Saturday.A day off. At last. Leea didn't have to wear her uniform, respond to panicked calls, or hear the soft click of her headset tightening behind her ear. The night shift could wait. Today belonged to her.
She pulled on a breezy sundress, tied her hair into a loose braid, and glanced down toward the dining table.
"Dogg," she called softly. "Wanna go chase the sunset?"
The black cat blinked up at her, his round body curled like a velvet loaf. After a long stretch and a flick of his tail, he padded over.
Leea clipped on his soft harness he tolerated it with a dramatic sigh and gently placed him in the sling carrier she wore across her chest.
Moments later, she pushed her pink scooter out from the narrow gate in front of her home. The ride from her home to the beach path behind De Haven took barely three minutes down a quiet, shaded lane the tourists rarely noticed. It led to the private stretch of sand behind the ocean-view suites. The staff knew it as a hidden treasure.
It was also, unbeknownst to her, the same spot where one particular guest often came to escape.
In Suite 902, Marteen van Rooyen sat on the edge of the bed, his back straight, his phone glowing in his hand. The message had arrived fifteen minutes ago.
Carlijn:I miss you. I keep thinking about you here. Can I come next weekend? Even just for a few days?
He stared at it. No rush to reply.
Finally, he typed:
Marteen:I'm still adjusting here. Let's talk later.
Sent.
No "I miss you too."No flirt. No promise. Just... businesslike distance.
He dropped the phone onto the desk and walked over to the minibar, cracking open a cold beer. The hiss echoed briefly through the quiet room.
It wasn't that Bali didn't tempt him. The island was beautiful. The people warm. But since his arrival, he'd been buried in reports, numbers, schedules. Just like Nick.
Neither of them had touched a tourist itinerary. No temples. No rice terraces. No monkey forest selfies.
Only one thing had pulled them outside sunset.
Sometimes, after a long day of meetings and internal audits, they would each quietly wander to the small patio behind their suites, drink in hand, and let the sun do its quiet magic.
Today was one of those days.
Beer in hand, Marteen walked out to his private balcony.
And something about the light made him reach for his camera.
The sky had started glowing gold.
That sweet, quiet moment when the sun begins its descent when the waves shimmer, the air turns soft, and everything feels like it's holding its breath.
Marteen stood on his private balcony, camera around his neck. He adjusted the lens, stepping slightly back to catch the right angle. The view from behind his suite was perfect open sea, uninterrupted sky, and the kind of lighting that made you believe in magic.
He raised the camera and took a few quick shots.Click.Click.One for the sun. One for the water. One with a sliver of palm tree.
He zoomed in, sweeping his lens down the shoreline then froze.
There. Near the rocks.
A woman.
She was standing with her back to him, looking out at the ocean, her hair moving with the breeze. There was a small smile on her lips, soft and private, like it belonged only to her. And next to her sat a fat black cat, tail wrapped neatly, just watching the waves.
Without thinking, Marteen brought the camera back up.She turned slightly.
Click.
Her face came into view just for a second eyes glowing in the sunset light, cheeks warm, the kind of beauty that didn't need filters or attention. Real. Gentle. Completely unaware she was being captured.
And the cat still there, still perfectly posed, like it knew it was part of the moment.
Marteen didn't lower the camera right away.He just... watched.
There was something peaceful about it. Something he couldn't name.
Later after sunset,
The room was dim, lit only by the screen of his laptop.Marteen sat quietly, reviewing the photos from earlier.
He scrolled through the sunset shots beautiful, sure. But then he stopped.
Her.
He zoomed in on her face, slowly, carefully. Not for sharpness. Not for color balance.
Just… to look.
Her eyes weren't looking at him. But it felt like they saw straight through him anyway. Her smile simple, soft somehow calmed the static inside his head.
It wasn't infatuation. It wasn't desire.It was something deeper.
And then knock knock, his door opened without warning.
Nick strolled in, wearing a faded gray T-shirt and holding a bottle of cold water. "Working on photos again?"
Startled, Marteen quickly shut the laptop.
Nick raised an eyebrow. "Oof, secret stuff?"
"Just some sunset shots," Marteen replied, tone cool.
Nick dropped into the armchair. "You know… I think I just found a new challenge."
Marteen glanced over. "A work challenge?"
Nick grinned. "Nope. A woman."
Of course.
"There's this girl. She's different. I don't even know why exactly, but she's got this… pull."
Marteen stayed silent.
Nick stretched his legs. "She made me forget all about Dad's hot secretary. I mean, that's something, right? This one's like a riddle I actually want to solve."
Marteen said nothing.
Nick didn't say her name.And Marteen didn't ask.
But in his mind…He could still see the photo.
It was only 7:20 PM.
The night was just starting to breathe.
After dropping off a few signed documents with Marteen, Nick had gone back to his suite, showered, and now stood in front of the mirror, styling his hair with an almost ridiculous amount of focus.
He didn't know why he cared so much.Maybe he did know.
He was hoping, just hoping to run into that woman again tonight. The one with the quiet energy and the kind eyes.
What Nick didn't know… was that Leea had the night off.
Meanwhile, just a few suites away, Marteen sat on the edge of his bed again, staring at nothing.
He'd already looked through his photos.Already replied to a few emails.Already ignored a new message from Carlijn.
Still, boredom pressed down on him like humidity.
So he stood, slipped on a light jacket, and walked barefoot toward the back patio.
The sky was darker now, but the moon had started to glow.
And the woman from earlier?Gone.
He scanned the shore just in case. But the spot where she had stood was empty now. Just soft footprints and sand.
He exhaled, turned slightly to go back when something soft brushed against his foot.
He looked down.
A chubby black cat stared up at him with squinty, judgmental eyes. It meowed once. Loudly.
Marteen blinked. "Are you… lost?"
The cat sniffed, looked vaguely unimpressed, then rubbed against his ankle as if to say you've been chosen.
Marteen crouched, gently scooping him up. The cat was heavier than expected, but surprisingly calm.
"Well, you don't seem wild," Marteen murmured. "And you smell like someone just cleaned your ears, so you definitely belong to someone."
The cat blinked up, totally uninterested in human language.
Marteen chuckled under his breath. "You're not going to answer, huh?"
He stood there, holding the cat in his arms, gazing out at the sea with a quiet amusement until he heard footsteps behind him.
"Dogg?!"
A voice.
Soft. Female. A little breathless.
He turned.
There she was.
The woman from the beach.
She hurried forward with worry in her eyes, barefoot in the sand, dress fluttering around her knees.
"Oh thank God," she breathed out. "He always wanders off after he pees. I swear he thinks he's a wild tiger."
Marteen couldn't speak for a second.
She looked different up close. Not that she didn't look beautiful from afar but up close, it hit him harder. Her eyes sparkled, her cheeks were flushed, and her voice… had a lilt he wanted to memorize.
"Is he yours?" he finally asked, glancing down at the cat.
She nodded, trying to catch her breath. "Yeah. His name's Dogg. With two Gs. Long story."
Marteen raised an eyebrow. "You named your cat Dogg?"
"Yup." She smiled, then added with a shrug, "Rebellion. And a little humor."
He couldn't help it he laughed. The tension in his chest melted in one short breath.
"Thanks for catching him," she said, gently taking Dogg into her arms. The cat yawned and looked entirely unbothered.
"I was starting to think he was just a very confident stray."
Leea chuckled. "He thinks he owns the planet."
Their eyes met again.Neither of them said anything.Just… stared.
Something warm flickered between them too quiet to label, too big to ignore.
Leea's heart was thudding.
She didn't even know who this man was, but the way his shirt sat perfectly against his body, the way his hair was slightly messy but deliberate, the calm in his posture everything screamed too good to be real.
And Marteen… he couldn't blink.His throat was dry.Something in her smile pulled him like gravity.
But then, she tilted her head and broke the moment on purpose with a little grin.
"Well," she said. "Thanks again, hero. He only trusts good people. Or people who smell like sardines. Hard to tell."
Marteen gave a soft laugh.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
She nodded, taking a step back. "Time to get this wild cat home."
He watched her turn, Dogg now draped lazily in her arms. As she walked away, her voice drifted back one last time.
"Have a good night, stranger."
Marteen didn't answer right away.But his lips were smiling long after she disappeared into the shadows
While Marteen was still outside, heart quietly spiraling from a single smile he didn't expect to fall for…
Nick was on a mission.
Fresh from the shower, hair styled just right, shirt untucked, he headed toward the lobby like a man with a plan though the plan was vague at best.
He strolled past the front office once.Then twice.
Then sat on the couch near the entrance, pretending to check his phone.
The lobby was quiet, only a handful of guests passing through. Jazz music played gently in the background. Nick casually waved to one of the bellboys and flashed a quick grin to a couple of spa staff walking by.
But the person he actually wanted to see?Nowhere.
He stood again, wandered around the coffee stand, picked up a brochure he'd read three times before, then slowly made his way toward the back hall where the call service operator room was located.
The small glass window gave him a partial view inside.
He peeked.
And there, sitting behind the desk with glasses halfway down her nose and a mug that said Mondays Are for Coffee, was a woman in her 40s hair tied in a low bun, fully focused on a sudoku puzzle.
Definitely not the girl.
Nick blinked, disappointed but polite. He gave her a short nod when she glanced up.
"Evening," he said with a soft smile.
"Evening, sir," the woman replied flatly, clearly used to bored managers roaming the halls.
Nick gave one more hopeful glance around, but nothing. No familiar smile. No quiet fire in her eyes. Just silence, tile floors, and the light hum of the vending machine.
With a soft sigh, he turned around and walked back to the room.