Summer Down Under

by Pensy, Alison

  The fact that Daniel was visibly trying to stop the smirk that was threatening to tug on the corner of his lips did nothing to help her situation.

  Desperately trying to gain her composure, she smiled as she looked up at the flight attendant and managed to croak. “Yes, please. What are we having?”

  “Scrambled eggs and bacon,” the flight attendant replied with a smirk that made Sam instantly lose her appetite. It was a male attendant this time and he was ogling Daniel even more than the female attendant did earlier. He handed Sam a tray of food with a smile and passed one to Daniel.

  “How long was I asleep?” she asked Daniel, trying to mask the sheepish tone in her voice.

  “Oh, about six hours,” he said with a smile.

  Sam groaned inwardly. She had just smooshed her face up against a man she only just met, for six hours. She prayed that she hadn’t snored. Her mother used to tell her she would wake up the whole house snoring.

  She forced down a mouthful of egg that had stuck in her throat and gave Daniel a sideways glance. “Please, tell me I didn’t snore,” she whispered, somewhat pathetically.

  His smile said it all. She brought her hand up to her face, her cheeks burned under her palm and her eyes grew wide with horror. Daniel’s smile widened.

  Sam shoved down the rest of her breakfast in relative silence so she could make her escape to the rest room. To add insult to injury, when she finally got there, what stared back at her in the mirror was just plain scary. She hung her head and wondered if anyone would notice if she spent the rest of the flight in the bathroom.

  Sam’s hair was standing to attention on one side of her head and her mascara had run. She looked like a panda that had just stuck its paw in an electrical socket. She sighed; there was nothing else she could do.

  At this point, she was just relieved that Daniel was staying on the other side of the island on his stopover in Bali.

  She only knew that because in one of their conversations, he told her he decided to stay over in Bali for a few nights before flying on to his home, and that he was booked into a hotel almost on the other side of the island from her.

  To be honest, she was secretly relieved. They had been getting on so well she thought he may have wanted to see where the friendship would take them, but she was still too shaken up by her previous, and only relationship with a man, to have anything to do with another one again so soon.

  Thanks to her ex-boyfriend, she had no confidence in herself and was extremely self-conscious due to being told on a regular basis that she was fat and ugly. Sad thing was, after being subjected to that for such a long time, Sam believed it.

  She was determined to make men, in general, especially those of the gorgeous, dark haired, blue-eyed variety, off limits until further notice.

  She stared into the mirror, looked herself straight in the eyes and puffed out a breath. After all, her heart could only take so much. Why would she risk leaving it open to more abuse when that could be easily avoided? She found it hard to imagine that anyone would want to kiss her, let alone bear the atrocity of seeing her with no clothes on. She shuddered.

  At that point, she decided she was happy to talk and make friends, but would head for the hills if things got any further than a hand shake. She gave herself a determined nod in the mirror to cement the fact.

  After making the necessary adjustments to her appearance, Sam returned to her seat. A few more hours passed, most of them in pleasant conversation. She couldn’t help but notice the side-long looks Daniel would give her when he thought she was preoccupied watching the in-flight movie. She could see him out the corner of her eye and he would gaze at her with what looked like a mixture of amusement and bewilderment.

  Sam had to admit there was a pang of sadness when the plane eventually landed. Although, she was relieved to be able to get up and have a proper walk and stretch her legs. They felt heavy and uncooperative.

  Daniel and Sam both stood in front of their seats and waited while people retrieved their carry-on luggage. Sam was about to do the same, but as she backed out into the aisle, her uncooperative legs decided to wobble. She was caught off balance and started falling forward, heading straight toward the seat again. Daniel caught hold of her arms and held her steady just before her head would have bumped his. Their faces were just an inch from each other and his eyes once again held hers captive against their will. The hubbub in the cabin went silent and all Sam could hear was the sound of her breath drawing in and out of her lungs.

  “Careful,” Daniel said, breaking the silence, after what seemed like an eternity. “Are you alright?” The crease between his eyebrows returned.

  His voice jolted her back to reality, and the sound of the cabin was now the same inaudible din it had been just moments ago. She became very aware of the odd tingling that remained where Daniel had his hands on her arms, which snaked its way through to her heart. The feeling made her uncomfortable. She looked down at his hands with confusion before purposefully extracting herself from his grip.

  “Sorry,” she replied with a sheepish smile.

  “No worries. No harm done.”

  She stepped, with care this time, back into the aisle.

  Daniel walked with Sam to the arrivals lounge where they stood side by side waiting for their luggage to slide down onto the carousel. She stood holding her breath until her luggage made an appearance and eventually slid onto to the revolving belt. Daniel leaned over before she could and grabbed her backpack for her. He set it down by her feet.

  “Thank you.”

  “No worries,” he said again. “It was nice meeting you, Sam. Hope you have a great trip around Oz.”

  They said their goodbyes and wished each other luck for their respective journeys.

  Sam admitted it was a pleasant start to her adventure, that was for sure. At least she had someone she could exploit in her dreams for a while. She wandered towards the shuttle bus parking, making her way past the taxis waiting patiently for their fares.

  Chapter Three

  It was nighttime when they landed, and feeling exhausted, Sam boarded the shuttle bus that was to take her to her hotel. After getting the keys from reception, she was shown to her room. Her eyes widened in awe as she followed the bell boy. The hotel was inexpensive, yet it was beautiful. It was not just one building. There were several ‘bungalows’ surrounding a big pool. The crystal water sparkled in the moonlight. She could make out the landscape clearly in the moonlight that illuminated everything with a silver glow. The bungalows were made up of what looked like reeds and woven sticks. It was rustic, but pretty.

  The bungalows had two floors and Sam’s room was on the top floor. She gave the young lad a tip and closed the door behind her, leaning back against it. She let her backpack drop to the floor. Once again, she was found staring. The spacious room spread out in front of her was beautifully decorated in ornate Balinese furniture, fabric and ornaments.

  Almost in a trance, her feet somehow carried her forward and she padded to the bathroom. First things first, toilet then bed. She could have a shower in the morning. When she stepped foot inside the bathroom, her trance was abruptly broken and she let out a little shriek. Sam was not alone.

  “Oh, my God. Oh, my God,” she mouthed to herself, trying not to hyperventilate.

  Staring back at her, almost as petrified, was a small gecko. Sharing her bathroom!

  What should she do? Were they poisonous? Would it jump up and grab her by the throat? She’d never seen a reptile up close and personal before, she didn’t know.

  After standing frozen to the spot for a couple of minutes, Sam slowly began to realize that this little creature was not, in fact, about to leash a savage attack on her. He graciously turned around and wandered up the wall and onto the ceiling. They kept a watchful eye on each other as Sam used the toilet, brushed her teeth, and decided that she was much too tired to care.

  She fell into bed thinking that if her mutilated, gecko eaten body was to be found in the
morning by some poor unsuspecting maid, she could fall asleep happy in the knowledge that she died in the pursuit of following her dreams, even if she didn’t, in actuality, get very far with them.

  When she awoke the next morning, she was pleasantly surprised to find all her limbs were still intact.

  Excitement hurtled through her quite unexpectedly, and she jumped out of bed in a hurry to get to the window. Once there, she pulled back the curtains and pulled in a sharp gasp. She stood and stared...again. That was happening a lot lately and she was only on day two or three of her adventure. With the time change, she couldn’t quite work out which it was, and it didn’t really matter anyway.

  The sight that met her was more stunning than she could have imagined. Last night she thought this place was beautiful even through her sleep-fogged brain and the silvery hue that cascaded down from the moon, but that scene could never have prepared her for the array of colors she was hit with this morning. The sky was a stunning bright blue with not a cloud to be seen. Her eyes dropped to see the cobalt blue swimming pool sparkling below. The bungalows, which she could see clearly now, were nestled around the pool. They all had thatched roofs and walls that were made of woven reed in different shades of brown and amber. Across from her room, over the other side of the pool was the restaurant and reception area that she had hardly even noticed last night. There were no walls, just a polished wood floor and a thatched roof held up by intricately carved pillars.

  There were people already sitting around the bamboo tables eating their breakfast, which consisted of brightly colored fruits, most of which she was sure she had never seen before, let alone tasted. The grounds were brimming with lush green palms, coconuts secured at the top under their leaves. Tropical plants of every size and color were neatly displayed all around the grounds.

  She showered and dressed, then made her way down to the restaurant for breakfast. The balmy breeze ruffled her hair as she sat down in the open air restaurant and ordered some fruit. A couple interrupted her wistful admiration of the tropical plants by asking if they could join her.

  “Be my guest,” she replied, gesturing to the empty chairs around the table. They were about her age and it turned out they were from a town only an hour from where she lived back home. After they had finished breakfast, the couple invited Sam to join them on their exploration of the local town. The young backpacker politely declined their offer in favor of doing absolutely nothing that day, but relax.

  Sam watched as the couple wandered off, hand in hand towards the front entrance of the hotel and out onto the road. A small sigh escaped as she picked up her book and started reading. Before she knew it, it was lunchtime. Three hours had passed while she enjoyed her book. She couldn’t remember ever doing that before. No one was making demands on her time or making her feel guilty for not doing anything productive. She put her book down with a hint of reluctance and looked around.

  A fair-haired man was sunbathing; he had been there when she came down at breakfast and he was still there turning very pink. She frowned when she thought of how sore he was going to be the next day, having been sunburned pretty badly herself on a couple of occasions in the past. She shuddered at the memory of the pain she had endured for several days.

  She promised herself that she would venture out tomorrow. But for the rest of the day, she had no intention of doing anything more strenuous than read her book.

  ***

  The taxi dropped her off in the center of town. Sam had decided to explore alone, telling herself it was because she was doing this whole adventure thing on her own and didn’t need anyone else to help. If the truth were known, it was because she didn’t yet possess the confidence to ask others if they would like to join her. After convincing herself she was brave enough, she had climbed in the taxi, asking herself what could possibly go wrong in a public place anyway?

  She swallowed down a lump when the bustling little town came into view through the cab window. After paying the driver his fare, she stepped out of the car only to stumble backwards on the uneven curb. She flapped her arms like a crazed parakeet in a futile attempt to keep her balance, but to no avail. A second later, the concrete sidewalk came up to slap her in the butt, and she felt the heels of her hands being sandpapered off. The taxi driver looked back at her, doing nothing to hide the smirk on his face. Sam grimaced, more out of embarrassment than the pain that was now shooting through her hands.

  Grace had never been her forte, but casting a disgruntled glance down the uneven sidewalk she convinced herself the credit for this extravagant topple was not all hers for the taking. The paving slabs jutted hither and tither. She looked down at the heels of her hands that were now scraped up and smarting. Sam puffed out a hearty sigh and rolled her eyes at the tiny pinpricks of blood that were starting to make their way to the surface.

  “Well, that’s just bloody marvelous,” she mumbled as she blew on her palms. People wandered by and stared down at her, but none offered her any assistance. She took a deep breath, pushed herself up off the floor and dusted herself down. Admitting that her ego was probably more bruised than her butt, she started wandering around the town.

  She’d only been meandering down the main street for a few moments when a flock of locals, mostly men, swooped down and surrounded her. Sam scrunched her face at the incessant chatter, which grew to a deafening noise. Each vendor tried to outdo the other by making themselves heard above the growing din. At first she was a bit dazed, eyes widening, as she tried and failed to fight back the nervous knot that was starting in her stomach when she realized what they wanted.

  They were trying to sell her things, trying to take her places, show her their ‘cousin’s’ art gallery, among a whole host of other offerings that ranged from fake Rolexes to having her hair braided.

  Sam started to feel overwhelmed; they hadn’t taught her how to handle this kind of situation in her self-defense classes. Those were more for one-on-one, not for a mob of excited vendors trying to sell you stuff. She was totally naïve as to just how much attention a girl walking alone in Bali would attract, and it was making her very uneasy.

  Her hotel was nowhere near. As she looked around for somewhere to escape to, she couldn’t see anywhere that would fit the bill. None of these people would take no for an answer. They swarmed around her and seemed to increase in number as each minute passed. Sam’s breathing increased, her heart started to race, and a feeling of claustrophobia crept over her like hands around her neck.

  She didn’t do well in crowds, and certainly didn’t like attention. Her head started to go fuzzy; she couldn’t think how she could get away from them. All she wanted was a peaceful walk, but that peace was turning to panic and no amount of telling herself to hold it together was helping in the least little bit.

  Someone shrieked, a horn beeped madly like an angry buzzing wasp, and all kinds of commotion broke loose behind her. She spun around to see a familiar figure riding up onto the sidewalk on a small motorbike. He came hurtling towards her, forcing the locals to part like waves to either side as he rode through the mob, leaving them shrieking expletives as they jumped out of his way. Not speaking the language, she guessed they were expletives by the hand gestures they were making. The bike pulled to a stop just in front of her. Sam’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

  “Daniel?” she gasped. “What are you doing here?”

  “You look like you need a ride. Care to hop on?”

  She gave a fleeting glance around the crowd that was now glowering in her direction. It didn’t take her long to make the decision. With barely a hesitation, she threw her leg over the seat, wrapped her arms around her rescuer’s waist and held on for dear life. Daniel kicked the motorbike into gear and went speeding off through the crowd, narrowly missing a couple of vendors, with more fake watches, who had turned up just a minute too late. Sam dared a glance back as they fled the scene. She didn’t want anyone to have been hurt, even though they’d made her feel so uncomfortable. To her relief, no one lo
oked like they’d been harmed, although, a couple of them were shaking their fists at the departing duo.

  It took a few moments for Sam’s thoughts to calm, but as they did, she became aware of the fact that she was holding her arms tightly around Daniel’s waist. It was impossible not to feel the hard planes of his muscles beneath the very thin layer of cotton that was masquerading as his shirt. She tucked her head against his shoulders, a feeling of reassurance crept over her. She liked how it felt. She realized a moment later that the spicy scent she was breathing belonged to her rescuer, and she liked that, too. She then realized what she was doing and snapped her head up not wanting to give into her body’s temptation of getting too close to this man she hardly knew.

  They rode in silence for a few minutes, his soft hair flowing in the warm breeze, tickling her nose. At least from this angle, he couldn’t see the need burning in her eyes. She chastised herself once more as they rode through the streets. She didn’t need a man. She was perfectly capable of looking after herself, even if that meant having to ignore the episode from which she was now escaping.

  Chapter Four

  After a while, Daniel turned down a little dirt road and the cerulean blue ocean came into view. They came to a stop at the end of the road where it opened up onto a beautiful white sand beach lined with palm trees and more brightly colored tropical plants.

  The crystal clear water was lapping against the shore, making a peaceful swooshing sound as it did. The beauty of this location took Sam’s breath away. She had never experienced anything so picturesque before. She doubted if there would ever be a time when she was not held in awe by what this island had to offer. The serenity of the moment was torn away when she also noticed there was not another soul in sight. Beautiful it may be, but the whole beach was deserted, except for her and a virtual stranger of the male variety.