by Sarah Doren
Doomed
New Zealand Bound Series, Volume 3
Sarah Doren
Published by Sarah Doren, 2015.
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
DOOMED
First edition. October 22, 2015.
Copyright © 2015 Sarah Doren.
ISBN: 978-1519986931
Written by Sarah Doren.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter One
“Tell me,” I insisted.
“Why are you insisting on this?” he asked.
I bit my full lower lip and stared at him with worried eyes. “Don’t I have the right to know, at least?”
“You don’t need to know shit, Tina.” Wiremu pushed back from me and stood up to his full height.
“Of course I do!” I said, sitting up.
“Why won’t you tell me?” I added, following him to the window.
I watched silently, as he crossed his arms and looked out the window. I didn’t know what he was thinking, nor did I know if he was going to tell me the reason why he didn’t bring his past girlfriends into his apartment. Did he have some weird reason?
I walked over to him and laid one hand on his arm. “Tell me,” I said.
He looked down at my hand, then back up at me. His eyes were sober, his expression unreadable.
“You want to know why I don’t bring girls into my apartment?” he growled suddenly, taking me by surprise.
“Y-yes,” I stammered, stepping back a bit.
“I don’t bring in girls, because I promised my family—my father in particular—that I wouldn’t bring any girls into the apartment he paid for. You see, Tina, I came from an elite family. Where expectations are ridiculously high.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.
I had no idea what he was talking about. In my twenty-four years, I had met few people who had come from elite families. While their family’s expectations may have been high, I had never come across someone so captive to their family’s will and expectations.
“I’m supposed to marry a girl I don’t even know, you know,” Wiremu started, chuckling under his breath. “Can you believe that? My parents are forcing me to marry some other elite girl, I haven’t even met.”
His confession made me stagger. He was supposed to marry to someone else? Someone who was assigned to him? By his family? My mind was reeling. He had to be kidding! Playing a prank on me, and in any minute now, he’d be letting me in on the joke.
“Are you serious?” I asked, staring up at him with wide eyes.
He chuckled, albeit humorlessly. “You think this is something I like to joke about? I don’t know about your culture, but my father is insisting on my marrying someone else. Great, huh?”
Hearing him say that made me feel as though someone had thrown a cold bucket of water at me. He was supposed to marry a different girl and I had slept with him? I tried to wrap my head around the idea of him marrying someone else—someone not me.
Now, where did that thought come from? I didn’t have time for a relationship, I told him that myself. I couldn’t afford to be tied down to anybody—not when in a matter of mere months I’d be going back to Germany.
“Is that why you didn’t bring your past girlfriends here? Because of your commitment to your father?” I whispered, shocked.
He nodded, still seeming reluctant to talk about it. “Yes. And I told you I don’t do relationships. I don’t have time for it.”
I snorted in sarcasm, drawing his attention toward me. “Oh, that’s right. You don’t do relationships.”
“Don’t use that tone on me, Tina. You were clear about what you wanted—and I was clear for my part as well,” Wiremu said in an accusing tone, as he looked back at me with fire in his eyes.
“You could have told me this before we slept together,” I said to him. “If I had known, I would never have made the mistake of having sex with you. Or offering myself to you, when you clearly have set eyes on somebody else.”
His face clouded over with an unidentifiable emotion, and before I knew what was happening I felt myself backed up against the wall, Wiremu’s face looming over me.
“It was your idea to get yourself into this, Tina. I was just playing along. So don’t go around accusing me of this bullshit.”
“You’re unbelievable,” I said.
“You asked why I don’t bring girls into my apartment, and now that you know, you’re throwing accusations at me, just because you didn’t like the answer?”
“You should have at least told me!” I spat at his face, too upset and angry to notice the increasing hardness of his expression. “I would have thought you would have the decency to do that.”
“I told you, didn’t I?” he growled back.
“Before we had sex, Wiremu! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me! Don’t you think I deserved to know? I’m not one to sleep around with people who are about to marry someone else. And I’m certainly not the type of person who tells people that I don’t do relationships.”
“Oh, so now you’re being judgmental? Well, that’s just great. What are you going to do next? Point your finger at me and tell me that I made you promises? Unbelievable.”
I shook my head, sending a lock of blonde hair flying as I blinked in response to the unexpected stinging of tears in my eyes. He didn’t deserve my tears.
“Why are you being like this all of a sudden?” I whispered.
I stared into his hazel eyes, trying to see some semblance of warmth in them. But all I saw was coldness, and it chilled me to the bone.
“I’m not the one poking my nose into people’s business when told not to,” Wiremu said in a cold voice.
“I was curious,” I breathed.
“Curiosity killed the cat, Tina,” Wiremu said, tilting his head to one side. “Have you heard that saying before?”
I had, but it there didn’t really seem to be any point in telling him that.
***
A strong gust of wind nearly knocked me on my butt, the moment I stepped out of the building. According to the weather forecast, a thunderstorm was on the horizon today. I quickly hurried away, needing to find shelter, as I had brought no umbrella. I was just about to cross the street, when I heard Wiremu calling me, his voice booming across the nearly deserted area.
“Tina, wait up!” he called, as I rushed off.
I didn’t want anything to do with him right now, not after what I had just been through with him. “Go away!” I shot back, when I heard him call out to me again.
“It’s bloody raining! Come back to my apartment. Wait for the rain to stop,” he said, his voice closer.
I picked up my pace again, never turning back, as I suddenly felt a hand clamp down on my wrist, stopping me from going anywhere.
“I told you stop and wait in my apartment,” he screeched at me. “Don’t you ever do as you’re told?”
I snatched my hand back, furious as I glared back at him. “Don’t you ever tell me what to do! You lying, pig-headed jerk!”
“Oh, so now you’re calling me a liar? That’s a good one, you know.” He said, grabbing me by the wrist again. “Come on, I’ll drop you off if you don’t want to go back to my apartment.”
“Let go, Wiremu!” I said. “You’re causing a scene out here, you know.”
“I don’t care. You’re not going to get home, unless I give you a lift,” he said as he pulled me back into the building and ushered us back inside his apartment.
“I’ll ju
st take a taxi, or call my host dad,” I said, fishing my phone out of my pocket.
“I brought you here, I’ll get you home,” he said with a finality that it made me shiver.
“I can go by myself,” I insisted, trying to dig in my heels, but Wiremu wouldn’t have it any other way.
He continued to ignore me, as he grabbed his wallet and keys, after which he dragged me back outside. Eventually, I gave up fighting and followed him outside. He opened up his umbrella and shielded us from the splattering rain, his fingers still clasped around my wrist.
“Get in,” he ordered, opening the door for me.
I glared at him, but hopped in anyway. We drove in silence, neither one of us talking as house after house blurred by. I stared out the window, my hand propped up under my chin, as I wondered what would happen now between Wiremu and me. What I had said earlier was true - I would never have slept with, had I known he would be marrying someone else.
“Do I take a left?” he asked, breaking into my thoughts.
“Yes,” I muttered and continued to stare outside.
We reached my house in a matter of minutes in spite of the traffic. The car lulled softly beneath us as he pulled it to a stop, silence enveloping us once again.
“Thanks for the ride,” I said, unbuckling my seatbelt.
Not a word passed his lips, as I opened the door and I hopped out. It was still raining, and I had to run for shelter to defend myself from the pouring rain. I watched quietly, as he drove off, the sound of his car deafening in my ears as I turned around. My host dad was standing by the door, his eyes intently focused on Wiremu’s disappearing car.
“Someone you know?” he asked, meeting my gaze.
I nodded. “Yeah. Just someone I know from school.”
I moved past him quickly, not wanting him to see how miserable I felt right now. I pushed my bedroom door open and flopped down on the bed. My mind wandered back to the first day I had laid my eyes on him. The attraction between us had been explosive. It had been so strong that it was just a matter of time before we had to act on the passion.
“You are so stupid for sleeping with him Tina,” I said to myself, quickly adding, “Luckily for you, you didn’t fall in love with him.”
This same nagging thought kept haunting me until dinner was ready. I didn’t want to get involved with anyone—just as I had said to Wiremu. I was only here for a year and a half before I would have to go back to Germany again. Being tied down to anyone wasn’t part of my plans.
I rolled over onto my back and stared up at the ceiling. A sigh left my lips. Our supposedly hot date had ended in disaster. Fortunately, we hadn’t had sex again today. It would have just made things even more awkward and weird between Wiremu and me. That was the last thing I needed. It was bad enough that I had to find out he was to marry someone else—someone to make his parents proud. Not someone like me who wasn’t even from the same country and culture.
Continuing to feel the way I did about Wiremu was out of the question. I wasn’t looking for someone to break my heart again, not after my ex-boyfriend, who had lied and cheated on me constantly. Not with his Maori background—something about which I knew little or nothing. Getting involved with someone without knowing anything about him, or his family background, or where he came from, was crazy. It wasn’t a risk I was willing to take, not when just a short time from now, I’d be going home, leaving New Zealand behind.
I suddenly felt a pang of nostalgia—as though I was my father leaving behind his homeland—as I too had left the country, where I was born and raised.
Chapter Two
For the next couple of days, I avoided Wiremu at school. At this point, I didn’t want to see him, and I most definitely couldn’t bring myself to talk to him. Instead, I continued to go to my classes and I hung out with Chelsea more often.
“What is it with you, all of a sudden?” she asked one day, as we were sitting by the library, our textbooks open in front of us.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I don’t see you hanging around Wiremu these days,” she observed. “Has something happened between the two of you?”
I shook my head as I flipped a page. “It’s nothing to worry about.”
“Of course it’s something to worry about! Look at you! You don’t even talk to him anymore.”
I raised my head up in surprise, my eyes wide as I looked at her. “How do you know?”
“Ah! I thought you weren’t talking to him,” she said, looking proud of herself because her clever little piece of trickery made me confess. “Did you two have a falling out?”
“Falling out?” I asked blankly.
“Or you just really sucked in bed like I always assumed?”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“But for reals though, did you guys get in a fight? Cause’ it looks like you did.”
“Do you ever mind your own business?” I asked, suddenly knowing how it felt to have someone poke her nose into my personal life.
“Of course I do!” Chelsea exclaimed. “I’m just curious is all.”
“We didn’t come to an agreement,” I confessed and feigned mild interest in my books.
“What do you mean you didn’t come to an agreement?” Chelsea asked, loud enough that it caught a few people’s attention.
“I told you that remember?” I said.
“Yeah, but weren’t you on a hot date with him the other night?”
“It didn’t turn out to be a hot date,” I said.
“Well?” my friend prodded, leaning toward me now in curiosity.
“We didn’t want to establish a relationship,” I reasoned.
“And?” Chelsea demanded, sounding so impatient that it nearly made me laugh out loud. “You already told me that.”
“I did,” I confirmed. “That’s why it didn’t work out.”
I could feel the frustration radiating off of her, and I wasn’t surprise to see her fingers clutching my wrists. “I’m dying here! Tell me!”
“Okay, okay.” I said, peeling her paws off of me. “Jeez, woman. Are you made of steel or something? Your grip is so strong.”
“Just tell me already,” she insisted.
“He got pissed at me for asking him all these personal questions, I’ve been nagging him with,” I confessed.
My friend’s mouth slid open, her jaw hitting the floor.
“Are you serious?” she asked. “You’re not bullshitting me, are you Tina Brown?”
“Of course not!” I snapped.
“Well, what did he say? Did he go all ape on you or something?” she asked.
“Not exactly.” I wasn’t sure how much to tell Chelsea. We were friends, and I trusted her with my life, hell, almost anything really. But something was holding me back from telling her about my conversation with Wiremu. And, really, there wasn’t all that much to tell.
“He got upset at me, and I had to leave.”
“He made you leave?”
I shook my head no.
“Did he do something to you?”
I made a face at her and said, “You’re just overreacting now.”
“Why did you have to leave, then?”
Because things got awkward, and I didn’t want to stay. I didn’t tell Chelsea that, though, because I knew what a busybody she could be, and I didn’t want to create any drama between her and Wiremu.
“Just because I wanted to, okay?” I said.
I was glad that she decided to drop the subject, and we continued to review our notes. We had a paper due in a couple of days and I wanted it badly to get it out of the way. A half-hour dragged by, and I was ready to leave.
“You about done?” I asked, as I gathered my things.
“Nah, I might stay for a bit. I’ve gotta get this done before midnight tonight. It’s due in a few hours and I don’t want to fail. You go ahead and I’ll see you back at the dorm.”
I nodded and said goodbye. The wind fluttered my hair, as soon as I stepped outsi
de. My feet dragged against the cold ground. I looked up at the sky and suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu. A few months back, I had been walking to the library by myself, my face tilted up toward the sky and the air cool against my skin. I closed my eyes and felt a pang of homesickness. It had been two months since I boarded the plane after deciding to go to New Zealand. The homeland of my father, whoever he was.
I wondered what my mother was doing right now. As soon as the thought flashed through my mind, I grabbed my phone out of my jeans pocket and speed-dialed her number. Her phone rang a few times before she answered.
“Hello?” she said.
“Hey mom, it’s me. Tina.”
“Hey doll. How have you been? I haven’t heard from you in ages. Is everything all right there?” my mom asked.
“Sure,” I said, smiling as I pressed the phone closer to my ear. “Everything’s great. I’ve just been so busy lately that I couldn’t find the time to call you back.”
“Is that so? I was wondering whether I should call you or wait up a bit. Good thing I waited. How are your studies going so far?”
“Pretty good,” I said. “I’m enjoying my major now.”
“Food and nutrition, right?”
“Yep,” I said.
“Well, if you’re happy with how things are going, then I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks mom.”
We talked for a bit until I reached the field. I stared out over the wide green space, loving the smell of it as my gaze lifted and met a pair of hazel eyes.
***
“I’ve gotta go mom,” I said and hung up.
I pushed my mobile phone back into my pocket before Wiremu reached me. He was in his rugby gear today. His muscles flexed under the thin material of his jersey, his bulging thighs moving under his tight shorts. He looked more incredible and handsome than ever.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hey, yourself,” he responded.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, tucking a strand of blond hair behind my ear.
After days of avoiding him, it felt strange to be standing in front of Wiremu again, just talking. It felt even stranger when he reached out to me and touched the side of my face.