Midafternoon. I look up from the table and catch your eyes with mine. Just the mere sight of your beauty has always been enough to make me smile. That smile, those eyes, the way your hair fell down on your white blouse that was unbuttoned just enough to expose the top of your red bikini. The restaurant was fantastic and the mood was romantic but to stack them up against your beauty would be like comparing a kindergartener drawing to the Mona Lisa.
As we sat, finishing our meal, you spoke.
"That lunch was great!"
"It really was, the food here is excellent," I glanced at my watch "but it is almost four so we should probably get going."
"Yeah, speaking of time, why did we eat such a late lunch today" you asked.
I simply smiled. "Because we won't be back until late for dinner."
Approaching the exit, I opened the door to the restaurant. The sun shone in like a divine light illuminating the path to paradise, and paradise it was. As we made our way outside, hand in hand, we once again took a look at our surroundings. This island was incredible. It made me very happy to be in such an exotic place like this and doubly so that you had agreed to come on this trip with me. I had heard stories and seen pictures of just how breathtaking French Polynesia can be, but in person it was truly something else. And yet, after only moments of looking around I find myself unable to take my eyes off of you.
You put your sunglasses on to bring your outfit to completion and make you even more of a sight that any man would give years of his life to simply get a glimpse of. Your lips, so impossibly mesmerizing, just begged to be kissed at all times and I have always been just barely strong enough to resist doing just that. The blouse you are wearing, blowing lightly in the late summer breeze, revealing ever so briefly the contents underneath made my heart skip and jump like nothing else can. The matching white wrap you have around your bathing suit bottoms flowing down the perfect curves of your legs and ends just above the cutest ankles I have ever seen. Even your sandals, with the little flowers on them, accentuated your feet in such a way that made them look like they might actually belong to an angel.
"Are you ready" I ask.
Laughing you respond "Ready for what? You haven't told me what we are doing."
"That doesn't answer my question" I laughingly retort.
You look me in the eyes, squeeze my hand tight and lovingly, "With you, I'm always ready."
I smile back at you and we begin our walk to the edge of the island. As we get down to the water, our guide is waiting for us by the docks. I leave you temporarily by the waters edge as I go out on the dock to talk to him. You can't hear what we are saying but you notice my level of moderate excitement and occasional pointing out to our northern coastline and other various spots in what looks like an endless crystal-clear ocean. Finally, I motion for you and you follow me up on to the dock.
"Time to go love" I smile.
"Sounds like fun! Where are we going again?"
I just raise an eyebrow.
"Ah well, it was worth a shot" you reply.
We step on to the small two-person boat and get ready to leave. Our guide kneels down and says a few more things quietly into my ear and points up the coastline. I smile, shake his hand, and we depart. Calmly but hastily I take the boat north bound, up the coast only a couple hundred yards out. The sky is clear, the weather is warm, and you look happy. Everything is right in my world. I continue on the motor, not too fast so that we can enjoy the beautiful scenery of this tropical wonderland. Every so often you comment on something you saw or the things you can hear or just on how simply surreal it is to be here.
After roughly forty-five minutes on the boat I spot our destination. I point to it and you squint in the distance to see a thin strip of beach that is to be our landing spot. I pull up to the shore and we both hop out into the knee-deep ocean water. I drag the boat onto shore and secure it to a nearby tree.
"Well?" I question to you.
"This is nice." You say, though the tone in your voice makes it clear that you were puzzled by the serene yet overly average scene spread before you.
I laugh and say "I'm only kidding, this isn't where our adventure ends, we simply need to walk from here."
I take you by the hand and we begin our expedition up from the beach and through the wilds on a small beaten down path. The noises all around us combined with the rare and unusual flora and fauna make it seem like we could be the only two people to ever set foot in this alien-like world. Following our moderate trek, we come to our objective. You gasp and marvel. In the opening we come to a large pool, more of a small pond of water. Feeding it on one side is an enormous waterfall, what must be a hundred feet tall and roaring.
"Care for a swim?" I ask, giving your hand a little squeeze.
Your reply is immediate and nonverbal. Almost before I can even finish asking the question you are already unbuttoning your shirt and unwrapping the wrap around your waist. I follow suit, removing my shirt and following you into the water. Even here in the middle of what could be a vast jungle, the water is crystal clear. We swim for what seems like hours, though I am sure it was less than even one. At some point we make our way back to the shore and you wrap your arms and legs around me.
"This is amazing!" You say, planting a kiss on my lips.
Your tongue moves inside my mouth and dances along with mine as I move a hand to the back of your head to pull you in to kiss more passionately. I can feel so much energy you've put into this embrace and it is very easy to tell that you are happy with this nice surprise I have provided you.
You break the kiss and say "I need you, now."
I chuckle slightly and respond "All things in good time my love. You may be shocked to hear this, but this isn't the surprise. This is just a pitstop."
Your eyes go wide as you can barely contain your excitement. We make our way from the water, redress, and continue our journey through the jungle. This walk is considerably longer than the first and we conversate through it. We talk about our trip thus far and I ask how you've been enjoying it.
"It has been wonderful" you reply, "like I have died and gone to heaven, but better because it is all real"
"I am happy to hear that darling, but despite it seeming impossible the best is still yet to come. Tell me, did you ever question why I chose this island in particular?"
"To be honest, I didn't even know you did. I thought they just put you on one based on what was hut you chose for us and what's available" You answer.
"Typically, that is the case, but this isn't just your average vacation. I wanted, no that's not accurate. I needed the perfect destination to show you exactly what it is you mean to me. So, I talked for hours to what must have been hundreds of people before I found exactly what I didn't even know I was looking for..." I trailed off.