Grey eyes were greeted by the flickering light of the ceiling lamp as soon as Gael opened them. He squinted and he turned his head just as there was a flash of sheet lightning from the dark skies outside.

He was woken up by the buzzing of his phone from the bedside table. Groaning as he reached for the device, he checked the caller’s ID only to see that it was an unknown number. He didn’t like taking phone calls from strangers as he wouldn’t know what to expect, but seeing that it was seven in the morning, he thought that it must be something important.

“Hello?” he answered in a slightly groggy, slightly irritated tone as he sat up on the bed. The white blanket fell to his waist, exposing his bare torso. He scratched his head when he couldn’t hear the other line very clearly. The weather was already pissing him off and it had only been a day.

“Who the hell is this?” he asked again.

There was a shuffling sound from the receiver and a man’s voice resurfaced, “Good morning. This is Oliver Su, Angela’s brother. Daniel gave me your phone number.”

Gael’s brows relaxed upon hearing the man clearly this time. Raising his gaze, he stared at the wall in front of him where Angela’s suite should be on the other side. “Yes? How can I help you?” he probed, wondering why her brother was calling him.

“Sorry to call you this early, but it was the only time I had before I attend a meeting.” A car beeped and then a car door opened and closed. Gael figured that Oliver was about to go to work. “I’m sure you’ve talked to Angela yesterday? I’m thankful that she’s not alone there right now and I appreciate that you’re giving her a ride back home.”

How awkward. Gael ran a hand through his hair, thinking if he should let Oliver know that his sister’s pride was bigger than his private jet, so she refused to fly home with him.

He was about to respond when Oliver added, “Look, I don’t have much time so I’m just going to make this fast. Although it looks like the flights are still suspended… if by some miracle that the weather changes and you’re cleared to leave…” Oliver cleared his throat. “Can you stop her from coming back home—at least until Wednesday? Daniel told me you have a clear schedule so staying one more day wouldn’t be a problem for you, right?”

What a weird thing to ask. “What?” Gael was baffled. Wasn’t he supposed to tell him to bring her home as soon as he could? “Why?”

“I can’t tell you all the details. If she’s going to tell you what’s up, then it’s up to her. It’s just that… she needs to stay away from Esmea at the moment. So if you can help me with this, I will owe you one.”

The crease on Gael’s brow deepened as he got even more confused. “I’m still not—”

“Sorry, man, I really need to go. Also, can you check on her? I tried calling since last night but she’s not answering. I just want to make sure she’s okay—” There was a beep on the line and then a car engine started. “This is my number. I won’t be able to answer right away but you can leave a message. Thanks. Bye.”

Before Gael even had the chance to ask Oliver further questions, the line went dead. He had to check his phone screen to see if the call had really ended. He sighed when all he could see was the date and time today on the screen: Monday, August 27 (7:19 a.m.)

Tossing the phone on the bed, he ran his hands down his face. Something was up with Angela and whatever was happening back in Esmea—the curiosity was killing him.

Swinging his legs off the bed, he got up and went to take a shower. His mind was occupied with nothing but Oliver’s message about his sister.

~

“If she’s going to tell you what’s up, then it’s up to her.”

~

That seemed pretty impossible due to their situation. They could hardly even talk without lashing out at each other or getting on each other’s nerves. And he sure enjoyed getting under her skin and watching her squirm in annoyance. He snorted.

Just as he was done in the bathroom, thunder and lightning struck. Then, the power went out and his suite turned dark. His instincts immediately kicked in and his senses heightened as if he was expecting for danger to come. However, the lights came back a few seconds later.

He called the front desk to check on what just happened and he was told that the electricity went out and the resort was now running on a generator. Because of the current weather conditions, outages were common. The resort was pretty huge, and since it was summer, there were a lot of guests. The hotel staff informed their guests regarding the situation and requested to conserve energy.

After the phone call with the front desk, the rain outside got even heavier, so Gael decided to order room service for breakfast instead of going to the restaurant. Just before the operator was about to end the call, a sudden thought came to him and he quickly added, “Oh, wait… I’d like to order one more set of that. And can you deliver that to the room next to mine?”