The Wrong One

Sian took pictures of the scenery as she walked through the streets. She followed the map to the museum and saw Zacky standing out front with his back to her. The museum itself was huge, and all around there were walls at least four stories high leading to the museum. As if he knew she was there, he turned around just as she approached and smiled. He grabbed her hand and led her inside

“I thought of a couple more things,” Sian said.

“What are they?”

“Along with sleeping late, I wanted to spend all day in bed. After I spent all day in bed, I wanted to be extremely lazy, eat nothing but junk food, and watch movies until I fell back asleep.”

“That sounds amazing,” Zacky said smiling.

He led them around to look at different paintings. They stopped at a few, when Zacky’s hand extended, and he realized Sian had stopped. He glanced down at their hands and thought about how right it felt. Samantha’s hand stayed cold and clammy as they held hands, but Sian’s was warm and soft. Every once in a while he would feel her thumb brush against his and he would smile.

He glanced around and made sure that there were enough people around them, but no one close enough to see them. He wanted her to do this, but not get in trouble. Sian noticed him looking around and watched him. He finally looked back at her.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“The first step to re-create your childhood,” Zacky said with an almost evil smile.

“I’m afraid of what that means,” Sian said, and looked back at the painting.

Zacky pulled her hand and moved to a different painting. He pulled them so they were close to the wall opposite of the painting and pointed to the painting.

“See the ugly colors and how they don’t meld together? That’s what I see when I look at this picture,” He said and Sian laughed. She looked around and saw people looking, so she quieted down until Zacky spoke again. “I honestly don’t know what the artist was trying to portray here. He took ugly colors and threw them on a canvas. Honestly, my niece and nephew could’ve done a better job.”

Sian had her hand covering her mouth, trying not to laugh. She honestly didn’t know what the artist was trying to portray, either, but hearing Zacky talk like that while pointing at the painting was making her laugh. That is, until Zacky leaned in close to her ear.

“There’s a fire alarm behind us. You’re going to pull it.”

Her laughter dried up instantly and her heart started racing.

“Zacky, I’m not going to pull that,” she furiously whispered at him.

“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong. You are going to pull the fire alarm.”

“Zacky, I can’t pull that alarm.”

“Sian, if you want to have a childhood, you’ll pull that alarm.”

“I’m twenty-three years old, Zacky. I’ve already past my childhood.”

“That’s the whole point of the list, Sian. I thought you understood that; now pull the fucking alarm!”

Sian sighed, knowing if she didn’t go ahead and just do it, he would bug the shit out of her until she did. She let his hand fall and moved closer to him. She lifted her hand and pointed across his chest to a painting to their right, and whispered something to him about the painting. His head turned to the right and she reached behind her with her right and blindly felt for the alarm. She felt the lever on the tips of her fingers and before she could really think about it, she pulled it down.

Immediately, lights started flashing and an obnoxious noise started reverberating throughout the museum. People started screaming, and Sian grabbed Zacky’s hand again. They pushed through the crowds of people to the street where they turned around and looked at the museum again, their chests rising and falling quickly with their breath.

“Oh, my God,” Sian breathed out, looking at the pandemonium around her.

“Adrenaline rush, isn’t it?” Zacky asked with a smile on his face.

“That wasn’t on my list,” she said, looking at him.

“I know, but I think it’s something every kid should do at least once in their life.”

They were both interrupted when they heard sirens approaching quickly. Both heads whipped around to see several police cars as well as what seemed to be fire trucks pulling up to the museum.

“Oh shit,” Zacky breathed out. He tugged on Sian’s hand. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

They ran through the crowds of people that had gathered to see what was going on at the museum, and broke through finally, laughing at each other. Zacky pulled her along different roads, but every once in a while, Sian would look in the direction of the museum and smiled.

Zacky saw a difference in her, then. Her eyes were lit up like it was Christmas Day, and she was smiling constantly. She didn’t think about anything, and he couldn’t help but smile himself.

“That was fucking amazing!” Sian said once they’d slowed to a walk.

Zacky laughed and looked at her again. The smile brought out dimples he wasn’t aware she’d had. Suddenly, he was completely aware of the fact they were still holding hands and he glanced down at their fingers. Hers seemed to fit perfectly in his. He tried to think of Samantha’s hands in his, but he almost couldn’t remember.

“Oh, can we go shopping?” Sian asked suddenly looking at him.

“Yeah, I guess we could,” he said with a shrug.

She bit her lip in a shy smile until he gave his approval, in which her teeth let go of the lip and her smile lit up her face. She giggled and pulled him along with her. He almost had to run as he tried to keep up. She was pulling him in the direction where he could see a lot of people milling about. He almost groaned out loud until he remembered Sian wanted to do this.

They spent hours shopping. Zacky took pictures as Sian tried on clothes, and she even bought a few of them. Somehow, she managed to get Zacky to try on clothes, too, and took pictures of him. They laughed the whole time, and by dinnertime, Sian’s arms were full of bags. Zacky helped her carry them back to the hotel where they changed into nicer attire for dinner.

They found a quiet restaurant not too far from the hotel and they ordered quickly.

“Today was amazing,” Sian started as she took a sip of her water.

They had ordered a bottle of wine, deciding not to go out anymore, yet wanting a drink. The waiter opened the bottle and poured them both a glass. Zacky immediately reached for his, but Sian didn’t touch it for a few minutes.

“I have to admit, I did have fun shopping.”

“All of it, though,” Sian said, smiling again. “All of it was amazing. I’m glad you made me do that. I feel better now.”

Zacky leaned in to her. “You feel better about yourself because you pulled the fire alarm at a huge historical museum?”

Sian giggled, but nodded. “I do.”

“You really never did anything outrageous with Samantha? That’s hard to believe; she’s so crazy sometimes.”

At the mention of her sister’s name, Sian’s smile faded.

“We should leave tomorrow and head to Germany.”

“Why?”

“The whole reason we came over here, Zacky, is to look for Samantha. You know your fiancée?”

“Yeah, I know it is,” Zacky said, taking another sip of wine. “However, we’re on a mission for you right now. I have my cell phone and both your mother and brother know my number in case something was found.”

“I know that, but I still think we need to really search for her.”

“Sian, the police are still looking for her. Honestly, I don’t know what more we could do.”

“Then why even come to Europe?!” Sian almost yelled.

“I wanted to come look. Now that I’m here, I’m just not sure what more I can do.”

“Well then maybe you should just go home and I’ll stay and look for my sister,” Sian said, suddenly getting angry.

“Sian, don’t be like that. You know I want to look for your sister just as much as you do. I love Samantha, and I want to see her safe. I’m just saying, if something was to have happened, we would know about it. In the meantime, we should take some time for ourselves.”

“Whatever,” Sian said as their dinner was set on the table.

They ate in silence, Zacky feeling like an asshole for what he’d said, but it was true. He knew Sian came on this trip for herself just as much as for Samantha, and he was trying to help her enjoy her time here. He had so many more plans for her, and if they left the next day, one of the main ones would be ruined. He needed to make sure they stayed in Italy at least one more day.

His break came just as they were waiting for the check. Sian announced she needed to use the bathroom, and she got up from the table. Zacky watched her head to the back of the restaurant again, making sure no one went in behind her, or that she wasn’t coming back instantly. He pulled a small bottle from his pocket, took two of the pills out, crushed them a bit and put them in her water. She didn’t have much left to drink, but he knew that she had to finish all of her drinks before she could leave the table. He glanced around one more time, making sure no one saw him put the pills in her drink and he relaxed in his chair just as Sian came back to the table.

As if on cue, she lifted her water glass and drained it. Once she’d set it down, she made a face. “Water here tastes funny.”

“Yeah, it tasted a little off to me, too.”

Zacky paid for dinner and they walked back to the hotel silently. Every once in a while Zacky glanced at Sian, and everytime he did, she was yawning. Her yawns got bigger and longer as they stood on the elevator waiting for their floor.

Sian didn’t say anything as she grabbed her pajamas and moved to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, threw her hair in a messy bun, and put on her pajamas before leaving the bathroom. Zacky had the television on and he’d already changed. He went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and once he’d come out, he saw Sian in the middle of the bed, curled up and asleep. He smiled looking at her.

He sat down on his side of the bed and rested his back against the headboard. Sian moved over in her sleep to give him room, and he got more comfortable, putting his hands behind his head and crossing his ankles. He didn’t understand a word that was being said on the television, but he found it entertaining anyway.

He felt himself drifting off until something hit his chest. He glanced down to see Sian had moved back toward him in her sleep. Her head was on his chest and her arm was running down his thigh. Her hand rested in between his legs, mere inches from his crotch and he had to fight off the feelings. It’d been almost a month since he and Samantha had had sex, and it was starting to catch up with him. Sian’s hand moved and she put it underneath her cheek while cuddling closer to him. Her thigh was thrown over one of his, and he slid down the headboard. He put his arm around her shoulders and she sighed in her sleep.

His last thought before he fell asleep was how comfortable he was at that moment.