The Stranger's Kiss

Isla de Mi Amor

Drew put down the goblet of wine after listening to one of his men, and stood up to walk towards the cockpit to check on his pilot friend, William Santiago.

Capt. Santiago is half-British, half-Mexican, and Drew met him in nautical school, just a year before Mr. Alexander was diagnosed with heart failure, which forced him to take over the helm of AA Corporation and abandon his dream of becoming a pilot. William Santiago became a loyal friend after Drew rescued him from the hands of a Mafia boss who got jealous of his girlfriend’s ideal man.

“We need to make a precautionary landing, my friend,” Capt. Santiago reported as soon as he emerged from the door.

The private plane has not even gone halfway towards its destination.

“What’s wrong, Captain?” Eric asked.

“Fuel shortage.”

“Did you not check before departure?”

“I did, but something’s not right.” Drew stared at the pilot questioningly. “It was full,” the captain explained while pointing at the fuel indicator. “But it went lower faster than usual as soon as we took off.”

“Our options?”

“Locate the nearest island. That’s the best. And make an emergency landing.”

“Where are we now?”

“Still in Southeast Asia.”

Drew gave his friend a couple of coordinates.

As soon as the pilot determined the location, it only took a couple of minutes before the radar detected the presence of land below. He immediately took the chance to fly closer to find a possible landing spot. Soon, he heard Eric giving instructions over the phone.

“Light it up,” he said, and soon, they found a well-lighted airstrip below.

The pilot took his chance, and landed the plane safely as he stared at the young man in amazement.

“I’m glad I was able to report to you just in time,” he told Drew delightedly.

“My dear friend, welcome to Isla de Mi Amor.”

“Amazing,” Capt. Santiago exclaimed. “You are full of surprises, mi amigo.”

“This will be a gift to my future wife,” he declared.

Drew, his pilot friend, and his bodyguards were received by a middle-aged caretaker, who led them to a lovely mansion overlooking the surrounding panorama of ocean water. From one side of the topmost level, one can view a diminishing image of the mainland. It had a pool and a beautiful garden that revealed their charm in the morning.

“This will, indeed, be a lovely gift,” Capt. Santiago remarked.

Drew smiled mischievously, and said, “I do hope she likes it.”

He thought about her, and felt a sudden pain in his chest. He somehow felt certain that what happened with the plane was not an accident. If she felt something for him, what he was planning to do might cause her pain. But he had to do it so that he could return to her.

He looked at the surrounding walls of the manor. He had this manor built for her even before he knew her name. Every part of this house was built considering what she might like.

Drew has employed a number of household staff to take care of the property. There were several maids and a chef, and they all prepared food and rooms for Drew and his companions. Soon, everyone was able to eat a hearty dinner and enjoy a goodnight’s sleep.

Not far from the mansion was a staff house where everyone else except for the baron, his pilot friend, executive assistant, and a few servants who resided in an adjacent quarter, went to retire for the day.

“The tank was damaged,” Drew said after receiving a report from one of his men. The three of them, Drew, Mr. Santiago, and James, Drew’s executive assistant, were seated at the balcony overlooking the ocean after most of the staff have gone to their rooms. “It was man-made.”

“You’re no longer safe, Sir,” James, his executive assistant, remarked.

“We’re going home silently,” Drew said. The two understood.

A week later, news spread that pieces of the baron’s private jet were found scattered all over the Pacific Ocean. The plane apparently exploded and fell into the water in pieces, and the bodies of its passengers were no longer found.

Ella’s heart was also broken to pieces. She thought that she has finally met the boy in her dreams as a grownup man, but he just disappeared again without actually having shown her his face.

For many months that turned to years, she simply tried to focus her attention on school work, her advocacy, and work, but she always remembered him in moments of silence, and the sadness that she felt rendered her weak and exhausted until she became numbed to feelings of affection that other men were offering to her. They tried to get her attention, especially when she was in college, but her mind always seemed to be floating somewhere else when interacting with them. She secretly earned the title, “Stone-wall Princess.”

A semester before her internship, she saw the silhouette of a man who awakened her heart from a coma. He was tall and well-built, but the most important thing was the fact that he reminded her of someone special. Therefore, even as he walked with his back facing her, she could tell that he was good-looking by merely observing the reaction of the girls, and even the guys, he happened to meet along the corridor.