Ariana by Emma Nichols

Author:Emma Nichols [Nichols, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781983251061
Publisher: Britain's Next Bestseller
Published: 2018-07-11T16:00:00+00:00

11.

Nikki stood at the top of the track leading down to the beach. She stared through glassy eyes at the moon shimmering on the water, the dark sky littered with tiny stars, trying to swallow back the anger and frustration that seemed to rise like waves, stirring and muddying her mind. At that moment, the few seconds of the kiss, she had never experienced such clarity, such purity. And then, in the next, the walls had collapsed, and here she stood, more wounded than she dared to admit.

Every pace felt laboured, her foot treading the dirt track cautiously and with a weight more substantial than the mass of her body, her stride shorter and purposeless. She paused at the bottom of the path, collected the fishing gear and trudged her way across the sand.

Manos studied the despondent form approaching. He didn’t need to ask what had happened, Nikki would tell him in her own time. His eyes drawn to the light glow above the rose garden, he nodded, as if he understood something that could only pass between those with utmost faith. He sipped at the clear liquid in his glass, leaned back and rested his eyes, enjoying the relative silence and the low hum of the night insects.

‘Pops!’ Nikki muttered, in acknowledgement, as she passed by the lounger and dropped her gear at the entrance to the bar.

‘Aye,’ he replied.

Nikki turned back to the beach and walked out to the water’s edge. She stripped to her bikini, strode into the sea, and dived as the water reached her knees.

Manos squinted to get his bearings, sipped, swallowed, and closed his eyes again, his ears tuning into the new sound accompanying the light ripple of the waves.

Nikki’s arms thrashed, her legs thrashed, and her head stayed under the water until her lungs reached bursting point. She thrust her head out of the sea, gasped for air and spluttered at the intensely salty taste caught in her throat. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, but most of all she wanted to be held, comforted and loved. Diving back under the water, the burning in her eyes exacerbated by the salty liquid, she pulled herself down, as low as she could go.

Manos gazed out at Nikki’s cry for help, his heart aching with his inability to alleviate her pain. He had seen Nikki like this before, just the once and it had broken his heart then too. He sipped at his drink, sighed and sucked through his teeth, his faith tested.

Nikki broke through the surface of the water, drew in a deep breath and started to swim. She would swim out until her arms and legs burned. Only then would she turn around and make her way back to the shore. She had done it before, she could do it again, and in that time, the hour or more it would take, she would let go of the past. She would help Ariana to renovate the house, and sell because she had promised - and maybe she could raise the funds to buy - but nothing more.

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