Lying Is Bad

Angela and Gael finally found a table for them—a two-person table. And they waited until their food would be served. The setting of the whole place made the two slightly uncomfortable because it looked like a romantic date night that's sponsored by the resort.

Each table—whether it was a two-person or an eight-person table—had fresh flowers and candles. Candles!!!

Obviously, that was understandable, considering there was no electricity—so the venue survived on several emergency lights on the walls, as well as the candles on the tables, creating a very romantic vibe. They were also seated in the corner of the room. Literally a corner. To accommodate many people, their small table was pushed to the very corner, so they could only sit next to each other that their knees were touching. How convenient.

And that's not all! Angela shifted in her seat when she heard that someone somewhere in the room decided to play a song on their phone on loudspeaker. And it didn't help their already growing uneasiness when the song that was played was "One and Only" by Adele.

Angela thought she was probably insane for thinking, but… Was all this a setup? There was no hidden camera somewhere, was there?

~

You've been on my mind…

I grow fonder every day

Lose myself in time

Just thinking of your face…

~

She met Gael's intense gaze and she cleared her throat and immediately looked away. To keep herself occupied, she decided to check on her phone and noticed that it had a 5% battery left. She had slept for a very long time and she hadn't had the chance to charge her phone. She sighed, thinking that she probably needed to buy a new one because this phone just kept dying on her.

Quickly scrolling through the many messages to see if there was anything important, she received a phone call from her brother and she answered it subconsciously.

"Oli!"

"Anj, I've been calling—"

Her phone died, ending the phone call that had just started. Biting her bottom lip, Angela lifted her eyes and Gael was still staring at her. She swallowed and asked, "Can I—"

Before she could even finish her sentence, Gael had already whipped out his phone and gave it to her wordlessly after unlocking it.

"Thanks," she said, wondering if he had initially planned to make her beg for it. Why was he so hot and cold?

Not wanting to dwell on it, she dialed her brother's number and was surprised to see that it was actually saved on Gael's contacts. Her finger hesitated as it hovered over the call button, but she decided to ask him later. For now, she needed to call her brother, and Oliver answered on the first ring.

"Oli, my phone died. I slept for nineteen hours and didn't charge it. Sorry," Angela blurted the words before her brother could say anything else.

"I knew it." She heard him sigh and he reminded her to take care of herself while on the island. He already knew about the blackout from Daniel Cho, which was why Oliver wanted to check on how she was doing. She wanted to keep their conversation simple and was about to end their one-minute call when he opened up the topic about the person she did not want to talk about.

"I ran into him last night. He asked where you were," said Oliver.

Angela straightened in her seat and almost instantly, she questioned in panic, "You didn't tell him where I was, did you?!"

A few heads turned in her direction and she realized that she was loud, so she turned to the wall where only Gael could possibly hear her. It was either him or many other ears, and at the moment, she couldn't think or care about that at all.

"Of course not!" He raised his voice too. "Even if I did, what's he gonna do? Fly there in this weather?!" He chuckled. "You know what, I should have done that, so he can die on the way—"

"Oliver!" Angela called under gritted teeth.

"What?"

She sighed, not knowing what to say to her brother. She hated Evan, that was no doubt, and everyone knew that. But she wouldn't wish for anyone in general to die.

Seeing as his sister did not respond, he changed the topic. "Anyway, it's good to hear that you're alive."

"I'm okay. But I have to get off the phone now, Oli. I'll try to text you later when I can."

"Wait—you and that guy you're with. The owner of this phone… Gael?" When Oliver said that, Angela swore that Gael looked her way. "Are you two—"

"Oliver, bye!"

She ended the call without waiting for her brother to finish his question. "Thanks," she said when she handed Gael's phone back to him. Their fingers grazed very subtly when he received it.

~

I dare you to let me be your, your one and only...

I promise I'm worthy

~

Angela swore that she loved the song, but at the moment, she just felt as if it was mocking her.

Without pretenses, Gael asked, "What are you avoiding in Esmea?"

She swallowed and didn't answer his question. It's the wrong question anyway. It's not 'what' but 'who'. Just in time, the food arrived, saving her from talking about it with him.

Realizing that she didn't want to talk about it, Gael brushed it aside and thought of bringing it up again later. Her brother asked him a favor, so shouldn't he at least know why?

The entire meal was enjoyed in silence. They occasionally glanced at each other but neither of them spoke.

Later…

As they were done with their dinner, several waiters went around from table to table, serving a plate of bite-sized sweet bread pudding pieces as a treat. On their table, there were two pieces and each of them took one.

A noisy child from the table next to theirs caught their attention and when they turned to look, they noticed that he was the same rowdy child who bumped into Angela and other people while they were in a queue. The boy's table consisted of a big family and he was seated in between his parents. In his hands was a piece of the bread pudding. The child was so loud—shouting and dancing—and the parents did nothing to reprimand the kid even if he was disturbing the people from other tables.

"Hey," Gael's rough voice caught the boy's attention.

The little boy crossed his brows and gave Gael a mean look. "What are you looking at?!" said the boy.

With an unreadable expression, Gael told the boy in a low voice that only the three of them—Gael, Angela, and the boy—could hear, "Shut up."

Angela swallowed. Should she stop Gael? But she actually wanted to see what would happen!

The little boy only gave Gael an even meaner look. The next second, he wordlessly grabbed the bread pudding from the boy's hand, put it in his mouth, ate it, and swallowed.

Her eyes widened in surprise at what Gael just did and she watched the boy's expression change from looking mean to being shocked.

"Mommy! Daddy! He ate my pudding!" the boy complained. However, no one paid attention to him even if he wailed. Then, to shut him up, the father just gave the boy another bread pudding.

Finally getting what he wanted, the boy turned to Gael again and stuck his tongue out, the bread pudding laid on his small hand and he mockingly danced as if he was saying, "I got another one!"

Angela looked at Gael, anticipating what he would do. And sure enough, like the child that he was, he took the pudding from the boy again. And this time, the man-child also stuck his tongue out after stealing the boy's dessert for the second time.

She wanted to burst out laughing, but when the boy cried so loud and complained to his parents, she panicked. So without thinking much, she snatched the pudding from Gael's hand and she all but shoved it into her mouth.

It all happened so fast that even Gael was surprised. He only realized what she did a second later. No evidence—no crime.

Angela quickly chewed the sweet bread pudding and chased it down with water.

"I'm telling you, that man stole my pudding!" the boy complained, and his parents only looked at the pair that their child pointed at.

Gael and Angela exchanged looks, then they shrugged and got up from their seats.

"Lying is bad, kid," he told the boy as he ruffled his hair. Then, they headed towards the door and left the wailing child.

"You're the one who lied," Angela said when she caught up to him.

Gael turned his head to her and cocked a brow. "I only told him it was bad. I didn't say that he lied."