"Welcome to the Big Island of Hawaii," the flight attendant announced as the plane taxied to the gate, "baggage will be at carousel three. We hope you enjoy your stay here if you are visiting and welcome home if you are returning from a trip. Safe travels and thank you for flying United."
"Babe, we're here. We're finally on our real honeymoon," Kate said. She then leaned over the wide divider between their two cushy business class seats and gave Rick a quick kiss on the lips.
"You mean our second honeymoon," Rick replied, "and hey, that's all I get," he added, referring to Kate's little kiss that was followed by nothing else.
"There will be time for more of that later, and we're still in public." Kate smirked.
"Bulkhead in first class isn't private enough for you?" Rick shot back in protest.
"Castle!" Kate raised her eyebrows.
The plane came to a gentle stop and the seatbelt sign went off. The sounds of seatbelts buckles being unclicked, overhead bins being opens, and antsy travelers ready to disembark quickly filled the plane. Rick easily retrieved Kate's purse and his own briefcase, and they were the first ones in line to get off the plane. Rick and Kate thanked the flight attendants and walked out into the bright, tropical sun beating down on the runway and descended the metal stairs leading down to the runway.
As they and the other passengers walked toward the terminal, a gust of hot wind blew through, threatening to take Kate's sunhat. She reached one hand up to keep her hat in place, and her other hand went down to her dress. Even thought it was a maxi dress, Kate still seemed to feel the need to keep the blue and white fabric from blowing too far away from her body, though she did enjoy the feeling of the hot breeze blowing all around her. It was much more pleasant than New York City in the summer. At home, summer was hot and sticky, and with very little escape from the sweltering air. The air conditioner did some good (especially the one Rick had bought for the loft), but outside of their home, they had to face the nearly unbearable conditions. In the tropics, heat was the attraction. As soon as they were off the plane, in engulfed them, but not in the asphyxiating way it did in the city. Here, the heat was pleasant and there were countless remedies if it got to be too much.
By the time they had collected their bags and were waiting on the curb for a car to pick them up and take them to the resort, the wind had died down to an almost non-existent breeze. Kate turned towards Rick. She wrapped her arms his neck, got up on her tiptoes (although it didn't do very much because she was already wearing heels), and kissed Rick. It was a long, slow kiss, not like the short peck she had given him on the plane.
"Aren't we still in public?" Rick asked.
"I guess so. I couldn't wait until we got to the resort, and we haven't just spent hours on the same plane as most of the people around us," Kate replied.
Their ride, a black SUV pulled up to the curb. A well dressed man got out of the driver's seat, introduced himself, loaded Rick and Kate's suitcases into the trunk, and helped them into the back seat of the car.
"Mr. and Mrs. Castle, you're headed to the Kona resort, correct?" The driver asked.
"We are," Castle replied.