01

ZACHARY DANVERS

Zachary glanced at the woman sitting two seats away from him, out of the corner of his eye.

She had tucked her denim clad legs under her as she stared outside the small window. He knew she wasn’t actually looking out because there was nothing to see except plain white clouds. Zach knew her mind was running faster than the speed of his personal jet that they were currently travelling in.

Zach shook his head. He wanted to know what made her so scared but it was none of his business.

But you made it yours when you whisked her away.

Zach frowned. If his conscience was a person, he would have clearly punched him in the nose. His conscience seemed to always point out things he didn’t wanted to even think of.

He tried to concentrate back on the email he had been typing at the moment but Karina had seemed to occupy his mind so much that he hadn’t even written two words.

It was useless to try to work at that moment. He shut down his laptop and pressed a button that was on the arm of his seat.

A panel of the cabinet right next to him slid and he looked through the small wine collection he had acquired in years.

Choosing a bottle of Pinot Noir he swiped two glasses from the glass stand beside the collection and walked over to Karina.

She didn’t even notice when he slid in the seat opposite to her.

He poured enough in both glasses and called out her name softly.

« Karina ? »

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t hear him.

Zach leaned over and caught her shoulder to shake her when she jumped, startled. She looked around, her eyes moving so fast as if she was panicking. As if she didn’t know where she was.

« Kari.. breath. Look at me. » .

When her eyes settled on his he smiled, « It’s me. Zach. Everything’s fine. I’m here. »

She let out a shaky sigh and relaxed in her seat.

Zach gestured to the half filled wine glass as he picked his up.

« Are you alright ? »

« Y-yeah. » she mumbled.

« Put on your seatbelts, people. We’ll be landing shortly. » his friend slash pilot announced.

Zach finished his glass in one gulp while Kari busied herself in putting on her seatbelt.

« Where are we going ? » she asked softly.

« A safe place. »

*********

Zachary opened the door to his cabin and led Kari in. She didn’t have any bag with her and neither did Zach. Thank God, he’d left his laptop bag in his private jet. He hoped that Dave would send his suitcase soon.

He reset the alarm while Kari walked in deeper taking everything in.

He had built this cabin years ago for his own sanity. Whenever he’d feel the walls closing in on him, that the city life was being too hard on him, he’d come here for his peace of mind.

It was a small cabin.

The living room and the kitchen was separated only by the counter that was made of wood. He never cooked much and didn’t see the need to build an extravagant kitchen. This place was his safe haven. He had no tv, no computer, nothing that would disrupt his isolation from the world.

He had a bookshelf full of Mystery thrillers to pass his time.

The kitchen had a counter and cabinets below that contained utensils and nearly fifty boxes of cereals. The refrigerator was stocked, thanks to Mrs Smith, his next door neighbor who was like a mother to him. She had stocked and looked after everything once he texted her that he was coming for a few days. A coffee machine sat on the counter which he had used just a few days ago when Sydney had stayed here.

The cabin had four bedroom upstairs. One was his own bedroom. He’d made the other three thinking that he’d probably get married before thirty and have kids. Well the dream crashed when he celebrated his 31 birthday with Dave, getting drunk and waking up on the beach with just his boxers on.

Karina had walked out the back door and was now sitting on one of his patio chairs staring at the ocean, the calm, soothing sounds of the water reaching all the way to the cabin.

A breeze blew by and the trees swayed. Kari breathed deeply. « Thanks. » she murmured

He shrugged.

Walking up to his room, he picked out two tees and his sweat pants and brought them down.

She was now sitting on the couch looking around.

« There’s no tv. » she stated.

« I know. » he replied handing over the clothes to her.

« Is this where you stay ? »

He shook his head. « I built this for myself. A little haven, away from the city. »

« It’s amazing. » she smiled « My kind of clothes. » she said as she looked at the clothes and stood up

« Take the door to your right. I’ll see what I can scrounge up. » He said pointing upstairs

« Where’s the kitchen ? » she asked and he pointed towards the counter.

She fell back laughing. « That’s your idea for a kitchen ? »

He glared. « My cousin said that I’d need a counter. If it were upto me, I wouldn’t even have that. »

Kari shook her head. « It’s really beautiful. »

Before she could take the first step towards the stairs, she walked over to him. Placing a kiss on his cheek, she smiled, « Thanks for everything, Mr Danvers. » she said as she bounded up the stairs while Zach stood there, frozen, his fingers tracing his cheek where she’d just kissed him.