"We're here, June," Jasper shook my arms and I woke up from a short nap, rubbing my eyes and slightly flinching back when I felt him touching my arms. He smiled, "You feel better now?"

I nodded. Yesterday's tiredness had indeed completely vanished by now. I looked around, still slightly doubtful; this was the beach itself, alright. I guess that clears some doubts I have against him. There's still more to go before I completely trust him though.

We got out of the car and the warm sunlight danced against my skin as I looked all around, taking in the view of the new beach Jasper had brought me to. It was much more prettier, as if in the way its waves moved so smoothly and the slow but cool wind blowing at us.

Keeping my backpack down, I removed my jacket and shoes, and then folded up the ends of my leggings, ready for some actual fun by now - unlike my approach to this till today morning. I felt refreshed after finally coming out of the confines of my house and feeling the warmth of the outside environment.

I forced a smile on my face, remembering the days when dad and I used to come here literally every weekend - or sometimes, when dad is extra free, every evening - to splash in the cool waters for a few minutes. Dad used to cup some water in his hand, pretend to smile at me, and then throw it on my face all of a sudden. This was his idea of a 'joke', but I enjoyed it nonetheless, especially when I ran back after him to splash him back and ended up being carried on the back by dad. It hurt me to think that our last beach trip happened years ago, that is, approximately on my twelfth birthday. Three years since I visited this place...three years since dad got time to spend with me. And now that I'm back here again, the memories are hitting one by one in a flow of nostalgia, but it's just that I'm not with the person I used to accompany here before. I wanted him here too, my dad. I wanted those old days back, when I felt the love of both my parents through my dad.

"I and dad used to visit this place before, y'know?" I asked suddenly, still lost in thoughts and not realizing that I was asking that to Jasper out loud, "We spent hours here on some days. It was so fun. Those were the last few times when dad found time for me... Do you know how that feels, Jasper?"

It's only after that question that I regained my subconsciousness and realised what I'd said to him just now. I regretted it in that instant, understanding how stupid I was - he doesn't even have his parents anymore! And what did I ask? 'Do you know how that feels?'....
Obviously not, you stupid airhead!

"I don't," he responded with a sympathetic smile, "but I understand how you feel. I know how hard it is to stay away from your loved one, especially for this long, and to not spend time with him even when he does come home. I know how hard it is to be living alone, even when you do have parents. Do you hate him for that, June?"

"No! Of course not," I said quickly, "I love him and miss him a lot, that's all. I wish that he spent more time with me, that he understood me better as his daughter and..."

That I wished I had my mom too.

I hesitated in saying that aloud, though. Something held me back. Maybe it's not time to tell Jasper everything in my mind.

"He definitely understands you a lot, but he just can't express it to you well. He loves you and misses you as much as you do, I assure you that," he said, "But I also get that he's not making time for you nowadays. If you're hesitant to ask this to him, should I talk to him for you?"

I paused. That seems like a good idea, actually. After all this time of speaking less with dad, I've grown to be kind of awkward when discussing about my problems with him or opening up about what I feel. It's also a kind of teenage thing; you choose to tell your secrets and problems to people your age - that is, your friends - than adults - which means, parents and teachers. But Jasper can definitely handle it well due to his way with words and how he can convince anyone easily. Also, I'm sure he does understand me well, considering that he has also lost his family. He must know what a person with a dad who rarely spends time with her, must feel like.

But somehow, I also felt that this wasn't the time for it, taking into regard how dad has just gone for his important business trip and might already be in a lot of stress. I don't want to further add to his stress by telling him this. Maybe I'll just open up to him after he returns, or ask Jasper to tell him on my behalf. Besides, dad works so hard and is constantly away only for me, so that I can be well educated and get a good job years later. I should be grateful to him instead of complaining. He's doing everything for me; I'm honestly not even feeling half of the pain that dad feels, honestly. He has to work tirelessly, go around the world all the time and keep earning a lot - all for me and my future. While I'm here, a stupid fool, complaining that I'm not getting 'enough time' with him - what a joke.

So I smiled and shook my head, "It's okay, you don't have to do that. Thank you for asking, though. I may need your help sometime soon...but now's not the time."

He nodded, "Alright. I'm glad that you understand your father's work and stress, but in return for that understanding, you deserve your lost time with him."

Hearing his words, I was comforted a lot - yet again. Our school counselor, when I told her my problems and my distance with dad nowadays, just told me this one dialogue that was enough for to me guess what others thought about me.

'June, I feel bad for you as your counselor and as a person. But you should understand that there are people who have lost their whole families, the house they are sheltered by, everything. The way you complain makes you seem greedy because you've got everything to prosper in life and is still complaining about missing your dad or mom. I'm sorry, young lady, but you've got to adjust with life and be happy with what you've got. Others don't even have as much as you do. Sacrifice a bit, adjust a bit."

In short, I'm 'rich, prosperous and completely perfect', so I'm not supposed to have teenage problems and feelings like others do. I'm supposed to sympathize with those who have lost more than I have and not feel unhappy about having lost my mom or being away from my dad - all because I'm 'privileged', unlike many others...

Like, come on? It's my dad who's privileged, famous and rich, not me. I'm enjoying all that only because I'm his daughter, but as soon as I grow up, I'd have to find my own career and life to settle down, not depend upon my dad's wealth - at least, that's what I as well as my dad think like. It's not illegal for privileged teenagers to have feelings, emotions and problems. And by problems, I don't mean stupid rich-kid problems that are seen everywhere like 'Oh no! My air conditioner isn't cooling properly' or 'Damn, I really want to get that iPhone 13 Pro Max so bad. Why can't dad buy it for me? Is he that poor?'.

I mean actual problems, which is just that no one's life is perfect and everyone has some problem or the other, either physical, financial, emotional, or others. Mine is the fact that though I've all the privileges to be happy with, all the riches to prosper by and all the respect that I get because of my dad, I miss the thing in my life that everyone needs most - Love and care. I've experienced neither my mom's nor my dad's love and care properly, and to add to it, I don't have a sibling or at least someone like an aunt, uncle, or grandparents. All I've got as family is my dad, and I've to stay away from him too... To me, that doesn't sound like a 'perfect, luxurious life'. A house with less privileges but a lovely family to take care of me would've been way better. A family with dad, mom, maybe even a brother or sister. A family that treats me with actual love and care instead of the fake respect that I get purely in the name of money and fame.

The only love I've ever had is from my two friends - now, three - and the only care I've gotten is from my bodyguards, who watch me wherever I go and jump in terror when someone strange approaches me. But that's physical care, not as if in caring about me otherwise, y'know? However, I have experienced both of these from another person in my life - but that person left my side right after I was old enough to fend for myself and not require a babysitter anymore. Though she was just my babysitter, she was almost like my mom sometimes. She was sweet, loving and protective of me, but this is the time that I need her the most; when I'm a teen. As a teen, I have more problems and stress than when I was younger and happier, when I was innocent and never heard of a thing called 'stress'. I also had dad with me most of the time back then, but now, I've literally no one. I'm alone, living a disappointing life with no particular achievement, desire or goal. I feel almost useless sometimes, and wonder if that's why life decided to take my mom from me. If my dad was never my dad in the first place, I'd be a literal no one...which is why I don't want a good name and status just in the name of money. On the other hand, those people who receive actual respect and name because of how good and charitable they are, are far more privileged and luxurious than me - at least, emotionally.

And to think that this same counselor called me for counseling along with some of my classmates, feeling like I'm hiding problems too, when in reality I just wanted to be alone and not tell anyone anything about what I'm stressed about, to not appear depressed, because that would make the people around me - my friends - worried too. I didn't want them to worry about me and ask what the matter was, so that's why I'd surrendered to her pleads and told her everything about myself. Then she proceeded to tell me how much privileged I am compared to others. Okay, I accept that, for god's sake! I'm fucking illegally rich, privileged and emotionless. Maybe she's right, in a way. Who knows?

Thinking about all this, Jasper's words were more than comforting to me; they were literally drops of rain in a dry, barren desert.

"You seem to be in deep thoughts," Jasper remarked, looking at me curiously. I shrugged, "Yeah, I was. I just wanted to say it again; thank you for understanding me, Jasper. I really -"

"Not this again," he groaned, rolling his eyes, "I thought we were over with all those 'thank you's?"

I chuckled, "Okay, we are. But it's just that I can't express enough to you, how grateful I am. I just..."

"Look, June. I understand you because I tried to put myself in your shoes and because I've experienced almost the same things as you have. You've lost your mom and is away from your dad; similarly, I've never even seen my parents. But both of our problems are incomparable because we are two different persons, and we can never know what each other feels like. So, yeah, don't thank me for understanding you because as people, we should all be able to understand each other well. Neither of our problems are 'greater' or 'smaller'."

...damn. I didn't expect that from him, either. How does he speak so well, almost like some sort of a speech? I'm kind of jealous, to be honest. He speaks like a motivational speaker sometimes, and that's the time I like him the most.

Not that like, but like, as a person. He's pretty annoying otherwise.

"Don't look at me like that - I feel like I'm a ghost."

That's when I shook my head and chuckled sheepishly, realizing that I'd been staring weirdly at him all along.

"S-sorry," I stuttered, "I was just dumbstruck at your long speech. How do you even do that?"

He smirked triumphantly, "It's called a skill, y'know."

I laughed at that. Well, now I was glad I came here. We really were getting along better than before, all thanks to that lie he said. He walked nearer to the water and I followed him, standing right beside him and sighing in relief. The cool wind brushed past my face and pushed back my loose hair, making me close my eyes in comfort. I was met again with the old memories of my time spent with dad here, but instead of relishing them like I'd done at first, I pushed them away with a promise to myself that someday, in the future, I'll spend all that time with dad that I'd missed in my childhood. I'll spend each day, each hour, each minute and each second that I lost, with my dad who works so hard just for me. I'll see the both of us laughing and smiling together as the warmth of the sun wraps us while the cool sea splashes against our legs. I smiled subconsciously, and genuinely this time.

As if on cue, Jasper looked at me and placed his lips into a gentle smile, gesturing me to follow him further into the water. Somehow, I felt like that would have been his reaction to what I just thought, as well.

I followed him further deep into the gentle waves, feeling the pouring of the flowing, warm water over my feet. Deja vu kept hitting me every second that I stood there as well as during everything I did, but I took it as a great feeling instead of being frustrated about the past and my memories here. This is, maybe, your first step into realisation, June.

Jasper bent down and cupped some water in his hands, holding them carefully so as to not let it pour down. He looked up at me and I smiled curiously, wondering what he was -

Suddenly, placing a mischievous grin onto his face, he splashed the water onto my face. I staggered back, gasping at the sudden move and then beginning to laugh.

"Hey!"

Still laughing like a maniac, I brushed back my wet hair from my eyes and prepared to splash it back on him. He quickly dodged it, but it did hit his shoulder before he moved. He laughed too and started to cup some water again.

Damn, I'm getting some intense deja vu right now, I thought as I began to prepare myself to run. The memories of dad running towards me, laughing, swam through my mind clearly when Jasper was doing the exact same thing now.

This time, I ducked quickly just like he did and ran towards the shore hurriedly, with him chasing me. I glanced back sometimes as I ran further from him, and I realized that the water had completely escaped his hands by then. But I'm still not letting him catch upto me - nope! I like this a lot, the running part. Now I'm actually relishing my old memories, and yes, I totally love it. I don't want this to end anytime soon.

But I didn't notice the small rock that had buried itself in sand in front of me. I tripped on it and fell forward on my stomach quite roughly, the smile on my face fading instantly. What a party-pooper! The damn thing just ruined my first few minutes of fun after so long, as if being the symbol of those obstructions and problems we face in life right when we're starting to enjoy what we have or get. Damn, now I understand why life is said to be unfair. It really is.

"Ow, shit!!" I cried out in pain as all the breath whooshed out of me in an instant. I could feel the stingy sensation on my palms and knees already, and my chest felt so tight right now as I laid down there, groaning and grumbling.

Jasper's footsteps were heard in a blur as he approached my side, then caught my arm and pulled me up while I quietly cried at the action. He stood me up straight, made me sit on the same rock I'd tripped on, then sat on one knee to examine my wounds. He checked my arms and face carefully, and for a short second our eyes crossed each other's. Fortunately, there were not much injuries except a small scratch on my left hand's palm, which had happened when it struck a small stone during the fall. But that wasn't the most painful one.

"You should be careful, June. This is a public place; if you don't look forward while running, you can easily crash into someone else or fall down," he taunted me, then asked, "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"Yeah, I feel like my left knee is stinging," I replied, rolling up my leggings till my knees and hissing as the cloth touched the skin over there. There was a wound, alright, and it was bleeding. He sighed at it, then stood up and pulled me up with him, "Don't worry about that, we'll use the first aid kit kept in the car."

I nodded and tried to walk, but the pain was too bad that I nearly staggered forward in pain, hadn't Jasper straightened me up right in time. It was clear that I couldn't walk properly, and I kept limping even after so much tries to walk without staggering.

Jasper caught my arm, wrapped it around his shoulder while his other arm stayed around my waist, and then began walking towards the car. I felt a sudden wave of chill through my back as I made contact with him, as he pulled me quite close to his chest to walk properly. Needing to see if he felt the same way, I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes, making sure to keep away my stare so that he wouldn't notice. However, he had a reaction that was completely different to mine; he seemed absolutely okay about holding me close. In fact, the immense look of concern in his eyes covered up everything else that he might have felt before. But why? Why does he always care so much? Right now, I just fell down; I didn't even hurt anywhere except my knee, so why would anyone take it so seriously? Even dad wouldn't pay much heed to such silly things.

I glanced away quickly. He's unpredictable; sometimes, he glances back right when I'm staring at him.

Upon reaching the car, he let go of me and sat me on the front passenger seat. He took the first aid kit from the trunk and slowly swabbed my knees with the cotton balls, making sure to not make it sudden and painful. It stung even more with each swab and my winces grew louder too.

"Ouchhh!" I yelled for the last time and caught my knees just as Jasper let go of it.

He looked at me, "It's getting better. But if you don't feel like walking, we can go home right now. How's that?"

No damn way.

Sure; at first, I wasn't the least bit interested.

But now, I am. I'm definitely interested. And you know why, too. Yes, I'm a bit egoistic to accept that I'd started to like Jasper better, but that doesn't mean that it isn't the truth - it is. The words he spoke, the emotions his eyes and his face expressed, his smile after he realised that I'm finally comfortable, everything felt genuine and heartfelt unlike what I felt when I first met him. It warmed my heart to know that someone was trying so hard to get me comfortable with him, when in other situations, people just barge into my personal space in the name of 'getting to know each other'. No, that's not getting to know each other - that's just plain disrespect of someone's boundaries. But this guy, even though his duty entirely included having to go against my privacy, tried so much to keep his limits while still making me comfortable and safe. I liked that a lot, even though the main thing here was still missing - trust. Like Jasper had said before, I'm more comfortable and familiar with him now, I agree with that, but there's still more days to go before I agree that I can trust him well too. And by trust, I don't mean that trusting him in the name of being a bodyguard and my dad's trusted employee; but rather, as a person to whom I can entrust my whole life into without the feeling of being at risk.

"No, I don't want to go home," I answered, "I think it's getting better."

"Are you sure?"

It's not like I broke my damn spine, Jasper.

I just fell down! It's not like no one ever falls down, at least once a while. He gets worried at the slightest things that happens to me and acts like it's the end of the world, and that's annoying sometimes. I'm not a kid anymore, neither am I so fragile as to start crying at the mere interaction of my body with the ground.

"I'm sure. Jasper, I don't think I broke my bones to go back home and rest," I rolled my eyes.

A glint of surprise passed through his eyes before he chuckled in amusement and nodded, probably wondering why I switched so fast from being grumpy and angry about the outing at one instant to being disappointed at going home by the next. Yes, even I'm aware about the fact that I change my mind so fast and I'm gullible too. But I'm not stupid; I can easily recognise between a fake person who's just lying and a genuine person who's trying to express his feelings so well. Jasper seems like the latter, for now, and even if he isn't, I don't care. He made me feel better after a long while and I just want to enjoy these moments, even if it lasts only for a few minutes.

He helped me stand up again and said, "Alright, your wish. But I still don't think that you should walk much. How about we have lunch then? We could walk afterwards, if you still want to."

It's only when he mentioned the word 'lunch' that I realised that my stomach had started to slightly grumble in hunger.

I nodded eagerly, "Sure!"

We walked over to a nearby restaurant that stood kind of tilted but still sturdy, like the tower of Pisa. I snapped a photo of it, then went inside and was met with the cooling of the air conditioner and aesthetic dim lights. There were vintage sort-of photos kept all around, adding to the beautiful atmosphere inside that was different from the beauty of the warm beach right outside. Only a few people were in by now, but that's because it wasn't exactly lunchtime yet and everyone were still outside. We had come right in time, just minutes before the restaurant gets crowded.

Sitting on one of the tables at the corner - I always loved the corner tables for some reason -, I sighed in relief at how cool and warm I felt at the same time. This could never reach as far as the aesthetics that Lucas' cafe held, but it was still nice.

Jasper turned to me after observing the surrounding like I'd been doing, "So, what'd you like to order, Miss?"

I grinned internally at what he used to call me earlier, when he first came to my house, "I'm pretty hungry, so anything's fine, mister."

He nodded and ordered something from the menu while I still scanned everywhere lazily, kind of wanting to sleep right inside that cool resturant but at the same time, being too hungry to do so. When it was brought, I saw that it was two bowls of chicken noodles sprinkled with cheese and two cups of coke. Immediately, my stomach growled in hunger, but fortunately, it wasn't much audible. Or was it?

Jasper must have noticed my reaction, because he chuckled and told me to start before I died of starvation.

I just grinned in return. Well, not my fault that my stomach is so greedy.