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RAYMOND
The loud sounds of the birds chirping awoke me, and I opened my eyes with a start. It felt elating. But it was just the usual sounds of the beach. The storm had let up, and the morning sun was slowly stealing its way beneath my dark curtains to the rest of the sitting room. A sharp slice of sunlight fell across Sophie's face and it framed it beautifully, peaceful even while asleep. Her lashes thick and full, fluttered a bit as she went through the motion of sleep. I dragged my eyes away from her face with difficulty and stood up with a long stretch as I worked out the kinks in my neck.
We'd both fallen asleep on the sofa while talking late into the night as the storm circled us. The candles I'd lit the night before had died out on the stand, and the chill of the storm had been replaced by warm weather. It was hard to believe that we just experienced a tropical storm.
My plan was to get a light breakfast ready before Sophie woke up, because I remembered that we did not eat anything before falling asleep last night. But to my dismay, I discovered that I was out of eggs and bread. No yogurt or oatmeal either. Maybe I could jet to the store before she woke up.
I was almost out the door when she opened her eyes and looked around her in confusion. I figured she was trying to remember where she was.
"I see you're awake already," I said with a smile. Her eyes fell on mine, and a deep shock of awareness ran through me as the memories of her soft lips on mine slammed into my mind in vivid force.
"Coffee or Tea, choose your poison," I said.
"Coffee, please," she replied shyly.
I quickly set a jug of coffee, reheating it, and pouring some in a cup for both of us.
"Would you wait here a bit longer? I want to quickly get some groceries at the store so I can make you the breakfast you deserve."
"Oh," she responded. "Alright. I'll freshen up while you're gone."
I made a quick dash for the local store, pausing briefly on any interesting product long enough to add it to my cart. Fruits, nuts, junks, a little bit of everything here and there. Before long, my cart was full, and as I wheeled it to the checkout counter, my eyes fell on today’s issue of The Truth newspaper.
It took a few minutes to sink in, but when it eventually did, I erupted in a rage of murderous fury. The magazine could have easily been mistaken for a random daily paper until you looked closer and saw the picture displayed boldly as a headline picture. It was Sophie and I locked in a passionate kiss. I cringed inwardly as I tried to imagine how the tabloids got this picture. They must have risked the dangerous storm and used a high resolution camera to take such a picture.
I wanted badly to get hold of one of these journalists and punch a hole through their gut. It was bad enough whenever those rags wrote some stupid piece linking me to a few high profile actresses and supermodels. These stories were highly exaggerated, but at least they hurt no one. Not this one!
I ran my hands through my hair as I tried to imagine the way I would break the news to Sophie without feeling like a total jerk. After all, this happened because of me. I hated these sleazy journalists for putting me in this position, all just for sensational news.
I paid for the groceries and crunched the paper tightly as I held on to the rage threatening to split through my skull. Not only were they printing lies, but they had breached my privacy. All I needed was a name, and if I dug deep enough, I would find it. I walked out of the store towards my car in long, hurried strides.
How will Sophie react to this?
I arrived home in record time, but I couldn't find Sophie immediately. I was about climbing the stairs when I saw her descending towards me with a pale look, her eyes frozen on her phone.
"What's wrong, Sophie?"
"The news, have you read it?!"
I sighed, long and hard.
“I’m sorry about this Sophie, they must have snuck a camera on us during the storm last night. Those bastards!” I fumed, searching her face to discover hurt, shock and disbelief.
“Can they really do this? I mean can’t we sue them or something?”
I gently took Sophie’s hands and guided her down the staircase as she stared blankly ahead.
“That would just be a waste of our time. It would only give them something to talk about." I countered in resignation.
"I can't believe this. This is terrible and low of them." She repeated, stirring out of her shock.
"Mmm," I agreed distractedly. She had raised her hands in obvious distress and unknowingly revealed more skin on her body. It was like her bellybutton was winking at me. The tank top she was wearing was not helping. Her soft skin was apparent on her chest. My hormones were having a field day pulsing through me, adding heat to my chest, and threatening to chub up the space in my pants.
".... need to do something about this Raymond!!" She emphasized, and I realized shamefacedly that I had missed the first part of her sentence.
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite get that. Care to repeat?"
She looked at me, irritation now clouding her fine features.
