Secret Beach

Once again, a long story. Not a lot of sex. Also, please be tolerant. I am writing about a couple subjects I do not know well, including investing and the FDA. Just try to go with the flow. I hope you enjoy it.

SECRET BEACH

I was winding down, nearly relaxed. Allison and I were having cocktails and appetizers at Dukes on Waikiki Beach. The sun was setting and I had one more day of the conference. Friday morning, our flight left Honolulu for the short jump to Lihue, on Kauai, and then seven days, just Ali and I, without any work distractions.

Just then I saw the senior regional manager for the west head in our direction. I knew I'd need to get some time with him, this was always one of the objectives of these meetings.

Try to impress management.

Since our hotel was close to Duke's it was not surprising to see others from Pinkus here. This was one of the things I liked least about these sales conferences. Everybody was competing to get noticed by top management. I knew I had to make sure I got the appropriate face time.

"Sweetheart, I'll be right back, Don Clemons is over by the bar and I need to talk to him for a few minutes," I told Allison.

She just nodded and continued drinking her mai tai. She could hardly complain. Ali liked luxury. We somehow managed to get one of the beachfront tables open to the air. Such a pleasant temperature with the sounds of the ocean providing the relaxing backdrop. The sun would be setting soon and we were front stage for that show.

I glanced back as I made my way towards Clemons. Ali didn't seem to mind one bit if I was absent from the table. She was enjoying the sensations of Hawaii, whether I was there for the moment or not.

I maneuvered my way into the crowd bunched around Clemons. Some of the more competitive sales employees of Pinkus Labs were already making sure they were spending time with our bosses, boss. In the highly competitive world of global pharmaceutical sales, even the company meetings became a zero sum game.

"Some great information today Don," I finally had my opportunity to engage Don Clemons at the bar at Dukes. "In fact I've already begun to strategize on placement of some of the new products," I continued.

He appeared somewhat interested, but so far not overly impressed with my comments, but at least he was listening. Mentally I was organizing the next several parts of my conversation with him. From past experiences I knew my hourglass of time with Clemons had tipped. I probably had at most, two, maybe three more minutes before the sand ran out.

As I was about to explain my next, and most critical point to Clemons I felt a sharp jab to my kidney. I turned to see who had elbowed me. Angela Ridley. My hesitation was her opportunity. She quickly and smoothly had crowded herself into the situation and she was getting her moment of exposure to the boss. Earlier in the day I had made a comment at one of our break out sessions. Angela criticized my position without offering any type of solution. She was one of those people always searching for the negative.

After a moment's recovery from the elbowing I tried to re-engage Clemons but he was now talking to Angela. Like a rebounder in a basketball game, hips wide, she had physically boxed me out. Even though I hadn't had a chance to get all my points across to Don I felt like I'd gotten at least a little facetime, but now he was with short, negative, dumpy Angela. She'd outmaneuvered me. Bitch.

My duty done, nearly satisfactorily, I began to walk back to my table, comforted by the fact that very soon this conference would be over and Allison and I would be on vacation, free from thoughts of Pinkus Labs, Don Clemons, and certainly Angela Ridley.

Turning to my table I suddenly felt a friendly arm across my back.

"Man, she is a bitch." I heard him say.

It was a newer coworker, Adrian Vasguez, who worked out of the Portland office like I did. He had been with Pinkus less than a year and always seemed friendly enough. He was also considered a rising star at Pinkus.

I looked at him questioningly without speaking.

"Angela." He said. "I saw her hook you out of the way, I only wish Clemons had seen what she's truly like." He told me.

There is an old saying that goes something like 'your enemy's enemy is your friend'. With the spirit of that saying in mind I looked at Adrian suddenly as a potential new ally.

"She certainly is a bitch," I agreed, looking back at Clemons and seeing short, wide, Angela still monopolizing his time.

We spent a few minutes disparaging her, but that conversation soon ran out of steam. The environment was too wonderful to waste on negative thoughts. Like Angela Ridley.

"I love this place Mike," Adrian commented glancing around the environment at Duke's, "it's just so hard to get a table. This bar is packed."

After thinking for a moment and glancing around I saw an empty chair.

"Why don't you join my wife and I. We've got a great spot." I told him.

Vasguez momentarily hesitated but soon agreed to join us. We walked over and I introduced him to Allison. At first she seemed slightly put off that our alone time was being infringed upon by Pinkus people, but Adrian was pleasant, charming and funny. Quite quickly Allison relaxed and enjoyed his company.

I looked at Vasquez, maybe an inch or two taller than my 6', thinner with slicked back nearly black hair and an olive complexion. Nice looking, in a slightly exotic way and we now had a common bond in our dislike of Angela.

"Are you guys flying back tomorrow?" Adrian asked us.

"No," I replied. "The morning wrap up and awards ceremony is scheduled to be over by 11 AM. With Pinkus that means we'll be out of there by 10:15, 10:30 at the latest. Ali and I are flying off to Kauai on a 2 PM Hawaiian flight. We're there for a week." I told him. Allison smiled and grabbed my hand under the table excited and happy about our soon to start vacation.

He smiled back at us quietly, seeming genuinely happy for us, but a cloud seemed to cross his face as we talked about our Kauai trip. Quickly, he recovered and asked us where we were staying on Kauai.

"We're on the Poipu side, at The Koloa Landing," Allison answered. She had put together the vacation part of the trip and had done a good job. With Marriott points and some other negotiations she had gotten a great deal for us on a very nice hotel. No doubt about it, Ali loved vacations.

Vasguez asked about the hotel, the location, and things to do on Kauai. Ali told him all about the place and all the great things to do. He seemed genuinely interested and Ali talking about how great Kauai is made me wish we were there already.

There was a moment in the conversation when Vasguez became quieter and I noticed the somber mood drift in for a moment. I changed the subject.

"Are you flying home tomorrow?" I asked him.

"I'm not sure, Mike," He told me.

Ali and I looked at him, questioningly. 'Not sure' seemed like an odd answer.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He then went on this long story about a sort of girlfriend that was originally going to join him on Oahu and they were going to stay in Honolulu for a week. They had planned this several months ago but apparently the relationship cooled somewhat and now it sounded like she wasn't coming.

"I got a refund from the Marriott Waikiki, but it would cost a fortune to change my flight and I have already scheduled the week off," he told us, "I'm not sure what I'm going to do."

"Adrian," Ali began, "you're in Hawaii. Your flight is paid, you are on vacation. Plan an adventure. There are so many great places on Oahu and the other islands. There is lots to do." She told him.

For the briefest of moments I thought she was going to invite him to Kauai with us. I didn't really want that. He's a nice enough guy, but our vacation was supposed to be just the two of us.

"You're right Allison," he answered smiling. "Thank you, you are absolutely right."

And with that he held his glass up in a gesture of toasting and clinked glasses with my wife. For a moment they stared at one another in toast and then they toasted with me.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Kauai was once again phenomenal. The moment the Hawaiian jet left Honolulu and landed in Lihue we were on vacation. We were in a particularly good mood as we landed.

The last bit of business on Friday morning at the Pinkus Labs sales meeting was the awards ceremony. There were over ninety territory sales people there and they gave a series of awards out. The one everyone competed for was the Territory of the Year award. Not only was there prestige and honor of that award but there was a cash bonus also. Twenty-five grand!

I had worked hard and had a couple of big things come through this year. I thought I had a chance but there were a lot of people that had good years too. As Arthur Goodfellow, CEO of Pinkus Labs, stood at the podium and announced the winners of the various other awards I nervously listened as he called out, "Michael Ballantine" as the Territory Representative of the Year. I couldn't believe I had won.

I stood as my fellow Pinkus Lab coworkers clapped and celebrated my honor. I walked to the front of the ballroom stopping and shaking hands along the way as the room continued to applaud. I did notice one anomaly as I walked up. Sitting toward the front, not clapping, an even more negative look on her normal sour face sat Angela Ridley. I half expected her to stick a leg out to try and trip me as I walked by.

So as we waited in line to get our rental car, even the long line and inefficient actions at the counter staff at the rental car company didn't spoil our mood. I was happy about the award and though Allison was proud of me for winning, I think she was more excited about the money.

I was happy about the money too. From my lower middle class upbringing I had a hard-wired thriftiness that I often could not overcome. Allison, who grew up in a higher financial strata, didn't understand my aversion to spending. Some of our most heated disagreements in our marriage revolved around money. Ali had never clearly adopted the concept of deferred gratification.

Mentally I was now justifying the couples massage ($320, including tip) that we had planned. I also thought maybe we could find a more sexy bikini for Ali too. Though most of the bonus would be saved I now felt comfortable splurging on a couple of things thanks to the twenty-five thousand dollar windfall.

The drive to Poipu and the Koloa Landing was about thirty minutes and at first we just enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells of Kauai. I just loved the jungly humidity of this island. We discussed the various things we wanted to do. On our list was hiking Waimea Canyon, snorkeling at Tunnels beach, kayaking the Wailua River, and a trip to Secret Beach. This would be a surprise for Ali.

Our room was great, the hotel was great, and though it rains a lot on Kauai, the weather in Poipu was perfect. Mid 80's, sunny, but with just enough cloud cover to provide occasional welcome shade.

Over the first few days we hiked the canyon, kayaked the Wailua, and did some snorkeling. I was hoping tomorrow, Monday, we could try Secret Beach. I thought I would bring it up at dinner tonight.

We decided to have dinner at the casual pool bar at the Koloa Landing. The pool here was voted as one of the best swimming pools in America, and it was quite nice. We were talking and relaxing over a second drink. When I asked Ali what she wanted to do tomorrow.

"I don't know," she answered,"let's go to one of the beaches, Shipwreck or Brenneke's maybe."

"Those are great spots," I agreed, "but there is another beach past Kapaa that looked really nice too." I told her. "It's called Secret Beach. It sounds really nice."

Ali was nodding in agreement, relaxed by the sun and the drinks. I watched her face glad that she was agreeable to my plan for Monday. As I watched her suddenly her eyes widened and I saw her smile at someone behind me.

"Hi!" She said and stood up.

Who in the world did she know here on Kauai I thought as I looked up.

Quickly I realized it was Adrian Vasguez from Pinkus, here at the Koloa Landing.

"Hi you guys," he began, "I wondered if I was going to run into you here," he said to us.

Sometimes when you see someone out of context it takes a moment to process. Adrian and Pinkus Labs were in a totally different universe than Ali and I vacationing in Kauai.

"Here," Ali said and grabbed a nearby chair, "join us."

Adrian hesitated for a moment and Ali insisted. I was still shifting gears mentally. Sure, he's a nice enough guy, but this was Ali and my vacation. Our alone time. I was slightly put off by his arrival.

"So you decided to stay in Hawaii," Ali said, "and come to Kauai."

Adrian then went on to say that after he had talked to us that night at Duke's he tried one last time to get his girlfriend, Kayla, to join him. Apparently that did not end well. He decided to stay anyway. Through Marriott he applied his hotel credit to the Koloa Landing.

"What have you guys been doing?" He asked.

Ali told him about the hike and the kayaking.

"Tomorrow we're going to explore a new beach for us," Ali said, "what was it called?" She asked me.

"I'm not sure," I fibbed, "there are so many nice beaches here.... "

"Secrets Beach!" Ali suddenly exclaimed. "That's what I think you said."

"We'll, I don't know," I began trying to deflect the topic. "Shipwreck Beach is a great spot right in front of the Grand Hyatt here in Poipu."

Pretty soon the conversation drifted and came back to Pinkus Labs talk. Adrian seemed like a nice enough guy. I asked Adrian how he liked working at Pinkus.

"It's a good job and all," he began, "but I want to make some real money. Big money." He told us.

While I told him about salaries, bonuses, benefits, and 401k matches, he nodded politely, never disagreeing, but I could tell these practical benefits were not all that interesting to him.

"What kinds of things are you thinking about?" Ali asked him.

He talked about several things including one of his current clients who he had gotten close to. He gave no specifics but he said his client, Dr Viijay Gupta, was on the verge of something huge.

"This could change all our lives," he told us, "and if it all comes together like Viijay projects, there will be a lot of money to be made. A lot!"

Ali seemed interested and we continued to talk vaguely about Gupta and his supposed fantastic new product.

"Look, when the time is right I can give you more information," he said, talking mostly to Ali, "but I've already signed NDA's with Dr Gupta. I've probably already said too much."

Later after Vasguez had left Ali continued to wonder about the huge new discovery from Dr Gupta and all the potential money to be made.

"I'm a little leery about these get rich quick schemes." I told Ali.

She was quiet for a minute and then said, "I know Michael, but sometimes you need to take a chance."

The next morning, the talk of Dr Gupta, new products, risk, and Adrian Vasguez was nearly forgotten, at least for me. We were packed in the rental car and heading toward Secret Beach.

We had brought one of the tourist books about Kauai and Ali was reading it as we sped east through the tunnel of trees.

"Oh, okay," she said, "now I know why you wanted to go to Secret Beach."

I looked over at her with a silent, questioning, innocent look on my face.

"Don't give me that look," she said, "you knew it was a nude beach." She accused me, but with a smile on her face.

"Don't start fantasizing about me getting nude on a public beach," she said to me.

"We'll, maybe not completely nude," I said back to her.

She continued reading as I smiled and thought maybe I could at least talk her into going topless.

Not only is Secret Beach a beautiful beach but it's also a bit on an adventure getting there. You have to pay specific attention to the details; the exit, and parking areas are not obvious. Once you park it's a strenuous downhill hike to finally get to the beach, but it's worth it.

The beach is a beautiful crescent of sand and the ocean is fairly calm. There's a picturesque lighthouse on one end overlooking the beach. When we finally hiked down the trail to the sand I half expected naked people dotting the beach, but that wasn't the case. In fact everyone was dressed at the east end of the beach where the trail from the parking area ended. We hiked west along the beach, probably a good third of a mile.

That is when the absence of clothing became more obvious. First there was a single young female, completely nude and very pale. I hoped she had applied a lot of sunscreen.

And then there was a couple, her topless, and him taking photos of her. The beach was wide and we were polite enough not to skirt too close to the naked people as we walked.

At one point a nice looking couple emerged from the ocean, both completely naked, and as we walked past them our path bisected just a few feet away from where they were walking. We gave them a friendly wave. I tried to be casual as I ogled her bouncing tits, and I wondered if Ali was looking at the guy's dangling dick.

We finally found a good spot. It became obvious the further west you traveled the fewer clothes you wore. We were close to the ocean in fine white sand but far enough away from the tide line to not worry about a big wave.

We set up our blankets, our chairs, books and magazines, water bottles, snacks and sunscreen. I took off my tee shirt and Ali took off her cover up. She was wearing the new, more skimpy bathing suit she bought at the shop in Koloa.

We sat, just enjoying the sun, the ocean, and the picturesque beach. At this point there was no one very close to us. I saw a group of four people further down the beach, the nude couple we had seen emerging from the ocean and one other couple just arriving between us and the foursome. So a few people, but it was Monday, the beach was not terribly crowded.

I walked down to the ocean and waded about knee deep just to cool off. I turned to return to our spot and casually, behind my sunglasses, took a quick survey of our fellow sunbathers and their attire.

There was the couple we saw, both completely nude. The woman in the couple closest to us was definitely topless, and the group of four were too far away to figure out what they were wearing.

"Your bikini looks great," I told Ali.

She smiled as she continued reading her magazine.

"You know sweetheart, most of the women around us are at least topless," I said to Ali, and I noticed her look around at the other people.

"I don't know," she said, "maybe, but not now. I'm just enjoying the beach, the ocean, and the sun."

We sat like this in paradise. I read my book, completely unplugged from work, enjoying the sensual delights surrounding us. Occasionally a single guy would walk to our end of the beach looking for a quick peek of a naked woman. You could tell by their zig-zagging route that skirted each sunbathing spot they were out for a quick voyeuristic thrill. They seemed harmless.

A little later Ali lay down on the towel on her stomach.

"Michael, can you do my back? I don't want to get burned," she said and threw me the sunscreen.

I knelt beside and started on her legs. Ali had great legs, slim but with some tone. Her skimpy bathing suit wasn't quite a thong, but there was a lot of her beautiful ass that was visible and I took my time massaging the lotion into her exposed cheeks.

I moved up to her back which was bisected by her bikini top strap. I needed to be casual as I did it, I wiped my hands briefly on the towel, and then undid her top. She was on her stomach so her tits weren't really visible, but we were getting there.

Finally as I did her shoulders I slid the bikini straps down and they pooled at her elbows. For all practical purposes, she was now topless. I tried to sneak in a quick feel, my hands going to the sides of her breasts.