ISOLATED

c h a p t e r 3

Chapter 3

Gael closes his eyes and his headphones cover his ears completely. In his mind he's already going over the upcoming week. While he's going on his honeymoon, which is a vacation, he has several things he needs to deal with that he can't deal with in his first weeks of being a CEO. There's too many eyes on him. But with Ginny being the little pet that she is, he can just send her off whenever he has to do something in private.

It's like her screen is frozen. No notifications, no calls, nothing. Gael having his headphones on was the clearest sign to her to just stop talking.

Her phone rings. It's her dad. Excitement rushes down her spine and she answers. "Dad!" She greets him. Gael looks up, noticing the difference in her demeanor and he watches her eyes light up with whoever she is on the phone. "Hey, honey," he answers.

"How's mom?" Ginny hasn't talked to her mom a lot recently because of the preparation for the hospital and the move to Washington. "Doing better knowing you're in the same timezone," Robert answers, the faint regret of his decision in his voice.

Genesis bites her lip and she glances at her hands. "Do you regret it?" Gael moves one part of his headphones so that he can listen to her conversation. He makes sure it's the part facing the window so she won't notice. "I just hope your mother will be fine," he answers, "I hope we weren't too late."

It doesn't sound like a sneer, but for Genesis it feels like she's 5 years too late. 23 years old when she could've jumped into this at 18. She looks at Gael, meeting his eyes before he quickly looks away. She keeps her gaze on his for a second before looking out the window again. "Dad," she whispers.

"I do regret forcing you into this, not giving you an option," he answers truthfully. Genesis pauses, soaking in the words, savoring his honesty. These are the things she has to hold onto. "Do you really?" Her voice cracks and Gael's lips thin. He doesn't hear what her dad is saying, but by the look on her face he knows that she's hearing something that's maybe not in his favor.

Ginny bites her lip. She's dreading the answer that she's about to get, he's not looking forward to whatever it is that her dad is about to tell her. He carefully watches her reaction, the voices of the podcast he's listening are quickly fading into the background.

"I regret it, but I know that if I go back in time, I'd do it all over again." The words feel like knives piercing her heart. She expected them, but she didn't want to hear them. Gael moves the headphones back to cover his ears but for some reason he can't focus on the topic of his podcast.

Time passes by quickly and when he knows they're getting closer to the airport, he puts his headphones back in the case. He glances at Ginny and his lips thin. "A buddy of mine is living in the guest house," he starts, breaking the silence that's between them, "His name is Mattias, so don't be shocked when you see him on the grounds."

Genesis nods and she leans back in her seat. "Okay," she says, looking out the window. One of the flight attendants walks to them and she offers them both a glass with white wine. Ginny takes it, a smile across her lips as she looks at the glass. Gael takes it as well and he takes a sip.

"How was your podcast?" Ginny looks out the window, but Gael knows she's talking to him. "Informative," he answers shortly. "So do I have my own room in Cabo as well?" She bites her lip and looks over at him.

Gael's lips thin and he tightens his grip on the glass. "We'll see about that when we get there," he says. Ginny's eyes light up and she looks at him with eyes like she's looking at her favorite celebrity. Gael notices it, annoyance boiling in his stomach and he rushes a hand through his hair.