Lost in the Waves

Chapter 9 : Bumping into Strangers

Now that Amalia is alone with her thoughts, she doesn’t have any other choice but to face them. She contemplated acknowledging her growing feelings for the bartender and to think of it as if there was really nothing going on- that they were just caught in the moment. Amalia opted to ignore whatever emotions she had towards Ezio and considered it a dreamy one-night stand since she never expected those events to ever happen to her.

She went for a long, cold shower as she switched from gathering her thoughts from the previous night and drowning whatever desire she had left for a potential boyfriend. She scrubbed her body hard with a loofa, trying to get rid of any evidence that indicated she was with Ezio last night. Amalia wanted a fresh start today and she stood firmly on the belief that she would not be distracted.

“You promised yourself it was only for last night, Mal. Today’s a new day. We don’t want to delay any more than we already have. Remember, you are leaving in 5 days.” She reminded herself, as she pointed her finger in the mirror after drying her hair with a towel.

Amalia then went on to her closet and chose her clothes for the day- a plain maroon tank top and high-waisted black shorts, paired with gray slip ons. She then took out her black cap and put it inside her tote, along with her sketchbook and art materials. Standing in front of the mirror, Amalia combed her hair and applied some light makeup. Satisfied with her work, she then put the makeup inside the tote and took out a bottle of water from the fridge. Afterwards, she dropped by the bedside table to get her hotel card and phone, then headed towards the elevator.

As the doors in the elevator dinged, she went inside and pressed the floor leading to the lobby. She put on her earphones that were lying inside her tote bag and played her favorite playlist. Then she put on her cap after she tidied her hair. While waiting for the elevator to arrive at the lobby, she thought about her plans for the day.

‘Maybe I should go sightseeing. I think there was a good spot here somewhere.’

Amalia arrived at the lobby and headed for the exit. She was not really quite sure where she was headed, so she just trusted her legs to lead her where they wanted to while trying to remember that beautiful place she discovered when she first arrived in Barbados. She softly hummed the music she was currently listening to while taking a stroll. Amalia took in her surroundings and observed how the one who created all beings provided so much attention to detail. This simple observation helped her in drawing the more intricate details of her sketch. She also took note of how the buildings were structured, for future reference. After admiring both man's and God’s work, she decided to draw caricatures of other tourists at one of the hotel’s parks. In this way, she gets to experiment on her sketches as well as practice on her portraits. Moreover, she gets to see other people happy with her work and she cherishes it, for she knew, once she returns to New York, she wouldn’t be able to receive these kinds of simple, yet sweet compliments as her father never approved of her work- not even once. It was how Amalia spent most of her day and by the time she got tired, she was not able to realize it was already dusk until she saw the sun setting.

‘I should probably head back.’  She thought.

She started heading back towards where she came from, tracing back the path she had just taken to get to the park earlier, whilst listening to her favorite playlist in her earphones that was attached to her phone. She hummed and hummed, seemingly satisfied with today’s work, and thought about what kind of dinner she would eat for tonight until she bumped into someone familiar.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you.” Amalia immediately apologized, not being able to recognize who was in front of her.

“Elle, I didn’t know it was you.” He said, taking a step closer to her. With the nickname he mentioned, Amalia’s blood suddenly rushed, as if there was smoke coming out of her ears. She was mad as the guy in front of him completely ruined her mood.

“And here I thought I was having a good day.” She mumbled, but the guy in front of her heard it and she made it so.

“I’m sorry I don’t seem to know you. Please excuse me, I have to go.” She said politely, with a hint of coldness lacing her tone.

“Oh come on, Elle. You even drew me, how can you forget about me? It’s me, Calvin! The surfer?” He tried to make her remember, actually believing her statement of not being able to recognize Calvin.

‘I may or may not have managed to catch a dumb one.’ Amalia rolled her eyes internally.

“No, I don’t. Please move.” With that, Amalia bumped her shoulder to Calvin’s as she walked past him and headed straight to the elevator. She went inside and pressed her floor, internally groaning as she remembered her encounter with Calvin.

‘Of course, you’re gonna bump into him, you’re staying in the same hotel.’ With that thought, Amalia headbutted the elevator wall that was to her right three times which she regretted not long after.

Amalia kept on scolding herself for her headbutting with the wall of the elevator and mumbled a few cuss words. She continuously rubbed her now bruised forehead just as the elevators dinged, signaling for her to arrive on her floor. As the doors opened, she bumped into yet another person.

‘Why am I being so clumsy today?’ She thought as she muttered an apology.

“I must say, you really have a knack for bumping into people.” The person chuckled.

Upon hearing the familiar voice, she raised her head to see the person in front of her and it was no other than the man she had tried to forget the entire day. Her eyes probably came out of her sockets seeing Ezio’s reaction have become a bit confused. Amalia did not utter a word and just stood there, frozen with her mouth wide open.

“Are you okay? Am I missing something?” Asked Ezio, completely puzzled by the whole ordeal.

“W-what do you mean? O-of course I’m fine.” She stuttered.

“It looks like you are not happy to see me. Are you?” Ezio probed, moving a step closer to her. It must have become a habit for him as he keeps on doing whenever they converse.

“Of course I am. What made y-you think that I wasn’t?” Amalia tried to reassure, nervousness creeping into her.

“Your expression says it all,” Ezio said flatly, his mood decreasing a little.

‘Here I thought we are getting closer. I guess not. But I shouldn’t give up, right? This is the first time in many years since I felt something.’ He reasoned with himself as he waited for Amalia’s response.

“Oh. I’m just tired is all. Nothing to worry about, hehe. Well, I gotta go. See you around.” Amalia replied, albeit too fast for Ezio’s liking. 

With that, the Latina dashed her way to her room, fumbling as she looked for her hotel card to open her room. Ezio observed silently until she was able to get inside while in a haste.

‘I’m pretty sure she is avoiding me.’ He concluded.

‘But I could never find any reason for her to avoid me.’  He added in his trail of thoughts as he entered the elevator and pressed the floor leading to the lobby.

‘Or  maybe she really just doesn’t want to be with you after that.’ Was his last train of thought which put him in a sour mood throughout the remainder of the day. Add the fact that he has to cover for the other bartender because of last night. He trudged to the bar begrudgingly, not a soul left in his body.

“Trouble in paradise?” The guy in the bar asked as he wiped the newly washed glass with a clean rug. Ezio just looked at him dead in the eyes flatly.

“Oh come on, man. Why don’t you ever fill me in on the juicy details.” He whined as Ezio continued to stare at him.

“You sound like a whiny girl, Hektor. There’s nothing to spill alright?” Ezio snapped as he roughly grabbed an apron and tied it around himself.

“With the way you’re acting, it’s like you’re the one with the PMS Alec.” The guy named Hektor rolled his eyes as he continued to clean the tables.

“Don’t call me that, Hektor. You know you shouldn’t.” Scolded Ezio as he gave a stern look.

“No need to be so uptight, nobody is here anyway. No one can hear you, boss.” Hektor teased a little while untying his apron.

“You little s**t. Come here.” Ezio ran towards where Hektor was but Hektor was able to anticipate this much so he immediately ran away and yelled over,

“By the way, thanks for covering my shift!”