All Chapters of The Island: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

The closer they got to the pier the more nervous Mark got. It didn't matter that he'd met both Maddy and Myra before. If anything, that made it worse. He didn't know if Myra would recognize him at all, or if she did, would she have him chalked up as one of a thousand perverted losers who'd paid to see her naked. Worse, he might be remembered as that creep who jizzed in his pants.As for Maddy, Mark knew that she'd remember him. That night they'd spent together was burned in his memory, and he knew how she felt about it at the time too. They'd made love in the dark, then again when they woke in the morning, not a word exchanged. They'd showered together, then lay holding each other until they couldn't avoid getting up. Even then, he'd accompanied her all the way to the airport, shared a really tender goodbye kiss with her, and then kicked himself for months that he hadn't got her contact details, or just up and moved to New York to find her.Wha

There was a knock at the door and Mark stood up as Jasmine entered."Sorry to interrupt. Dinner's going to be served in ten minutes. Thought I'd better let you know.""Cheers, Jasmine," Mark nodded."I better make a move," Maddy said, getting up. "Cheers for the chat, Mark.""Anytime."Jasmine waited until Maddy was inside her own suite before she spoke. "How did it go?"Mark shrugged. "Okay, I guess. What's happening with the whole....""Discrete investigation?" Jasmine asked quietly.Mark nodded. "I told Maddy you know.""How did she react?""Angry at first, but she's had a lot to deal with. She told me about one of her friends though. She's got a kid that's got health problems. Can we help her with that?""I already know about it," Jasmine said quietly. "As I said, we move quick and quiet when we need to."

"That was pretty impressive, you know," He heard from behind him, recognising Jasmine's voice.Mark shrugged as he lit another cigarette. "I deal with a lot of information at work, so I'm pretty good at taking stuff in. Plus, we spent hours on this today.""You missed one," She said gently, taking a seat beside him. To his surprise she leaned over and picked up his cigarettes and lit one for herself, then grinned. "I've had a couple of drinks.""What did I miss?" Mark asked, not really caring if she smoked or not. Who was he to say anything, given he was chain-smoking like an addict on death row."The Business Consultants you work for?" She said, making it a question."Of course. With offices in the US, UK, Canada and Australia," He finished."Seriously, that's really impressive, remembering all that."Mark exhaled a long, smooth breath. "I spoke to Myra. Told her I was at the club in Myrtle

"Morning, Mark."He felt the gentle hand rubbing his shoulder, and recognised Jasmine's voice. He opened his eyes, seeing a hint of brightness in the room from the bedside lamp.Jasmine was sat on the side of the bed, wearing an oversized football shirt, her hair hanging loose, grinning at him."It's six o'clock already?" He mumbled."Quarter to," She replied. "Time to get out of bed, Mark. Rise and shine, although I think you've got the rise part taken care of." Her eyes flicked down the bed at the same instant that Mark realized he had an erection, and was lying on his back, tenting the sheet just as she had predicted twenty four hours ago."Oh, shit. Sorry," He muttered, sitting upright and making sure the sheet covered him.Jasmine chuckled, a wicked noise that made him grin a little sheepishly. "Told you.""Yeah, you did," He replied and his eyes narrowed. "Is that my football shirt

When they returned, Jasmine was waiting for them, and as Garius had covered the computer manufacturing operation, their software development companies and the mobile telecomms part of their organisation, Jasmine started on the 'Hollywood' side of things.She began laying out information for them on the Production company, the Talent agency and the music and magazine companies, a slightly more glamorous side of their business. She spoke about some of the stars they represented, household names in some cases, and briefly went into what shows and productions they had shares in that were run or managed by other companies, drawing both Maddy and a reluctant Myra into the conversation by asking them if they'd seen this movie or show, or heard music by a particular artist.Mark was a little amused at how skillfully she'd drawn them into the briefing, making it more of a conversation than a straight delivery of information, and before he knew it she wa