Chapter Twenty-Four #3
Henry shook his head. “It was a complete mistake by me. I had forgotten to get you any. I got these flown in overnight.”
“Oh my God, Henry.” I threw the boots aside, and launched myself on his lap, out lips locking, lost inside him, until he had to pull me away.
“We have all day for this, Miss Molly,” he whispered in my ear. “We really do have the rest of our lives for this, but right now I think that we better eat some food before we check out the middle of the island for the day.”
I nodded, but I kept my arms wrapped tightly around him not wanting to move. The last thing that I wanted to do right now was to bring up Dylan, my estranged ex. But if I didn’t say it now, there wouldn’t be another time to….
“Oh, Henry, there is one more thing… since we’re being so open and honest with each other,” I said, wondering if he could hear the subtle shake in my voice. I leaned back on his lap as I held tightly onto his shoulders, avoiding his eye contact.
“Yes?”
“There is one thing that I need to tell you about,” I said as my eyes met his.
“This is a really strange conversation to have, and one that I don’t particularly want to have, and I don’t want to bring down the mood right now…
.” I already felt my voice raising at the same speed as my heart.
Henry pulled my hands down from his shoulders, holding them in mine.
“It’s okay, Molly. Whatever it is, there is no judgement here.”
I inhaled deeply. “The other night, while you were fast asleep. The night we skipped dinner and opted for some more intimate time together instead.” That brought a smile to Henry’s face as his eyes glistened into mine.
“Well…” My voice began shaking again and I hated how nervous I was in front of him, he had said it himself, I can talk to him about anything…
“Well, I came down to get a midnight snack. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be in the kitchen, but that was the moment that I met, Dylan, your chef.
It wasn’t the first moment that I met Dylan.
He um, well he is my ex-boyfriend from Philly We were together for years before I decided to up and leave for New York.
Seeing him here was the first time that I had seen him, since our breakup and since I left. ”
“He was your ex?” Henry said, his face was still but his voice raised two decibels.
I nodded, biting my lips together. “Wow, that is well, random. Unexpected. Who would have known there was a common connection tying us together all this time?” That wasn’t really what I was expecting Henry to say but it was true.
“Yeah, well, I’m not telling you because there’s anything going on there, not at all.
I just want to clear up that he is an ex for a reason.
But also I wanted to tell you because of the strange conversation we had that night, one that made me a little bit worried about him.
He said some strange things and I haven’t seen him since.
I was going to tell you all about it the following morning, but I just felt like I had to check in with him first and see if he was okay. ”
Henry cleared his throat. “I can tell you why you haven’t seen him around, so I can ease your mind on that front, but I would love to know about what made you worried about him?”
“He just did not seem himself. Not that I really know who that is anymore, since I haven’t seen him for over ten years.
But he just seemed stressed to see me. Like I was the last person that he wanted to see here.
He began waffling on about how people go missing here and then he wanted to stage a plan for us both to secretly leave this island.
It was all so strange and overwhelming at the time that I didn’t really know what to do, I just excused myself from the situation and ran away…
.” Henry’s brow furrowed ever so slightly as I continued to ramble. “But you know where he is…”
“Yes, he has gone home. I have been worried about Dylan for quite some time. This is not the first time that I’m hearing a story like this.
It’s a shame. He was so excited to work here, and I was so excited to have him here.
I really liked him. He was such a great guy and truly one of the best chefs that I know.
At first, he loved it out here, but then after the first year, I had begun to receive some complaints from people who said that he had been acting a bit off.
At first I didn’t think anything of it, I mean everyone has their situations that they want to escape from.
I just thought that he didn’t have such a great family life. ” Henry sighed.
I wondered why Dylan had acted so strangely. His family life was perfect. His parents and his sister, they were all really amazing people. He loved them so much, he used to never want to leave them.
“The same night that you saw him, he woke Jackie up in the middle of the night mid-breakdown and we decided that it was best that he was sent home. I have recommended him to see a doctor, and I will check in with him as soon as this holiday is over, but at the end of the day I am only his boss. I can’t force him to get the help he needs.
I hope that it’s just a good break, and some time away from this place will do him wonders. ”
I agreed, and deep down I really hoped that it would as well.
“Now, is there anything else that you want to talk about, or can we dive into this delicious feast?” said Henry.
I smiled. Feeling so much lighter now knowing everything was off my chest. “Let’s eat.”