The Assistant(55)

The lady and I laughed at his statement, before I looked up at Adrian, who was smirking down at me. “I’ll keep that in mind for Take #4. Is that alright with you, fluffy munchkin?” he asked, raising one eyebrow as he waited for my answer.

I almost gagged at the nickname he gave me, before placing my palm on his chest and gasping. “That would be amazing!” I gushed, grinning as widely as I could.

The couple exchanged amused glances before the man bent down to place a kiss on the woman’s lips, making her blush.

“Well, we’d best be off,” said the man, “We have to make the most of our 25-year anniversary without the kids around as much as we can.” He looked down at the woman with an all too familiar expression I had seen on Adrian’s face when I’d be in my underwear. The woman began to blush even deeper before waving at both Adrian and me, and they continued their stroll near the waves, holding hands.

“You’re an idiot!” I scowled as soon as they were out of earshot, making him smirk down at me as I struggled to free myself from his hold.

“A pretty convincing idiot,” he said, grinning proudly at himself. “They ate up the lie like it was their next meal!”


I gawked in disbelief before slapping his muscled arm. “That’s because you told them we’d been dating for three years and that you’ve proposed to me!” I scowled, frowning.

“Oh, you’re in no position to talk, Shortcake. ‘Fuzzy bunny’?” he repeated, breaking into a fit of laughter. I tried to glare up at him, but ended up joining his laughter. “That almost cracked me – I’ll give you a point there,” he declared after we had calmed down.

I smirked before biting my lip in thought. “Hmm. I believe that now makes the Tally board Kingston: 1. Johnson: 2 – I’m including my UNO win as a part of my score.” I grinned up at him smugly.

“I let you win,” he confessed, making my nostrils flare in anger.

“I knew it!” I shouted out, jumping slightly. “You couldn’t stand the fact that you were about to be beaten by a girl, so you decided to let me win on purpose so your ego wouldn’t – oh my god! Is that a crab?!” I exclaimed excitedly as I spotted a red animal crawl across the sand sideways.

Adrian gave me a confused look before his gaze travelled over to where all my focus was suddenly averted to, and I ran over to the crab in excitement. “Oh my god. It’s a real crab! Look! It has hands and it’s walking sideways and it looks angry and everything! A real crab!” I squealed excitedly, grinning down at it as it continued to scurry sideways along the sand. I sighed happily before looking up to grin at Adrian – who I found staring at me with that funny, small smile on his face once again. His usual playful expression had softened, and he was watching me with a glazed expression over his features.

Once he noticed me staring, he snapped out of his daze and blinked a few times before looking at me, and I thought I could see a faint pink colouring on his tanned cheeks, showing me that he was blushing. He covered it up with a smirk. “Yes, Shortcake. Very good! Now how to do you spell that?” he said slowly, treating me like a kindergarten child.

My excitement faltered slightly as I glared as his mocking attitude, before I ran over to him and grabbed him by his wrist, dragging him over to the sea creature. “Isn’t it so beautiful?” I murmured, getting lost in its bronze/red shell colour.

Adrian sighed beside me and I turned around – to find him staring at me with the same glazed expression yet again, making me flush. “W- What is it?” I stuttered, feeling self-conscious under his gaze.

He snapped out of it once again at the sound of my voice, and shook his head, frowning as he clenched his jaw.

“Nothing,” he said, avoiding my gaze. “Let’s get back inside and spend the last few hours here indoors.”

I frowned and bit down on my bottom lip curiously, but didn’t question it as he dragged me away from the sea creature, back to the beach house in silence.

***

By the time I had finished washing up the cutlery we used to make our lunch for the beach, showering, and re-packing my suitcase neatly, the sun had set, turning the light blue waves right outside the beach house into a dark navy – almost black colour. Adrian had gone out to the stores that were a street away from the house to buy a movie while he waited for me to finish my shower, and returned with Law Abiding Citizen, making me grin broadly at the excellent choice.

He suggested that we watch the movie in bed in case we fell asleep, so that we were comfortable before the early flight tomorrow morning, and I nodded in agreement at his logic.

“Just wear my shirt, Shortcake, it’s not like I’m going to fondle your body at the sight of Gerard Butler.” Adrian smirked, making my eyes go wide with shock as a blush crept up towards my cheeks. “Well, I won’t. But who am I to say that you wouldn’t want to? That’s it, isn’t it? I’ve finally figured out what makes your prized jewel click! You want me to act like a murdering psychopath? Brilliant. Who do you want me to kill first?” he asked, chuckling once I threw a pillow in his direction.

“I told you not to ever refer to my… lady parts using that phrase ever again!” I groaned in disgust.

“Okay, okay. I won’t do it again. But is my theory right? That’s why you don’t want to wear my shirt! Because it’ll be noticeable if you touch-”