The King Legacy – Generation Two, Chapter Ten: A Hijacked Honeymoon

 

In the blistering June heat, Scarlett wondered whether she would be able to withstand the two-week stay in Egypt. It was a beautiful place, unlike anything Scarlett had seen before – she had holidayed when she was younger, but mainly around Europe – often staying with her Uncle Jared and Aunt Zelda on their travels. The difference this time is that she was alone. Victor had agreed that it would be a shame for the honeymoon tickets to go to waste, and originally Scarlett had asked Kim if she would like to accompany her, but after she was unwilling to leave baby Riley – Scarlett decided to go alone. The break away from Sunset Valley would do her good, and despite leaving Harmony, she felt that she would be able to be a better mother upon her return.

She had cancelled the posh hotel and the honeymoon suite in Cairo, and had instead decided to book into an adventure camp site in the nearby town of Al Simhara. She wasn’t materialistic like Victor was, and she wanted to experience Egypt in all of it’s glory.

As Scarlett stepped out of her taxi and made her way into the base camp, she was greeted by an enthusiastic host.

“Ahh, you must be our latest guest, Mrs Black?” He beamed taking her hand in both of his and shaking it.

“Miss King, if you don’t mind.” Scarlett smiled back, just because a piece of paper said that she and Victor were still legally married did not mean she had to parade around wearing his ring and using his name – this trip was about her finding herself again, and she couldn’t do that whilst she ‘belonged’ to somebody else.

“So tomorrow, we’re going into that thing?!” Scarlett asked, pointing up at the huge pyramid that dominated the skyline.

“Certainly. I’ll be getting you up around 8:30.” The host replied.

8:30? Scarlett hadn’t seen that time since she had been at school, but nevertheless she was excited to see what Egypt would offer her.

As Scarlett sat eating breakfast the following morning, she struggled to stop thoughts of her disasterous wedding from creeping back into her mind. She was enjoying the sun and the break from reality, but she knew that when she got home she had some growing up to do. Harmony would be six years old soon, and Scarlett couldn’t believe just how fast her baby girl had grown, and she was growing ever aware that her parents were aging. As well as Harmony, Scarlett realised that if anything were to happen to her parents, she had Willow to think of. It was easy to forget that the mature voice of reason in her family was actually just a teenager, and Scarlett knew that she kept quiet about a lot of her problems. She wasn’t worried about Alfie, she often thought he should’ve been born first – he was brilliant in the “older brother” role, even to Scarlett; his older sister.

Scarlett spent the next week exploring Egypt’s many ancient tombs and landmarks. She had had reservations about holidaying alone, but she soon found that her own company was actually entertaining. She’d always been used to living in a house crammed with her parents, brother, sister and their numerous friends and relatives who would always be popping in, and she’d never really known what it was like to be independent. Through school she had been seeing Peter, and even after he had died she was never alone because of his memory and the guilt she felt over his death, and then of course there had been Victor.

As Scarlett uncovered more hidden secrets in Al Simhara, she began making notes in a small pocket journal she had brought with her – if she had to write about her disaster wedding in this legacy book, then she would make sure it was followed by the best adventures to keep her future generations entertained. Connor had slowly but surely been teaching her how to make her writing a little less one-dimensional, and she soon found herself becoming enthralled in documenting her various adventures in Egypt.

Scarlett did a lot of thinking during that first week. She found herself realising that she was lacking in progress with her career. She loved working at the theatre and being surrounded by music, but she was left wondering whether a hobby was better left as a hobby. What other career could she do? She had no idea, but as she spent one enjoyable Thursday afternoon hacking away at thousand-year old rock, she thought of Kim. She was preparing to go back to work following Riley’s birth, and she was even becoming something of a regional treasure – the first Sunset Valley resident to go into outer space. NASA was determined to make her the poster girl for their new exploratory space campaign, and Scarlett couldn’t help feel a pang of jealousy. Kim loved her job, it paid insanely well, yet she still managed to walk around with a smile on her face and be the perfect wife and mother.

But Scarlett as an astronaut? She laughed to herself, her opinion of herself wasn’t that high.

The second week took much of a different turn however. Whilst eating alone in a restaurant in the centre of the town, a waitress came over, a tray in tow.

“This is from the man at the end of the bar.” She smiled, placing a Strawberry Daiquiri cocktail down next to Scarlett’s empty glass.

Scarlett gave a slight laugh as the waitress walked away and looked at the drink, on the napkin beneath it was an address. Scarlett looked over at the man, who winked and proceeded to walk out of the restaurant. Usually, Scarlett wouldn’t have acted on it – she was used to men buying her drinks in bars, it had been happening since she had acquired some fake ID in high school and had begun to paint the town red. However, Scarlett felt intrigued – it had been a long time since she had been ‘dating’, and she was technically single again. So much so, that the following afternoon she found herself being greeted by Youssef at his home a few blocks away from her camp.

“I’m glad you called, Scarlett! Drink?”

“Little early isn’t it?”

“Well, it’s five o’clock somewhere I suppose.” Youseff smiled, his English was impeccable and Scarlett found his Egyptian accent charming.

The pair spent the rest of the afternoon drinking and chatting, and Scarlett found herself laughing for what felt like the first time in years. However, after the fourth cocktail Youseff began asking Scarlett about her family, to which a drunk Scarlett broke down. It was the first time she had truly acknowledged that her marriage and relationship had failed, but Youseff was supportive – offering her a shoulder to cry on whilst he poured another drink for the pair. He wasn’t pushy, and he wasn’t out to get into Scarlett’s pants like people may have thought, Scarlett was just happy to to feel young and free again.

She made the first move, and Youseff laughed as he felt Scarlett’s hands slide downwards towards his crotch. She felt amazing, it felt great to be doing this because she wanted to, and not out of some sick sense of loyalty or fear. It didn’t matter that she would probably not see Youseff again when she went home, she was living in the moment, and right now Scarlett was taking control.

Youssef didn’t object when Scarlett asked to see his bedroom, and before he knew it the pair were getting even closer on the bed.

“Are you sure about this, I would’ve been happy with just a drink!” Youssef exclaimed as Scarlett began kissing his neck, unbuttoning his shirt.

Scarlett felt like by having sex with Youssef she was ridding herself of her inhibitions. She felt like she could take on the world in between Youssef’s thighs, and after she emerged from the sheets, hot and sweaty she felt happiness and ecstacy, instead of regret and deflation.

It was the early hours of the morning when Scarlett snuck out of Youseff’s house, even in the darkness Egypt was as humid as ever and Scarlett strolled absent-mindedly through the streets until she reached base camp.

The sun had come up by the time she returned, and as she clambered into her tent she let out a contented smile – it was fun this whole no strings attached thing. She’d never see Youseff again no doubt, she wondered if it could be as fun back home. As Scarlett drifted back off to sleep, she thought about how she would deal with the reality back home.

It wouldn’t be so bad, she kept telling herself. The good thing about being at rock bottom, is that the only way she could go was up.

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A/N: Hope this chapter seemed a little brighter than the previous, it’s refreshing to give Scarlett a new start of sorts – although I don’t think we’ll have seen the last of Victor yet! Mwahahaha.