The Secret Island

"I've told you everything, Vera. Now, it's your turn. What should I do?" Two palms covered her face. Celine nervously asked her best friend. The claim of an urgent meeting outside of the office was a lie.

Celine intended to spend a few hours in the afternoon resolving the issues that weighed down her heart by discussing them with Vera. But to say that it was an urgent matter was not a lie. Martin was just sitting there, at the reception, being his usual calm and relaxed persona, reading. That was all he did, reading. But that was enough. He let her personal assistant, staff, and suppliers mistake him for her boyfriend. He was her ex!

People should just understand that he was only her ex-boyfriend. She hadn't forgiven him. We hadn't gotten back together. He wasn't her boyfriend. Please, stop calling him her boyfriend!

"Well, it seems you can now leave your convent. After living like a nun for a long, finally, your hubby has returned. Aren't you happy? Why are you making a face like you just ate something bad?"

All her friends knew about Martin. She was crazy about him and rejected all advances from any man. Of course, people asked why she chose to stay single throughout all this time. She had no choice but to tell them about him. But because Martin never showed up, no one met him. Celine didn't even know he was alive. The image of Martin in the eyes of her friends was mostly fictional.

"So, now he is at your office? Can I go see him? I just want to see how hot he is. Is he really like the photo you showed me? And why didn't you invite him to lunch?"

"I've told you my reason. I'm still mad. Martin broke our promise. He didn't come back. And if I didn't risk my life traveling to the USA with a complete stranger, I wouldn't know he is still alive."

"Your life is just some sort of unexpected whim of grandiose...you got a new hubby after your trip in Italy four years ago...."

"He was my boyfriend, not hubby! Now he is my ex!" Celine cut her off. What was all this rudeness? What hubby? No! Stop!

"Well, that's it. Your boyfriend disappeared because he got arrested on the charge of corporate embezzlement of one billion dollars. He didn't return to you after he got out, so you needed to go to his New York condo to see him. Oh, God, what is all this? How dramatic..." Vera explained dryly.

Celine sighed after she heard the drama of her life being summarized within fifteen seconds. Nobody could believe how things turned out.

"So, I believe you two haven't got back together."

"No, he hasn't trusted me enough to tell me what had happened nor the reason he didn't come back."

"But he said he loves you."

"Hmm..."

"But he flew all the way here to try to make things right."

"Yes..."

"So, do you have plans to forgive him anytime soon?"

"It will be until I can get over this anger. All those times, waiting was pure torture. You couldn't imagine how bad I felt."

"I understand. But make sure it's reasonable. We don't have any clue reasons behind Martin's decisions. Cut him some slack."

Vera warned her. Celine understood her friend's good intentions, but she couldn't help herself to feel down. Perhaps because she couldn't understand Martin and because Martin kept everything a secret. She didn't understand him at all.

"I'm not the mean one here, you know."

"You ignored him, no?"

"I only refused to have lunch with him. That's not mean at all." Once she thought about lunch, Celine was reminded of something. She took out her phone to text her personal assistant. "Please excuse me one moment, Vera."

'Kathy, can you check if Martin has something to eat?'

And the prompt answer from Kathy made her frown. Because it was 'Not yet. I've asked him. But he said he wasn't hungry.'

Celine turned to see her watch. The time was well after 2 PM. Why didn't he eat something? When had he become someone who didn't give much care to his health? This annoyed her so. 'Order him salade niçoise. He likes something healthy.'

She typed that to her personal assistant. Perhaps he didn't know his way around. Or perhaps he still had jetlag and didn't have an appetite. But he should at least eat something. Once she glanced up from her phone, Celine was surprised to know that her every move was under her best friend's watchful eyes. "Don't look at me like that!"

"Well, things are quite evident, isn't it? Oh my, Celine..." Her best friend sighed and went back to pay attention to her dessert. "Go back to see him if you are so worried."

****

Suddenly, Celine came back and just stood there and stared at him.

Martin looked up from the new book he bought from the airport the other day and found her standing in front of him.

Half an hour ago, Kathy offered to order him salade niçoise, his favorite dish. He was startled by the offer. It was a wonderful surprise that he politely declined in the same way he did earlier in the morning. He wasn't hungry. "Martin, I just finished a meeting. Go to lunch with me. I'm starving." Her face worried, Celine uttered her request. He suspected her meeting to be quite stressful. It had been three hours since she went out after all. "Definitely. What do you prefer? But I'm afraid you have to suggest the restaurant around here. I simply don't know any."

Martin stood up and answered honestly. He wanted to please her and did whatever could make her happy.

Celine didn't say much. She led him to the door. He could only stand there dumbfounded and doubting her motive until she turned to say to him.

"Just follow me. I will take you to my favorite restaurant."