26 Stuck on an Island

Because of what happened earlier, she failed to grab the dress outside and she refused to go back out there again—not after what happened. As if her own mind was against her denial, she was reminded of how she just shamelessly hugged a topless man. A sweaty topless man. A handsome sweaty topless man. What was he doing at this hour anyway?!

Wanting to rid herself of the memory that's forcing itself in her mind, she washed her face in the bathroom and hurriedly changed into a white beach dress. Finally feeling better, she went to her nightstand and reached for her phone only to find it drained. The battery died while she was asleep and now it won't turn on. Regretting that she hadn't charged it before she slept, she plugged it in and decided to go out to find her brother and eat lunch with him.

She headed down to the floor where her brother's suite was and she knocked on his door. Angela waited for several seconds but there was no answer. She tried again and still nothing. Thinking that he may be out on the pool or somewhere in the resort, she decided to head out and check, but it was still raining and she still couldn't find him. Therefore, she decided to just eat by herself.

It was strange. Even the Cho family and the others were nowhere to be found. Probably they were taking a nap? Or out exploring the island or something? But it was raining... Her stomach growled as she wondered. Soon, she found herself in the restaurant.

Staring at the blank notebook, she started scribbling absent-mindedly, not realizing that she had started writing someone's name.

Gael.

Her eyes went wide in horror and she violently scratched the man's name with her pen that it tore the paper. What was she doing?! Has she gone crazy?

She gave up, slammed her notebook shut, and started eating her lunch. The restaurant was pretty crowded that day. It was a Saturday in Summer so the crowd was understandable. It was such a shame that there was heavy rainfall because it would have been nice to stay out today. Maybe that would have given her a breather.

Just three years ago, it was her and him in the same scene. Now it was all just part of a memory.

A memory she kept locked away—a memory she refused to accept that there was something more to it than she actually thought there was just like what he told her last night.

Sighing, Angela played with her food, moving a cherry tomato around with her fork. She was hungry just before she came to the restaurant. But now… Now she no longer had any appetite.

She didn't know that she was still staring at Gael until he turned his head and met her stare. Realizing that she was caught, she held her gaze, unashamed that he saw her staring at him. She was already caught. There was no use in hiding it, was there?

Gael's smile slipped when he kept his gaze at her. Why was she looking at him like that? If he didn't know any better, he would think she was jealous that he was talking to a woman.

Angela was the first one who dropped the stare and she minded her own business again. She pushed her plate with a half-eaten dish in front of her and grabbed the pen and notebook again. This time, ideas came to her mind and she started writing speedily in her notebook. Usually, she would write on her laptop directly but other times, she felt like manually writing her thoughts made the process clearer.

She was very much in the zone that she didn't notice someone approached her and was trying to talk to her. A knock on the table caught her attention and she looked up to see a tall, tanned, hunk of a man. Hello~

"Hi, I was sitting there and couldn't help but notice you over here. Are you alone? May I join you?" the stranger asked.

Angela's initial thought was to reject him. She was writing. Finally writing! But this was the first time in a long time that someone had hit on her in a restaurant. She actually thought that she stopped being attractive since she hadn't been on a date for a while. Glad to know she still got it, at least.

She hesitated but then she remembered what her best friend Nina told her: 'Meet new guys.' Maybe meeting new guys will inspire her to write. And this guy who came up to her didn't look bad at all. He was sort of cute even.

Finally deciding to entertain him, she curled her mouth upward and flashed him a charming smile. "Yeah, sure."

The man was evidently relieved that she allowed him to sit with her. He introduced himself and Angela did the same. His name was Troy. Wait, no. Trei? David? Shît. She already forgot.

How could she not? When Tr—D—this man sat down next to her, Angela caught sight of Gael looking her way from where he was sitting. Yeah. Gael was looking at her alright. And his gaze darkened at the sight of her and this new guy she was now sitting and talking with.

She met Gael's intense eyes that seemed to undress her from across the room. She suddenly felt conscious so she shifted in her seat and tried to put her focus back to the new guy at her table. But honestly, she didn't understand a thing about what the new guy was talking about. At first she thought he was talking about his job somewhere in California, but now he was talking about football? She really did not follow.

Angela tried to forget about Gael who was several feet away and enjoy the company of the new guy… whose name she still couldn't remember. Shît.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed a buff man came over to Gael and whispered something to him. The next second, he sighed and then turned to look at Angela. He caught her again but this time, she averted her gaze and then told the new guy that she wanted to go back to her room. She had been staying in the restaurant for more than an hour and she still hadn't seen her brother. She needed to get her phone.

Leaving the restaurant, the new guy offered to walk her to her suite and she agreed. As they strolled towards the other building, Angela noticed a presence behind her. She turned her head and saw Gael. Wondering why he was following, she furrowed her brows and heard the new guy ask, "Do you know him?"

Angela didn't know why, but her bitter self answered for her, "No. He's just some guy." And they continued to walk.

Hearing her answer, Gael didn't know whether he should be mad or amused but he laughed anyway. 'Just some guy, huh? Angela… You're going to eat your words soon.'

Once Angela got back to her suite, she immediately opened her phone. And as soon as it turned on, it was flooded with texts and missed calls from her brother and an unknown number. She was just about to read the messages when her phone rang and she saw her brother's caller ID, so she answered right away.

"Oli, I've been looking all over for you. Where are you?" she asked.

"Me?! I should be asking you that! Why weren't you answering my calls? And why aren't you back here with Samantha?" Oli sounded mad.

"Back where? I don't understand. Where's Samantha? Where are you?" Angela was really confused.

A long and deep sigh was heard from the other line before Oliver started telling her that he left early in the morning with Daniel. "You were supposed to fly out with Samantha at noon. I'm in the fûcking airport to fetch you but you aren't here. Now you're stuck there for god knows how long in this shîtty weather."

Blood drained from Angela's face as she listened to Oliver's scolding. Her eyes darted to the thunderstorm outside. Then, a woman's voice sounded from the other line while she was still in shock. "Angela, honey, this is Sam. I tried to wake you up earlier but you were out cold and we had to leave to catch the jet's schedule. Don't worry though, our friend Gael is still there and you can fly with him on his plane. I'm just not sure when you can leave because of this storm but stay safe, okay?"

The rest of Samantha's words were drowned when Angela realized that she was stuck on this island with none other than Gael—the man she shouldn't be stuck on an island with.