Somebody That I Used to Now

Just as a side-note this chapter will be a little slower than the previous ones but it will also be a little happier. It's less about the cousin's relationship and more about Adam trying to get use to his new surroundings.

This chapter was meant to be a lot longer but it was taking me forever to write it and despite wanting to finish it before I went on holiday I knew I was never going to do that so I split this chapter in two - the ending to chapter 4 is the ending I originally had for this but that'll come later. Hopefully this is enough to satisfy the readers until I can will myself to finish the next chapter

Story first, sex second.

*

Adam woke with a throbbing pain on his face, from the bright sun he could tell it was afternoon by now. He had no memory of what happened last night past getting punched in the face by Liam. Christ his face was in agony.

"Ah, you're finally awake." A soft female voice came from the side.

Adam turned and saw her, a young woman, around about his age, was sitting at a table with a book in her hands. What struck Adam about the woman was that she was very beautiful, smooth olive-toned skin, long, sleek, black hair, a little red flower on top of her head, light brown eyes that looked totally at ease, not helping himself Adam darted his eyes down to the woman's chest, she was wearing an orange bikini top which was stretched against her grapefruit sized breasts. The woman was smiling a dazzling white smile at him and for some reason Adam felt relaxed.

"I was wondering when you would wake up." She continued.

"Where am I?" Adam asked as he sat up, he looked around the room, it looked to be made of bamboo or some other type of tree, like a hut. From the window Adam could see miles and miles of rolling green and brown hills and from behind him he could smell the sea.

"You're in Hawaii." The woman calmly told him.

"Hawaii? What the fuck happened last night? How did I get here?"

"My dad found you in his fishing boat when he was coming home last night, guessed you snuck on at Vegas. He found you just as you are now, half naked with a broken nose."

"Broken nose?" Adam turned to the nearest mirror, sure enough his nose had been broken, and badly. There was dried blood around his mouth, a deep red stain covering half his face.

"Liam must be a better fighter than I realised. Oh shit Liam, hey can I borrow your phone real quick?"

"Sure."

Adam quickly picked up the house phone and dialled Liam's mobile, only stopping to remember what numbers to dial.

Liam answered the phone after several rings, from the sound of his voice he felt just as bad as Adam.

"Hm, yeah, what... fuck, what?"

"Liam. It's Adam."

"Adam, where the fuck are you?"

"Hawaii."

"Hawaii? The fuck are you doing there? What the fuck happened last night, I woke up in the fountain outside the hotel, my head is killing me."

"I don't know, the last thing I remember was us in the hotel room, we were drinking and doing some coke, then we got in a fight. You broke my nose."

"Shit man, I can't remember anything past the hotel, I have no idea how you got to Hawaii."

"I'm with this girl who told me I was asleep on her father's fishing boat."

"When were we near a harbour?"

"I don't know. Look Liam I'll call you back once I know what the hell is going on."

"Alright, sorry about the nose."

"It's fine, talk to you later."

"See you."

Adam hung up the phone, the woman was smiling at him.

"Sounds like a fun night."

Adam laughed softly. "Sorry you had to hear that, it's been a strange night."

"I'll say. You're lucky dad didn't toss you out into the ocean."

"I suppose I should thank you then Mrs...?"

"Miss. Miss Kanani Kealoha."

"That's quite a name."

"People just call me Kay;"

Adam shook Kanani's hand. "Thank you Kay, my name's....

"Adam McAllister. I checked your wallet, see if there was a number to call. Here."

Kanani handed Adam his wallet. Immediately he opened it but there was no money, no notes, no coins. Even his card was missing.

"I swear it was like that when I found it."

"It's ok, after last night I wouldn't be surprised if I had threw my card away. Christ what happened to me?"

"Well you're welcome to stay if you want, if you need to save up the money to get back home then you shouldn't need to waste it on rent."

"Save up? You mean your dad won't take me back on his boat."

"I wouldn't think so, he wanted to chuck you out into the sea but I told him not to. Besides he's not going to waste the money on gas."

"Well you're kind to let me stay here."

"Least I could do, I've got a spare room anyway, might as well use it. Don't worry, I won't start charging you until you get a job."

"Charge? I thought you were letting me stay here."

"I need to make something out of this Adam, I'm not doing this out of charity."

"And here I was thinking you were a nice girl Kay."

"I let you use my phone, that was nice. I've just met you Adam, this trust thing works both ways."

Adam laughed, he felt like he hadn't laughed in years. He liked this girl, this Kay, she was kind, she was funny and she was beautiful.

"Ok Adam I'm just going to call my dad, look around the house if you want, bathroom's to the left, second on the right is my room, stay out."

Kay left with a smile, Adam stood up, his whole body racked with pain but he managed to stand up with little difficulties. Adam walked slowly out to the porch, the air was hot and humid but he almost didn't notice, the view was so stunning. Kay's house was in a small neighbourhood, probably only 7 or 8 houses in a circle, a road went by each house, it was a roundabout but it had only one entrance/exit which went away and over a hill. The houses were all the same tree-hut style as Kay's, everyone shone in the bright sunlight, everywhere he looked Adam saw a new colour whether it was a tree, a flower or occasionally and animal.

He liked it.

"So you're the stowaway huh?"

Adam turned to one of the neighbouring houses, he saw a man in his early 50s siting on his porch. He had a friendly smile and kind green eyes, he was wearing the typical Hawaiian outfit, crazy shirt and shorts.

"I am, had a little too much to drink."

"I'd say, old Kale told me he picked you up in Vegas, you're a long way from home. Hell of a night."

Adam chuckled, the neighbour stuck out his hand for Adam to shake. "Ray."

He took Ray's hand. "Adam, you're a stranger in these lands yourself ain't you Ray?"

"Ha, what gave me away, the whiter-than-white skin, the crazy shirt?"

"The accent, I'm from Britain myself and I can recognize the accent anywhere."

Ray smiled as he thought for a moment "You want to come over for a beer Adam."

**

Kanani arrived back an hour later to an empty house, she spent a good 5 minutes searching every-room of the house before she heard laughing from Ray's house. She walked out into the sunlight to see her old and her new friends sitting on the porch. She just caught the end of their conversation, Ray was struggling to tell his story without laughing.

"...and so Davie lobs this bottle over the fence and the next thing we hear is glass smashing, not just the bottle but a fuckin greenhouse. We all start running but Davie's so shocked he can only stand there as this brick-shithouse comes running out."

The two men just started laughing, Kanani just smiled at them but they both knew she was there, Ray was the first to turn to her.

"Oh my beautiful Kay, what brings a princess like you to this wretched paradise?"

"Hello to you too Ray, see you've met my new friend."

"Yep, me and Adam here have been reminiscing about the good old days of Britannia."

"Britain huh? I thought you a Las Vegas native Adam."

"Nah, I spent about a year in Vegas but it's a long road that brought me there. I take it you two are friends then."

"Ray came into this town about 10, 12 years back, not too different from you, except he was on the back of a truck. He was suppose to be working for some big company but God conspired against him."

"Anytime I tried to get here the vehicle I was in broke down and by the time I arrived the position had been filled. Spent a good couple of months living off expenses the company paid for before I met Kale."

"Ray and dad started as drinking buddies but they had an idea, a business plan. And they decided to go for it."

"Back when we started there was hardly any car salesmen around so me and Kale pooled our money, worked a few jobs, didn't waste anything then about three, four years after I got here we opened for business. It's been difficult but we're doing good for ourselves, I've been running the company for just over a year since Kale retired, became a fisherman which is how he came about you."

Adam nodded his head, intrigued by the story. "Sounds like a good story, what did you do before selling cars."

"Nothing special, just office number crunching, you know the drill; white shirt, tie."

Kanani giggled. "You gave that up for shorts and colourful shirts."

"I'll give up a hell of a lot more fro you my sweet."

"Oh Ray, when will you learn that ours is a doomed romance. Hey Adam, my dad's coming round for dinner tonight, you're welcome to join us if you want. Maybe make him stop hating you."

"I'd like that thank you."

Kanani turned and headed back inside, Adam watched her, admiring how gorgeous she looked in the sunlight.

"She's a kind girl isn't she?"

"She's always been liked that, volunteers down at the animal sanctuary. Listen Adam, I know we've just met but I like to think we're going to be friends..."

"Friends? No offence but I'm not planning on staying that long."

"Look just listen to me, Kay likes you, I can see that clear as day, why else would she keep a stranger in her house so I'm going to make this clear. As your friend I'll say this; don't do anything to Kay that you'll regret. As Kay's friend I'll say this; if you hurt her you best pray it's me who finds you because I'll kill you quickly, unlike Kale."

"Wow, I've been here two hours and already I have death warnings. Weird place."

"Get use to it Adam. You'll get plenty before the week's out."

The two men laughed as they opened another beer.

Over the next few hours Adam wandered around the neighbourhood, he just strolled around getting use to the surroundings. He found himself liking the quietness of the place, it was such a change from the fast-paced, bright lights of Vegas. Yeah the heat was a little too much but as the day went on it got cooler and cooler.

He arrived back at Kanani's house just in time for dinner, she and her father were already inside.

"Adam, glad to see you could make it."

"You kidding Kay? After everything you've done for me I wouldn't miss this for anything. Feel a little bad that you're doing this, I should've done something for you."

"You're broke Adam what could you have done? Besides I like cooking, good to have a first-time taster."

Adam smiled and turned to who he could only guess was Kale, he was a large man, tall, burly and on the bad side of 60. He looked like 30 years ago he could kill you with a single punch but even with a little extra weight he'd still do some damage. His skin was the same olive tone as his daughter but with more than a few wrinkles, his hair was long, down to his neck

and in some form of good shape. Finally the last thing Adam noticed about Kale was his eyes, one of them was a dark brown, much like his daughter but darker, the other was milky-white, a dead eye, he could immediately tell Kale was blind in that eye.

"You must be Kale, I've heard a great deal about you from Ray. Glad to meet you conscious this time."

A slight twitch at the corner of Kale's mouth told Adam he found the joke humorous but it was very brief and soon he was back to the grim expression.

"I apologize for the manner in which we met, I've lost all memory of that night, don't remember getting on your boat. I'm sorry."

"Just make sure it doesn't happen again, next time Kanani won't be there to save you."

Kanani leaned into Adam and whispered in his ear. "Dad wasn't kidding when he said he was going to tip you into the sea."

"Duly noted. What you cooking Kay smells delicious."

"It's called Hawaiian Chicken, it's a meal my mother did perfectly, this is as close an imitation as I can get."

"Don't sell yourself Kay, I'm sure it'll be delicious."

Kanani smiled at the compliment but Kale didn't, while Kanani went back to finish up the meal Kale spoke in a low, hard voice. It scared Adam slightly.

"Adam. I don't know you, I don't why you're here and I don't know if you're planning anything with my daughter. I know she's old enough to make her own decisions but she's still my girl and ever since her mother died she's been the most important person in my life. So if you hurt her, I will blind you, I've been cutting fish for 40 years and I've got pretty good with a knife so I will blind you."

Adam sat in stunned silence, not knowing how to react to Kale's threat. It wasn't until Kanani came back that the silence was broke.

"Hey that's dinner ready. What you boys talking about?"

"Your dad just threatened to blind me."

"Ah the 'Hurt me daughter and I'll blind you' speech. Haven't had one of those for a while."

"This is normal?"

"Normal for dad. It's been pretty effective if a little annoying. But I let him give his little speeches, keep him off my back for the most part."

"Well it's definitely effective I'll say that. I could really use that meal right about now."

The three of them went to a large table near the kitchen, Kale sat at the head of the table, Kanani to his right and Adam to his left. After a quick prayer they began eating.

"Mmm, Kay this is really good. Seriously this is amazing."

"Really? You're not just saying that?"

"I mean it, it's delicious."

Kanani blushed at the compliment, something her father picked up on.

"Oh come on dad you don't have to hate Adam just because he's a stowaway. Give him a chance."

"I'm not completely stupid Mr Kealoha, I'm actually quite nice once you get to know me. I'm interested in hearing how you became blind in your eye there. Did you harm anyone's daughter?"

Kanani had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. As was the general consensus of the night Kale wasn't pleased.

"I got this when the last asshole that was cheeky to me tried his luck with a bottle. Smashed it into my face, I've now got a piece of glass in my eye and it can't be removed without the risk of nicking an artery. So if I look like I have the headache from hell I probably do."

"Sounds unpleasant, sorry to hear that. I was almost blinded myself when I was younger, gave me this scar."

"Not the same thing Adam."

Adam smiled as he bit into a piece of chicken. "You really don't like me do you Mr Kealoha?"

"I do not, I think you're a drunk junkie and a failure and the only reason I haven't kicked your ass yet is because my daughter doesn't want me to for some reason."

"Ouch, tell me how you really feel Kale."

Kale looked at Adam, a look of disapproving and disgust on his face. "That's it, I'm sorry Kanani but I can't stay here, this disrespectful little shit needs to be out of here by the morning."

Kale stood up and walked away, Kanani went after him, trying to calm him down to no avail. Adam smiled and continued eating his chicken. Kanani returned to the table, a slight smile on her face.

"I don't know if you're dumb, brave or both right now Adam but my dad's not used to people talking back to him, a lot of people round here know him well enough to be scared."

"I'll be honest with you Kay I'm still a little buzzed from Vegas, when that runs out I'm going to shit myself around your dad. I'm also going to be a little snappy and probably an asshole."

"I'm use to junkies Adam, my own brother was one for several years and I had to hold him here for his detox. He's better off now but it was a dark time for him."

"I'm sorry to hear that? I had a relative addicted to drugs. Don't know what happened to her."

Kanani watched as Adam stared into space, clearly remembering this relative he lost touch with, she walked slowly forward and rubbed his shoulder.

"Thanks. And thank you for dinner, you didn't need to do that you know."

"And I told you I wanted to, I like cooking Adam. Besides it was worth it for you and my dad."

Adam had to smile. He finished his meal then got acquainted with the house, it really was tiny, the kitchen and living room took up about 75% of the whole place with only a bathroom and two bedrooms with a porch outside. It was also pretty bare, yes there was the usual stuff, TV, sofa, a table with chairs, oven, fridge, bed, all that but there was only one TV in the whole house, one sofa, one table, the bedrooms each had one bed and one chest-of-drawers and the bathroom was a toiler, sink and a stand-up shower, not even a bathtub.

The whole minimalist look appealed to Adam in a way he wouldn't have expected, he was already getting use to the heat and it had only been a couple of hours. That night Adam heard Kanani doing something outside, he followed the noise and found her walking out the backdoor and down a set of steps that had been carved into the hillside leading onto a large beach. In the moonlight the beach looked equal parts haunting and beautiful. Adam stood on the steps, looking out to this magical place, the serene nature reminded him of the pond back at home.

God home? Where was that these days?

"You going to stand there all day or are you going to join me?"

The sudden shout from Kanani grabbed Adam out of his trance. He continued down the steps and onto the beach, Kanani was sitting on the sand, her arms wrapped around her knee. She smiled sweetly at Adam who sat down beside her.

"Sorry if I gave you a fright Adam, I heard you follow me from the house and I wanted you to hurry up."

"Sorry."

"Don't be, I'm usually out here on my own, nice to have someone to talk to."

"Why are you out here anyway? Why aren't you asleep?"

"I don't know, I've been doing this for years, coming out here at night and listening to the waves but... I've always considered it a type of insomnia but I'm not sure what it is. Maybe I just love the peacefulness of it all, I mean listen to that."

Adam did listen, the crashing waves were gentle against the soft sand, the night air gave a cool breeze to the otherwise hot weather, even though it was very late the place was still pretty light and Adam could see every part of Kanani's beautiful face.

"Do you know anywhere this peaceful?" For the second time in minutes Kanani brought Adam out of his trance.

"Um, yeah, yeah I do actually. Back in Glasgow there's this pond, it's completely hidden off from everywhere else, like surrounded by these big, claw like trees and bushes that surround it and it's got this walkway all around made up of bark and leaves. I found it by accident when I was sledging with my cousin, we lost control and crashed through the bushes, I had to cover her up to protect her and that's how I got my scar. God, it's been a long time since I told that story."

There was a silence that passed between the two of them but it went unnoticed by Adam, he was remembering how happy Lexi had been when she told that same story to Liam and Maggie.

"Adam? Was your cousin the one who got addicted to the drugs?"

"What, yeah. Yeah that was her? How'd you know?"

"You have the same look in you eye last time you mentioned her. What's her name?"

"Alexandra, though I just call her Lexi. I don't know her last name it's been changed so often."

Kanani out her hand on top of Adam's and locked their fingers together, Adam would never have known it but her touch was just what he needed just then.