Loving With A Heavy Heart 116 Day Three

Elle walked ahead and Adam followed a few steps back from where he could watch Elle as she happily strolled down the stone pathways, occasionally stopping to examine the wares a street vendor had on sale.

Adam's focus was solely on her but Elle was easily distracted by the vibrant colours of dresses, tote bags, hats, and linen scarves, all handmade and the same fabric never repeating twice among them. She was also distracted by the delicious smells of various street foods that targeted her twofold by going after both her mind and her stomach. Elle was so distracted that she had momentarily forgotten about the man quietly following her steps behind her.

That morning she had gone into the big walk-in closet to pick her outfit from the clothes Adam had prepared for her.

"You prepared so many." Elle had said softly as she walked among all the sun dresses. "It must have been so expensive. What am I to do with all of them?"

"Not really." Adam replied from the bedroom. "They're just simple dresses, keep them, donate them, sell them. Do whatever you want."

Elle walked up to one, gathering the cool chiffon in her hands. She recognized this dress, it was a Prada dress. It was probably more expensive than half of her own closet. She was about to chastise Adam for spending so much but Elle secretly suspected that he wasn't being intentionally dense. When she saw how pa.s.sive he was she imagined that he really hadn't bothered to look at the price at all when preparing all this for her. She would take advantage of his kindness.

In the end Elle settled on a beige dress with white lace overlaid on top of it. The lace was delicate with a floral pattern but what really made it stand out were the tiny little white flowers that had been sewn onto it in such a way that the edges of the petals popped out of the dress, as if they were real flowers growing from it.

The dress suited her well, as all things did, but Adam's eyes were even more drawn to her now. Of all things in that closet she had picked a white dress, she stood out even more as she walked amongst hundreds of colours. That's what was on Adam's mind as he watched Elle's eyes dart back and forth as she admired everything around her.

Elle suddenly remembered Adam behind her and turned around to glance at him but his face didn't betray him. It was just as emotionless and unyielding as it ever was.

"I hope you're not bored." She asked sheepishly.

"Of course not."

"Are you sure? We can head back to the villa now."

"I'm sure. Come on." Adam took hold of her hand within his and the two continued to walk through the makeshift marketplace.

After about an hour of mindlessly wandering around and admiring what the town had to offer they decided to stop somewhere for lunch. They quickly decided on a little bistro that sat on a raised part of the town with a beautiful patio that overlooked the sea. Both Adam and Elle were admiring the way the afternoon sun sparkled on the clear ocean water when they heard a voice call out.

"Adam? Is that you?" A young man had spotted them as he had been walking by and had walked over to confirm his theory.

Elle froze in antic.i.p.ation. What should she do? If they were spotted here, on vacation, the rumors would be relentless. However, Adam didn't seem concerned in the least.

"Marcus." He greeted simply.

"It is you." Marcus said, a huge grin spreading from ear to ear. "What on earth are you doing here. And with such a beautiful lady keeping you company." He asked as his attention shifted from Adam to Elle.

"We're here on vacation." Adam replied simply.

"You? On vacation?" The man questioned as if it was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. "Well I suppose this at least means you got the girl."

That earned a small smile out of Adam. He finally glanced away from the man and towards Elle who was giving him a questioning look.

"That's right." Marcus suddenly blurted out. "You don't remember me do you? We met on new years' eve at that party."

"That's right." Elle said vaguely. She felt embarra.s.sed, she couldn't recall him at all. It was her own fault. She had been so occupied with Adam that night that she hadn't bothered to interact with anyone else at that party. Adam had been with them at a bar on new years' eve; of course they were his friends.

"You don't remember do you?" Marcus asked with a laugh.

"She was focused on me. Of course she wouldn't remember you." Adam said indifferently. Elle threw him a look of disbelief as a faint blush crept up her cheeks. Since when was he this arrogant?