An Unpleasant Encounter – Part 1

After the games, the Princeton brothers, along with Sosuke, Luke, Peter, and Jim, helped each other clean up the mess. Once this was done, they also decorated the garden for the barbeque party, along with setting up the stage and dance floor for the disco, where there’d be live music from a famous local Hawaiian band and some hula girls.

Meanwhile, the adults and women went either to rest or get themselves ready. Sakura, however, did none of those things. Instead, she took the opportunity and escaped with Michael, heading for the beach. With her digital camera in her hands, she took photos of everything that interested her.

“Did you have fun today?” she asked Michael, who was skipping along beside her.

“Yep. Loads of fun,” the boy said. “The four-legged race was my favorite.”

Sakura chuckled. “I thought so. And you got the whole basket to yourself, too.”

Michael shrugged. “Akira and Jane said they didn’t want any, so I ended up with the lot. But I think the kissing prize was better.”

Sakura smiled and couldn’t resist teasing. “What if it was Mary you had to kiss instead? Or even Beth?”

Michael made a show of shuddering with distaste while pulling a disgusted face. “I wouldn’t want to win in that case.”

Sakura chuckled with amusement. So I was part of the reason he wanted to win, then?

They were a little farther away from the mansion now, and Sakura deeply inhaled the fresh ocean air.

“It’s so nice, quiet, and lovely here,” she said.

“Is it better than New York, where you live now?” Michael asked.

She nodded. “In some ways, yes. New York is also very noisy and congested.”

“This place is a little like St. Joseph Island, isn’t it?”

Sakura nodded. “I miss it. St. Joseph Island, I mean.”

“When are you going to come back?” Michael asked.

That question took Sakura by surprise. Honestly, since she had run away, she’d never thought about going back. But recently…

“It’s your home there, isn’t it?” he asked. “You’ve lived there for a long time, right? With Uncle James and Aunty Brenda, Grandma Molly, and Grampa Dale? And the brothers, too?”

Michael’s words made her heart constrict with emotions. Yes, St. Joseph Island had been her home for a long time, since she had been born in fact. Her life with everyone there had been wonderful. Of course, with the exception of a few. Suddenly, she missed Grandma Molly and Grampa Dale, Daddy James’s parents. She wanted to see them again, see their kind, caring smiles and be embraced by their warmth. And of course, she wanted them to meet her biological mother, sooner rather than later.

She said, “We’ll see. I’m thinking about it seriously. About moving back…”

“Then everyone will be awesomely happy, including me, because I’d get to see you more often.”

Sakura chuckled. “That’s true.”

After that little talk, Michael ran up ahead and went about his exploration of the seashore. Meanwhile, Sakura enjoyed her time alone, and occasionally, she’d take photos of the beautiful scenery before her.

The sound of waves crashing onto the shore, seagulls crying, and the gentle breeze was indeed the ultimate Zen, which Sakura loved. She closed her eyes and smiled, basking in the atmosphere, imagining herself on an isolated island where only she existed. She imagined herself floating in the air as the gentle breeze fluttered her long hair about and kissed her skin.

“Hello there.” A manly voice came her way.

Sakura snapped her eyes open in surprise and hastily turned around. Before her stood a man she had never met before.

He was tall, over six feet in fact, with dark hair and blue eyes. He didn’t look like he was a local, so she assumed he must be here on holiday. Oddly enough, his appearance reminded her of both Sebastian and Darcy at the same time. If the two brothers were to combine into one person, the result would most likely be this man.

Though his looks reminded her of her beloved men, this stranger, however, did not give her the same feelings of the warm comfort of love and belonging that both Sebastian and Darcy gave her. Instead, she felt a dark menacing threat from him that chilled her spine.

She frowned and asked, “Were you talking to me?”

The stranger grinned as he nodded. He said, his voice deep, “Are you alone?” He even moved closer to her, which more than freaked her out.

Sakura was instantly on guard. God, there was just that something about this man that put her on edge. She felt it in her gut that she had to be careful with him.

“No, I’m not,” she said firmly and coldly, taking a step back to put some distance between them.

His eyes flickered from her face to her breasts, as if scrutinizing her, which made Sakura self-conscious about how flimsy her summer dress was. But it was hot and humid, so wearing a dress was the only way to ease the heat. Almost every female here was wearing something like this. And she had felt fine with this piece until now, until his eyes strayed to her chest, emitting a sort of predatory vibe that made Sakura feel both scared and disgusted.

“I like your camera,” he said, eyeing her equipment now. “Are you a professional photographer by any chance?”

Sakura moved back a few more steps, intending to get away. She said, “Yes,” as she searched around for Michael, wondering where the boy had run off to.

“You’re not from here?” he asked, moving toward her again.

She sighed because he seemed to be so insistent on talking to her. “Look, I have to go now.” With that, she turned on her heel and was about to walk away when he rushed over and intercepted her, stopping her in her tracks. In fact, he was so close that she almost bumped into him.

Sakura swiftly moved back and glared at him. “What do you want?”

The man chuckled with amusement. “Look,” he said, putting his hands up in the air as if to tell her he meant her no harm. “I only want to talk, because you’re so beautiful. Do you know that you’re very beautiful? You have such long, luscious hair and smooth skin. And your body is just, hmm…” He grinned as he eyed her up and down, which pissed Sakura off. “Perfect.”

His compliments didn’t sit well with her. She knew those words would have made any other girl swoon, but not her. Rather, she felt terrorized.

“Sorry, but I don’t feel like talking,” she replied. “And I’m in a hurry.” She gave him no chance to make another attempt at a conversation, hastily turning on her heel once again and heading away.

The man shouted, “What’s your name?”

Sakura refused to reply. She ignored him and simply kept on walking, or rather, running, while her eyes searched wildly for Michael. She breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted the boy not too far away.

“Michael,” she called out.

The boy, who was currently ankle deep in the water, turned to her. Once Sakura reached him, he asked, “What’s wrong? Your face is so pale.”

Sakura said, “It’s nothing. I’m just a little tired now. We should be heading back.”

Michael nodded. “Okay.”

As they hurriedly made their way toward the house, Sakura’s eyes darted the length of the beach, searching for the stranger. She wanted to know if he was bold enough to follow her. If he indeed was stalking her, then she’d have to speedily find a way to make him lose interest in her. She wondered also if she should tell either Daddy James or the Princeton brothers when she got back. But then again, she reasoned, the strange man was probably just behaving like any single man on holiday, going about flirting and hooking up with girls who interested him. And she was just that unlucky girl who had caught his attention today. Surely, he’d find some other, more beautiful girl to hook up with, sooner or later.

A moment later, she noted that he was nowhere in sight. Thank God, she thought and sighed with relief.