Dan carried Midori all the way to a woven rattan chair shaped onto a capsule, with white cushion and pillows. Before it was a table made of driftwood and glass top.
He raised his hand to signal a waiter to come. Midori was expecting the menu, but waiters started bringing dishes until the table was full.
Midori saw some fish soup with vegetables, crispy pork leg with sauce, stuffed grilled squid, crab in chili sauce, grilled oysters with diced green mangoes and onions, chicken barbecue, shrimp in coconut milk with chili, and a big bowl of fried rice.
She turned to him with confusion. "Are we expecting others?"
"Well, your assistant might have had his way with mine last night, so the answer to that is no." he said nonchalantly as he filled her plate with different kinds of food.
She looked down on her plate in silence, remembering what happened last night.
Dan was pathetically crying while kneeling in front of her, and it gave her quite the shock.
She bent down and forced him to get up. She straightened his tuxedo and fixed his bowtie.
"Don't bring yourself down like this ever again. You are the CEO of ZFC. A lot of people depend on you to keep their livelihood existent. It might have not worked out between us, but I am still wishing you the best." She gave him a gentle smile and walked away.
Her memories drifted to the only time they went out wherein she decided on their itinerary. They went to a dance studio and learned the paso doble routine. It was the one they performed on the ball.
Going back to the present, she showed a gentle smile. They finally danced it in appropriate clothes and occasion.
Dan pulled her back from her reverie as he said, "Eat up." while motioning towards her plate.
He had peeled the shrimp, cut and deboned the meat and served the soup in a bowl for her. All she needed to do was eat.
She looked up at him and opened her mouth, about to say something, but was interrupted.
"I understand if you don't want to go back to how we were before, but could you please not push me away?" His pleading eyes softened her resolve.
She looked at her plate. "Okay." she replied, almost in a whisper.
____________
Riley and Michelle finally got themselves back on track and they asked the crew for a boat to shore.
"Sir, Madam. We are sorry. We thought all the guests had gone into the tenders. Unfortunately, we don't have other boats for you to use." The crew member bowed politely.
"What about a jetski?" Riley had a sudden epiphany.
"We do have personal watercrafts, Sir. If you wish to use them, we could arrange two for you and Madam." He gestured to Michelle.
"That would be great!" Riley was overjoyed. He needed to find out how pissed off his CEO is right now. The crew member bowed and went his way.
Michelle suddenly tugged on his sleeve.
Riley furrowed his brows, glanced at her hand pulling his clothes, then looked at her. "What now?"
She looked dejected and pouted. "I...I don't..."
"What? Make yourself clear." He was getting irritated. He needed to report back to his boss and this kitten kept pestering him.
"I dunno how to ride!" she exclaimed.
They went over to the jetskis. Riley looked at the uncertainty on her face.
He turned to the crew. "We'll only take one. She'll ride with me."
_______________
It took the assistants some time before they located their bosses whom surprisingly are together, well, physically.
Dan and Midori were already finishing their dessert and drinks when the two arrived. However, since Dan ordered quite a lot, the hefty servings could still feed up to five persons.
The bosses had indifferent expressions towards the assistants.
"Let's go." Dan wiped his mouth with a tissue and stood up, looking at Midori."
She nodded at him and stood up as well, then turned to their assistants. She squinted her eyes at how sweaty they were. "You two look famished. Make sure you finish everything on this table. Don't waste our money."
When the bosses had left, Michelle complained, "But...it's too much! Even for the two of us! My boss has a fair appetite. How little does your boss eat?"
"She's not on some diet. It's not about how much they ate. The problem lies on how much they ordered." So I am demoted to a pet again? He sighed.
___________
When they had distanced themselves from the assistants, Dan held Midori's hand.
"Hey!" she protested, trying to free her hand.
"Just this once." He looked straight ahead.
They walked for quite awhile until they reached a waterfall.
Midori's eyes glistened and she showed a bright smile.
Without a word, Dan released her hand and dove into the cool waters.
She had a look of worry when he did not appear right after. Were there rocks in the water? Did he hit his head? She took off her cover up dress and went closer to get a better look.
When she was at the edge of the water, about to swim in, her arm was grabbed from the side and she fell into the water.
"Waaah!" A splash was made after her scream.
When she emerge on the surface, he was right in front of her, grinning from ear to ear, still holding onto her arm.
She pushed him back in anger. Well she was angrily worried.
He chuckled and pulled her arm. "There's a cave behind the falls. Wanna take a look?"
She looked over the falls and nodded. The surroundings were good distractions to dissipate her anger.
They sat in the cave admiring the cool water flowing in front of them.
"Dori...I'm sorry." He searched her face for a change in expression.
"Are you sorry that you cheat on me?" she casually asked.
"No." He replied, looking down. In his mind, he wanted to argue that he did not, but he cannot push her away right now.
She frowned and was about to burst when he looked up to face her.
While looking into her eyes, he continued, "I'm sorry that I hurt you."