SEVENTY-ONE

Yalda tried not to overthink the fact that Sasha was giving her a massage. She tried not to let her paranoia get the better of her; it wasn't like she'd do something detrimental to her muscle or something. It wasn't that deep, she didn't want to think it was deep at all.

Perhaps it was all in her head, perhaps she had imagined that Sasha's eyes had darkened ever so slightly, perhaps she had imagined the fact that she had been a big reluctant to give her a massage. But of course, she had smiled and assured Alexander that it was okay to stop by the Golf course.

"I'm sure the guest would be glad to have Alexander Monroe join them today." She had said to Alexander in a tone that was way too soft to be real. "Yalda will be as good as new when I'm done with her."

What did she mean that she'd be as good as new anyway? Did she look stressed out or broken? Or perhaps Sasha just knew Alexander well enough to know that whomever was with him was most often in need of a thorough massage. And what did she mean by when she was done with her? That was what had stirred up her anxiety.

"You know, you need to relax and stop clenching your muscles for this to work." Sasha told her. She had dropped the sweet tone, it was about time anyway.

Blowing out a breath, Yalda forced herself to relax.

"Where are you from, Yalda? Pakistan?" She asked her.

Now they were conversing about where she was from? Great.

"Istanbul, Turkey." She replied.

"Nice. You're beautiful." Sasha said. Something about the way she said it told her that she wasn't lying, far from that, it implied that she was telling a truth which she wasn't very happy with.

"Thank you. So are you." She replied.

It was also a bitter truth; Sasha was beautiful, from her shiny golden locks to her captivating blue eyes, and her petite structure which made her look dainty.

Sasha chuckled not so humorously.

"Thank you." She said simply.

Yalda resisted the urge to clear her throat quietly, it would be too awkward. But what was more awkward than a woman who obviously fancied the man you were supposedly in a relationship giving you a massage?

"So, you've been on the Island long huh?" She tried to strike up a conversation. "It's a very beautiful place."

"I was born here." Sasha replied, and she seemed almost proud. "There's another island not too far from this one; I went to school there as a kid."

"That's cool." She said, it was all she could come up with.

"Yeah. I went to Cambridge with Alex, he was three years ahead of me though." Sasha told her. She hated how she called Alexander 'Alex' so casually, she obviously wanted to hint at how close they were. "And after all the wild college years, I came back to run this place."

She felt like rise to her throat and she almost tasted the bitterness on her tongue but she forced it down as she tried not to think too much of Sasha's wild college years which Alexander had been a part of.

"That's really nice." She said, it was truly all she could say.

They lapsed into silence for a moment in which Yalda fought hard against accepting that the massage felt really good now that she had stopped being so stiff. Perhaps Sasha was really good at her job, but then again, she wouldn't be heading the place if she wasn't; Alexander didn't throw his money around blindly.

"You're so stiff." Sasha said, her voice was low and Yalda assumed she was talking to herself, or that she was at least not expecting a response. "It's no wonder Alex brought you here on arrival."

What exactly did she mean by that?

"Sorry?"

"You'd need to be really flexible with Alexander; he'll spread you out like the sheets." Sasha replied to her surprise.

Her eyes widened and she felt her blood boil at the audacity of the woman.

"Wow." She said in disbelief.

"Oh, don't take it personal. It's just a friendly advice from a girlfriend." Sasha said, and she suddenly sounded sweet again. Yalda felt like punching a hole in her face.

They weren't 'girlfriends', and she wasn't interested in taking any advice from her. Yes, she had known Alexander for a very long time, but she was sure her relationship with him was much more intimate on an emotional level than she'd ever know.

"Thank you, but I'm quite familiar with just how flexible I need to be." She replied. She was probably being petty now but she didn't care. "After all, I've been contorting myself for him for four years now."

Sasha's hands stilled momentarily from the shock of what she had said, but then, she snapped out of it quickly and chuckled, it sounded forced and malicious.

"Right."

"How much longer now?" Yalda asked.

She couldn't wait to get the hell out of here.

"We're almost done." Sasha replied.

~~

Alexander had returned in time to get her, and though she was irritated, she tried her best to not seem so. Her throat had clenched tightly till she found it hard to breathe as Sasha had sweetly told Alexander to stop by sometime so she could give him a massage also.

"How do you feel?" He had asked as they made their way back to the villa.

Oh, he didn't want to know how she felt at the moment. She felt murderous, she felt upset, she felt.... jealous? Could it be that she hadn't like Sasha from the very start because she had been jealous of her?

She tried not to think about it.

"Relaxed." She had replied at last.

She couldn't even remember most of what had been said during the walk back to the villa because she hadn't been paying attention, she had been lost in her thoughts; thoughts of painful things she wanted to do to Sasha.

She had crawled into bed the very second they returned to their room, and to her surprise, Alexander had joined her.

"Sleepy?" He asked as he pulled the covers over the both of them.

She nodded. Now that she was here, she realized that it wasn't entirely a lie; she was quite sleepy, it had been a pretty eventful day and it was time to rest.

"Yeah, I think it's time we get some rest." He agreed. "Hopefully we'll wake up in time for dinner."

She stirred to her side so she was facing him, and just looking into his eyes expelled all the upsetting thoughts from her mind; they all didn't matter. What mattered was that she was here with him at this very moment. Her lips curved in a faint smile and she let her eyes flutter close.

"You don't smile often."

And she realized that he wasn't wrong; she hardly ever smiled or laughed with him. Her eyes snapped open.

"I can't help it." She replied quietly.

"Then work on it." He told her. "You're even more beautiful when you smile."

They were simple words, yet they made her heart bloat till breathing seemed difficult. Heat flooded her cheeks as she blushes; something that also rarely happened.