Vacation?

Iris

I was making a few changes in the design when my tired eyes moved towards the clock ; it was quarter past ten. I have been working overtime again and feeling exhausted, I decided that I'd continue later. As a web designer, definitely a job that I enjoyed, I just couldn't leave things halfway.  I have already been working overtime for more than an hour so I decided to save the changes I made and got ready to leave. I checked my phone for any messages, and there was a message from my dear husband.

Ethan: When are you coming home? 8:30 pm

Me: Just leaving, will be home soon 10:20 pm

I left my office and made my way towards the car. My home was just a 10-minute drive from here, and honestly, I was a little tired after the long day I just had. I sat in the driver's seat and started the car.

With me left alone in silence, my thoughts drifted to that dreadful day. The worst day in my 25 years of existence. I don't want to think about it, but I don't have control over my thoughts. At least the ones of that day.

6 years ago

Panic. That's what I'm feeling right now. That message. Lord, please. I hope it's not too late. I hope that I'm not too late. I drive as fast as I can. Ignoring all the traffic signals and breaking all the speed limits. That's the last thing I care about right now. "Em. Em, please be alright." I muttered to myself as I entered the residential complex. Bringing my car to a halt, right at the parking lot as I rushed up the building. I run through the stairs and yank my keys out my pocket, opening the door. "Em, Em. I'm here. Please answer" I shout frantically, desperate to hear her voice and see her. I finally reach my room and the sight before my eyes, drains all the blood from my face. Her body, lifeless. I freeze, shock consuming me. I'm late. I'm too late.

The sound of a horn beeping brought me out of my thoughts. My eyes widened as I realised that I stopped, in the middle of the road. I heard another horn. I had caused a sudden congestion, which was followed by a series of horns. I started my car, parking it aside to avoid any further inconvenience to the road traffic. Gosh, I need to take care. I stopped on the road. The road. I can't let this go on. 

I calmed myself down as I now turned on music to distract myself.

Reminder: Don't drive without music

I then started the car, driving home.

Not long later, I reached home, parked my car, and walked towards the entrance of my house..

Ethan

I'd come home around an hour back and damn, my boss is such a handful. I sat on the couch as I remembered the day I'd been through. He is no less than satan, like seriously. Perhaps Satan himself would be a better company to be around. Today, when I was almost done with my work, he gave me the work of keith too, which is my colleague by the way. As much as i wanted to tell him that I'm not doing it and that I'm tired of his shit, I couldn't. Firstly he's my boss and I just knew that if I told him that he'd make my already hell-like office life even worse.

I also have a feeling that the dude doesn't really like me. Why, you ask? It's because he is never impressed with me or even slightly happy when I'm near him. Like that project I'd worked my ass off for, even after that he sulked around me and pointed out the colour codes or something ridiculous like that.

I sighed.

Enough about that piece of work.

I looked at the clock and then to the takeaway package in front of me. I then sent a message to Iris, who as always was working overtime. She was such a workaholic. Gosh.

I got off the couch and taking the takeaway in my hand, I headed to the kitchen. I served myself some and transferred the remaining food to a plate.

Just as I was about to turn to go back to the hall, I felt a shiver crawl down my spine. This was weird. What I was feeling right now. As if someone was watching me. Or someone is planning something. Planning to bring me down, perhaps?

I don't know. But I didn't like it. And now, I feel unsafe? In my own house? Lord.

I shook my head as I tried to bury this feeling at a very far end of my mind and made my way to the couch. But even as I turned on some music and ate the pasta, I was far from distracted. The only thing I could think about was that damn feeling.

Iris

Walking in, I saw my husband's blonde curled hair, falling on his face. I went near him and smiled, looking at him, his thin pale pink lips pressed together as he was asleep. Noticing how uncomfortable he looked on the couch, I helped him towards the bedroom and laid him down on our bed.

Leaving our bedroom, I moved towards the kitchen and noticed dinner kept on the kitchen counter in a container. I opened the lid just to find my favourite, white sauce pasta. Alright, in all honesty it wasn't my favourite but the first time he got this for me I just couldn't deny it as my favourite and I did like it. So yeah, basically I like it now, Looking at the pasta, an automatic smile formed on my face, and I served myself some of it in a bowl.

Seating myself on the dining table as I devoured the pasta, I heard a familiar voice from behind: "Liked it?" I turned around to see Ethan, my dark brown orbs meeting his black monolid ones and I got up, giving him the biggest hug as I muttered , "Loved it, thank you. This is exactly what I needed after the tiresome day I just had." And I needed this. For, well, other reasons.

He smiled at the response and replied, "I'm glad."

Trying to build a conversation I asked him, "How was your day?"

He gave a monotonous reply, "Good," and smiled slightly.

"Tired, are you?" I asked, as he replied, "A bit."

I just finished the pasta and went to the kitchen to keep my bowl in the sink..

I then entered the hall as a yawn threatened to escape my mouth, "Let's sleep now; I'm sure you are about as tired as I am," He nodded, and we went to our bedroom. As we laid down on the bed, I pretended to be asleep as I waited for him to sleep.

After some time, when I was sure that he'd slept, I went to the kitchen. I checked the time, and it was 11 p.m. If I tried, I could definitely finish this on time. It was kind of last minute but I can sure try "Wait, I have to check if I have all the ingredients. So what do I need?" I muttered to myself as I checked my phone to see the ingredients needed. "So here it says, all-purpose flour, baking soda...butter...sugar....vanilla essence, milk...and choco chips......great I have all of them," I sighed in relief, grateful for having all the products. "Now just gotta follow this recipe and good to go"

I then started following the recipe on my phone. After a while, the cookie dough was prepared. "Now I have to cover this with plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge for 30 minutes for it to chill," I said to myself as I kept it in the fridge. Then, after the required duration, I rolled out balls from the dough about an inch and kept them on the butter paper, then placed the butter paper in the tray which was in the oven. I was finally done with making these choco chip cookies, and I hope they turn out well. The current time was 10 minutes to 12. I heated up the milk, since it was something Ethan liked with cookies. Only about 5 minutes were left for midnight as I served the cookies on a tray.

I checked the time again, and it was almost 12, so I went into the bedroom to wake him up. "Ethan! Wake up." It took a few tries, but he woke up. I told him to come with me. He came out to the hall with me, then in a louder voice I cheered, "Happy New Year!" He smiled and wished me the same. Then I said, "I have a surprise for you." I then pointed towards the dining table, where I kept the cookies I'd made. As soon as he saw them, his eyes met mine with a sparkle in them, and his lips curled into a smile. He then moved forward and hugged me. "The year's start is amazing." I smiled back at him. We then seated ourselves on the dining table and had the cookies while talking. After a while, since we were both equally tired and it was quite late now, we decided to go to sleep.

Next morning

My alarm woke me up, just like it usually did, and I realised the date was January 1st. New year, yes, but also, in exactly 3 weeks, it'd be our 5th anniversary. I went to the washroom to brush my teeth and freshen up. After I was done, I saw that Ethan wasn't here anymore. I went towards the kitchen searching for him, and he was in the kitchen making coffee. "Ethan, happy new year!" I said it with a smile, and he wished me back. I then said, "Our anniversary is 3 weeks away." He smiled and said, "Yes, I know." I continued. "So, I was thinking that we could go on a small trip with our friends." I really needed a trip. It was long overdue anyway.

He smiled at that. "That's an amazing idea; let's ask them today itself." I smiled at that and nodded. I then said, "At 6 pm?" to which he nodded and said, "Yes, besides, everyone has an off today," to which I agreed. He then handed me a cup of coffee, and we had coffee together while discussing details about this small vacation.

At 6 p.m.

I saw Ethan seated on the couch and sat beside him. He sent across a message to our group of friends, confirming if they were free for a call at the moment. Luckily, everyone was available.

Our group basically consisted of 7 people including me and Ethan.

Firstly there was my best friend named Sophia whose dirty blonde locks fell upto her waist, her eyes deep blue, doe shaped with round light pink lips. We shared the same nationality, British, if that already wasn't clear. She had one heck of a job, being a psychologist. It wouldn't be wrong to say that we were literally opposites. She was this bubbly, charismatic girl who only ever saw the good in life while I was more of a closed off person in all honesty. I'm different with my close friends of course. She shared too much for her own good but thankfully it was limited to me so it didn't really backfire for her.

Then there was her 6 feet, chestnut brown haired, hazel eyed husband. Not to forget he was also Ethan's best friend whose name was Liam. He shared the same nationality with my husband, both being Americans. He was a mechanical engineer but contrary to his occupation, cooking was his greatest hobby. He was family-oriented and didn't have an ego-as per sophia- which in all honesty I didn't think was possible with the male species. Although he was extra competitive, with soph he wasn't always like that.

Then came a childhood friend of mine's and Sophia's called Isla. Her 5'8 stature made her the tallest girl in our group. She had that dark brown curly hair and emerald green slender eyes which topped off with her personality made her intimidating to most. The colour of her lips was naturally a light reddish shade. She had a pretty similar accent while she was Scottish. She was pretty similar to me but shared even less than I did and could be cold at times. She could have a bit of a mood but on the positive side she was actually a great friend.

I had this amber brown eyed german neighbour in my childhood who was yet another part of our group, Carl. He had this dark brown straight hair with reddish pink lips. His height, 5 '10, making him just an inch taller than my husband. He was a PR agent, having quite a few connections. He's such an extrovert, one thing which he shared with my best friend. He was easy to talk to, making it easy for others to open up to him. He could get insecure, one thing I'd noticed over the years.

Last but not the least came Ethan's college friend, who was the last member of our group. She was 5'4, making her just an inch taller than Soph, she had these light brown waves and honey brown eyes. Her lips were a pale shade of red. She and Ethan shared the same occupation, though their workplaces were different. She was a bit of an introvert and had taken time to open up to most of us.

It was soon time for the call, and everyone joined the call. We all wished each other a happy new year. Then we told them about our plan. "It's a small anniversary celebration with all of you." I said, "It's a secluded island in a part of Bali, just a small trip of 3 days; we all need some time to ourselves, don't we?" Ethan continued, chuckling, to which everyone agreed and told us that they'd let us know if they would be able to make it. Sophia said, "Call next week, same time, everyone?" to which everyone agreed. We all talked for a bit and then ended the call.

"I hope they can make it," I said, looking at him. He replied, "Don't worry, I'm sure they will make it," to which I smiled.

The next week

We joined the call today to know if everyone would be able to join us or not. Soon later, it was revealed that each one of them would make it, and this news was amazing.

Carl then said, "So guys, after a long, long time, we'll meet. Let's make this trip memorable, shall we?" All of them agreed, and some cheered.

Not long later, we ended the call and couldn't wipe the smiles off our faces. We then sent emails to our respective bosses about the leave.We were using our paid leaves, so they couldn't restrict us from taking the leave. We then talked for a while and went to sleep, knowing that this might just be one of the best trips of our lives, not to mention relaxing too.