He rubbed his face and opened his eyes. There was a smile on his face. The dream he had was pleasant. All he could recall at the moment was someone holding his face, kissing him long and deep. They were under the sun, under the palm trees, by the coast. He could not remember what led to that, but it seemed to be too perfect. Of course, he hadn't been kissed meaningfully in years.
Like all the other days at the resort, this was what Tom Kaulitz was doing. He stretched, got out of bed, washed up and dressed down. Quietly, he went to check on his brother, and found that he was still sleeping. The position that Bill was in incurred a rather spontaneous chuckle from the onlooker. Instead of lying down, Bill was curled into a kneeling ball, his hands holding his neck. The funny thing was that the younger Kaulitz twin was really asleep.
"Weirdo," Tom grinned before walking out to the kitchen.
He pulled open the refrigerator and made a face at what was inside. He had been having caviar a lot of nights, some really exquisite berries and cream just hours ago, smoked salmon and herbs for dinner, and the leftover crepe Suzette did not interest him. Instead, he grabbed a can of Coke and headed outdoors. It wasn't the best choice for breakfast but it was close to noon. He smiled at himself at that thought.
His balcony was clean that morning. It must have been cleared by the cleaners, again, he though to himself. It was sandy the night before. And full of beer cans and what trash the twins had left behind. Even the chairs were arranged back in place. A cool gust of wind blew against his face. Nothing could describe how much he loved the weather on the atoll.
There was a guitar, Tom's guitar, and when he saw it at the side he remembered he had left it outside.
"Thank god you're still here," he said under his breath. He grabbed the guitar in one hand while wearing his sandals, and with his Coke still in his other, he went from the balcony to the beach that was right at his doorstep.
After walking for about ten minutes behind his villa, he found himself at the central garden. He had never been there even though he had slept three nights at the villa, since most of the time he only visited the coastline and took a boat to the main island for some food and recreation. There were a few people walking by with fruit baskets. Apparently, as Tom read the sign nearby, it was a fruit garden where guests are allowed to pick their own fresh fruits for consumption. Either that, or they order something from the villa menu and pay for it. Tom had everything from the menu. He wanted to try and pick something for himself.
He set his guitar down against the post and opened up his Coke. He took a long gulp, a few more, and then he put it down next to the instrument. Walking straight to the first tree he saw, the coconut tree, he decided to stretch a little. Soon, he was alone. There was no one in sight. He remembered there were only five other villas on this island, and not all might have been occupied. He enjoyed being alone, away from milions of people, away from the rest of the world.
There was a big smile on his face as he put his hands on his hips, looking up at the coconuts.
"Should I climb you?" He said, remembering from movies it was like that. Either that, or coconuts fell atop heads. He didn't want that, definitely.
Tom gave a smiling sigh and grabbed the trunk, starting to climb the slightly curved, tree. He relished the fact that he was alone, and did as many stupid things as possible to try and get a coconut. He moved to another tree and tried knocking at the fruits with his guitar but he stopped after two hits in fear his guitar might be damaged.
Soon enough, the Kaulitz twin gave up on the coconuts and headed to a mango tree. Easily, there were mangos on the floor. He smelled them and grinned at its sweetness from just the yellowed skin itself. Eagerly, he tossed them near the post where his guitar laid before he continued with a mangosteen tree, as the sign below the lot said.
"You're a weird fruit," he said to the dark purple fruit with a murky green-colored stem the size of a tennis ball.
From behind him, something dropped and there was an audible laugh that followed. A few lots away, there was a woman, a girl probably his age. Her black hair was very long, almost touching the hem of her tropical print shorts. The smile on her face was because of the coconut she had successfully brought down with the help of a long pole.
Tom's eyebrows rose as he observed the girl having a go at another almost immediately. The second coconut came down fast and dangerously, rolling to lot where Tom was. He stood up, went to the stray coconut and picked it up as the girl came towards him.
"This must be yours," Tom smiled.
"Thank you," the girl said, taking it from Tom.
Tom could hardly manage a simple "you're welcome" for when he stared straight into her almost black eyes, he was at a loss. All he could provide was a small nod. For one, he knew that she was definitely Asian. She wasn't entirely Asian, she was a mix of something as well. To him, she was exotic. He couldn't even place her accent despite all his experiences.
The girl walked away and took her other coconut with her. It was like she had lost all interest all of a sudden, and she went away.
Tom pursed his lips for a while as he watched her disappear. And he went on with his fruit picking.
Walking around where she was just now, he found the pole on the floor. He laughed, thinking of how he could have missed that. Bending down to pick it up, he saw something shiny. At the end of the pole, there was a golden bracelet. It was thin and had a small heart dangling from one end with letters. Tom assumed they were initials.
He picked it up, slipped it into his pocket and brought his fruits back with him to retrieve his guitar. Disposing his can of Coke after emptying it, he walked around to find a bench and sat on it, starting to try and peel the mangosteen.
"Mangosteen," he tried saying it aloud. "Funny how I've never seen you before."
Moments later, while plucking out just the stem, Tom saw as the same girl went running through the bushes to the coconut tree. She frantically searched the ground for what Tom was holding.
Almost immediately, he stood up and went to her.
"This must be yours," he said to her. It was the second time he was talking to her, and it was the exact same thing as the first sentence he said.
The girl took a deep breath when she turned and saw Tom. This time, there was a bigger smile on her face as she took what he had that was hers. Her eyes glistened as she thanked him.
"You're welcome," Tom mustered. For a few seconds, he thought of what else to say to keep it going. "Um, so are those your initials?"
"What?" The girl said as she tried to put it on.
"Let me help you," Tom said, offering to take the bracelet for her.
"Thank you," she said.
"No problem," Tom nodded as he wore it for her. Then suddenly, he had a deja vu feeling. For some reason, he did. He did not know what about.
The girl shook her wrist when she saw that it was done. Tom smiled and the girl grinned. "Thank you," she looked at him.
Tom shrugged. "It's okay," he said. "You could help me by telling me what to do with this." He showed her the mangosteen.
She smiled. "I saw you staring at this just now. I thought you could use some help," she admitted.
So she did see me, Tom thought with a little smirk. He gave her the fruit and with her nails, she pried the fruit apart. Embarrassedly, Tom realized the skin wasn't so thick nor was it hard to penetrate.
"Wow," he said. "That's fast. You know this fruit?"
"Yes, he's my friend," the black-haired girl said.
For a moment, Tom froze in confusion. The girl bit on her lower lip. The next, the two of them laughed.
"I come from..." She decided against revealing her country. "Where I come from, I have these every season."
"Cool," Tom said. "Where are you from?"
The girl shrugged. "I think I have to go," she said suddenly. "Bye, Tom."
"Bye."
Tom watched as the girl left. He looked at his fruit and then where the girl had run off to. Then he realized, he never told her his name.
After a small sigh, he went back to his bench. It seemed not too long after that he fell asleep basking in the sun.
* * *
He rubbed his face and opened his eyes. There was a smile on his face. The dream he had was pleasant.
"Wait," Tom said when he realized where he was. Then quickly, he grabbed his phone and saw that coincidentally, it was barely noon. He stretched, got out of bed, and immediately went to Bill's room. To his amazement, he found that Bill was still sleeping. The position that Bill made Tom stare in surprise. Instead of lying down, Bill was curled into a kneeling ball, his hands holding his neck. Tom made sure that Bill was really sleeping and then stood at the bedside thinking.
"This can't be," he said. He grabbed a Coke and found his guitar outside. Right after, he made his way to the back of the villa.
