Chapter 14 - A Fine Specimen
The sun was slowly setting on sunset at Hillberry Isle. The view at the beachfront was perfect as it was overlooking the horizon with hues of orange and blue as the sun almost disappeared and went into hiding. The water was calm with soothing waves washing ashore and its relaxing sound blended with the background music provided by one of the Chos' guests who was playing the song "Santeria" by Sublime on an acoustic guitar.
Angela didn't know the man but she thought he resembled President Daniel Cho a lot. He strummed the guitar like a pro while another man sang the lyrics, swaying his body with a beer in hand. The reggae feel of the atmosphere was very nice and it painted a smile on her face.
Good thing that her brother Oliver told her to cover-up as it was indeed windy, but she didn't have any cardigan and only brought a thin shawl with her which was enough to cover her bare arms. She tugged it around her tighter and sat on one of the sunbeds, watching the large bonfire where the others gathered several meters ahead.
Looking at the group of friends having fun made her feel envious; she didn't really have friends like them. She grew up only having Nina by her side. Occasionally, her brother, who was quite famous in his high school, had friends over but most of them were superficial—especially the girls—so she wasn't really friends with them.
But the crowd at the beachfront, who were probably less than twenty people—all looked like a tightly knitted circle. Everyone liked each other and were really good friends that she felt like she was intruding on their party. She was fine alone though, sitting quietly by herself and watching them from the sidelines. She wished she brought her kindle reader with her so she could catch up on her reading but she left it in her luggage at the suite.
Tugging the shawl tighter around her, a movement from the side caught her eyes and when she shifted her gaze, she saw Gael with a smile on his face. He was standing by a tree and was talking to a woman with long, blond hair. The woman looked familiar, as if she had seen her before today but she couldn't remember where and when.
Like a stalker, Angela watched Gael and the woman from a distance. She watched as the pair laughed about something which only they knew what it was about. It was weird seeing Gael laugh and look so carefree like that and without knowing why, she felt bitter.
Angela watched as the blond-haired woman whispered something to Gael and she wondered what the woman was telling him. And because she was feeling petty, Angela judged the woman who was with Gael, thinking that she was such a flirt. And Gael was a flirt. Tch.
However, the next thing she saw made her stomach drop. Gael's eyes darted in her direction, catching her staring at him.
Angela paled and shivered, she wanted to flee. How embarrassing! She wanted to look away but for some reason, her eyes wouldn't listen to her and continued to stare at Gael without shame. The two of them stared at each other with equal fiery gaze, neither of them wanting to give up.
During dinner by the beach earlier, Angela refused to look at Gael's way and she was thankful that he left her alone the entire time. But now, she had a hard time tearing her gaze off him. He was such a sight to look at. The sky had darkened and his beauty glowed under the many lamps around them — such an interesting and fine creature that she marveled.
Gael took a sip from the beer bottle in his hand. He had been drinking beer since afternoon but he didn't seem to be drunk at all. The woman next to him smiled, seemingly amused by something.
"Hey, Angela… Why are you sitting here all by yourself? You should join us over there," said Samantha, the wife of President Cho, interrupting Angela's blatant staring.
"Oh… Hi, I'm fine. I actually like it here," Angela responded with a small smile. "Happy birthday to your little girl by the way. She's really beautiful. Is she sleeping already?"
"Thanks. Yeah, Sia and her brother had been playing all day. She fell asleep while eating dinner earlier." Samantha returned the smile with her own beautiful one. She looked like a really proud mother as she spoke about her daughter. "Is he bothering you?" she probed.
"Excuse me?" Angela turned to Samantha with a baffled expression.
"Gael…" Samantha nodded her chin towards the man she was talking about—who until now, was still looking over Angela's direction. "You two seemed to be—"
"Oh, no no no…" Angela shook her head profusely. "There's nothing. Me and him. Nothing."
Samantha chuckled, her voice was so melodious that Angela blushed upon hearing it. "I was gonna say that the two of you seemed to be in a war. I saw you this afternoon and I thought you were mad at him for something. I must have misunderstood… You let me know if he does something, alright?"
"Oh…" Angela laughed nervously. "No… It was… it's nothing."
Samantha looked at Angela who was again staring at Gael. The two had been staring a lot at each other and it was amusing to watch.
She wondered if something happened between Gael and Angela since she recalled that the two were pretty close during her wedding reception a few years ago.
"Who is that? His girlfriend?" Angela asked, her voice a little hesitant.
"Who—Oh that woman next to Gael?" Samantha snickered. "Well… his ex-girlfriend."
Angela snapped her head to Samantha with a brow arched up in question. "His… ex?" She looked at Gael and the woman again and saw how they interacted with each other. "He's friends with his ex?"
"They don't really talk a lot if you're wondering about that. They rarely see each other but when they do, they're pretty civil. Besides... that woman's married already. See that guy playing the guitar? That's my husband's brother… her husband."
Angela looked at the man whom Samantha was talking about and then looked at the woman next to Gael. If she hadn't noticed it earlier, she was dumb. She could certainly see it now — the man playing the guitar had been smiling and staring at the woman while the woman was also doing the same thing. The husband and wife were clearly in love with each other yet all she saw was what her judgemental eyes wanted her to see. "Oh…"
"My husband's calling me. I hope you enjoy yourself tonight. Please feel free to grab more food and drinks, okay?" Samantha left Angela and went over to her husband's arms in a hurry.
Angela was surprised by her realization. The mind was such an interesting cognitive faculty. It allows you to think wrongly and you wouldn't even realize it unless someone tells you otherwise.
She dragged her gaze back to where Gael was supposed to be standing but found his spot empty. She looked around the nearby places but she couldn't see him.
Wondering where he had gone, she tugged the shawl around her again. Out of the blue, someone joined her on the sunbed, sitting to her right. And when she turned her head to see who it was, she was rendered speechless, realizing that it was none other than the man she was just looking for.
"Looking for me?" Gael curled a lopsided grin and winked at her, his bold gesture sent electric arrows straight through her abdomen.