Visiting every local site must be tough unless you really want to visit it. I wonder who even wants to visit every local site? None at all. I'm talking about this because I'm going to visit some local sites today for the curiosity that overtook me to know why this place is so underrated. It's not only about curiosity but also it is the work I came here for. I have to know every single detail of this Island otherwise I can't set my branch here. Trouvaille achieved many achievements that made me satisfied with my effort and this company's worth. I can't let it all drown by launching its first branch in the wrong place, furthermore, it'll be all my effort that'll go in vain due to my tiny mistakes for why my new journey will turn into a laughable topic which sounds ridiculous to me. I do not want my journey to be a topic people would use as a bad example. I'd rather eat only gingerbread for a whole month than be alive and hear random balderdash about my company. I must not think about stuff that I will never let happen in the future or ever, in this life or till the earth has humans.
My gaze fell on the mirror when I caught the sight of my appearance which was too light and lovely. The look of a girl with a flower-printed long skirt and amber-colored sweater which took the place of a woman who wears business suits or casual clothes most of the time. I look like a 16 year old girl going on her first date, or like a Disney pathetic princess ready to roam around the wilderness.
Grandfather would obviously laugh at me, who is in this look, but what can I even do? I can't go to a local place on an island dressed as a rich woman who knows only about work and owns a company for why she came here to set up her branch so she's trying to examine the place. In short, I can't dress as a vital person because I'm here as a tourist, not as the owner of Trouvaille which I am. I'm, for sure, going to wear sneakers instead of heels or else I may end up in a hospital with some breaking news. It'll still be too troublesome even if you minus the breaking news part.
My first destination that I have put my mind on is a bakery. It's not that I'm enthusiastic about it but I've got no other choice due to the reason for not having breakfast yet. I thought about having breakfast before leaving for the local area but going to a bakery and having breakfast there sounds more genuine and approvable than having my morning meal in the Log Cabin. I know it's a good idea because it is given from Alena, not me. Her advice is good since it is killing two birds with one stone which are my hunger and review. That girl knows how to use her brain in a smart way.
I noticed that I'm staring at the mirror where I was supposed to look in the mirror. I forgot to remind myself that it's the mirror my mother left for me. The mother who would've wronged me for coming to Elysian if she was alive. I walked to the desk and held the pocket mirror in my hand when it captured the reflection of the locket on my neck. Yes, I'm wearing my father's locket that he gave me after his death. I'm wearing this knowing that my father would've loathed the fact that I changed the company's name and indicating it as the primary step of my new journey if he was alive. I should throw this mirror and locket or burn it since it reminds me of the disappointment I made when I tried not to.
But why am I with these things?
Not knowing the answer to the question is what I call abhorrence in my language or in every language that exists as well as is extinct.
These things always bring up nightmares that I already have every night but in a vivid filter, so it is weakening me so much that I'm loathing it. I can't even throw these things because something is holding me back but can't be comprehended why. I hate them so much that ink will stop, and pages will end but the words to describe my feelings will be left unfinished. I want to think about something better, but I can't.
Oh, no! The thought is consuming me and I'm drowning in it. They thought I wasn't good enough which means I wasn't really good enough. I tried but why couldn't I give them the pleasure they asked for? I should've been good enough. I know they were bad at parenting but was I good at being a great daughter? Why were they like that? Have I done something wrong? I'm really drowning in my thoughts now! I should've tried harder, I should've been better, I should've…
Is that Alena's reflection in the mirror?
I took a long breath as soon as I detected Alena when she came behind me and I captured her in the pocket mirror. I flashed back out of the reverie that was drowning me and put that mirror inside my bag unemotionally. I hate when this happens. I know that my thinking is wrong but sometimes, I let myself get consumed in the negative thoughts and can't get out once I'm inside it.
"Riley", Alena calls me which also helps me come out of the judgement, "Are you okay?" A question of her which the answer is supposed to be no, but I can't answer it in the negative way either. I take time before answering "yeah. Totally." I didn't tell her how I feel veritably or else she may become solicitous and get distracted from taking care of herself.
Then I face her and take a look at her attire, a floral sundress with a bucket hat. She was looking gleeful but not anymore after she spotted me frozen with these stuffs. "You can stay if it requires. I can check the local sites on your behalf." she offered me. I shouldn't forget it's Alena, the innocent and benevolent girl that sees only positivity in the world.
"It shouldn't have to happen. I'm here for work, not for vacation." She gave me a simple nod expressing she apprehends the matter but there's still concern in her eyes which she left unspoken. "I'm heading to check the westside local areas. I heard it's lovely.", she dropped the previous matter which is a good thing for me. "Yeah, that's great.", wait a minute, "Wait, are you not coming to the bakery with me?" It was her idea to send me to a bakery for breakfast so why is she not coming.
"I know but we can't go to the same place and analyze it together.", she softly speaks as if I'm going to bite her. I'm not dangerous, Alena.
"Why?", was I a bit serious with my tone? I will say no.
"If we both split up and go to different locations to analyze the place, we can come up with a lot of information in a short time. Isn't that awesome?", she replies. Was I praising this girl a few minutes ago for her idea about the bakery?
"So, you want me to go to the local site alone without bodyguards and act like a common person?" Does that sound ridiculous?
"Just be like a normal person. You are here as a tourist not as a CEO, so act like one.", she rolled her eyes.
I take my phone from the bag, "Okay. Tell me the Bakery's number and location."
She looks at me with confusion, "You aren't going to reserve the whole bakery, are you?"
I look at her, "There is a 100% chance of me doing that." I mean, what are you even expecting me to do? She rubs her neck and looks at the ceiling as if my comment made no sense at all. She looks at me, "You dare not."
"What? Why? What is wrong with you?" I am getting annoyed now.
"Come on, Riley Deane. Do you think a tourist will ever do the thing you are doing? You are here to set your branch, not for a meeting. At least act like a normal person if you can't act like a tourist." she is serious, "So, it is settled that you are going to be a normal human being." Then she left without getting any response from me.
I mean, I lost the indirect battle with her, so I can't book the whole bakery because if she finds out, she will argue nonstop until she gets my words. So, what I should do now is take my bag and make my way to the bakery which I am doing now. As far as I know, it is only a 10-minute walk. I look around and start noticing the place. It is not like any city like London or New York.
The street is uncontaminated, and the people are so sweet. They wave at me whenever they witness me as I'm a tourist to them and say "Hi!" or "have a nice day, sweetie." with a smile on their face. Every tourist would surely like it because people run after jocund occurrences. Also, the greenery, here, is much better than thousands of cities. I like this place. To be veritable, I can grasp why Alena wanted me to explore the place by myself without booking places or being a rich owner. I just have to be someone who came to a new place to enjoy.
A lady from the floral shop comes to me and hands me a yellow tulip, "I wish you to have an enjoyable day, dear." I take it from her and look at her. She is wearing a blue dress with a hat. Her smile is making wrinkles around her eyes which are pretty. I should give a smile since she gave me a tulip. That's what a tourist does, isn't it?
"That's really sweet of you. How much is it?", I asked her.
"Oh, come on. You don't have to pay me for it. You are a tourist here." she chuckles somewhat after answering my question and it is now making me ask her more questions.
"How do you know that I'm a tourist here? Is that really that noticeable?" I asked this because I found many people also noticing me as a tourist like her.
"It is. You don't look like an inhabitant here and I heard that we have a tourist among us. Isn't that easy to detect?" She gave me a smile.
"Who told you about it?" I want to know who told them that a tourist arrived.
"News spread like a flash here." She replied.
I see that they are welcoming when it comes to tourists. That's good to know as hardly seen places like this have people welcoming tourists like guests.
A man comes to this lady in a hurry, "Honey! Where were you? There are customers waiting."
The man stands by her, and they mumble something that I can't hear or that they don't want me to hear. "SO, IT'S YOU?!" the man points at me.
In this case, I really don't know how to act because I never encountered this type of situation. Thankfully that lady noticed my awkwardness as she said, "Stop screaming for no reason, Jay." So, his name is Jay.
"I'm sorry. I was just excited.", he apologized to me.
I simply nod and assure that it is okay. He looks at me more carefully than before, "I think I saw you somewhere. Newspapers or the internet perhaps?"
Oh, no. I'm doing great since none really know me as who I really am. If they find out, then this news would fly faster than I finish my breakfast. I shouldn't stay here for this long anyway.
"Not really possible for that to happen. I think you are having an illusion. I should go since my friend is waiting for me. It's nice meeting you." I smile at both of them and go out of that place before he recalls the memory.
I don't know why I'm hiding my identity, but I think hiding it, is better as I can feel like a real tourist without it. Maybe I should reveal it after launching the branch but not now. I assume that I am going the right way to the bakery. I look around the area and catch sight of the fact which is, the houses that they live in are log cabins and cottages. It looks adorable how they have the same size house exactly, but the colors and flowers are the difference. For tourists like me, there's no hotel but instead there's a small log cabin with a tiny, cute garden. It is indeed lovable to the upcoming people who will come to spend their vacation here. I found something which is, there is always a red, blue or yellow lantern hanging outside of each cottage. Ten to one which is the reason why that failed experiment guy thought I'm not a local here. Well, I am not, in truth, a local so what can I say.
I've, at length, reached the bakery and it's small but cute. I step inside before taking a view of the place and it's enough for more than 40-45 people. It's a good space for a bakery to have. I go to the counter to order and there's many things I've never tried before. I can fathom that I always have fancy foods, but these aren't something I usually get in cities. I mean, what is pink mushroom soup? And what is Rosy Russula bread? I don't know what is edible or not but I'm a tourist so it is expected that things like these will be new to me.
The counter blonde lady is smiling at me and waiting for the order I'll place. Too much smiling is something I call fake because it doesn't feel real to me. Wait, does she also know that I'm a tourist? Her way of looking is telling me she does.
I should've booked the whole place due to the way people are noticing me.
Ignoring them, I've ordered pink chocolate milk and Rosy Russula bread.
I never heard about these dishes but what can I possibly say?
I took a seat beside the window that frames were covered by flowers and plants hanging. It is beautiful and better than looking at people who are smiling at me since I'm a tourist. I think this will eventually become normal to them after many tourists start coming over here.
I can hear footsteps coming near me, but I don't take my eyes off the window. I'm telling you if this is again the exciting smile then I'm done with this place. I can understand why they are stunned but I just want to have my meal peacefully and nothing else for now.
"Is the seat taken?" A low deep voice and I think I heard it before. I look at the direction where the voice came from (though I didn't want to a few minutes ago) and flabbergast by catching the sight of that failed experiment guy.
"Not yet." I couldn't find any other response to give but a little nod.
Is he also here for breakfast?
I think I did the right thing by not booking the whole bakery.
He sat facing me, "I told you It'd be a fortune to get the opportunity to meet you again." he smiled. I thought that was my last time seeing this dark brown hair and honey-colored eyes until now in which I may assume I'm auspicious.
"Well, first of all, what's your name? I can't call you the 'perfect catcher' all the time.", he initiates the conversation so I should cooperate, shouldn't I? But I don't want it to be that easy since I'm bored.
"How about you put an assumption on it? It's not that complex."
Am I playing games with him? Yes, because I don't want to say "Riley" so easily.
"Would you at least give me a hint?" Well, of course it'd be impossible without a hint. He is not a mind reader anyway.
"My name is in the movie called 'inside out'." I was forced to watch that movie due to Alena but at least it is helpful now. Moral of the story, do not neglect to watch a childish movie.
"Wonder woman?" Wrong! Who has that as a name? And why would Wonder Woman be in 'inside out'?
I didn't answer and he kept trying.
"Elsa?" No. "Marida?" No. "Ariel?" No.
"Why are you talking about Disney princesses?" I couldn't help but ask otherwise he'd keep going.
"You said 'inside out' movie. It's also a Disney movie, right?" He hadn't watched inside out but I'm impressed by how he knows every Disney princess. It's funny but sort of adorable.
"It's Riley." I spoke clearly every single word as if I'm talking with a toddler. That's a matter of jest to be factual.
"That was hard. Guess my name then. It is said that it denotes vision but is an archaic word." he shrugs as if he didn't just give me a difficult question though it'd be tough for anyone but me. I think I know but I also need a hint to see if my suspicion is correct or not.
"Tell me the last letter of your name." It's enough for me to surmise it.
"Well... it's 'n', the last letter of my name."
It could be vision but as it's archaic, it can be…
"Sweven" I thought I was wrong until I came across the shock on his face and who even has 'Sweven' as a name nowadays? This was challenging indeed.
"How can you... wasn't it supposed to be hard?" He is stunned.
"It's an archaic word. My grandmother used it several times." Words are nothing but a favorite collection of my grandmother. She loved words, especially archaic words. She used it, taught it and made it alive again, even till the end of her last breath. That might be also one of the reasons why grandfather still loves her. I won't blame her for being backdated. She was a piece of love herself but not like her own son.
"My father owned an ancient library, and he had a fondness for those books so that way, I got to know many archaic words", he also shared his reason.
The waiter comes with both of our orders. His orders are avocado pie which is also new to me and regular coffee. "So, what's the reason you're here? Vacation? Work?" he asked me.
"I'm here for some research on the Island. It's a beautiful place to visit as a tourist also." It's true that I'm here for research before putting a branch here.
I can't talk about the branch before approving the place as the chosen one.
"Can you tell me why it's so underrated?" He may know this place better than me.
He took a sip from his coffee before looking at me, "This Island was once popular but suddenly not a long time of the popularity lasted when a small incident happened that made this to be the danger. There's no safety barrier or any guards so the chances of repetition of that incident to happen is high. Plus, tour operators strongly disapprove tourists to visit here. "
So, it's a must to set my company's branch here because it's more than a need.
"That's tragic. What if a tourist guide company's branch is established in Island Elysian to ensure the safety of the tourists?" I asked him indirectly.
"It'll be a big help because if that happens, the Island will regain its popularity. The authority will also focus on developing the island more due to the tourists and we'll get great facilities. But it's too underrated now that I'm afraid no one remembers an island like this exists in reality." he sighed.
I feel bad for the people so if I think of my capacity, it may be a complication to others but me, I can perhaps take good care of the crisis.
I take a bite of the Rosy Russula bread, what they call it, and the taste is...okay but not like how I expected. I thought it would be sweet, but it tasted like mushroom pie but there's something I can't name. I realize that the confusion is written on my face when he chuckles and says "You should've ordered Matsutake pie. It's tasty and would possibly meet your expectations."
Was he genuine or sarcastic?
"Since you know this much then why don't you become my guide, helping me to visit the island." And in that way, I can also do the research well. I lean back on the chair after giving him the suggestion. This is actually a great idea since I know negative 100% about the Island.
"That's a fortunate chance and I would scarcely let it slide." It didn't take much time for him to answer my suggestion, "Put your faith in me because I'm someone who is Leal."
Leal, another archaic word and I'm, not for the first time, feeling delighted towards my grandmother for teaching me the archaic vocabulary.
"Your father is a logophile, right?" Because my grandmother was a great type of logophile. She was so sweet and patient when it came to teaching. I lowkey wanted her to be my home tutor but she couldn't always fly from London every day. It would've been tiring.
"Nah. Logophile refers to those who love words, but he loves the pronunciations accompanied by the meanings and that's the reason why I thought of him as a psychopath more than a logophile." He let out a hearty smile which made me smile too. I know I said that I don't like smiles that people fake most of the time, but something is genuine about this man. How can he let out a hearty smile without faking it to a person he has never seen?
"I'll take you somewhere after we finish the breakfast." He spoke.
"Where?" I should know the place though I know nothing about this Island.
"Finish your meal first." he took another sip from his coffee.
I think a curiosity is working inside me to know where I'd go with him after finishing the breakfast.