Lost and found

Lost and found


Kay and Marie did a quick, joyous jig around their shared flat, when they got the news from the sponsors of Brook bond National lucky draw. They won a holiday ticket each to the Bahamas. Tickets for the next day’s flight were enclosed. Yay!!

They worked at a lawyers’ firm, Beckett and Wallace, Seattle. Kay was their book keeper and Marie, PA to the office manager. This windfall would be a welcome break from the daily grind.
On the next day, they were on an early morning flight to Nassau, Bahamas. The flight took off on time. Settling into the reclining seats, they were soon lost in dreams of their own.

After landing at Nassau’s busy airport on New Providence in mid-afternoon, they took a taxi to the hotel,The Island House, where their reservations were made. The sun was high. The blue Mediterranean glittered in welcome all through their twenty-minute drive by the white beach. The lighthouse afar stood like a sentinel guarding the Nassau shores.

They settled into comfortable rooms at the big hotel. Kay, promptly fell asleep. It was five in the evening, when Marie knocked on her door.
Without delay, Marie chalked out her plans for the evening.

“Let’s go to the hotel’s main dining hall at six sharp. I expect the guests will be from different countries and presumably rich. I would like to be picked by the richest of them all.”
Kay was taken aback at this rather crass confession of Marie’s pre-laid plans.
She blurted out, “Is that what you have planned for? You never said a word before.”
Without batting an eyelid, Marie answered, “Nothing to feel bad about it. I don’t want to spend my whole life in that disgusting office anymore. You are a perfect foil for me.”

Kay fell silent. She was certain that with Marie bent on realizing her ambition, she might be mostly alone during the week-long holiday.


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


Marie looked attractive in a knee-length flaring, sequined orange dress with her curly blond hair falling to her shoulders. Kay chose an elegant light blue gown trimmed in white lace. Her copper hair caught in a blue shell- clip at the nape brought her fair face to focus.
Heads turned as the two tall girls entered the dining hall. Soft music played in the background. Chandler lights enhanced the romantic ambiance of the cool evening. The waiter showed them to a table by the window. It presented the view of the shining lights of the ships at anchorage that glittered like stars floating on the sea. The tossing buoys in the shady waters looked like swimmers in semi-darkness. Kay was lost in the view of the fast sinking sun into a sedate sea.

She noticed a lone man sitting by himself at a short distance. He was gazing through a window of his own. His dark hair, rugged features, deep blue eyes and a stern jaw promised a strong personality; what was he looking for? Perfection perhaps, Kay mused. She was startled, when unexpectedly his icy blue eyes met hers in a moment of stilled time, leaving a lasting memory.

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

A young guy from an adjacent table approached them and said with a smile, “Hello to you both! Why don’t you join us for dinner? We are visitors too, keen on making the best of our stay.”

“How do you know we are visitors?” asked Marie looking into his eyes.
“Fresh looks and a nice dressing style,” he replied smiling a little more, leading them to the table he shared with his friends. Before Kay could say anything, Marie led the way to their table. Chairs were brought in and they were introduced to the others.
Drinks were ordered and conversation flowed.

“Marie would you and Kay join us for a boat ride to Andros, an island, close by? We heard that a big party is going on there tonight,” said Swen, the man who invited them over.
“Wow, that would be great,” Marie replied, taking the initiative.
“Marie...I ...” Kay hesitated. But Alec, the guy from Seattle, assured her that he would see to their safe return to the hotel.
Others urged her further and Kay had to agree.

Soon after dinner, Kay and Marie went back to their rooms to change into casual clothes. Marie didn’t give her chance to discuss the trip to Andros.

They gathered in the foyer and together they walked to the small dock nearby, and took a prearranged boat from the hotel. Alec, who knew how to propel mechanical boats was at the helm.

As the boat cleaved through the calm waters of the Caribbean, Kay forgot all her misapprehensions and started enjoying the boat-ride under a half-moon. Marie, felt queasy and kept to the cabin below. The waves lapped against the boat-side making rhythmic music of their own.

In about twenty minutes, they reached the Island of Andros, a vast white desert dotted with bushes and palm trees. There was no port; just a small dock. After docking the boat, they walked through the trees to a sprawling hacienda, ablaze with lights. Loud music and raucous voices floated on the wind.
Swen said, “as per my information, this is the spot. Come on,” he urged them to the building.

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

They went in through ornate large doors. Inside, they found a big party happening with a large young crowd. Kay heard the alarm loud in her mind. There was some kind of crudity around, that she didn’t like.

A glass of whiskey was thrust into Kay’s cold hands. She looked around for Marie but couldn’t find her in the vicinity. Swen joined her.

“Come on Kay, let’s dance.”
Reluctantly, she followed him to the dance floor.
Moving to music, Kay asked, “Whose house is this?”
“It belongs to some drug lord. Who cares? He agreed to lease it for three days. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Kay was further dismayed by this information. There was something shady about the whole arrangement.
A few minutes later, he said, “come on, let’s go.”
“Go where?” asked Kay.
“Just follow me.”

He took her to a dark corridor, lined with several rooms. He pushed open a door and took her in. It was dark inside. He tried to push her on to the bed.

Kay realized what was to follow. Swen was drunk and not sane enough to listen to sense. She pushed him out of her way and started for the door. He dragged her back. She gave him a resounding slap and with tears streaming down her face, she raced out of the building like a gazelle and soon, he lost her.

She ran without stopping till she reached the spot, where the boat was tied. Sirens sounded in the distance. No wonder if someone fell sick in this befuddling atmosphere, she thought. Quickly, she untied the rope and jumped into the boat. Soon it was adrift. She knew nothing about starting the boat. But she recalled what Alec did. She pushed the buttons and it started. At the helm she turned the wheel and the boat was ocean-borne.

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

Out of the blue, dark clouds gathered and it started raining thick driven by a furious wind.
Before long she lost control; the wheel went berserk in her trembling hands. Within minutes she beached boat. The engine spluttered and died.The boat tilted on the shore.

In the darkness of the night it looked like another part of the island. Soaked to skin with rain lashing, she stepped out tried to walk to the cottage she spotted not far away. But she slipped and fell.

The last thing she remembered was a tall man, the one she saw in the hotel dining hall lifting her up in his strong arms. For some mysterious reason, she had a feeling of coming home as she closed her eyes against the welcome warmth of a thick linen shirt.


Word Count: 1323


Written for Stormy’s Poetry Newsletter and Contest
Prompt words: buoy tears waves adrift lighthouse sirens port lost.

Listed under Editor's picks : Romance/Love Newsletter December 23, 2020 LoneKrampuswolf