All Chapters of The Secret Island: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

By the way, what do people do when they are on holiday? For the past two months, Martin had been doing either research or reading. In an attempt to be more sociable, he tried to go out, eat out at restaurants and talk to some locals. But Martin still wondered if that was what people call ‘being on holiday.’ He didn’t know what time for relaxing was supposed to look like. “Celine, do you want to go swim again today?”Looking prim and proper, Celine wore a casual dress today. She was startled as soon as she heard Martin invite her. This morning after eating breakfast, she could be spotted sitting on the patio, looking into the distance. He thought she didn’t seem like herself.He had questions to ask her. The mundane questions of what people do on holiday. She was his hope in enlightening him on the topic. She knew how to enjoy life. He had so much fun yesterday because of her. He never thought swimming could be fun. If he was to properly go on holiday, Martin t

Celine woke up in the morning feeling the pain in her foot. The wound on her sole still hurts. Yesterday, after riding Martin’s back home, the guy also helped her like a primary school nurse to treat the wound. She remembered when Martin sat down on the floor, held her feet with so much care, and tended to her would. I immediately felt her face getting warmer. No one had ever taken care of her like this.“Incidents like this don't happen often, but it's important to be careful of broken seashells or other debris when walking barefoot on the beach. You are lucky good that the wound is not deep, but you shouldn’t put your weight on when you walk for a while. Actually, I recommend you don’t walk if necessary. Celine, be careful, do you understand? This will heal quickly if you are careful with the wound.”She remembered Martin wrapping gauze around her feet and kept complaining. She kept looking at him. The man was so determined to wrap up the gauze she smiled and forgot to answer him.“

We had lunch at the restaurant in the area. The atmosphere from the hilltop allowed her to see the ocean and one corner of the island to another. The breezy wind had its unspeakable calming effect. Celine silently observed Martin ordering food for both of them and feeling the joy of spending time together. “I’m taking you to the beach on the other side of the island. Are you up for that?” He asked while sipping coffee. He didn’t look at her, but his eyes were glued to the newspaper the restaurant provided. “Sure. I have nothing else to do anyway.” When he didn’t look her way, she got more opportunities to look at him openly. He was not one of those well-dressed men with their hair all gelled up and shirt perfectly pressed, nor did he wears any shiny shoes. He dressed simply, and that drew attention to his handsome face. Cleanly shaped, he sometimes reminded her of a perfume model. His dark blue eyes gave him a cool and cold persona, but recently s

“Martin, I can’t really walk. Can you help me out?” Celine called him. Martin rushed to her side, let her rest her hand on his shoulder, and placed his hand on her waist. He helped her to stand up and walked to a sofa. This started to feel like a morning ritual to them both. She smiled at him and thanked him. He was not used to spending this much time with a girl or anyone other than work context. But she needed his help. And she had been nicer day by day, smiling to him so often that he couldn’t remember if anyone had smiled at him this often. And as her wound was healing, she needed him for support. He tried to understand her. Every time he experienced behaviors he couldn’t explain to others, he translated the unexplained behaviors as from a different culture or due to a generation gap. And this time was no different. He was surprised that he appreciated her presence and warmth. He had been worried about her. She ran into some problems all the time, at least while

Martin heard loud noises from the kitchen after he went back from jogging. He hurried to the scene, hoping it was not some sort of robbery all over again. What he found was a timid Celine cleaning up splashes from the floors and tabletop. “What are you doing?” She was surprised to find him there. She acted like a child being caught and ceased all motions. “Hmm…omelet. But it was harder than I thought.” He looked around and saw eggshells behind her. He sighed and helped her clean up. “You could have waited for me to come back and make breakfast.” “No, I just wanted to make you breakfast….” “I thought you couldn’t cook.” “Yes, that is true, but I want to try to make some for you. You said you would teach me, no? Then teach me.” She smiled at him gleefully. Yesterday, after the bar, after he agreed to give her a chance, she asked him out for dinner. The girl was still tipsy and laughed and smiled all evening. She nev