"Have you even packed?" Jai asked me, in frustration.

We were getting ready to go to Goa, already. Things were going really fast; the last thing I was thinking about was going on the honeymoon. That, and what our parents had said really struck me, and I couldn't help but let my mind wander back to Aman.

They confessed that the honeymoon was Aman's surprise that he had planned before the wedding.

He had wanted to go to Goa with me right after the wedding, to take me to the beaches and parties.

Tears brimmed my eyes as I put the next item of clothing in my luggage. Everything was blurry, even Jai, who was peering down at me, vexed.

"Why the hell are you crying?" he asked. "You wanted to go on this honeymoon, and we are."

I sniffled.

"I didn't offer to go because I wanted to," I said as I continued to put in random items of clothing in; I wasn't paying attention because of all the tears blocking my vision.

Suddenly, a hand shot out and tore the saree I was going to put in, away. Looking up in disbelief, I blinked away the tears to focus on Jai's face.

He sighed in irritation and sat down on the bed, throwing the saree dismissively behind his shoulder.

"Is it about what they said?" he asked, snapping his eyes up at me from the ground.

His honey brown eyes seemed to pierce through my soul, causing me to squirm under his scrutinising gaze.

"Um.." I trailed off, but I knew he understood why. "It's nothing."

I reached out to grab my saree that that he so carelessly threw on the bed, when he grabbed my arm, stopping me.

His hold was gentle but it was the suddenness of it that scared me.

I squirmed in his grip, and tried to twist my arm free.

"Let me go!"

"Just let me talk, woman." His tone said he meant business and I stopped struggling to stare down at him, frustrated.

Rolling his eyes, he let go of my hand to run it through his silky chocolate hair, accompanied by an agitated sigh.

"Look," he started, not looking at me, "don't think of this honeymoon as a new beginning for us as husband and wife. I won't ever see you as more than a woman that I was forced to marry."

I frowned and furrowed my eyebrows. I didn't understand why he was suddenly saying all this to me.

My eyes followed him as he pushed himself off the bed. He adjusted his shirt before he walked over to the door with his bag.

As he went to leave, he turned to look at me over his shoulder.

"Imagine you're on a holiday by yourself; I'm not gonna be there with you half the time, so you don't have to worry about us seeing each other."

He opened the door and left, leaving me standing there in the now empty and silent room.

***

"Do you want to come with me to the beach?" Jai asked, almost forcing the words out.

It was the exact opposite of what he had told me the day we were leaving.

Upon looking at his face, my small bout of happiness deflated. He had a blank, uninterested expression on his face, his eyes looking as though he hoped I would say no.

I sighed, feeling a little bit slighted, sitting on the bed with a big blanket around my shivering self.

It was clear then that he only said that out of formalities.

He did say we wouldn't see each other...maybe he wants to be alone.

So I said, "Um..no, it's okay. You can go."

His eyes lit up with joy for a split second before it left as quickly as it appeared. Masking his expression again with that familiar blank expression, he nodded, before closing the door behind him as he left.

If he...wants to do things by himself, then I can do things by myself too!

Looking around, it seemed as if the only thing I could do by myself here, was watch TV. I turned it on, and suddenly a Spanish show came on.

I sighed as my mind drifted, thinking about other things. Does Jai hate me that much? Am I going to be here in this room all week, watching TV?

I tried to give the show a chance, not expecting much, but, surprisingly, it was interesting.

It was about a doctor falling in love with his patient, and how their forbidden love was conquering all.

It was addicting and I was watching with my mouth and eyes wide open, anticipating the next scene, when I heard the noise of a door opening.

The creak of the door was what caught my attention; sudden flashes of what had happened, hit me, causing my wide eyes to snap over to the door, my heart racing and my palms sweating.

I tried to scream, to say or do something, but it was as if I was frozen. The only thing I could do, was lick my dry lips.

My breathing increased as my body shivered in fear; tears brimming.

No..no, please Jesus! Please God! Not again, I can't do this, please!?

And that's when Jai strode in, closing the door, holding a small box.

As soon as my eyes landed on him, my tense body relaxed; the beads of perspiration slowly dried up as my breathing and heart beat slowed back down to normal.

Thank you God.

Sighing in relief, I looked away, my jaw clenched. I was mad at him, in general. I didn't like him of course, and leaving me here alone wasn't right, whether he liked me or not. But at the same time, I didn't want him to find out why I was so scared and tense.

"Hey."

I ignored him, though I was internally relieved it was him, and not anyone else.

"Karishma," he said, trying to get my attention.

He nudged me, before placing the box in front of my face.

Looking up, I saw him raise a brow at me, his face stoic.

"You eat anything?"

I shook my head and he only hummed in acknowledgment, placing the box on my lap.

"Then here, eat."

Looking down at it, I sighed and placed the box next to me, on the bed.

"I'm not hungry."

There was a pause, causing me to look away from the TV and towards Jai, who stood there, his eyes expressing curiosity. His eyebrows had furrowed, causing a wrinkle to appear where his brows met.

"You're not hungry?" he repeated almost in disbelief. He looked around with wide arms, gesturing at the room. "You haven't even moved from this room to grab anything to eat, have you?"

When I didn't say anything, Jai sighed, frustratedly running a hand through his hair.

"Why are you girls so bloody difficult?" he muttered, annoyed.

I gasped, taking offence in his words as I stared at him, eyes wide. He raised an eyebrow and walked closer to me.

"What? You disagree?"

Trying not to inch towards the back of the bed, I managed to stay still on the bed as I spoke, "Not all girls are difficult."

He scoffed. "Alright, then, fine. But you are."

"I'm not difficult," I stated, with a disbelieving look aimed at Jai, who rolled his eyes.

"Then for god's sake, eat."  He shot me a miffed look as he shook his head, walking towards the bathroom. "Do I have to tell you everything?" he muttered angrily to himself.

I looked down at the box as he slammed the bathroom door; my mood deflated at his words, as usual..he always found a way to hurt me.

Sighing, I picked it up warily and opened the lid of the box. It was a chicken salad, and with the fork, I began poking it before shoving it in my mouth, chewing on it distastefully.

I appreciated the fact that he got me something to eat, but the fact that he didn't want me to go out or wanted to be seen with me, hurt.

Finishing the chicken salad with a couple of bites, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up.

Walking over to the bathroom door, I knocked on it gently.

"Jai?"

"What?" His voice was rough as I heard some ruffling of clothes.

"I'm going outside," I told him, so he wouldn't worry about me if he came out and saw that I wasn't in here.

"Alright." His tone was almost dismissive, as if he didn't care.

He doesn't care, though.

Shaking my head away of such thoughts, I walked away as soon as I heard the shower head turn on.

***

"Yum," I mumbled to myself with a huge smile, as I popped a strawberry in my mouth from the free fruit skewer I had gotten.

I was walking along the back of the beach, watching everyone tanning and relaxing with each other.

There were families, couples and even tourists just relaxing and playing music together.

I sighed as soon as my eyes met with an Indian couple, holding hands and kissing. I didn't like public display of affection, but that moment reminded me of Aman.

And what could have been.

My heart was heavy as I continued walking, my eyes on the waves of the beach, not looking straight ahead. That proved to be a not-so-smart idea, as I bumped straight into someone.

"What the fu—"

"I'm so sorry!" I cut him off, frantically, as I nearly stabbed him with my fruit skewer.

I was not only flustered, but embarrassed as I looked up to see a tourist looking right back at me. He had bleached blond hair and tanned skin - the typical image of a white man that I had.

"I'm sorry, sir, I really didn't mean to bump into you."

"Sir?" he exclaimed, incredulously, his green eyes wide as saucers.

I hesitated in nodding at his shocked expression. Instead, I shot him a half-smile.

"Okay?" he said, dragging out the syllable. "Uh, well, lemme just clear up that I'm not your boss or anything. So yeah, no need to call me sir."

I nodded. The man had a strong accent — I wasn't exactly sure what it was but it was really thick.

Luckily, I was able to understand him but it felt awkward responding. Not knowing what else to do, I just stared up at the foreigner, apologetically.

"I'm really sorry," I repeated, and he smiled.

He crossed his arms and looked me up and down, showing off his slightly built arms. His gaze made me beyond uncomfortable.

I quickly bowed as an apology and my feet turned to walk away, when he said something, stopping me in my tracks.

"If you're really sorry, then why don't you come join me and my friends?" he said, a hopeful look brightening his already bright cobalt eyes.

I blinked at his sudden, abrupt request. "Uh, that's a bit—"

"You don't have anything to do or anyone waiting for you, right?"

Looking away and at the ground, I shook my head with a sigh. "I don't but—"

He chuckled, cutting me off. "Don't worry about it. I was just asking 'cos you looked a bit lonely."

He was watching me?

My eyes widened and I took a step back from him. His face immediately flushed a dark pink as he waved both his hands in front of him.

"Oh god," he started, his lips curled back into a frown. "Don't think of me as a stalker or anything. I was just walking and saw you from quite a fair bit away and then...yeah, you bumped into me all of a sudden."

"Oh."

"So, what do you say?" he asked, shoving his hands into the pockets of his board shorts.

I let out a short laugh that expressed hesitance. W-what if...something like that happens again?

I shook my hands in front of me, frantically, as I refused politely. "Oh, no, it's okay! I've really got to get back–"

"We're not gonna hurt you or anything," he said, his tone expressing surprise. "This is a way for you to repay me, you know — by having a good time with us, in public," he emphasised, winking at me.

My head seemed to have a mind of its own as I found myself nodding gently. I was still hesitant; he and his friends could be murderers for all I knew.

But at the same time, we were in public. If they offer to take me somewhere far away then start panicking!

Following the guy in front of me, he led me to his friends who were sitting in a circle, listening to another guy play guitar.

There were other people on the beach that had turned to listen. Immediately, as I sat down next to the guy, I felt comfortable.

They all shot me welcoming smiles, and he immediately introduced me to his friends.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce you to myself," he said with a chuckle, running a hand through his head-full of wavy blond hair.

Sticking out his other hand that wasn't so occupied with his hair, he said, "My name's Gavin. It's nice to meet ya," he paused, then added jokingly with a huge smile, "even though you did nearly stab me to death with that skewer."

I smiled sheepishly and apologised again as I shook his hand.

"My name's Karishma, and I really am sorry about that."

He grinned, the flames from the fire in the middle flickering in his emerald eyes.

"It's alright. I'm just messing with ya."

We turned to listen to his friend playing guitar; the music he played was so soothing and I couldn't help but let a huge smile over-take my face.

From my peripheral vision, I could see Gavin leaning over to me.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

I nodded my head, still in awe at his melodic guitar skills.

"It really is."

"Where you from, by the way?" he asked me, finally turning his head to look at me.

I leaned back as subtly as I could and smiled. "I'm from Kerala."

He 'ah'ed as he leaned back too. "Kerala...I know the state, but I've never been."

Suddenly excited, I smiled up at a grinning Gavin.

"You should come, sometime. We'd love to have you and your friends visit. I'd be able to show you around."

"Well, hell, I'd love to!" he exclaimed. "But," I tilted my head as he continued grinning, his green eyes sparkling, "only if you come to Australia with me and my friends so we can show you around our place as well."

My eyes widened. "So, you're Australian?"

The accent now made sense. Not that I knew what it was to begin with.

"Aye, that I am," he said as he grinned boyishly.

A laugh left my mouth unintentionally, causing me to clear my throat dismissively.

"Well, uhm, that's nice," I said, softly.

We both shared a gentle smile before turning our attention towards the music once again. It was nice to meet an international friend when things were beginning to get lonely.

***

"Karishma?"

I froze at the door and looked up to see Jai, leaning against the wall near the bed.

"Care to explain where you were?" he said, his tone or face giving nothing away.

"I told you I was going out."

"But you didn't tell me you were going to be this late."

I was confused. "Why does that matter, Jai?"

He raised an eyebrow at me, as he said skeptically, "Are you kidding me? We're in a place we don't know and you come back at twelve in the morning; course I'm gonna worry!"

I flinched and instinctively took a step back in shock.

"You don't have to yell at me," I snapped.

He stood up and stared at me in pure and utter fury.

"Okay, look here woman. If anything happens to you then I'm the one blamed. And I don't want your death or kidnapping or whatever, hanging over me, alright?"

I blinked back tears as he pushed himself off the wall and walked towards the bed.

"Stop treating me like a child!" I yelled, immediately slapping my hand over my mouth as I saw Jai freeze.

He slowly turned back and gave me a deadly stare that could murder all the animals in the jungle.

"Then, stop acting like one," he said through gritted teeth.

With that, he climbed into bed and turned off the lights, leaving me to stand there in the darkness.

"Why are you so rude?!" I said angrily to myself more than anything.

He sat up from the bed as quick as lightening, in an attempt to scare me so I would stop talking.

Which worked.

I let out a squeal and covered my mouth. Looking at him, I saw him glaring at me with hatred.

"Either sleep, or go talk to someone who would gladly listen to your bullshit," he spat.

"Maybe you should take your own advice," I muttered under my breath as I got into bed.

Frowning, I turned away from him, with him doing the same.