I powered the small inflatable towards shore. Glancing back at the horizon I took in the beautiful pinks, purples and oranges of the sunset. White sand and black rocks contrasted on Makalawena beach. I saw no one on the beach and I was glad, I didn't expect anyone, after all it was Thursday. This just made my mission easier. As the sun set the darkness would conceal my landing, nothing to worry about. I had bittersweet memories of this beautiful beach.
Like the sunrise my life will start again tomorrow and I had no regrets.
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Many months earlier . . . . .
We could have been on one of those HGTV reality shows where a couple decides to move to a tropical location and go through the process of evaluating a few places to live. As the show ends they are having a fruity drink with the real estate agent celebrating their new home purchase.
In our case we didn't flee the snows of the midwest, it was more the 9 months of grey skies of the Pacific Northwest. Hilary and I met in Seattle and have been married for 6 years. We had vacationed throughout the Hawaiian Islands and decided that the Kona area on the Big Island was the right place for us to move. The grey skies of Seattle were a big reason, but not the only reason for the move.
We were deciding between a house and a condo and both had pluses and minuses. Ultimately we decided on a condo. The lack of maintenance and the potential to make friends quicker were the key reasons to decide on a condo.
Alii Drive is the oceanfront road that travels south from downtown Kona towards Keahou Bay. It is lined with houses and condos and each morning runners, walkers and bikers are up and down the road getting their daily dose of exercise. The condo we settled on, The Kona Palms, was about a mile south of the town and was one of the larger complexes. It had a beautiful, large swimming pool area with a hot tub. There was a covered open air social area with barbecues and also a very nice workout area with machines and free weights in an air conditioned room fronting the pool.
Our unit 508 was in the front building with an ocean view. It also had 3 bedrooms. A beautiful master bedroom facing the ocean, a decent sized guest room and a small bedroom in the back overlooking the pool area. This would be my office. The realtor said that ocean view 3 bedroom condos were rare and we should jump on it. She may have exaggerated the sense of urgency but we offered full price and got it.
"Oh Bryan I am so excited," Hilary gushed when we closed on the condo. "I feel like our life is going to be a permanent vacation!"
"Bryan, I love you. This was the right move for us." She exclaimed.
"Well I'm glad you like it and I like it too. But as far as permanent vacation, I have a more than full time job and you have a tough schedule too."
"We still have to support this new lifestyle." I said.
"I know" Hilary said, "but let me just think about vacations for now."
I smiled at her and gave her a hug. This was really my dream and I was glad Hilary was happy here too.
In truth we were in pretty good shape. The house I sold in Kirkland allowed us to easily afford the condo and the monthly fees. We still have a pretty good nest egg after the purchase and there was my "Secret" account that Hilary was not aware of at this point.
Hilary is an ER nurse and with her experience she easily landed a job at Kona County Hospital. She negotiated a rotating 3 - 10 hour day shift schedule. I'm a commodities broker. I can really live anywhere. My first 10 years were in an office in downtown Seattle. The knowledge I picked up from the veterans in that office allows me now to work remotely.
By the time we actually got the keys and moved in we had been on Big Island for about eight weeks. We were adapting to our new lifestyle. I had to watch the markets and communicate with people on the mainland. I was normally up at 4 AM and in my office working by 5.
Hilary was working Monday through Wednesday 7 AM to 6 PM. Thursday she took it easy, recovered and by Friday she was on "vacation mode". I knew her job was difficult and stressful. When I could I took off early on Thursdays and Fridays and we started our weekend.
We moved in on a Wednesday and met several of the new neighbors during the process. Everyone seemed friendly and it was a mixed bag of people. Older, younger, single, couples and a variety of ethnicities. We learned that this Friday was a Pau Hana night at the condo. Everyone met in the pool area around 6 PM. There was food, sometimes music and it was BYOB. Apparently this happened a couple of times a month and there were different events or themes. It was all planned through the general manager of the condo.
We strolled in about 6:30 with our chilled bottle of white wine and a six pack of beer in our ice chest. We found a spare table and set up. We met a lot of people and everyone seemed nice with varied levels of friendliness. There were definitely some characters.
One of the first people we met were Clarence and Lynn. They are a gay couple that moved from San Francisco. They live at The Palms full time. Clarence is a large older black man who had taught economics at Cal Berkeley. Lynn was a stock broker who retired in his early 50's. I got the impression money was not a problem for them.
Then we met Bob and Ramona Platte. The Platte's were in their 50's, from Texas and lived here part time. Bob was a builder that made his money developing land in and around Houston. Both were a little heavy, dressed in bright flowered shirts, good natured and appeared to like whiskey. I like all things Hawaii, but I can't stand the flowered shirts.
Another interesting couple were Banks Redmond and Chloe Davenport. They are married. We learned Chloe is a Vice President at a large bank in Southern California and Banks is a psychologist by training, but also considers himself a developer/investor. It sounded like Chloe was back and forth between Hawaii and Los Angeles. Banks said for now he was full time at The Palms.
"I have a project I'm working on locally, actually on the Hilo side. Someday we can take a run over to see it if you like." Banks explained.
Banks looked like he was 5 or 6 years older than me, late 30's or maybe 40. Chloe looked a little older than that. She was a slim and attractive woman with a serious expression most of the time. Blonde and fair skinned. She looked wealthy, which we later found out she was.
Banks was dark complected, possibly of Mediterranean ancestry. A few inches taller than me about 6'2, very tan and in good shape. He had a sleek look about him, but so far, a nice guy.
I met a lot of others at the Pau Hana, but found myself having a long discussion with Banks. He told me that he counseled people unofficially. He called himself a relationship specialist, whatever that is. He was interesting and had some charisma. He asked about my business and about how we decided on Kona as a place to live.
As we talked I realized that Hilary had been away from our table awhile and I casually glanced around to see where she was.
She was talking with a younger lean surfer type with a deep tan and curly blond hair. He looked like he was in his early 20's. They were laughing and standing fairly close. Banks noticed me watching them.
"That's Corey White," he told me.
"He's the resident pussy hound at the Palms." Banks explained.
"What?" I said.
"Yeah, a young good looking guy like that, swoops on the tourist babes and get's a lot of action." Banks went on.
I get up to go intercede. I went through my calming exercise, deep breath . . . deep breath . . . deep breath. I glanced back at Banks and he had a look on his face as if he were mentally analyzing the situation.
"Hi Hil," I announced as I wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her cheek.
"Oh Bryan" I think I surprised her, and she took a minute to compose herself.
"This is Corey, he is a marine biologist. He was telling me all about what lives out in the ocean."
"Bryan Rivers," I said as I thrust out my hand.
"Nice to meet you," Corey replied.
He gripped my hand and I gave an extra squeeze. His expression changed from friendly to, what the fuck are you doing. Deep breath . . . deep breath.
Hilary went on about how interesting he was and how he offered to take us out on his boat to look at dolphins and sharks, and on and on. I just stood there with a blank smile on my face and nodded.
"See you around man," I said and steered Hilary back towards our table. As I glanced back White was giving me a puzzled look.
We wound our way back to our table and Hilary began talking with Chloe and Ramona. I just watched the events unfold. My attention was never very far from White.
"Don't worry he never preys on the married ones," I heard a deep rumbling baritone.
It was Clarence. "Excuse me?" I asked.
"I saw you watching young Mr White," Clarence said. "A nice man, and not bad to look at either. But I would not worry about him and any married women."
"I, uh, I'm not worried about anything like that," I stammered. I was a little embarrassed that Clarence had observed my jealousy.
"Just the same, my boy, rest assured Corey is a red blooded young heterosexual, but he has his own set of rules. Married women are definitely off limits to him. He and I have had many an ethical discussion."
"Well thank you for this information, but I assure you I am not concerned." I replied.
"Good, good, all good relationships are built upon trust Mr Rivers." Clarence declared, and he ambled off with a friendly pat on my shoulder.
As I sat at the table I thought about Clarence's words . . . .
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It was almost exactly a year ago. We had been invited to a party by one of Hilary's co workers while we were living in Kirkland, outside of Seattle. These can be fun, but, sometimes they can end up being a combination of hospital gossip and workplace complaints that can become boring for an outsider like me.
Hilary was excited and looked great. She is in her early 30's, 3 years younger than me. She has thick dark blond hair shoulder length. She has a sway backed body that accentuates her muscular ass. She has attractive but not overly large breasts, a B cup.
I think the thing that originally caught my attention was her ready and open smile and beautiful eyes. Truth be known when I first saw her I was only interested in getting her in my bed, but then I got to know her. That story can wait. But there is no way around it, she does have a sexual energy about her. I'm used to her attracting male and sometimes female attention. I just try to stay calm. Deep breath . . . . Deep breath.
Anyway we get to the party at one of her nurse friends and co workers Carly's house. It's the usual crowd. I know about a third of the group by name and another third I've seen at some of these types of events previously.
As we walked in I saw an old high school football teammate, John Washington. He's hard to miss, John is huge and he looks like he has gotten larger since high school. We played football together in high school at Mt Tahoma. I was the running back and John played on the offensive line. We weren't exactly friends in high school but we were friendly. It was good to see him.
