AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thank you so much!”
We reverted to comfortable silence until a glowing structure in the distance caught my attention. “What’s that?”
“Ah. That’s the Merlion statue. A fountain with the head of a lion and the body of a fish. It’s quite famous. Do you want to take a look?”
“Sure!”
We approached the statue. The majestic figure stood perched on a platform, its eyes gazing into the distance, and a gentle stream of water cascading from its mouth. The statue was lit up, making it appear almost mystical. I grappled for my phone to take a picture. I snapped a couple of shots, then thought it would be better if I could be in the photo. “Would you mind taking a photo of me? I want something as a memento of this trip.”
“Of course.”
I passed him my phone, then I posed in front of the statue with a cheesy grin plastered on my face. Neil watched on with clear amusement that made me smile even harder. As he took the photo, a passing elderly couple saw us and approached, speaking an unfamiliar language between themselves. The man tapped Neil on the shoulder. In a mixture of broken English and miming, he offered to take a picture of us as a couple. Neil was shaking his head, but the man was insistent. He grabbed my phone and herded a slightly bewildered Neil next to me. The woman motioned for us to stand closer together. No longer having the will to fight the friendly old couple’s instructions, we obliged, moving closer to each other. The woman wasn’t satisfied until we had fully closed the gap between us, the sides of our bodies touching all the way down.
Snap, snap, snap.
At last, the couple returned my phone and went on their way.
“Thank you!” I called as they left.
The man turned back to give me a thumbs-up before they disappeared down the winding path into the trees.
I grimaced. “That’s the second time tonight we’ve been mistaken for a couple.”
Neil smirked. “We must look good together.”
His flirty remark rendered me gobsmacked. He was full of surprises tonight. I tried to gather myself to think of something equally flirty, or at least vaguely witty, to say in return, but the moment slipped away.
Dark clouds gathered overhead.
“Do you feel that?” Neil asked, raising a palm up towards the air.
“Yes.”
The humidity was almost oppressive
“We should go back now. It’s going to rain any minute.”
We turned around and hastened our pace, knowing that time was against us. The air grew heavier with moisture by the second. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Fast walking became sprinting, the hotel within sight further down the street.
Almost there.
The sky opened up, releasing a torrential downpour upon us. We dashed down the rain-soaked path and ducked under the shelter at the front of the hotel, drenched to the bone. I puffed, clutching at the stitch in my side from running. The exertion mixed with exhilaration heightened my senses even more to Neil’s presence beside me.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“Yes,” I gasped.
His shirt had turned slightly transparent, and it was clinging to his sculpted torso in all the right places. Not to mention his white shorts…
Neil bit his lip, and his eyes were looking everywhere but directly at me. I realised he must have noticed about me what I had just noticed about him, and I folded my arms across my chest.
Neil cleared his throat. “Let’s go inside,” he said, his voice a shade huskier than usual.
I wiped my shoes on the mat by the door and squeezed the water out of my hair before we entered. When my wet skin met the cool air-conditioning, I broke out in goosebumps. Neil led the way to the lift and pressed the buttons for our separate floors. We didn’t say another word to each other until the door opened.
“Good night, Milly.”
“Night.”
