When love fails, agony speaks

“What?” I demand, irritation abruptly rising.

“But this is too sudden. It's only my first day.”

Mister Crown turns his head and looks back at me as he is descending from the yacht down to a speedboat. He's beautiful but his manly brows indicates he is annoyed.

“Are you gonna come or not? This is your first day of work, lady. Shouldn't you be obeying your boss’s order rather than complaining?” A brow of his rises.

“I’m not complaining, mister Crown. I just wasn't expecting that we're going to spend the weekend here on my first day. I wasn't even prepared,” I reason, fidgeting on the spot I am standing.

“Well, weren't you just talking about adaptability and bullshits mere hours ago?” he respond. He's right. I was. But I wasn't expecting that I'd be needing it so soon. I thought he didn't need it.

“Well yes…”

“Then hurry up.”

I stare at him double-heartedly for a moment. He's my boss and as her secretary it's my responsibility and obligation to do what I am told. But isn't this way too sudden? I mean shouldn't I be given a day to relax before work?

Leaving me without a choice, Mister Crown descends down to his speedboat which had been floating for about a minute now. I hesitate and breathe deeply, indicating my frustration. Why the hell are we even here in the first place?

I shake my head and follows mister crown. I hop in his speedboat just as he puts a hand on the steering wheel.

“Take care boss,” the man says from above.

“Thanks, Steve. You take care as well. Take your day off for the weekend but be sure to be here by Sunday morning okay?”

“Yes boss!”

Jordan nods and ignites the speedboat to life. I almost startle by the sudden sound. Jordan glance back at me.

“I’ll explain to you why we're here once we get to that island,” Crown simply says and I simply nod my head in response.

The time we get to the dock, I can feel my intestine wiggling like worms. My stomach feels sick and I feel like I'm about to throw up. For a moment the world seems to rotate, but perhaps it's just me.

I run towards a street lamp and puke comes surging from my throat. Shit. I should have told him I easily get motion sickness. Telling him wouldn't do anything better though. It's not as though he's going to adjust for my sake.

“Looks like someone's having a bad time,” comments Crown, walking past me.

“You think so?” I mutter sarcastically. I stagger, nauseous. I knew from the start that this was going to happen, yet here I am, clutching and cursing my stomach. My eyes are watery but I have a clear view of the villagers gathering into a cluster around Crown. A grateful and genuine hospitality is on display on all of their faces. Old, young, man, woman. The look on their face almost convinces me that under the cold and arrogant veil of his, there's actually someone soft and caring, but I master my emotion. They are probably just grateful to see him because they can benefit from him and he owns the island. I don't see anything good about this man. The way he speaks, looks and walks; nothing good at all.

In the center, surrounded by the smiling and nodding heads is Jordan Crown who, just by looking at him, seems to have consumed their soul. Just from my mere observations of their reaction, I am further convinced that the charm and charisma held by other men I met before are nothing compared to Jordan's. I sense it from the first sight of him. That must've been the reason why he can easily attract women.

Jordan glances back at me, the villagers’ eyes following his. They look at me, perplexity in display.

“Everyone,” he announces,

“this is a friend of mine; Keila Taylor.”

No one speaks afterwards. Then I realize they're staring at me wearing my most ungodly reaction, my most embarrassing one and out of the corner of my eyes I know Jordan Crown is amused.

“Hi?” I mutter awkwardly.

One lady keeps her penetrating gaze at me, eyes staring straight through my socket until they reach my soul. She approaches me and she never once broke her eye contact. All of a sudden she reaches out to my face and I'm starting to freak the fuck out, wondering what in the world is she trying to do!

I attempt to break free from her hands but she is persistent.

She splits open my socket, giving herself a good view of my eyes perhaps.

“Beautiful dark eyes!” she babbles enthusiastically.

“They say eyes are the window to one's soul. If that's the case, I'm staring directly at yours and I'm loving it!”

What the hell? What the hell is this lady saying? Does she even realize that she's invading my personal space? And does Jordan Crown even see what this lady is doing?

“You can easily attract beautiful things, my dear and you already have,” she continues. I glance at Jordan. The look on his face tells me that he is amused, the same face I've been wanting to hit since my first sight of him.

“Beautiful ears, alluring lips and great nose—and oh, strong white teeth as well!” she says this while literally checking every part of my face. I try to smile but my face won't cooperate.

“Let me see your palm.” She grabs my wrist and opens my hand. He traces the line on my palm with her two fingers.

“I love your personality. Bold and beautiful, which so your future will be.”

I watch her frown which somehow wakes my interest.

“But a strange twist in your life lies ahead. But you're strong. I know you'll get over this storm,” she continues, not failing to sound like a fortune teller. The lady smiles at me, her eyes turning into slits.

“Welcome to the island!”

Everyone cheers and their voices fill my ear. I unconsciously smile for their warm greetings I didn't expect will be.

“Thank you,” I respond. Crown walks toward me.

“This is Marianne Venice. She's one of the tenants here who I permitted high authority. She manages the cleanliness of the entire island together with other tenants. She's also a great cook,” Jordan introduce.

“Hi,” I say awkwardly, reaching out for her hand. She accepts my hand and shakes it, smiling still.

“Jane?” Jordan calls out to the crowd. A wholesome-looking woman who, in my theory, must be in her early twenties, slips from the crowd. Her hair is dark and she's as slim as I am—maybe even more. She is wearing a beautiful green sundress which looks stunning with the cooperation of her glinting skin tone. She has a unique beauty. Something innocent yet bold.

“Yes, mister Crown?” she respond, possessing a voice so feminine and soft that if I were a guy I would have fallen in love.

“There you are, Jane.” Crown studies her.

“I love the dress.”

I watch Jane's face glow red as she smiles sweetly.

“Thank you, mister Crown.” She tucks strands of her hair over her ear.

“Jane, I want you to take Keila to my rest house. Find her something to wear for the evening. Dress or gown. Anything decent and wonderful,” orders Crown. He turns around and looks at me as he digs a hand in his pocket. He takes a small red box out and hands it over to me.

“Wear this.”

I take it from his hand and I am bewildered.

“What is this?”

“Open it.”

I manage to control my excitement as I open the box. What greets me is a beautiful shimmering necklace. A glittering heavy pendant catches my attention. It is a diamond.

“I'm going to wear this?” I ask, unsure.

“Yeah.”

I stare at it carefully. This is the first time I have seen and hold a diamond before, and a part of me is whispering I need to take care of it more than I should to myself.

“You don't look excited,” he says coldly.

“No. It's not that!” I defend.

“It's just that diamonds are not really my thing.”

“Not your thing? What kind of woman is not into diamonds?”

“This woman,”

“Then what is your thing, woman?"

“Sapphire?”

“Yeah? Anything to be different huh.” He gives me a questioning look.

“Well, I'll see you in the evening.”

He moves away and the crowd follows him to an electric vehicle that looks more like a golf cart than a car.

Now that curiosity has invaded my mind, I need to get an answer for what the hell am I even doing here. I run toward Crown.

“Wait, mister Crown. Can you please tell me the reason why I'm here? I'm so confused right now,” I utter, distressed. He looks at me for a moment. He must be thinking whether he should give up on my persistence, or surprise me in the evening.

“Okay.” Crown sighs.

“We will be having a ball tonight. Today is the fifth anniversary of this island so I thought of spending a few cash for the celebration. I invited some of my former business partners and several big businessmen in the states.” Crown frowns

“And Barbara Lang will also be here. You know her right?” says Jordan.

Barbara Lang. The most widely-known and popular American model. She has been the face of many inducements of beauty products. Every man I know simps for her and I can't blame them. She's so seductive and voluptuous that she even took the attention of the notorious womanizer and arrogant Jordan Crown himself. Barbara Lang is a big fish swimming in the ocean, and though the notorious Jordan Crown captured her, she chose to slip out of his captive to seek for more pleasures and desires.

“I have heard of that name before but I don't remember seeing what she looks like,” I lie. Of course I have seen her. Who hasn't?

“If that's the case, you'll see her later.” He turns away from me and heads to the electric vehicle where a driver is waiting. He climbs into it and looks down at me for a moment.

“Well, see yah.” The vehicle wakes up and I watch as they drive away. The crowd begins to scatter, leaving Jane and I in silence.

“Miss Taylor?” Jane says. I turn around to look at her.

“Jane Woods. It's nice to meet you.”

“Please call me Keila. It's nice to meet you too.” We shake hands. She smiles at me and I smile back.

“We better get going, miss Taylor—Keila. I'll take you to mister Crown’s rest house.”

I nod my head and wait for a vehicle to arrive.

* * * * *

The island is bigger than I first anticipated. When we travel to mister Crown’s apartment, we came past houses and grocery stores and restaurants, a church, and there was even a public clinic. There are more people than I first expected there will be. More children, more adults, more women, more men and more animals than my initial expectation.

The rest house is located on a mountain, overlooking the island and, as I expected, is big and Godly beautiful. The main theme of the rest house is dark brown. The exterior walls imitates giant timbers piled at each other vertically. The terrace is wide and it gives me a vibe of being in a woodland, surrounded by trees and grasses and wild animals. The balcony looks aesthetic, running around the entire top floor, giving me a wholesome view of the moon reflecting on the water, giving me a wholesome view of what the island looks like at night.

I breathe deeply on the balcony, the wind waffling against my face like I'm at the top of a skyscraper. Even the wind here feels different from Manhattan.

“Keila,” Jane calls out. I twist my head to look at her at the door.

“Your dress is ready.”

“Thank you, Jane. I'll be there in a minute,” I respond. She smiles before she walks away.

. . .

I study myself in front of a life-size mirror of Crown's room, Jane watching me from behind. The glittering dark backless dress fits my body perfectly. My hips and waist shape the dress and the dress reaches down to my thighs. It's a beautiful garment—in a seductive kind of way and I have no regrets borrowing it from Jane. But what freaks me out is the front part. It's way too loose and sagging and it reveals a huge part of my cleavage. I blush worriedly.

“Isn't this way too revealing?” I complain.

“It is, but mister Crown has a thing for that kinds of dress and he chose it for you to wear,”

“Crown knows that you own dresses like this?” I ask. I notice some mockery deep in her voice.

“Actually he gave it to me on my twenty-second birthday,” Jane responds. I stare at her through the mirror and she breaks our eye contact, cheeks reddening.

“Can I ask you something, Keila?” questions Jane. I fix my hair. It is on a bun but there are several strands that I let loose on each side.

“Sure.”

I watch her sit on Crown’s giant bed.

“Are you in a relationship with mister Crown?”

I meet her eyes through the mirror.

“No.” I shake my head

“Actually, I work for him. He's my boss. I'm his personal secretary. How about you? Do you like mister Crown, Jane?”

“What?” Jane gasps. The question must have caught her off guard.

“No…er…who told you that?”

“I'm a woman as well, Jane, and like you, I know how a woman would act when she's near someone she likes. You like him do you?”

She doesn't reply. Jane drops her gaze and puts a hand on her forearm. She clears her throat.

“I have known him since I was ten. I used to play with him. He was twenty that time. Mister Crown was the kindest man to have ever treated me. He used to buy me clothes and toys and make me laugh. He used to fight for me when someone bullies me. Mr. Crown is good at numbers and I'm not, so it was him who always answers my math homeworks.” She meet my gaze.

“You can't blame me for falling in love with someone like mister crown.”

“Mister Crown? If you've known him for many years now, shouldn't you be calling him by his first name? Like be casual with him?”

“I used to. But when I confessed my feelings toward him, he couldn't reciprocate it. In order to lessen the pain, I chose to pretend that we were never as closed as we used to. He never treated me like a woman. He never looked at me like how he would look at any other woman. He treated me like his sister.” Her eyes are watery and she wipes a dribble of tears that manages to escape from the corner of her eyes. It must have been bad for her. Heck it should.

“I’m sorry. Guess I was being dramatic.” She chuckles, the kind that could easily convince me that she's okay. But I am not convinced. I know she's not okay.