Louisa's p.o.v;
At the police station,
I dropped on the desk and thought about last night. I couldn't think of a way out of it. Yesterday was the first time I slept with him but I couldn't even feel happy about it. Ace wasn't someone who's involved with the drug. Ace was the one who's selling it. I'm not someone who follows ethics and morals to arrest whoever it is. But at the same time I don't side with the bad deeds. You can say that I'm neutral.
Raphael tapped on my shoulder and asked, "Didn't you get enough sleep last night?"
Last night? Please don't make me remember that.
"Yeah, I was… I was watching a movie. Yeah. A movie."
"I heard that you requested from the chief that you wanted to be relieved from the drug case. Was it true or just a rumour?"
"It's true."
"What happened?"
"I'm not feeling well so I asked for a leave along with that request."
He moved closer and checked the temperature by placing his hand on my forehead and said, "Looks like normal. Was it a cold?"
"No, nothing wrong with my body, it's my mind. I feel stressed these days."
"You look so pale. Shall I take you to the hospital?"
"It's not that serious. If I take my mind off these things for a while, I'll be okay."
Before someone asks me, it's better to leave.
When I came to my house, I saw Ace standing near the door. I ignored him and tried to open the door.
He asked while i was opening the door, "What did you decide?"
I asked while holding the door knob, "About what?"
"About us."
I walked into the house while saying, "I thought you're talking about the case."
When I turned back, he didn't enter and stood still outside the house.
"What are you doing there? Come in before someone sees you."
I removed my shoe and cap while asking, "What are you doing here?"
"Came to see you. I was about to leave after seeing the empty house but you're already here."
I dropped on the couch and said, "Now that you see me, now, leave." And drank a glass of water.
"What did you decide about the case?"
"I got myself relieved from the case."
"Why did you do that?"
"What do you expect me to do? Want me to arrest you instead?"
I leaned back on the couch and crawled myself and continued, "I don't have any strength to talk with you so leave by yourself."
He asked, "Are you alright?"
"I feel tired."
He sat beside me and touched my forehead and said, "Louisa, you're burning."
As time passed by, my breath felt hot every time I exhaled. I felt stuffy and couldn't breathe properly. When I tried to sit, I couldn't. I used up all my energy and called out, "Ace!"
He helped me sit up and asked, "What happened?"
"My head hurts."
"Hold on."
Ace went and brought back some hot water from the kitchen. He wet the towel and wiped me using it. And he put the towel over my forehead once he finished wiping my body. When he tried to leave, I hugged him while asking, "Don't… Don't leave."
He sat beside me and hugged me to sleep.
The next morning,
When I woke up, Ace was hugging me and he was asleep. I tapped on his hand and said, "Take your hands off. I need to go to the bathroom."
I got up and walked to the bathroom. He walked after me asking, "Do you need any help?"
"Fuck off!"
I slammed the door against him. What help is he trying to offer in the bathroom?
When I came out, he was on the couch, reading a book he was holding.
"Why are you still here? Didn't I ask you to leave?"
"Someone held onto me and begged not to leave last night."
I let out a sigh and said, "Thanks for the help. Now that I'm alright. Can you please leave?"
He touched my forehead and said, "You're not fully recovered yet." He sat on the couch and said, "And, I'm not leaving until you're recovered."
I walked to the kitchen to get water, he rushed to the kitchen before me and said, "Just say what you want. I'll do it. Don't stress yourself."
"It's just a fever. I'm not dying. I can get water by myself."
After I had water, I walked to my bed.
He asked, "Aren't you going to take a shower?"
"I don't feel like showering."
He pulled me out of the bed and said, "You should take a bath at a time like this."
"I don't have strength to take a shower. Let go of my hand. I'll sleep for sometime."
"I'll help you take a shower. Come with me."
"No!"
Even after I denied it many times, he took me to the bathroom in the end.
Inside the bathroom, he opened the faucet to fill the water tub. While it was filling, he said, "Undress." And checked the water by dipping his finger in it.
While I was removing my dress, I looked at him to see whether he's trying to take a peek but he didn't.
He said, "The temperature is fine. You can get inside now."
When I stepped into the water tub, it was lukewarm and felt good.
He tied my hair up while saying, "Why didn't you tie up your hair? See, half of it was already soaked up in water. Let's blow dry it after showering."
I held his hand and placed it on my shoulder and leaned on to it and said, "I thought we're going to have sex but you really did wanted to gave me a shower."
He got inside the tub and hugged me from behind, placed his chin on my shoulder while saying, "I missed this warmth for three years."
I asked, "What happened after I fainted that day?"
"This is not the right time to say it. But I'll tell you one day."
"Why weren't you there when I woke up in the hospital?"
"I felt guilty, that's why I couldn't be with you."
"Why did you disappear? Your house was empty too."
"I don't want you to be in another helpless situation because of me. Since i was the one who's bringing you the trouble, i took all the trouble with me to keep you safe." He hugged me tightly and continued, "No matter how many times I apologise, I know it wasn't enough for what I did."
I turned and looked at him while saying, "I can forgive you if you answer me another question."
"What is it?"
"That day, when I confessed my love to you, I stopped you from giving a response. Now, I'm not stopping you, tell me. Do you love me?"
He averted his gaze away from me and said, "I'm sorry, Louisa. I can't love you." When a tear fell out of my eyes without my concern, he wiped it using his thumb and said, "Please don't cry, it hurts me seeing you cry." And hugged me. "I'm sorry, Louisa. Please, don't cry."
After a shower, I got dressed up and ate breakfast made by Ace. He was sitting across from me and having breakfast quitely.
I asked, "When are you planning to leave? I'm alright now. Don't think you can stay here like how you did in my apartment. I'll allow you for today but you shouldn't be here from tomorrow."
He nodded and continued eating his breakfast.
I thought he'll refuse or talk back to me but to my surprise, he remained silent.
After breakfast, I walked to my room. He didn't follow me like usual. I stopped and looked at him. He was on the couch looking at the phone. I ignored it and walked into my room.
The next morning,
When I came out, Ace wasn't there. Did he really leave? He didn't talk to me yesterday. Now he just left without a word. What's going on in his head?
I made a call to Ace. He answered.
I asked, "Where are you?"
"Do you need something?"
"Yeah, I need you. Where are you right now?"
"What?"
"Are you deaf? Want me to shout through the phone? Tell me where are you?"
"I'm at 4th square."
I ended the call, took my phone and walked out of the house.
After a while, I came to the 4th square, where Ace mentioned he was. I looked around for him but couldn't find him. Did he give me the wrong address?
I found a cafe nearby. Will he be there?
I walked into the cafe, it was packed with customers. Most of them were couples and teenagers. I spotted Ace talking to someone among the crowd.
I removed my mask and walked to him and stood in front of him.
"What are you doing here?"
I grabbed his collar and pulled him into a kiss on the lips. Suddenly, the environment became silent. When I looked around, everyone's eyes were on us. I ignored them and asked Ace, "Listen to me, if you don't love me, I'm okay with that. But you can't stop me from loving you. And, I decided to pursue you from now on. I bet I can make you fall in love with me. Don't think that I'm speaking with overconfidence because I know that you like me too."
I pulled him into a kiss again and said, "I sealed the agreement with a kiss."
Everyone started clapping their hands which made me embarrassed so I walked out of the cafe.
While I was walking on the pavement, Ace walked after me and asked, "What happened inside the cafe, was that all true?"
"Nah, I just spout whatever nonsense popped up in my mind."
"So it is true. How do you plan to pursue me?"
"You'll see it when I do."
He held my hand and asked, "Where are you hurrying to?"
"To my house."
"Aren't you going to pursue me?"
"Right now, I have other things to take care of."
"Like what?"
"I need rest."
He held my hand and said, "Didn't you take leave for a week already? Take a rest tomorrow. Now, come with me."
"I'm not coming with you anywhere. I have to go home and take a rest."
"You don't have a fever anymore so there's no need to rest. Come with me."
I took my stand and asked, "Okay, where do you want me to come with you?"
"I have a place in mind."
After a while,
We came to Santos, a beach near the Brazilian port. When I took a look, it was vast and beautiful. It wasn't very crowded either.
I said, "I didn't know there was a beach here."
"Is this your first time visiting a beach in Sao Paulo?"
I shaked my head and said, "First time to visit a beach."
He held my hand and said, "Don't think about the past. Let's create some memories here."
"And how are you going to do it?"
He lifted me up, ran towards the water and dropped in the water and said, "Like this."
I wiped the water off my face and grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him towards me into the water and we two got soaked up from head to toe. We laughed at each other for being childish. After some time of splashing water on each other, we walked the shore hand in hand.
I leaned on his shoulder and said, "Whenever we're together, i forget about everything. Is it good or bad?"
"It's up to you, Louisa."
After a while, we sat near the beach. I asked him, "Back in the police department, some of the cops I know are trying to find the person behind the drugs, which is you. And, here you are chilling with me on the beach. Aren't you afraid that they'll find you?"
He shaked his head and said, "They didn't all these years. Do you think they will find me now? Will you tell them?"
"No."
"Why won't you? Aren't you one of them?"
"I'm not. This is just my job. I started liking you even before this happened. If you ask me what's more important, I'll definitely say it's you. I'll choose you over anything in this world."
He put his hand over my shoulder and said, "Don't make this moment serious. Didn't we come here to have fun? Let's have fun. Like you said earlier, forget about everything and concentrate only on me. Understand?"
I nodded while smiling at him.
He stood up and asked, "I'll race you to the boat. Let's see who gets there first."
After seeing him running in front of me, I started running after him.
Even Though I know our relationship is made up of sand, I wanted it to last a little longer. Till the water hits the shore, I want to enjoy every last moment of it.