The Secret Island
CHAPTER 28: Her Future

"Martin, enough! I have a severe headache from all these activities. Can we discuss this matter the other day? I demand not to go through with all this planning. Please put it off for another day. It has been too much." He sat with her for the past two hours, being a combination of a business consultant and a life coach. She complained incessantly all the while.

He spent the first hour interviewing her likes and dislikes. He concluded that with her freedom-loving soul, she had to carve up her path to authority within her family's company. Her own product line was highly recommended. She agreed. On the second hour, he drilled down on the detailed business plan after a quick read of her company's finances on the public database. And at this point, she had reached her last straw of restraint.

Celine walked away from him, who was sitting amidst piles of papers and books. In his hand held a business plan for her own brand of apparel that was supposed to be under the umbrella of her parents' company.

"Hey, Celine, please come back. The plan is taking shape. The next part of our work will surely be entertaining."

"You lied! You have told me for hours that the next part is entertaining. But what a bunch of boring activities one after another. Financial modeling, business strategy, no, none of this was fun. I'm so stressed my headaches." Martin smiled at this display of childish complaint. Her ideas of our time together were probably romantic walks and sweet talks, but he did her work.

She turned her back to him. She was angry again. But he learned how to make amends for his professionally efficient crime.

He hugged her from behind, placing his chin on her shoulder. She appeared to be annoyed.

"I assumed you have learned all these business courses. I'm sure you already know all of this. You can go through with the planning for your dream. I know you can, just more courage to go through with it."

"How do you know what I have studied?" She went from annoyed to curious. Even though she tried to be reserved, her tone was almost joyful.

"I wondered what exactly you studied, so I searched your syllabus yesterday." He answered honestly. In truth, he was quite curious about anything related to her.

The master's degree she studied focused mainly on business and delving into various fashion products. She didn't have to design anything, but she must be able to manage the designing, production, and distribution part of the fashion business well. The course is the perfect blend of art and business. It suited her well, he thought.

"So, you care about me?" This time, the joy in her voice was quite obvious.

"I do care. I think you are interesting." Many of her behaviors surprised him. A lot of actions she took broke his image of a stereotypical well-put-together, polite, perfectly mannered British girl. He guessed her individuality shone through any collective identity. Interesting.

"You do? You do." She was suddenly in a good mood. And Martin took this as an opportunity to ask her to go back to work.

"We will figure out what your office and the storefront will look like. I'm sure it will be fun."

"Are you sure you won't fool me into doing a financial model? My head is about to explode. I suffered enough doing math in class, and you put me through the torture again."

"I'm sure. I promise the part is fun. Come sit with me."

"Fine...." She agreed but still frowned.

She went back to sit with him anyway. If he was to be accurate, he was sitting on his lap. She negotiated the position. Otherwise, she wouldn't go through with the work. And again, he just let her be. It wasn't like him, but he got used to her cheeky banter by that point.

"Here.... I would rather add the sense of modern art to this part of the space. I love lots of bright colors." The woman on his lap said excitedly.

"You do? I always prefer those minimalistic interior decorations where everything is white and calming. The cream color is also comforting." He placed his chin on her shoulder and studied the layouts and design mockups on the laptop. He started to like this way of sitting.

"Nah.... I found that too plain. I have a different plan for the design you like." She grinned as she concocted a plan he had no knowledge of.

"Sure. It's up to you. It's your store, after all. You have full authority over your business."

"Yes, it will all be mine." She smiled with pride. She was so adorable that he kissed her cheek one more time. And that made her smile broader.

"You can set a layout for the place, placing your furniture for the layout mockup."

"Sure!" The future businesswoman started to describe her ideal office.

"The storefront will be spacious, and all the windows will be installed on one wall from floor to ceiling. But most importantly, my office will look like this...." She pointed to the pictures on the screen, a clean white room with a wooden table and soft cream leather couch.

The type of room he mentioned he preferred.

"...I want a bookshelf on one corner as well. That could be a corner for reading with a nice comfy couch and some cushions. What do you think? Do you like it?" She explained cheerfully and looked in his direction. Martin was stunned.

He looked at her and started dreaming about things he shouldn't. She made him feel things he shouldn't dare feel. She made him want things he knew were impossible.

"I like it, of course." Martin smiled back at the beautiful woman beaming at him. The images in his head started to materialize more clearly every second he looked into those gorgeous brown eyes.

The images of her standing alongside him in any possible future.