Against All Odds

by Alexia Vella Deguara

  “Oh they are my favourite,” I gushed

  “They are beautiful and smell so nice.”

  Tyler opened the door and went out of the

  car.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Give me a second,” he said walking towards the villa.

  He went near the gate and cut a rose. Then he came back and sat down on his seat.

  “Here for you,” he said as he gave me the rose. I took it and blushed as my fingers brushed his.

  “Ty, I... thanks,” I said speechless “But you shouldn't have. I mean, this is not your house anymore is it?”

  “No, my father sold it a few years ago but don't worry it doesn’t look inhabited. You know Cas... I'm saving money. Maybe one day I'll manage to re-buy this house and when I get married I'll come and live here again. I would like my children to grow up here,” he said looking at the house.

  I stared at him lost in thought. How I wished I could be that lucky woman who marries him and gives him children.

  “Well actually it's going to take a long time to make this happen, since I don't have either of them. Not enough money and not even a girlfriend,” he laughed and then looked at me.

  “And Ms Leighton?” I dared ask. "She would probably be happy to live here.”

  His face turned serious.

  “Ms Leighton? I wouldn't marry her if she was the last woman on earth. How can I make you understand that there isn't anything between her and me. I told you earlier too, when you tried to escape from me.”

  I blushed and turned to look out of the window. Why the hell did I mention Ms Leighton? Now I had reminded him about my act of jealousy.

  “Mm... Why don't we continue with our drive,” I said with fake brightness, “I'm anxious to arrive at our destination,” I said trying to change subject.

  I wasn't looking at him but I could feel his gaze on me and a second later I felt his hand grabbing mine. I felt a spark of electricity run from my hand to my shoulder.

  “Why were you crying before? Did it cause you so much pain knowing she was there in my room?” He asked.

  Oh my God. This wasn’t truly happening. I felt myself tense. What could I say? Because I love you Tyler, because I want to be more than just a friend to you? When I didn't reply, his grip tightened on my hand and he leaned nearer. I trembled as I felt him so close to me.

  “Cassy look at me!” He ordered in a steady voice. I shook my head.

  “I can't... Sir please, can we just go? Please,” I pleaded. He remained silent for a second, his hand still holding mine. He was looking intently at my face probably seeing my colour intensifying.

  “OK..,” he said reluctantly moving back from me. “But I won't give up. Sooner or later you’ll have to tell me.”

  He let go of my hand and started to drive again. We remained silent until we finally reached our destination.

  “We arrived,” he said, turning off the engine. He went out and came to my side opening the door. I stepped outside and looked around me, gasping. It was the most beautiful place I had ever seen . We were in front of a rocky beach, the warm sea lapping at the shore, the white rocks looking pearly in the sun. It was simply breath taking.

  “What do you think Cassidy?” he asked.

  “Oh Ty... This is beautiful,” I said amazed.

  Tyler smiled at me. “I knew you’d like it, but wait... The best is yet to come. Let's go, we need to walk a bit to arrive to my secret place.”

  I looked at him curiously.

  “Secret place?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he said and then he winked.

  I blushed, and was glad of the soft breeze cooling me down. I felt my hair flowing, and I shivered pleasantly. It was a nice sensation. I was feeling free, and more alive than ever. A few hours before I had nearly died and now I was here enjoying life, in the company of my forbidden love.

  I felt his gaze on me and I turned to face him. His eyes were bluer than ever. I could stay hours looking at him, I thought.

  “So are you coming?” He asked breaking the spell.

  “Yes.“ I said following him.

  I walked slowly beside him, our hands continuously brushing until I felt his warm hand enclosing mine. My heart started beating fast as I acknowledged the contact, he was holding my hand. I didn't dare look at him. I felt so agitated.

  “The path is rough, be careful not to fall,” he said as if this explained why he was holding my hand. We kept walking until we arrived near the edge.

  “Cas we have to go down there,” he said showing me two huge rocks that stood just below us. I looked terrified at him. I was afraid of heights.

  “What is it? Don’t you want to go down?”

  He asked, his face suddenly hurt.

  “No no I do want to” I said reassuringly.

  “It’s just that I suffer from vertigo,” I explained as I closed my eyes to omit the height below us.

  For a moment he looked worried and remained silent as if he was thinking hard. Then his face lit and he looked at me and said, “Listen Cassy, I just want you to hug me as tight as you can and close your eyes.”

  I looked at him astonished...

  “What are you thinking naughty head?” He was laughing now. “I just want to take you down there. If you put your arms round my neck and close your eyes I’ll be able to carry you and you won't suffer vertigo. ”

  Oh if he only knew how mistaken he was. I would suffer more than vertigo if I had to be this near to his face with my eyes closed. How could he ask that of me? Just touching him by mistake caused me to start shivering all over. I couldn’t imagine how my body would respond to having his arms around me.

  “I don't know..,” I said weakly.

  He moved closer to me and bent down, looking at me straight in the eyes. “Please trust me Cassy. I promise you it will be worth all the effort.”

  Of course I trusted him. How could I not when he was looking at me that way? I just nodded as I watched him swing the bag over his shoulder so that both his hands were free. I closed my eyes awaiting his touch. I felt his chest against my face, then I felt his hands grabbing my arms softly and positioning them around his neck. I closed my hands together as tight as I could. Then I felt his arm reaching down wrapping around my waist and pulling me into him nearly crushing me against his muscles. Oh my God this was too much for me to bear. I felt my body awaken. I had never felt this kind of desire before. His powerful body, the hardness of his muscles, all of this made me ache for him. I was trembling. I had to calm down before he feels this sexual tension that had been building in me. I felt him lifting me and go down. When we touched the ground I opened my eyes. Bad timing I saw him looking into my eyes and I froze. We were very near. I felt my heart reaching maximum speed. He kept glancing at my lips. I looked at his. Oh please kiss me. I pleaded. I hoped. I begged. I needed to feel his lips on mine. I needed to burst out all the feelings that had been accumulating in the past days. Kiss me...

  CHAPTER 15

  But he didn't. At least not where I had wished. He kissed my forehead. It was pleasant but not as much as it would have been on my lips. I looked at him disappointed. I know he knew how I felt but for some reason he kept pulling back . He just caressed my face and then let me go.

  “Why don't you take a look at your left?” he said.

  Although I didn't really care about the place at the moment I did as he said. I turned around still disappointed but when I saw where I was all my disappointment disappeared.

  “Welcome to my secret place Cassy.”He said happily.

  I gasped in amazement,there was a cave full of corals and crystal-like lime stone; it was the most beautiful thing I ever saw.

  “Oh this,this is beautiful,it's amazing... Oh Ty.”

  “I told you it was worth it. I'm glad you like it,” he said smiling at me.

  “What a shame I didn't bring a camera with me,” I said with regret.

  Tyler smiled again and came near me.

  �
��Well you can do better than take a photo.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked looking at him with curiosity.

  “You can paint it,” he suggested.

  “Paint it? How? I didn't bring my equipment with me.”

  “Well I did.”

  He smiled when he saw my expression...

  “Ty...that's fantastic!” I exclaimed happily. He really thought about everything. I sat down on a rock and touched the sea water which was flowing in the cave...

  “Nature is really beautiful, especially when it is not contaminated by humans. How did you get to know about this place?”I asked looking at him.

  “Well I discovered it by chance. This was the place I came to every time I was sad and wanted to be on my own,far away from everyone,” he said as he sat down near me, I looked at his beautiful face, he looked so sad.

  “And this happened frequently?” I asked not knowing if I had done well.

  “Yes. Cassy I didn't have a nice childhood or better still it was nice until I was 10 years old,” he replied as he looked in front of him. He stared at the sea, lost in his thoughts. We remained in silence, I really wished to know what was passing through his mind. Why had he stopped, wasn't he going to tell me why his childhood hadn't been happy? I cleared my throat and I broke the silence.

  “Then what happened?” I asked hoping this encouraged him to open up to me. He didn't turn to face me but I could feel pain in his eyes. He swallowed and..

  “My mother died,” he said in weak broken voice.

  My eyes widened in shock and my breath caught in my throat. My God I felt so bad. Maybe I shouldn't have insisted to know.“Oh Tyler. I'm sorry,” I said as I touched his arm.

  “Thanks,”he murmured.

  Another pause. Maybe I should leave it if it makes him so sad. But he seemed he wanted to talk. So I continued...

  “Was she sick?” I asked gently.

  “No Cassy,” he said still gazing at the sea.

  “Then how did she die?”

  He turned his gaze on me now. He had tears in his eyes. He was suffering ,he grabbed my hand and pressed it.

  “She drowned.”he said in a whisper.

  For a moment I stood there looking at him in disbelief. I wanted to talk but I couldn't. I felt a shiver running down my spine.

  “Oh my God... Oh Ty...I...,” I couldn't continue, my hand rose to my face to cover my startled mouth.

  “Now you know what I felt this morning when I thought you were going to drown. You know,I was there when it happened. My mum was a good swimmer but this didn't help her. We were on holiday. I was playing with my brother on the beach. He was only 2 years old at that time. She was in the water. I don't know what happened to her,probably a cramp or something. The sea was rough and the waves kept pushing her far out. She began to scream. She tried to swim back but she couldn't. I stood there in shock screaming and crying. There was no one on the beach just us, it was still early in the morning. Finally a man heard my screams and tried to save her but it was too late she was already dead."

  Tears were rolling down his face. I felt so sorry for him. I wished I could comfort him. I wished I could take away his pain. His grip on my hand tightened. I knew how much this was costing him. He seemed so proud and arrogant the first time I saw him but probably it was just a mask. Now I could see a different him, the real one whom I'm loving even more...

  “Cas,I froze. " he continued with a broken voice."I just stood there without doing nothing. I hate myself for that!”

  “You were just a child Ty,you couldn't save her,” I said trying to comfort him.

  "But at least I should have tried,” he insisted.

  “You would have died as well. Your mother wouldn't have wanted that for sure.” How much I hated to see him like this.

  “This morning I revived everything. I felt the same fear. I was that child again,but this time I had to do something. I couldn't risk to lose another important person." He stopped for a moment probably realizing he had said more than he should have and I shivered. A few moments later he continued.

  "Cassy when I was in the water, I prayed. I asked her to help me. When I reached you,you looked dead. Your were so pale, my heart sank and I cried like when I was a boy. I had to save you no matter what. Oh Cassy."

  He grabbed my wrist and pulled me into his arms and hugged me tight. He buried his face in my neck and I put my arms around his neck and hugged him back. He was crying.

  “Cassidy, I'm sorry I broke down in front of you. This should have been a nice afternoon. I-”

  “Hush Ty, please don't apologize, I'm happy you opened up to me,” I said honestly. It made me feel special and happy that he trusted me. He had shared his pain and sorrow with me. I felt a connection with him. Not even a kiss would have bonded us this much.

  “I've been keeping everything inside for so long. I never really came to terms with my mother's death,until today. When I saved you, something changed. It was as if I've taken a burden off my shoulders. Initially I blamed myself for her death, I was always angry, I became a difficult kid. My father tried to help me but I never let him, no one could help me. But then things changed when my father took the blame on himself, that helped me in a way. I had stopped hating myself and begin to hate him instead. In fact it was his fault, that day he should have been with us. At the last minute he had called mum telling her he wasn't coming because he had an important meeting. As usual work always came before us. If he was there with us,maybe she would still be alive today.”

  I pulled away a little so that I could look into his eyes.

  “You're wrong Tyler, you shouldn't think about it that way. Every person has it's destiny,everyone has to die. Unfortunately that was your mum's moment, probably she would have died just the same if he was present. Maybe he could have gone to bring something from the car and he wouldn't have been able to save her just the same. It had to be that way,so stop it. Stop blaming yourself or your father,” I said in a steady scolding voice. He stared at me astonished. Maybe I have been too harsh.

  “I didn't want to sound insensitive, it's just that you’re killing yourself for something no one had control on. Your mother wouldn't be happy to see you like this,” I continued.

  “I know she loved me very much but I had other reasons to hate him.”

  “Like what?.”

  “He remarried and for that I can never forgive him. He got married to a woman who didn't care about us but just about his money. My brother was cared for by nannies,he doesn't know what it means to have the love of a mother,at least I spent 10 beautiful years with her which I treasure . She made me who I am now,” he said, there was anger in his eyes, although years had passed I could see that his wounds were still open.

  “After how long did he re-marry?”

  “After 4 years, I was 14. I lived with them till I was 18 but our relationship was very bad if not totally non existent. For my 18th birthday he gave me that car, I didn't want it but he kept insisting to give it to me,thinking this will amend everything. I took it because I needed it to get away..I packed my things and left during the night. I found a part time job and went to college where I managed to study thanks to scholarships. I worked hard until I became a teacher,I did all of this on my own."

  He was still hugging me,I tried to remain calm but it wasn't easy especially with his fingers caressing my back.

  “And how is the situation with your father now?” I asked trying to ignore the pleasant sensations I was experiencing due to his closeness.

  “There is no contact. The last time I saw him was before I left home,7 years ago,” he said with a sad look in his eyes.