One month turned into two as fast as day turns into night. Scott meticulously planned their trip through the country, from the snowy mountains up in the North, to the jungle in the South, to the crowded streets of bustling cities and the deserted villages in the middle of nowhere. Aimee and Scott travelled far and wide around the spice epicentre. 

The bus ride that is leading them towards their last destination before Aimee returns to London is slow and bumpy. 

Goa has the reputation of a sunny state and Aimee can see why while she watches the beautiful palm trees, clear sky, and green fields passing by. 

Scott lays on the bunk bed above her and his head peaks at her from the top. "Another 30 minutes and we will be there. We then need to get a taxi to this place." he shows her his phone map. "We will be staying in a small house" Scott goes back up. "There's only one bedroom..." he says from the top bunk. "but there's a sofa in the living space. I'll stay there." 

In their travels, they often stayed in hostels, where they shared a room, with another 3 to 4 people. This is the first time, they will be staying in a space by themselves. "It's really close to the beach so I might just sleep there like a bum" she giggles at his remark.

The journey is long and weary but worth every minute of it. Located in a small village where houses are scarce, trees abundant and the skyline merges with the ocean blue, the two make their way to "Villa Marta" in a village named Beltabatin. 

The landlady of the namesake as the small row of houses greets them cheerfully. The house is adorned with colourful sun yellow and white borders. It also has a little blue bench just outside the main door. Inside, it has a small living space, with a kitchenette on the left, and a bathroom on the right-hand side. The bedroom is in the back and it has a balcony made of small bricks that are misaligned allowing a pattern to emerge. In between each gap on the brick wall, the beach breeze flows through.

Scott negotiates with the landlady the rent in the living room, while Aimee inspects the bedroom. She stands by the small balcony taking in the scent of the ocean. She clicks a selfie that captures her face and Scott's in the background, grazing his beard with his left hand, while immersed in his negotiation. Aimee smiles amused at her own skill and posts it on Instagram. 

Scott makes his way out of the house with the landlady while Aimee returns to the small living space to collect their things and put them away. Scott looks in a specific direction that is being indicated by Marta. She is clearly showing him something. 

"Oh, we're just friends," he says flatly and Aimee's interest peaks. Clearly, she asked or assumed they were together. 

Although things are now simpatico between them, the reality was that the few weeks after they landed in Dehli were awkward at best. Aimee eventually told him every detail about Liam and confessed to Scott how she felt about the Aussie. From that moment, Scott distanced himself from her, and although it was visible he was infatuated with her, he clearly didn't want to be a rebound to her unrequited love. 

One night, three weeks in the country, while travelling towards Mumbai, Scott got inebriated and tried to kiss her, which Aimee once again rebutted. In his drunken state, Scott made her a promise that he would never try anything further with her, a promise he has kept since. 

"Ok, we are all settled. I know where the local store is and she told me the baker comes every morning at 7 with fresh bread. Also, there is a milkman and he has lassi." 

Aimee smiles enthusiastically at that information. She had found the yoghurt drink to be the most delicious thing about India.

"I still don't know how you can drink that stuff" Scott adds. 

She also found out that her companion was incredibly lactose intolerant which meant that while yoghurt was saving her from Delhi belly, Scott endured some nights spent on the bathroom floor. 

"Hey, want to head to the beach?" Scott asks. 

"Absolutely! Let me just change into my suit." Aimee says cheerfully, grabs her bag and enters the bedroom. She had not seen the beach since she left Australia and is missing it dearly. She takes a bikini piece and quickly wears it, also putting on her blue shorts. She applies suncream and places her sunglasses on her head. "Ready!" she says cheerfully and leaves her room to find Scott already with his shorts and shirtless. 

He is sitting down on the sofa glancing at his phone with a smirk on his face, "Negotiation 101? Really?" 

Aimee pokes her tongue out playfully. 

"God, I need a shave." he rubs his face. 

"I think it suits you," Aimee says. "I'll need to give a call to Josie when we are on the beach or she will kill me." 

Scott gets up and they both make their way out. Outside the afternoon has set in and Scott leads Aimee through a narrow path that is adorned by rice paddies on each side. They walk around 10 minutes in almost complete silence until they arrive at a hill where the dirt turns into sand, as white as it can be. 

Aimee removes her sandals and she feels the sand through her toes. She hums happily, "I can't wait to swim in the ocean." 

Up the hill, there is a row of palm trees and stairs that lead to a near-empty beach, apart from occasional tourists that pass by, fishermen getting out of their boats, and a local selling water and crips packets. 

"We have this whole place to ourselves?"

Scott looks at her daringly, "I'll race you to the water."

He starts running leaving Aimee on the sand trying to take off her shorts. "Not fair!" she clumsily removes the shorts, and the sunglasses and dumps them on the sand to run after him. 

Scott has already taken a dip in the ocean and is swimming further away. Aimee runs to the clear water and jumps in, trying to catch up to Scott. Once she emerges, she starts looking for him but cannot locate him anywhere. Suddenly, there is a pull to her leg and she is pulled underwater only to meet his brown eyes.

They both re-emerge and Scott laughs, "No sharks around here. Not the kind that will eat you up anyway." 

Aimee splashes him playfully and they both swim around together. 

"Fuck, this is heaven." He says while diving once again in the ocean.

When he comes back up, Aimee pushes his head back in the water. "Revenge!" she screams wildly.

He pulls her torso closer to him and re-emerges while capturing her arms. Her legs instantly hook around his torso and they both stare at one another with the waves pushing them closer together. Scott grazes his tongue by his lips and stares at Aimee for a moment. Aimee unhooks her legs and Scott releases her arms. 

"I saw a little hut next to the uncle that was selling the water bottles. I'll check out if they have anything interesting to eat."

"I'll come with you," she says hesitantly.

"No need, I'll get you something. See you back on the shore." And he swims back. 

Aimee stays back and stares at Scott swimming back to shore. She drew the line. So there is no reason to expect that he will try to cross it again. Yet, her heart clutches a little at the thought he might have kissed her at that moment. And, she wished he had so she could kiss him back. 

Aimee swims and makes her way back to the sand. She sits down and removes her phone from her shorts pocket, grateful that no one is around. She dries her hands on her shorts and then opens her Instagram. She sees notifications from Josie and Tessa and one from Scott that says, 

'Leading the G20 with the new landlady'. 

She scrolls down and sees some pictures of friends back in London, and some of Josie and Tessa together in Byron Bay, and one of Callum with her father with the beach she used to surf with Liam as the backdrop. She scrolls a couple more pics and sees a post from Izzie that has a picture of her and Liam by the swimming pool, in the caption it says, 

'Happy b-day to the coolest uncle in the world. Missing you' 

Aimee sighs and stares at his face and his deep blue eyes. For a moment she is brought back to all the moments spent together surfing. For a glimpse, her heart reminds her of the heartbreak she still is nursing. 

A cough from behind her brings her back to her reality, Scott frowns and hands her a cool drink. 

"Thanks," she says and wonders if he has seen the picture on her screen. He sits next to her but leaves a reasonable distance and stares at the ocean. "Anything good to eat?" she asks. 

"Nope," and he takes a sip of his beer. He clearly saw the picture. "My friend is coming to get us in like an hour so I'm going to head back and have a shower."

"Oh, I'll come with you."

"No need, we can't shower at the same time. Stay here and enjoy the view. In 30 or so come back and get ready." 

Aimee nods lowering her head down ashamed that he caught her looking at Liam's face, especially when just a few minutes before she was wishing he would have kissed her. Scott gets up and makes his way back leaving Aimee alone. 

Aimee sips her drink and decides to call Josie who picks up almost immediately. "Hey, cous!" she greets her. "Have you arrived in Goa?"

"Let me show you," she answers by flipping her camera to the vast ocean in front of her eyes.

"I'm so jealous right now." She can see Josie is in the restaurant.

"Are you working today?"

"Yeah, there is a political affair and we are catering it." 

Aimee knew that meant the Forsyth's. 

Josie giggles and flips her camera to her girlfriend. "Even Tessa is working the shift" 

Tessa is serving drinks in the background, and Aimee knows where they are - Eva's house. Although her head knows it's not a good idea, her eyes immediately scan for his presence.

"Is it a birthday party?" she enquires.

Josie turns the camera back to her. "No, it's not his birthday party. He's not even in Australia. It's just a political thing for his brother." she responds. "Where's Scott?" she walks outside the house. 

"He's gone home to change clothes. I'll be going soon too. His friend is coming to show us the school and meet the children where we will be working."

"So you're staying another month there?" Josie asks. 

Aimee shrugs, "Yeah, just one more month. I'm really enjoying India."

"Have you been playing at all?"

Aimee shakes her head, "No, but I don't miss it" she lies. 

Josie glares at her cousin knowingly, "How are things with you and Scott?" she redirects the conversation. 

"Fine, as usual." Aimee frowns. "Why?"

Josie looks inside to ensure no one is listening. "I'm not telling you this because Tessa told me in confidence, but also you're my cousin and I guess you should know." 

Aimee frowns at the convoluted explanation.

"You do know they speak, right?" 

Aimee nods.

"He said to her that you will never get over Liam and that he won't settle in being second best. He basically told her that he will not want anything from you except friendship."

"But, that was established when I arrived. That we would be only friends." Aimee responds wavering in her voice.

"Aimee, you know very well he only said that because that's what you wanted to hear but he kept hope. I guess that hope is gone now." She sighs, "I actually thought you would get over Liam and reconnect with Scott. He's a good guy."

"But, I'm over Liam," she says defensively.

"Really? I'll just pretend that you didn't ask me if he was here?"

"I didn't ask if he was there," Aimee says in a defensive tone. "I haven't asked about him for the last two months." 

"Aimee, you don't fool me. And, clearly, you don't fool Scott either. I just wished you would move past him."

"But, I have..." she mutters reminding herself of how much she wanted Scott to kiss her in the ocean and how much her heart stopped when she saw Liam's face in Izzie's photo.

"I think you need to prove it then because we don't see it." 

Aimee lowers her gaze and ponders her words. 

"Listen, I need to go back inside but I'll call you tomorrow and we'll talk a bit more?"

"Of course. Say hi to everyone."

Josie waves goodbye and closes the call. Aimee stares at the ocean blue and considers Josie's words. Her heart and mind divided between the two men. 

Author's Note:

Photo by Sumit Sourav on Unsplash