Convincing her

Brian had led Rachel away from the group so that they would be able to talk in a much more private setting. Rachel nervously fiddled with her fingers and looked at her feet as they were walking. She had become especially meek after breakfast since no one else was around them.

All her false bravado was for naught when they were alone. After a deep sigh, she opened her mouth to say something but was promptly interrupted by Brian.

"I'm sorry about yesterday. I shouldn't have assumed that you drink" Brian said as he stopped walking to look back at her since she was lagging behind.

"Oh, umm, I should have told you that I don't drink. It was my fault too" Rachel rushed to say. It would impractical if she pretended that she was not responsible for herself.

"Mmh, about what happened last night" Brian started but was cut off by Rachel.

"I was drunk so let-"

"Do you regret it?" Brian asked effectively cutting her off. Rachel was completely stumped because she had interrupted him because she didn't want him to apologise for it and say it was a mistake.

She had acted recklessly after getting drunk and sleeping with him but at the same time, she really did not regret it at all. It's because she had initiated it in the first place, and to say that she was taken advantage of would be a stretch since she was the one who had pulled him into bed even when he decided to leave her room.

Remembering what happened made her feel slightly mortified and embarrassed. She had never been a reckless person so she had managed to surprise herself with how she acted the previous night.

Rachel finally raised her head to look at him and pursed her lips. Her eyes looked conflicted as if she did not know how to handle her current predicament.

"Well, do you regret it?" Brian asked and stepped closer to her.

"I need your answer Rachel, because I really don't regret last night" Brian said as he searched her eyes.

Rachel was not expecting him to be so blunt and could only clear her throat to try to regain her composure.

"Umm, I don't either" Rachel replied and avoided his gaze afterwards. She did not know what to do with herself so she could only look at the flowers in the garden. She felt her hand become engulfed into a large warm palm and she couldn't stop herself from looking back at Brian.

"Walk with me" Brian said and continued walking with her while holding her hand.

Rachel could feel her heart flutter as she walked next to him. She looked at the entwined hands and how they contrasted against each other with his tattooed hands and fingers contrasting against her clear skin. She unconsciously smiled as she looked at their entwined fingers and looked up to him.

"Why did you get so many tattoos?" Rachel asked curiously.

She had see the full extent of his tattoos the previous night. His entire back was tattooed and so was his front and one of his hips. He also had a few tattoos scattered around his neck that she had not noticed before they slept together.

"It sort of just happened. I started out of curiosity but then it became a way of expressing myself. Sometimes I wish I had more skin" Brian said with a chuckle.

"Oh? Then should I also get one?" Rachel teased.

"Tell me if you want one, i'll do it for you" Brian offered without hesitation revealing more information about himself in the process.

"You're a tattoo artist?" Rachel asked wide eyed.

"I got so immersed I learned the craft myself. I did James' tattoo if you saw it last night" Brian said with his eyes still sparkling.

"Really?" Rachel asked wide eyed looking very innocent at that moment.

"Mmh" Brian answered while chuckling. Who knew that Ethan's persistence for him to come would have resulted in him meeting such a beauty?

*

Although Dave was supposedly on break, he could not completely break off of work as they had a progress report that they had to prepare for Lucas by the following week. Even though he was sitting by the pool, he had a laptop on his lap and was reviewing the work that Michael had sent him.

He smiled happily when he saw how well Michael had done when writing up the report. It meant that he had less work to do once he got back. He was completely immersed in suggesting edits and corrections he did not realise he had company.

"Hello?" a light cheerful voice said making him turn his head from fright. He removed his glasses to look at who was calling him and he saw that it was Nancy.

"Oh, hi. Is there something you needed?" Dave asked feeling puzzled.

"Ah~" Nancy said as she tried to figure out what to tell him. She did not think he would be so blunt with her and not even try to engage in small talk.

Could she only address him if she wanted him to do something for her?

"I was just saying hi since I noticed you were the only other person at the pool" Nancy said giving up on looking for something to talk about.

"Oh, well, hello then?" Dave said still confused about the whole situation. Nancy felt like kicking something because the situation had just turned really awkward.

"Mmh, hi, i'll just go swim" Nancy said and turned around to leave without hesitation. She felt so embarrassed she regretted trying to be friendly with him.

She wondered if he suffered from some sort of antisocial personality disorder. She turned around to look at him and saw that he was focussed on his laptop once more, his glasses resting on the bridge of his nose.

Nancy had to reluctantly admit that he was handsome but for some reason he looked really uptight, completely different from how he was the previous night at the party. After rolling her eyes for the nth time,

Nancy sat on one of the loungers and took out some sunscreen. Although she had been curious about horse riding, she was afraid of any animal that was larger than her. She could tolerate cats and dogs but anything else was pushing it for her.