Chapter 82 I Wish That I Could Take Care Of You
After a ten-hour flight, their flight arrived at the Velana International Airport in the Maldives.
As soon as they alighted from the plane, they were greeted by a refreshing sea breeze that seemed to contain the salty scent of the ocean, but it was not unpleasant.
Tina, who had been gluing herself to Shay throughout the flight, was exhausted when she exited the plane. She wrapped her arms around Shay’s neck like a koala bear and dozed off when they were on their way to the hotel.
Upon arriving at the hotel, Shay first made arrangements for Tina to sleep in a room on the ground floor before moving his luggage into the suite. He then took a look around the place and arranged everyone else’s accommodation. “Courtney, you and Tina should take the first-floor room since it is larger. I will take the room downstairs.”
Courtney handed him a glass of water. “You must be tired now. Drink some water, and I will go and take a look upstairs.”
He burst into a guffaw. “You don’t have to be so nervous. I’m not used to you acting so courteous around me.”
She helplessly looked around the house, which was filled with cameras, and sitting in a tent placed in the corner of the living room was a cameraman, who was pretending to be invisible—it would be difficult for her not to be nervous in such a place.
“I don’t think I can do this. I have a feeling that the upcoming five days will make me break down.”
“Don’t worry and just relax. They will focus on shooting Tina and me, and they will cut out most of the scenes if you are caught on the camera.”
She hesitated for a moment before her eyes suddenly lit up. “What if I have Tina to follow you most of the time starting tomorrow? If the two of you have less interactions with me, I guess that I won’t be caught on camera.”
Her words rendered him speechless.
“Tina will be in your care for the following two days, then.” After saying that, she went directly upstairs.
It was soon evening when the night breeze brushed by.
She pushed open the glass door to the balcony on the second floor as the faraway sea, which was dyed orange-red by the sunset, entered her sight. A few pairs of couples were taking a stroll by the beach with swaying shadows of coconut trees and a shimmering ocean as background.
Supporting herself on the balcony, she took a deep breath, feeling refreshed. It had been a long time since she had felt so relaxed.
Although filming for this traveling show was something unexpected, she still felt grateful for it, since having an all-expenses-paid vacation was not something one would usually encounter.
Ding! The phone in her pocket rang—she had a message. Just as she was lowering her head to check her phone, the corner of her eyes caught a glimpse of a familiar figure downstairs.
The sight of that figure caused her heart to skip a beat, so she raised her head to get a clear view of that person. At the entrance of the coffee shop next to the swimming pool was a man, who was dressed in a beige casual shirt, sitting on a chair with his back facing her. His figure looked like that person.
This sudden thought gave her a fright. Have I gone crazy? Why do I think that it is him?
Ding! Just when she was deep in her wild thoughts, the sound of notification that came from her phone made her come to her senses. She lowered her head and found that it was a message from Shay. ‘Tina hasn’t woken up yet. I am going downstairs to get dinner, so you should accompany her.”
Courtney replied, ‘Sure.’
After that, she turned around and went downstairs. The moment she turned around, she happened to have missed the scene at the coffee shop downstairs, where a little boy crawled up to the chair opposite that person with both his hands and legs.
A sentence was written on the drawing board. ‘Why don’t we straightaway go and look for them?’
The man leisurely took a sip of tea. “Don’t be anxious. They have plenty of cameras by their sides, so it’s not convenient for us to appear before them.”
Feeling a little dissatisfied, the little boy pouted in disgruntlement. Then, two or three lines of words appeared on the drawing board. ‘I am not going back if I don’t get to meet them. You can’t go back as well.’
The man’s cold expression was replaced with a somewhat helpless expression when he saw what he wrote. “Alright, I understand. Can you properly eat your food now?”
Hearing that, the expression of the little boy, who was sitting opposite him, eased a little, and he forced himself to take a bite although he still felt indignant deep inside. This is not yummy at all; it tastes nothing like Courtney’s cooking. This place is not fun at all.
It was late at night. When Shay brought their dinner back from downstairs, Tina happened to have woken up, so the three of them had dinner together on the ground floor. As they had been exhausted after a long ride here, they returned to their rooms after having dinner.
Tina and Courtney slept on the first floor at night. It was a starry night outside, and a gentle breeze entered the room through the gap of the floor-to-ceiling window and the undrawn curtain, bringing along the salty smell of sea breeze, which was a soothing scent.
Two figures, one large and the other small, could be vaguely seen at the balcony. Upon seeing Courtney, the little boy was eager to barge into the room but was carried by the man, who then uttered in a small voice, “If you wake them up now, we won’t be able to have fun tomorrow.”
Although the little boy was reluctant, all he could do was to enviously gaze at the little Tina, who was soundly asleep in Courtney’s arms, with his spirits droop.
“Now that you have seen them, it is time for you to go back and sleep.” His intentionally lowered voice was drowned out by the wind. The figures on the balcony then turned and left in light footsteps.
The next morning, Shay suddenly threw them a question when they were having breakfast. “Come to think of it, did you lock the balcony door last night?”
“What’s the matter?”
“In this hotel, two suites share the same balcony, and you can access the neighboring suite via the balcony on the first floor. I don’t know if there is anybody staying in the neighboring suite, so you have to lock the door and draw the curtains at night. I forgot to remind you yesterday.”
Courtney nodded, but she seemed unfazed by his words.
“Really? I think I didn’t lock it, but it seems like nobody is staying in the neighboring suite. It has been quiet next door; I spent some time on the balcony outside yesterday afternoon but I didn’t see anybody.”
Hearing that, he adjured her that it would be safer to remember to lock the door at night. Then, he packed some things like sunscreen, cups, and hats and finally left after Tina’s impatient urges.
Courtney saw Shay and Tina off at the entrance of the hotel as they got into the car.
“Are you really not coming along?” Before the car door was closed, Shay asked again with a hint of eagerness.
“You know me well enough to know that I have seasickness.” She shrugged her shoulders helplessly. “If I follow along, you’d probably not only have to take care of Tina, but me as well. It will be a hassle, so just forget it.”
Shay murmured that he hoped to care for her, but his words were so slurred that she could not hear them clearly.
Shay was going to take Tina out to the sea today. On one hand, Courtney was worried that she might get seasick; on the other hand, she disliked having cameras following her around, capturing her every move. Therefore, she told him last night that she would not be going out with them today.
After seeing them off, she returned to the hotel room.
“I’ll have a cup of coffee. Thanks.” Next to the hotel’s open-air pool, Courtney ordered a cup of coffee and leisurely relaxed till noon.
A little figure in the distance was caught by a waiter, who spoke to the former.
Casting a glance in that direction through her sunglasses, she was suddenly stunned and immediately sat up straight. Isn’t that Jordan?
“Jordan?” she rose to her full height and shouted at him from afar. The little boy expectedly turned around, escaped the waiter’s grip, and dashed toward her before throwing himself at her and hugged her leg.
“Jordan, why are you here alone?”
