Moving Forward

Chapter Thirty Eight

"So what are you going to do for your birthday Mals?" Anya asked, planting her newly manicured hands on my desk.

I looked up at her and shrugged. "I'm not sure as yet. You know how it goes."

"Oh yeah, with..." she trailed off, stopping herself from saying his name.

"It's ok. Its not much of a big deal anymore."

She gasped, "What? How? Is it because of Rion?"

I didn't bother to look up at her. There wasn't a chance in hell I was going to entertain her question. Besides, I was busy typing away on the computer. There was a ton of work on my desk from new clients that needed to be done by the end of the week and today was only Thursday.

"Why are you ignoring me?"

"I'm not ignoring you. I just have work to do."

"So what are your plans? Are you taking the day? It's next Wednesday right?"

"Yeah. Well I may go to the beach. Rion asked for us to go to Pirate's Bay. I'm still contemplating on a day for that."

Before I could type another word, Anya found her way across my desk and sharply pulled one of the leather seats that were nearby. She plopped into the chair and took up my personal space.

"Pirates Bay!!!" She squealed. "It's so nice up there. Have you ever been?"

"No Anya." I drawled. She knew I'd never been anywhere other than work, home and my regular beach. Why was she even asking that?

"Sorry, I forgot." She rolled her eyes, "You will love it. It's so peaceful and secluded but..."

She had caught my attention; I stopped typing and faced her, wanting to know what she was going to say. "But what?"

"Oh nothing..." she waved. "You'll love it.

"What? What happened?"

"I said nothing!" Anya got up and walked towards her desk but I followed her like a tick.

"Is there something you're not telling me? You're making me feel not to go again."

"Jeez Maliah! I said nothing. You will have a grand time. Just loosen up and let everything flow."

I studied her face, she had a cunning smirk. There was definitely something she was hiding from me, but I guess it wasn't bad because she would have told me. She opened her mouth to say something but I turned away. I knew she was going to say something snide about Rion.

Later in the day I messaged Rion and told him that the road trip was doable next Wednesday. I didn't tell him it was my birthday because I wasn't ready reveal it. At least not yet. Maybe sometime during that day.

~~~~~~

The road trip started off early. I left home at 7:06 a.m when there was less traffic on the road. By the time it was 7:30 a.m, the road became busy. It didn't matter much because we already midway into the country side. We stopped off by some popular tourist spots for sight seeing.

Everything was new to me. Who would have thought that I'd be touring Tobago-- much less with Rion. What I loved the most --so far-- was Flagstaff Hill's amazing view. The air was clear and the wind was breezy. I'd been missing this my entire life.