It was clear that Reiner was their favorite and not me and I had gotten very used to that fact. It didn’t bother me at all, but I did find it funny and always entertaining to watch Reiner play with the children. Whenever work got busy for Reiner or whenever he returned from a trip away to the main island, the children were always super excited to see him.
“Look at this, Knight…” A boy waved a handmade figure of clay at Reiner.
“Did you make this? It looks cool!” Reiner complimented as he bent down to get a closer look at what the boy was holding.
It was amazing how a little reaction of interest from Reiner brought so much joy to the boy’s facial features. The boy couldn’t stop beaming proudly up at Reiner as he explained what his inspiration behind the figure was.
At times, I couldn’t help but wonder if Reiner was really happy living with me on this random island with the children as a way to be with me while I worked hard on the mission that I had chosen for myself. I didn’t have it in me to bring it up and ask him, though. Honesty, I was scared of his answer. If he told me that he wasn’t really happy and was just sucking it up for my sake, what would I do then? Would I just pack up our bags and fly back to the main island and forget everything about this place?
The more I thought about it, the more scared I got of facing this issue head on. It made me feel so guilty whenever I thought that I may not be prioritizing our relationship as much as Reiner had. I knew without a doubt that Reiner’s life was more of a struggle now that he was working remotely from this island. There were issues of time differences and other challenges with working online. He also had to fly back and forth quite often at times.
Sometimes, I felt like I didn’t understand Reiner and what he truly wanted to pursue in his life. Did he even like the work that he was doing for King? Would he be happy once he takes over the company from King just like he’s supposed to in a few years’ time?
“Natalia…Natalia…”
“…Yes? Sorry…” I murmured when I realized that Reiner had been calling my name.
How long had he been calling my name while I was spacing out and lost in my own thoughts?
Reiner came to stand next to me after distancing himself from the crowd of enthusiastic children. His face came close to mine as he peered into my face with a look of concern.
“Are you ok? You’re not participating much in the event and your face looks sort of pale…” Reiner voiced his worry as his eyes scanned my face.
“Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine…I was just thinking about some random things…” I replied vaguely.
“Can you leave things to Kat or the other staff? Let’s head home…” Reiner suggested.
“Sure…let’s head home…” I replied softly.
I didn’t have much of a role in putting together this event anyways. My team was capable enough of handling everything and I was assured that everything would go well because Kat was heading the whole thing.
…
My eyes were on the bathroom door as I sat on the bed while I waited for Reiner to be done with his shower. After thinking things through on and off for a while, I figured that I needed to decide on what I wanted to do with this orphanage project of mine. Do I want this to be just a project that I do for King until we can find a permanent team to take over? Either we hire or I build the team up for him and after that Reiner and I can return back to our normal lives again.
The other alternative was a lot more extreme…
The door opened and Reiner walked out from the bathroom with just a towel wrapped around his waist. His hair was damp, and my heart skipped a beat at how attractive he looked at that moment. I didn’t think that there would be a day when the sight of his semi-naked body wouldn’t have that effect on me, at least, not anytime soon.
“Sleepy?” Reiner asked as he sat next to me on the bed.
“Not really…” I replied.
“What’s on your mind? There’s something on your mind, isn’t there?” Reiner asked knowingly.
He probably saw me spacing out for a long time during the event from earlier. There was no point denying it at this point. His blue eyes stared at my face, and I knew that I couldn’t lie to him.
“I was wondering if you’re happy living here with me…” I replied honestly.
My words clearly caught Reiner by surprise. He stared at me for a moment in silence.
“Do you think I’m not happy?” Reiner asked in return.
“I’m not sure. I just…think that I’ve made things harder for you because I decided to help the orphanage out here on this island. You have to work harder at your job, there’s some time difference, you have to work remotely and so many other things…” I said regretfully.
Now that I’ve started talking about it, it was like a floodgate had been opened and all my emotions started to pour out non-stop. The guilt I felt at my own selfish decisions and actions filled me and made me feel unworthy of the relationship that we share.
“Is that what’s been eating at you?” Reiner asked as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
I looked down at my lap in shame. It was a hard topic for me to talk about. I felt Reiner’s soft kiss on my temple before he began stroking my back to comfort me. Without knowing it, I had started to sob and cry.
“Don’t cry, Natalia. You should have told me earlier if this was troubling you,” Reiner whispered tenderly before he smiled at me.
–To be continued…