the gym." She smirked.

I gave Anya a half hearted smile and nodded again. I'd been to the beach everyday except the weekends hoping that I would have seen Rion. Unfortunately, I didn't. Not even for one day. It was driving me nuts. Why was he avoiding me? Was the kiss that bad? My God! My breath must have been smelly!

My hand flew to my mouth as quickly as the thought came. I soon regretted it when Anya's head jerked towards me.

"No, really. What's wrong with you?" She squinted.

"Uh... Nothing." I shoved the same file into my To Do dip and glanced at the clock-- perfect timing. It was time to leave. Without missing a beat, I grabbed my handbag and darted through the door. "Bye! See you tomorrow." I shouted to Anya before the door slammed closed.

As soon as I arrived at the facility, my eyes were peeled. As a matter of fact, everyday since I'd been at the beach I was more vigilant. I needed to find him. I needed to know why he had been avoiding me. I was also ready to start back my lessons. It was getting unnerving that he was nowhere to be found.

I got settled on my blanket and pulled my book. If he was indeed on the beach, then I would have seen him already. Sigh.

"Maliah?"

I looked up. And to my surprise, Anya stood beside me with a beach bag wearing a navy blue mono-kini and a laced throw-over. The sudden breath I had taken stifled me a bit. Clearing my throat, I said, "Anya? What are you doing here?"

"Well..." She said walking around to my other side and taking a seat on my blanket. "You left in such a hurry. And I had in mind to come see you do your lessons."

I blinked at her knowing damn well what was going to happen next.

"So... Where's Rion anyway?" She waved.

"Uh... uh... ummm... " My brain was not working at all. While I tried to make at least one word leave my mouth, Anya just stared with a bold look on her face. "He's not coming today... He has something to do."

"Really? And I swore I saw him upstairs?"

"What! Where!" My head whipped around as if he was behind me. I made a slight move to get up only to realize that Anya was joking. Ugh... I'm such an ass.

"Hmm..." Anya placed a finger on her chin. "Mals what the heck is going on?"

"What do you mean?" I feigned.

"Don't play dumb. For almost two weeks you've been acting weird. You space out at work and also make weird faces. What's happening?"

"Nothing."

"You're lying to me. What is going on? Just the mention of Rion's name had you going berserk. Is something going on between you two?"

My eyes widened, "No! No Anya." I was so glad that the book was out on my lap. I buried my head into it and hoped that she wouldn't press anymore.

But that thought was soon short lived when Anya asked, "So am I gonna get to see what you've learnt with him over those days?"

I opened my mouth and then shut it abruptly. I had to choose my words carefully or Anya would definitely decipher me. "I can't right now. It's complicated."

"How?

"I need guidance. I can't just walk towards the water like that as yet."

"What type of guidance?"

I pressed my lips into a thin line. She was driving me nuts with all the questions. "It's complicated." I gritted.

"Maybe I could do it. If you sh--"

"No you can't!" I snarled, cutting her off. Of course I couldn't show her the way. Rion was all up in my personal space holding me, whispering into my ears and making everything else around me not matter. She couldn't do that. Not one bit.

Anya's hands flew up into the air in surrender. "Alright... alright. Sorry."

I gave her a once over and flipped the unread page of my book.

"Someone's got their panties in a bunch." She grumbled under her breath.

Sigh. "I'm sorry Anya. It's just that--"

"Whatever. I'm going for a swim." She placed her bag beside me and strutted towards the water.

The rest of evening was rather gloomy. I no longer felt like reading my book or even being on the beach. After Anya took her sea bath, she made her way upstairs to wash off her feet. Without waiting, I went directly to her car and leaned against it. I couldn't wait to go home. I wanted to lie down and forget about everything.

"Mals... I don't know what's going on but the way you've been acting, tells me a lot. I don't want to force you so whenever you're ready, you'll tell me. I'll wait."

My hands still lingered on her door handle. Should I even tell her? No. Well at least not now. I nodded my head and pushed open her car door. "Thanks Anya for the ride."

"No problem. See you later."

I waved her goodbye and patiently waited until her red car disappeared around the corner. Sighing, I turned turn on my heels towards my apartment and...

"Maliah?? Maliah??" Ms Flint called.

Ugh.

**To be Continued.**