Indelible Love - Emily's Story (15 page)

Jake saw the exhaustion on my face and
rented a cabana at the pool for me to a nap. We walked in and he
closed the cabana curtains just enough to protect us from any
prying eyes. He traipsed over to my lounge chair and gently pushed
me far enough to one side so he could lay down with me. It became
apparent this cabana was more for his benefit than mine.

“I thought you were going to let me
take a nap.” An accusation coupled with a giggle sounded more like
an invitation.

“I’m helping you take a nap,” he
grinned, putting his arm under my neck. Within seconds, his free
hand cupped my hips and his lips began to travel on my body. He
carefully found his way to my lips, and we began to explore each
other again. His soft hands refused to listen to my weak complaints
as he reached under my cover-up and began caressing my back. I
could feel his fingers working around the knot of my bikini. My low
moans encouraged his hands, and they soon started sliding down my
thigh. He moved my body on top of his and worked on my bikini
bottom. I tried to wriggle away and participate at the same time,
and he knew that I wanted him as much as he wanted me.

Our acrobatics were too much for the
narrow lounge chair and we wound up falling off. I burst into
laughter. “Jake, I think this is our signal to stop. Sorry. I don’t
want to aggravate you anymore, so let’s forget the nap and go out
and enjoy the rest of the day.” I smiled apologetically.

“OK.” He huffed and puffed his way out
of the cabana and mumbled something about tonight.

Dinner was a long six-course meal.
Nick and I talked about how dissatisfied we were with the meal, and
decided to drive around town tomorrow to eat at popular local
hangouts. We were tired of hotel food.

Thankfully, dinner lasted long enough
to curtail any evening activities. I was secretly jumping for joy.
My body hadn’t been this sore since Sarah and I went on a half day
hiking trip. After dessert and coffee, I saw Jake whispering in
Jane’s ear and she nodded subserviently like a little sister
listening to her older, wiser brother. What was my scheming
boyfriend up to now?

“You want to go watch a movie
tonight?” Jake asked, though it seemed more like a
command.

“Um, yeah.” I hesitated, afraid of how
I was going to fight him off tonight. “Jane, Nick, you want to come
with us?”

Both started laughing and refused my
offer. “We are…busy…yeah, busy.”

“What’s going on?” I asked
Jake.

“You’ll see,” was all I got for the
time being.

We got back to my room, looked through
the DVD collection, and found a movie for the evening. My body
leaned on Jake’s, half comatose, when I suddenly realized that Jane
had not come back to the room. I reached for Jake’s cell phone to
call her, but he took it out of my hands and turned it
off.

“Where’s Jane?” I asked
innocently.

“She’s with Nick. They’re at the
movies,” he answered coyly.

“Why didn’t we go with them or why
didn’t they come here with us?”

“Sweetheart, they’re trying to give us
some privacy.”

As soon as he finished these words, I
understood that Jane was not coming back into this room tonight. In
fact, I looked around the room and realized that Jane and Jake had
switched out their belongings. How had I not noticed this from the
moment we walked into the room?

“Why is all your stuff here? And,
where are Jane’s belongings?”

“Jane and I switched rooms. She is
going to stay with Nick the rest of the trip, and I’m going to stay
right here,” he smiled nervously, showing all of his pearly white
teeth.

I tried not to look flustered. “Jake!
Do I need to have this talk with you again?”

“Come on, Emi. Wasn’t last night
wonderful? Let me stay here with you. I promise I won’t do anything
naughty.”

“Jake, I’m not comfortable with you
spending the night with me again. Last night, I was so tired, I
couldn’t fight you off. Tonight, though…it’s not proper for us to
be together, especially with your parents right next to us. I’d
like to be more respectful than that.”

“Emily.” He turned into his
five-year-old self again. I had to be strong and not give into his
darling tirade.

“Just one more night, please? I’ll
switch back with Jane tomorrow.”

“No. Will you please ask Jane to come
back into this room?” I gave him a choice that was really not a
choice. He’d have to respect my wishes.

“Oh, all right. I’ll call her right
now.” He retracted his arm from my shoulder and moved to the other
side of the sofa.

“Thank you. Now where were we?” I
inched toward him and laid my head on his lap. He didn’t hold his
grudge too long this time.

Jane and I walked to the breakfast
table early Wednesday morning to join the rest of the family. Bobby
and Sandy were a bit surprised to see that Jake and Nick came as a
pair as well.

“Did you meet each other in the
elevator?” Sandy asked Jane, referring to our entrance
together.

“No, we came together,”
she replied and gave her mother an
I don’t
know what happened look.

Sandy threw a worried and puzzled look
over at Jake and he explained, “Emi didn’t want to sleep with me.
She chose Jane’s company over mine.”

I politely smiled.

Sandy started talking about the day
and I realized that we were not going to be bound by any tight
schedules. “Your dad and I have to attend three different college
alumni activities, so I’m afraid you are all on your own. We tried
to get out of it but since your dad is the president of the
association, there wasn’t any way around it.”

I was thrilled not to have any
strenuous activities for the day. I could go lay out by the pool or
even go back to the room and sleep. The day was looking
good.

“What shall we do today, Emily?” Jane
asked.

“I don’t know. What do you want to
do?” I high-fived myself, I was so happy.

“Let’s go get a facial and a massage.
Maybe even a pedicure. Oh, how about a whole day at the spa?” She
was so excited.

I was also getting quite excited
thinking about unwinding all day before leaving tomorrow
night.

“Jane! What am I to do if you take Emi
away from me?” Jake’s sour look came back.

“I don’t know. You and Nick find
something to do. Go watch another basketball game.” Jane could be
stubborn if she wanted to be, and it was a bit comical watching the
two argue like five-year-olds.

“No way, Emi’s with me. You find your
own friend,” he retorted.

Nick jumped into this argument as
well. “I thought we were going to go find local food?” he said,
turning to me.

“OK. I have a solution. How about if
Jane and I do a half day at the spa while you boys go watch the
morning matches? We’ll meet you for lunch around 1:00 and then we
can go into town and find yummy food.” I turned to Jake and sweetly
requested, “My body hurts badly from all the exercise. I need a
massage to unwind me. Would you be OK with that?” I added a few
kisses in between the request so he would cave without a
fight.

“Sounds good to me,” Nick
and Jane both said at the same time. Jake was the only one pouting
because he didn’t get his way. We parted for the morning, and Jane
and I spent a glorious morning pampering ourselves.
This
was the Hawaii I
had imagined before arriving.

We started with a deep tissue massage,
continued with a facial, and then got a manicure and a
pedicure.

For lunch, we asked the hotel
concierge to point out all the local hot spots. We had small meals
at several local joints. My favorite was a little shack that
specialized in katsu. We ordered chicken, pork, beef, and
fish-fried cutlets. I couldn’t possibly leave Hawaii without having
eaten something lathered in mayo, so I chose the macaroni salad
with the deep fried goodies. Honestly, I felt sick from all the
grease.

After the third meal, Jake and Jane
begged us not to eat any more. Nick and I acquiesced, but only
after visiting Maui’s most famous ice cream shop where we treated
ourselves to strawberry and pineapple ice cream. Today was an ideal
day in Hawaii.

Nick and Jane went surfing to work off
our lunches, but Jake and I went back into our cabana. After a
massage and thousands of calories, I needed a nap. Jake behaved
himself after my speech last night, and brought a book to read
while I napped on the lounge chair. His hands ran up and down my
arm wanting to explore elsewhere, but for the rest of the day, he
was harmless.

Thursday was our last day in Hawaii.
Nick and I had so much fun yesterday; we tried to convince everyone
to go into town in search of yummy food again. Bobby, Sandy, and
Jane decided to go off on their own, and then meet us at the
airport. Jake had no choice but to go eat some more if he wanted to
be with me. Nick and I were only too happy to go find more
treasures. We made one more pit stop at the ice cream shop before
heading to the airport.

On our red-eye flight back home I
pondered over how much this trip meant to me. Fully laid back, Jake
held my hand while he snored away. The correct thing to do would be
to join him and the rest of the family but I just couldn’t
sleep.

“Emily.” Surprised, I quickly turned
my head to Jane’s calling.

“I’m sorry. Am I keeping you awake
with my reading light?”

“No. I thought I heard a sigh. Is
something the matter?”

“Oh, Jane.” I answered with a mixture
of dreaminess and dread. “How can anything be wrong? The last four
days were heaven.”

“Then why do you sound like somebody
who’s headed for ruins?”

I giggled at her comment. Jane giggled
back.

With a heavy heart, my voice
whispered, “I’m afraid to like your brother as much as I do.”
Gently, I placed my free hand on his face and moved the overgrown
bangs out of his eyes. His body moved closer toward my seat as he
pulled my hand into both his hands, and placed it on his
heart.

“He loves you—a lot!” Jane looked
happy for us.

“I love him too—a lot!” I sighed
again.

“Then why the sigh? I don’t get
it.”

“He’s too perfect. You’re too perfect.
In fact, your whole family is like a dream. And you know…my life
has been anything but a dream. In fact, it’s been closer to a
nightmare. I feel like I’m going to wake up from this dream and go
back to my reality—a reality where you and Jake and your family are
no longer there.”

“Emily.” Even a frown couldn’t mar her
pretty face. “A little melodramatic. I don’t see Jake going
anywhere, anytime soon. In fact, I’d bet my law degree that you two
will be married within a year. No one in my family has seen Jake
this in love. You and I are going to be sisters like we promised. I
will not accept anything less, you hear me?”

“Emi?” Sleepy-eyed, Jake woke up with
a worried gaze. “What’s wrong, Sweetheart?”

“Nothing.” I put on a smile. “Jane and
I were just having a heart to heart.”

“Jane. Stop gabbing and let Emi
sleep.” Always protective of my well-being, I kissed his head to
show him my appreciation.

Like a proper sister, Jane rolled her
eyes and ignored him.

“You sure you’re OK?” he whispered
while kissing the hand he was holding.

Nodding yes, I turned the light off
and reclined. Part of me wanted to cry from being deliriously happy
with this man, and another part of me wanted to cry because I
couldn’t shake off these unsettled nerves that foreshadowed doom
and gloom. Inwardly sighing so no one would hear, I pushed away the
dread and welcomed sleep.

Chapter 7
Jake
’s Proposal

We landed at LAX early Christmas
morning, and I said my good-byes to everybody before heading home.
Jake’s mom and dad hugged and kissed me and made me promise to come
over early for Christmas dinner. I nodded and got in the car with
Jake.

“I had such a wonderful time with your
family, Jake. Thank you! Though I just met them, I cherish them
like my own.” My lips spanned from one ear to the other. “Your mom
and dad did an amazing job raising you three. I see why you turned
out to be such a caring person. I’m glad I came on this trip. I
feel much closer to you and your family,” I gushed.

Jake all of a sudden parked his car on
the side of the road and pulled out another jewelry box from his
suitcase, just like the one I got in San Francisco—the kind a girl
received when a man got down on one knee, about to propose to the
woman he loved.

“Merry Christmas,
Sweetheart.”

“Jake. I left your present at home.
Let’s exchange gifts when we get back to my house.”

“No, I want you to open this now. I
have something else for you when you come over tonight to
Mom’s.”

“Jake, you’re really spoiling me.
Hawaii was enough of a present. You didn’t have to get me anything
else. By the way, wasn’t this my Christmas present?” I asked
holding the ring from my neck.