Mary and Malee walked towards the ocean, leaving Georgia along faced down on the chair.

“Do you know how to swim? Go ahead. I will walk along the beach.” said Mary. Malee learnt how to swim from very young age, playing with the boys much older than her. She remembered they were playing catching rubber tyres in the river and how she would often beat the rest of the boys in the game. She nodded and ran into the fresh blue water of the ocean without bumping into tourists. She swam for a good half an hour or so before she got back to the beach and surprised to see George standing besides Mary, fully dressed, with Georgia nowhere to be seen. Mary stopped her conversation with George and quickly picked up a towel for Malee to cover herself as Georgia came out of the villa.

“As I was saying, we are going shopping later.” Mary resumed talking to George.

“And it’s a girls only outing. You are not invited.” interrupted Georgia. George seemed disappointed but he turned around and left the place.

Mary asked Malee to go back into the villa to take a quick shower and change back into the clothes she came in. Malee nodded and quickly ran into the villa and into the bath room to prepare herself. When she came out of the villa, Mary was already in the car. Malee went into the back seat.

“We are waiting for Georgia then we go for lunch and shopping.” said Mary to Malee as she pulled the seat belt.

“Why was George here just now?” asked Malee. George seemed as if he  was looking for something or someone and left disappointed.

“He was wondering if he could accompany us along the shopping.” smiled Mary. “Apparently, the school was closed for the day due to spring cleaning so he was back from school.”

“He doesn’t go out and play with his friends?” asked Malee. She had seen many school children shouting and playing in the fields so she wondered why wasn’t Goerge doing the same. After all, he must had a lot of friends, considering his position and wealth.

“People like him will not have any friends, Malee. Nobody will want to be with him.” whispered Mary.

“Why?” Malee whispered back.

Before Mary could reply, the door opened and Georgia jumped into the seat. She was completely in a new set of clothes, the kind of clothes that Malee would often see in the advertisements by the roadside.

“Lets go Mary. Nevermind George. I already told him.” said Georgia.

“Where to? Lunch first or shopping?” asked Mary as she started the engine.

“Lets go shopping first. I can’t be trying out clothes with full belly!” laughed Georgia. Mary turned the car around and drove out of the large garden to the highway again and towards the city.

“Malee, you must take massage lessons. Mary, arrange a lesson for her.” said Georgia, who apparently liked to be pampered, like a princess. Mary could only nod as she tried to focus her attention to the traffic light. The traffic in the city was much more congested than when they left in the early morning to the beach. Malee wondered she exactly was the massage that they were talking about because all she did was rub the oil on their bodies and squeezed their arms and legs. She could think of a lot of her friends who could do both activities better than her. In fact, she remembered she could never win arm wrestling with the girl from the hut opposite of hers, who had bigger arms than most boys.

As she was wondering about her past, the car turned right into a large building with shops and lights flashing at its doors. Mary stopped the car in front of its door where people were coming in as if she owned the building. A man in blue clothes, a guard, ran towards the car only to stop once he saw the car’s plate. Mary got off the car and soon, a second man came over and Mary spoke a few words with him before she came back to the car and opened the back door.

“Lets go girls.” said Mary as the two girls jumped out of the car. Mary looked around for incoming cars before leading them into the building. Malee wondered if it would be ok to leave the car that way because the sign at the front of the door said “No Parking.”