Take My Breath Away

In less than five minutes, the fun was over and the pain began. The big grains of salt at the bottom of the lake hurt her feet.

Blair had to pause before taking every step.

She tried to find spots where the grains were smaller, but even so, she was almost in tears before long. 'Doesn't this place sell shoe covers or something?' she thought miserably.

Blair looked around and was surprised to see that some people in the lake were wearing shoe covers. She sighed. 'Why hadn't I thought of this before I got down here?'

Her eyes then fell on the pavilion board which said, "Shoe covers for rent." She had been in too much of a hurry to notice it earlier.

And now, to enjoy the most beautiful view she had ever seen, Blair had to grit her teeth and walk on. Finally, she reached the middle of the lake. She had the best angle to take the pictures of the lake where the water met the sky.

She lifted her camera and clicked.

Little did she know that while she was engrossed in taking the picture of the view, someone else was secretly taking pictures of her, freezing the picture-perfect moment with her in the dead center of the white salt lake.

As time ticked by, more tourists walked into the lake. Some were wearing shoe covers, and others were walking barefoot, wincing just like her.

She wondered if she should text Niles and ask him to rent a pair of shoe covers for her.

Once she was satisfied with the pictures she had taken, Blair put away her camera and turned around to look at where Niles was sitting. But instead, her eyes fell on a familiar figure standing a meter away from her.

The handsome man stood out from the crowd of tourists. Blair was breathless for a moment. "When...when did you get here?" she asked.

"Just now." Wesley walked closer to her. "Doesn't it hurt?" he asked, looking at her legs. Despite the thick calluses on the soles of his feet, even he could feel some pain. He knew that she was in a lot more pain than him. Besides, her feet had been severely injured once.

"It does," she admitted.

"Silly woman." Wesley lifted her into his arms.

Blair buried her face in his chest and smiled. "I didn't walk barefoot into the lake on purpose. I just didn't know that this place sold shoe covers," she retorted defensively.

"It's Niles' fault. I knew I couldn't count on him," Wesley said with a frown.

Before he had walked into the lake, he had kicked Niles in the butt, almost sending his brother flying into the water. He blamed Niles for not accompanying Blair into the lake. What if she fell into a limestone cave? That could be a deadly accident.

"It's not Niles' fault. He has done more than enough. Why are you always picking on him?" Blair felt that nothing Niles did was good enough for Wesley.

He gathered her up in his arms without answering her question and said, "I'm taking you back to the hotel."

"But I just got here!" she exclaimed, clutching her camera tightly. It would have fallen into the water if it wasn't hung around her neck.

"Fine. Then, let's go and get you some shoe covers," he compromised.

"I'll wait here," she said. Blair was desperate for those shoe covers.

Wesley looked at her feet. She knew what he was worried about. "It's been years. My feet are fine."

He put her down and said, "All right. But if you see a black hole, stay away."

"Okay. I'll stay put."

Wesley started to walk away from her. Blair took her camera and snapped some photos of the handsome man's receding figure.

When he was back, Wesley wasn't alone. He dragged Niles along with him. And he had rented only one pair of shoe covers. They were both walking towards Blair. His feet hurt so much that Niles felt like his soles had been set on fire. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Wesley, why did you get only one pair of shoe covers? What about me?"

"What about you? Should I treat you like a woman?" Wesley said sarcastically as he walked on.

"Wesley, I reunited your woman with you. You didn't even say so much as a thank you. And now, you are making me walk on this salt!"

Niles was merely trying to make a point, but he hit a raw nerve. Wesley swiftly turned to give him another kick. By now, Niles' pants were drenched knee-high. "Use your head next time. We are at a high altitude and the ultraviolet rays are so strong here. What if she gets sunburnt? The difference in temperature between day and night is huge, and she is frail. What if she catches a fever? The medical conditions are poor up here. What do you plan to do if she gets sick? Did you ever think of that?"

Niles wanted to punch him in the face. "Everything I do is wrong, isn't it?" he demanded.

"Not really," Wesley said.

Niles was honestly surprised to hear that from him.

"You'll be doing the right thing if you stay out of my sight," Wesley added.

Niles stopped walking and stared at his brother's back. "There's no way we're real brothers," he declared.

"The feeling is mutual. How could I possibly have a brother like you, Nancy? Whining while walking on mere salt. I can't imagine what you would do if you had to walk on knives."

'Did he just call me Nancy? That's it!' Niles decided he wouldn't take any more insults. "Wesley, fight me! Right now!" he announced.

Wesley was already very near Blair. Hearing this, he turned around with a smirk. "Come again?"

Niles repeated, "Fight me!"

Wesley laughed. "No problem. How do you want to do it? You decide. Anything is fine by me."

"Don't forget that Blair is still mad at you. Let's fight to the death. Once you're gone, I'll make her mine."

To Niles' surprise, Wesley didn't pounce on him as he had imagined. Well, not right away at least. He only stared at Niles thoughtfully.

Something of major significance had just hit him. Niles was being really nice to Blair lately. Too nice.

This time, he had not only brought Blair to the border, but also acquired their grandfather's help to ask Wesley to wait for them at the platform.

Niles had even convinced the driver to slow down when the train passed the platform Wesley was at, just to make sure that Blair could see him. Niles was being very considerate towards Blair. 'He must be up to something, ' Wesley figured.

He threw the shoe covers aside, rolled up his sleeves and moved dangerously towards his little brother.

Niles' eyes widened like saucers when he saw Wesley approaching him slowly. He yelled, "Wait. Wesley! You can't be taking it seriously. I was just kidding, man. How could I possibly fight you? Blair! Help me out!"

"You like Blair, don't you?"

Wesley asked grimly.

Niles panicked. He didn't have a crush on Blair.

It was just that he had been feeling guilty about putting philter in their wine that one time. He was just trying to make up for what he had done. But he couldn't tell Wesley that. Wesley would kill him either way.

Niles tried to make him understand.

"Bro, first of all, Blair is older than me. I don't like older women. Secondly, Blair used to be such an outgoing and perky person. But ever since she got together with you, she has become more mature, and after what happened in the past few years, she is no longer the kind of person she used to be. She is now completely composed and grown-up. Not my type at all. And more importantly, she is my sister-in-law! How could I possibly fall for her?"

"Then why are you acting so gallantly around her?" Wesley hit the nail on the head.