"No, I'm completely serious," the woman's voice on the other end of the line replied cheerfully, "You really have won a vacation trip courtesy of Tropical Adventures Unlimited!"
"This is a scam," Elizabeth shot back, "You're going to tell me all about this wonderful vacation and all I have to do is send you a couple hundred dollars to reserve my slot, right?"
The woman on the phone laughed, "Nope, this is an all expense paid vacation and we'll forward the plane tickets, hotel reservations, and travel itinerary to a local travel agent that you specify at absolutely no cost to you.
"Seriously, no scam."
Elizabeth hesitated, trying to figure out how this person had managed to get her restricted cell phone number as well as what angle the scam was trying to play.
"Fine, so how did I enter a tropical vacation contest and not even remember it?" Elizabeth asked angrily.
"Ummm, just a sec," the voice replied as Elizabeth began to hear the sound of papers being shuffled, "Ah, here we are.
"The information that I have is that Tropical Adventures Unlimited was just one of three grand prizes being offered in a raffle for..." the owner of the voice cleared her throat in sudden embarrassment, "Well, um, Passionate Play for Women."
Elizabeth felt her checks begin to burn as she remembered the adult toy party she'd attended over a month before. She also remembered that she'd entered the raffle more out of not wanting to hurt her best friend's feelings who had hosted the party than any real desire to win some oversized monster dildo that had to have been made for a horse or some weird lotion.
"I didn't know the raffle was for a vacation," Elizabeth finally stammered when she found her voice again.
"What did you think the raffle was for," the woman on the other end said in amusement.
Elizabeth stammered into the receiver for a moment until the woman laughed, "It's fine.
"But now you need to make a choice since the vacation package has three different locations for you to choose from.
"The first two are both in Hawaii, the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel and Fairmont Orchard which are both on the Big Island.
"Then there's The Lodge at Chaa Creek in Belize."
"Wait, Belize and Hawaii!" Elizabeth asked in amazement.
The voice on the other end of the line seemed to hesitate for a moment before she cleared her throat.
"Well, there is one other location, but we normally don't offer it," the woman said hesitantly.
"Oook..." Elizabeth replied.
"Well, there's another resort that we are affiliated with," the woman said slowly, "And I wouldn't even be mentioning it except for where you bought your raffle ticket.
"We also have an opening for Dionysus Beach Resort in Tahiti."
"Tahiti!" Elizabeth squealed in delight.
"Ms Winslow, I really have to point out that the Dionysus resort is very much oriented for adults only," the woman quickly added.
"This has got to be a scam!" Elizabeth said in amazement.
"I assure you it's not Ms Winslow," the woman said with a laugh, "If you'd care to make your choice I can find a travel agent near you and send the package to them for you to pick up as soon as tomorrow."
"Tahiti!" Elizabeth said in an instant snap decision.
If this was a scam she would never have to pick up the package from where ever the mysterious person on the other end of the line decided to send it to.
"Tahiti it is then," the woman replied, "But I have to tell you again that this is an adult's only resort."
Elizabeth had the sudden mental image of a beautiful blue lagoon, beach lounge chairs scattered across pure white sand and then added a dozen screaming children running rampant around and through them.
"That sounds perfect," Elizabeth said instantly.
"Well, Ok then," the woman replied in an amused voice, "Give me just a second."
Elizabeth listened to the soft clacking of the woman's keyboard over the phone as she daydreamed of palm trees, cool ocean breezes, and beaches of pure white sand.
"All done," the woman said in a brisk voice after only a minute, "I've got your trip reserved and I've found a travel agent just a few blocks from you.
"You can stop buy anytime in the next week and finalize the dates for your trip and start packing!"
"That's it?" Elizabeth asked in surprise.
"That's it," the woman replied.
"I really do hope you like your vacation at Dionysus," the woman added in a conspiratorial voice, "I've always wanted to go there myself but never had the nerve.
"Have a wonderful evening and I hope a wonderful vacation!"
"You too," Elizabeth said as the receiver went dead.
Elizabeth pondered what the woman on the phone could mean about never having the nerve to go to Tahiti for all of two seconds until a vision of kite and surfboarding chased the stray thought from her mind.
The next three months flew by in an instant for Elizabeth as her trip had crept closer and closer. The very next day after her phone conversation she had driven to the travel agent and found that she had only to set a date for her trip. With the date selected the travel agent had printed out her itinerary, tickets, and advised her to get her passport renewed and a doctors checkup scheduled as soon as possible before congratulating her on winning a trip to such a wonderful, beautiful location.
Elizabeth had even searched online for any hint of a scam being ran by Tropical Adventures Unlimited but instead had found that they really were a booking agent for trips around the world and that they were routinely hired to handle vacation prize packages.
With her worries allayed Elizabeth had had nothing to do but daydream. She had found the Dionysus Beach Resort online and loved all the amazing pictures of little bungalows on stilts so that they were right on top of the water, amazing beaches, and the clearest, bluest water she had ever seen. The only thing that aggravated her was that there just wasn't much information on Dionysus besides that it was an exclusive invitation only resort that had a strict ban on children. Elizabeth had even started tanning, something she'd never done before, so that when her trip finally did arrive she wouldn't find herself scorched by the second day of her trip and be miserable for the remainder.
Finally the day of her trip arrived and she woke up at four am and called a cab for the ride to the airport. After the hassle of getting through security it had been an agonizing eight hour flight from SeaTac to Faa'a International. Elizabeth had been glued to the window as the Air France plane had come in for landing, the crystal clear waters an amazing shade of turquoise blue. The airport had been built out into the ocean on a manmade peninsula which gave Elizabeth an even better view as they landed. Once on the ground the plane had approached the terminal and then rolled to a stop well away from the buildings. Elizabeth watched in amazement as a truck with a built in ladder had pulled up to the side of the plane and the stewardess had opened the door.
"Have a wonderful trip!" the cheerful stewardess had exclaimed as Elizabeth stepped gingerly out onto the moving stairway and made her way down to the tarmac.
The weather was absolutely perfect as Elizabeth walked across the tarmac to the terminal. The blue skies were punctuated by occasional cotton ball clouds of blinding white, the sun a dazzling ball of fire that penetrated Elizabeth's skin with a deep, relaxing heat that the cool ocean breeze kept from being unbearable. The terminal customs staff were politely efficient, asking questions about Elizabeth's stay, what she'd brought with her, and giving a quick glance over her passport before sending her on her way with a smile and yet another admonishment to have a wonderful vacation.
As soon as Elizabeth stepped out of the Customs Inspection area she noticed a young man wearing nothing but a skirt made of leaves holding a sign with her name on it. From his deep bronze skin, black hair and exotic tattoos around his well muscled biceps, chest and thighs Elizabeth was pretty sure he was a native Tahitian.
"I'm Elizabeth," Elizabeth said as she walked over to him.
"Ah, wonderful," the young man replied with a huge smile, "I'm Arenui and I'll take you to Dionysus!"
Arenui instantly took her one piece of checked luggage and carryon from her and began to lead the way through the terminal.
"Is this your first time to Tahiti?" Arenui asked politely as he led Elizabeth back out onto the tarmac.
"Umm, yes," Elizabeth replied, "Is this were we pick up our car?"
"Car?" Arenui laughed, "No ma'am, we need to take another flight to Taha'a which is the island that Dionysus is on."