Nicholas had gone from second place to last in the second race, and he wasn’t sure he could recover from it.
He took the horse for a lap around the meadow and grumbled angrily, “Don’t want to be the commander, huh? It’s been a while since you rode on horseback? You could at least pretend to be rusty! Women are liars!”
He then lashed out at Shaun and Samantha, “And don’t even get me started on you two! You went on and on about how you didn’t want to be the commander, but oh, you two were sly! You didn’t have to make me put my guard down. If you wanted to be commander so badly, just say so!”
Hera tried to explain, “Would you believe me if I said muscle memory kicked in after I took the horse for a couple of rounds?”
Samantha piped up, “For the record, I really don’t want to be the commander of the trip. I was only trying to catch up to Hera and didn’t realize how fast I was going.”
“Curse my competitiveness,” Shaun mused, clicking his tongue. He cast a thoughtful look at Bernard and drawled, “What happened back there, Bernard? It isn’t like you to be slower than Samantha.”
He was definitely amused by Bernard’s loss.
Bernard fell silent. He had been careless and too focused on beating Nicholas. But he didn’t mind how the race turned out. He steered the horse toward Hera and said, “I figured I’d cut you guys some slack for going easy on Hera.”
Shaun rolled his eyes. He had no comeback for that.
Nicholas, on the other hand, was stumped. Despite his effort, he was made the butt of the joke.
Night gradually fell, and the five of them led the horses back to the stables before they returned to their lodging house.
“Well, as the rules stipulate, Hera is now officially our commander for the trip. We’ll go along with whatever plans you have, Hera,” Nicholas said.
Hera truly didn’t want to be appointed as commander, which was just another way of addressing an over-glorified tour leader. She would have to plan the itinerary, book the group’s lodgings, make meal arrangements, and do all that miscellaneous work.
She could have kicked back and let someone else do it instead.
When she spotted Wayne approaching them, a bright idea crossed her mind. She announced, “In that case, we’ll leave the planning to Wayne! Whatever he says goes!”
Wayne gaped at her, unable to wrap his head around the duties suddenly placed on him.
After a long day, the six of them had a humble farmer’s fare for dinner before retiring to their rooms for the night.
Nicholas tossed and turned in bed, but sleep would not come to him. If things had gone according to his plans, he should be sharing a tent with Hera by the lakeside now. But Bernard just had to come along and ruin everything!
Why was Bernard different from what he had expected?
If this went on, the trip would become a honeymoon trial for Hera and Bernard.
Nicholas refused to let that happen. It was time he pulled out the big guns.
He pondered his next move and bolted upright in bed, grabbing his phone to call Hera.
Meanwhile, Hera was in a separate
room, leaning against the headboard
and scrolling through her phone.
When the sound of running water coming from the bathroom stopped, she quickly set her phone aside and picked up the book about
programming on the nightstand.
She might be on holiday, but her acting skills were not. She had to look like she was serious about improving her programming.
Bernard emerged from the
bathroom in a set of black pajamas.
When he saw Hera reading on
Bu
bed, he drank a glass of water before burrowing under the covers. He snaked his arms around her and read with her under the lights.
Just then, Hera’s phone rang. She picked it up, and Bernard frowned when he saw Nicholas’ name flashing on the screen. He reached out to answer the call and put it on speaker.
“Hera, I don’t feel so good. Can you come over and take a look?” Nicholas groaned on the other line.
“Can you describe your symptoms?” Hera asked coolly.
“I’m lightheaded and nauseous. I’ve been retching and having palpitations. I’m just sick all over. I think I’m dying,” Nicholas whined.
“Do you think it’s because of the altitude?” Hera asked.
Nicholas answered immediately, “Yes! I think so. Could you come here and take a look?”
Hera relented. “Fine. Give me a second.”
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