He comes back about ten minutes later, armed with some stuff that I can’t see in the dark, and carefully sets them in the pouring rain. On closer inspection, I realize that they’re coconut shells, which he has somehow drilled a hole into at the top. To say I’m impressed is an understatement. Once they’re filled up, he sets them carefully aside and comes to sit beside me under the tree. Now that my thirst is satiated, I’m starting to shiver a little.“Don’t worry. Tomorrow will be better, but I hope that we’re found. I found a cave on the other side of the island in which we can take shelter, but it is too late to go there now.”“Sure thing,” I reply through chattering teeth.Tentatively, he puts his arm around me, and I tense at first but relax after a while. The warmth of his body feels good, so I lean into him, sighing a little. The last man I had been physically this close to is Sebastian. We stay like that for a while before Charles speaks.“How did you manage to fall over the rai
JESSICAWe spend that night clinging to the hope that we will be found before the next evening at the latest. It rains again that night, and Charles and I collect more water in coconut husks that we have been saving throughout the day. We have enough water to last us for a few more days, in case it doesn’t rain. By the time we spend the third, fourth, and fifth nights on the island without being rescued, we begin to despair. We can’t for the life of us think of what must be the reason why we haven’t been found yet, or if anyone is even looking for us, but we’re both exhausted.I have since stopped trying to antagonize Charles, having found out that he’s a very nice guy, and I try to work with him for our survival. To pass time, we talk about everything and nothing, and I find out that he’s actually a very interesting person to talk to. The only thing we do not talk about is his crazy sister and what she did to me. He carefully avoids the topic, much to my relief.“Just imagine help ne
SAMANTHAContrary to what that clueless housemaid of Jessica thinks, I don’t head back to where I live with my tail tucked between my legs. I have a hunch that everything is not all right with Jessica, and when I get a hunch about something, I take it very seriously. The night she refused me from staying over at Jessica’s house, a house in which I’ve stayed more than once before, I check into a hotel. The next day, I go back to the house to ask the maid if Jessica is back yet, or if she’s heard from her and get a no in response.“You must give me Sebastian’s number, or at least call him. If something happens to Jessica, it will be on your head.” I tell her. I hate that I have to beg this annoying human being, but my friend’s well-being is of the utmost importance to me. She calls Sebastian in my presence and puts the phone on hands-free mode. Sebastian assures her that Jessica is most likely fine, because he spoke to Charles a few days back, and Charles told him that she seems fine, w
Jessica doesn’t seem to mind though. In fact, she seems eager to talk. The fire is dying out, so I get up and add some more logs of wood to it.“I’m getting there. For a long time after your dad found out about what I did, I tried to keep it a secret from Sebastian, because I knew that he might not forgive me for it. Also, I tried to get back in your dad’s good graces, but he refused to believe that it was only once I had sex with the model manager. He believed I was a slut and nothing I said or did could convince him otherwise.After I was kidnapped, he believed that I had run off of my own free will, because we had a serious fight that night of my kidnap. There was not much to indicate that I had been kidnapped. But Sebastian refused to believe that I would do that without an explanation at least, and so he did not stop searching for me. In the end, your dad agreed to use his connections to find me if Sebastian got married to someone else and stay married for a year and a half.”“Wow
“That was actually my fault. After I was released, Charlotte got me that apartment to stay in, gave me some money, and asked me to stay in the apartment till she gave me orders on what to do. You see, she had convinced me that Mr. James, your father, was the one who ordered my kidnap and torture because I cheated on Sebastian. She said she was willing to turn on him because he was planning to deprive her of her inheritance and give everything to Sebastian. She also managed to convince me that Sebastian did not care if I was alive or dead, and then proceeded to show me pictures of him and Carol on their wedding day.”“Damn! How callous!”“Yeah. So her grand plan was to get revenge on your father, and I was to help her in getting her revenge in exchange for my freedom. I was desperate to get out of that hell hole, so of course, I agreed and stayed in the apartment awaiting her instructions, but as the days passed, thoughts of Sebastian being married and having the time of his life while
JESSICAWhen I first started talking about all that had happened with Charlotte, I thought that talking about it will make me feel better. It does make me feel better, but now, I can’t stop thinking about what will happen if Charlotte gets out of prison like Charles said she always did. She’ll look for me and try to kill me. I know that as well as I know my name. I try to console myself by thinking about the fact that the crimes against her are numerous this time around, and it is a while before I can finally fall asleep.“I see the way you’re looking at my brother. You think a handsome, successful man like Charles will want anything to do with a sniveling, nervous wreck like you?” A sneering Charlotte asks. She’s sitting in front of me by the fire that Charles had built earlier, and Charles is nowhere to be found.I stare at her in horror without saying a word. How on earth had she gotten here? And where the hell is Charles?“You’re wondering where Charles is? I sent him away. His jo
By the time I wake up the next morning, feeling sore in every good way, Charles is still asleep. Sometime during the night, we had rolled away from each other, and the fire had gone out, so I’m a little cold. I stare at his handsome, sleeping face and begin to regret the fact that we had sex last night. I had enjoyed every second of it, but now that it is morning, I wonder if there would be any awkwardness and if he would be weird about it.I pick up his key holder, which has something like a small knife attached to it and quietly head out of the cave so as not to wake him up. Then I look for a suitable stick and begin the slow and long process of turning one end of it into a sharp and pointed end. I don’t by any means know a single thing about fishing, but I had seen some movies in the past in which people were stranded somewhere there is a big body of water and they used sticks to catch fish. There's no harm in trying.I’m almost done sharpening the stick when I sense that someone i
From where I’m standing, I can’t see Charles, but as I begin to run towards the rock, I see the water surrounding where he fell turning rapidly turning red. As soon as I see that, I remember that the area had numerous smaller rocks that were submerged in the water.“Oh, my God! Please, no.” I moan, wading as fast as I can to reach him and splashing water as I try to run. At first, I don’t see him when I get to the spot in which he had fallen, and I go into full-blown panic mode. Finally, I can see him, but seeing him doesn’t lessen the terror that is gripping me.He is lying facedown in the water, unmoving. I call out his name and reach into the water, grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling his upper body out of the water. There is an ugly gash on his forehead, where the old wound which had been healing nicely, had reopened and even widened. The wound is pouring blood, but I can tell right away that it wasn’t this wound that is the cause of all the red in the water.“Charles? Charl