I'm not going to prolong this posting of the honeymoon chapters. They're done, been done, and there's no upside to spacing them out.
The alarm on Auggie's iPhone chimed him into consciousness, and then Annie's took up the call, too. As his new bride stirred beside him, Auggie fumbled for his phone on the nightstand and completed the gestures to turn it off. He groaned as he swung his legs out of bed. Running his hands through his hair he tried to remember three things: first, he wanted to remember why his mouth felt like cotton and his head hurt; second, he needed to know where he was, and why in god's name he'd set the alarm. As he sat rubbing the sleep from his eyes with the heels of his hands and then running them through his tangled mop of hair again, it all started to come back to him – he was on his honeymoon in a luxury hotel on the Caribbean island of St. Barts; he'd had a combination of a beer and too many shots of vanilla rum the night before; and he'd set the alarm because he and his new wife had a date with a boat and a fishing pole this morning. With a prolonged sigh he felt around on the nightstand for his watch. As soon as his fingers brushed against it, it fell on the floor. "Shit," he muttered and began to search the floor in front of the bedside table.
Behind him his new wife got out of bed and padded around to his side. By the time she made it around the bed Auggie had located his watch. When he sat up straight Annie stepped between his legs and kissed her husband. First chastely on the forehead, and then open-mouthed on his. Watch tightly grasped in his right hand, Auggie encircled Annie with his arms and drew her in a bit. She allowed him to bury his face in valley between her breasts. After lightly kissing his wife's skin and then each breast in turn, Auggie loosened his embrace and gently pushed his wife away.
"As much as I would love to make love with you this morning …"
"I know," Annie interjected and stepped away from her husband. A few minutes later she was in the shower.
As soon as Annie had stepped away from him, Auggie opened the crystal on his watch and scanned the watch's face with the index finger of his right hand. With a slight groan at the time, Auggie flopped back on the bed and spread his arms out to the side and then swept them up over his head in a lazy stretch. Another soft groan escaped him as he rose and, with both hands extended loosely in front of him, crossed the room to the desk in the corner of the opposite wall. After locating the chair and sitting down, Auggie scanned the right side of the table for the phone. After only a moment's hesitation, he picked up the receiver and dialed the number for room service; he ordered a more American-style breakfast of eggs, toast and a large carafe of coffee. That task completed he carefully made his way to where his suitcase rested on the rack in the closet area of the room. After digging around in it for a few minutes he located the clothes that he was searching for and carried them to the bed and laid them on the foot of it. A light rap on the door and the announcement of 'room service' almost startled him. He wasn't expecting it quite so quickly.
When he opened the door he was met by the same voice that had delivered his coffee the morning before. This pleased him; he wouldn't have to explain the way things were to a new person. As soon as the young man had pushed the room service cart to an out-of-the-way spot near the desk, he poured Auggie a mug of coffee and placed it into Auggie's outstretched hand.
"Merci," Auggie said after taking a quick sip of the hot liquid.
"You're welcome, Mr. Anderson," the younger man replied. "Same as yesterday?"
Auggie nodded, "Yeah, if that okay with you."
"Of course, sir. You were almost too kind yesterday, but that would be just about right for today."
"Okay then," Auggie said as he held out his hand so he could sign the room service ticket.
"That's okay, Mr. Anderson, I don't need your signature today." And with that he closed the door behind himself.
"I hope you got me a coffee this morning, too," Annie said as she came out of the bathroom still toweling off her hair.
"I did," Auggie replied. "I got a whole pot. And some eggs and toast, too. Did you think to pack any pain relievers? I think this headache might need a bit more than coffee to persuade it to go away."
"I did. Hold out your hand."
Auggie complied with his wife's gentle command and was rewarded with a capsule placed in the palm of his hand and his fingers gently curled around it. Bringing his fisted hand to his mouth he popped the pill in and washed it down with a swig of his coffee.
"Thought you might need one of those this morning," Annie said as Auggie downed the capsule.
"Thanks," Auggie muttered as he moved toward the corner where the room service cart was parked.
The pair sat and ate and then Auggie went in to take his shower and shave. The combination of coffee, pain reliever and a hot shower seemed to cure his headache. As they strolled hand-in-hand into town he was actually feeling pretty good. Annie on the other hand, was hiding behind a pair of sunglasses in the early morning light.
Pierre met them at the entrance to the marina and made comment on Annie's demeanor to Auggie as the made their way to the fishing boat.
"It looks like the misses is a bit under-the-weather this morning. Are you sure you want to go out today?"
"Annie?" Auggie asked with alarm.
"I'm okay, Auggie," she hurriedly replied. "My headache isn't completely gone. I'm wearing a big floppy hat and shades. I should have been a bit more firm in refusing the vanilla rum last night."
"Ah, you went to the Hideaway last night and met Andy then?" Pierre interjected.
"Yes," Annie replied. "Nice man, but doesn't take no very well," she continued.
"He's famous for that vanilla rum he serves to people he's taken a fancy to. I can see how he might have liked the two of you. You're a bit different than the usual folk that come here."
"Different how?" Auggie asked.
"Much more down-to-earth; unassuming. You can tell that you come from big money, but you don't flaunt it or lord it over the rest of us. We're at the boat, Mr. Anderson. I'll help your lady aboard then give you a hand."
A few minutes later Pierre was showing Auggie around a bit and introducing him and Annie to the two deckhands.
After a few safety instructions to his passengers Pierre climbed to the pilothouse and started the engines. He eased out of the harbor and into open waters where he throttled up. As the 27-foot fishing boat cut through the water Annie described the sunrise to Auggie. A bit later she described the antics of the dolphins that were riding the bow wave of the boat as it continued to cut through the light chop to the fishing ground. When the boat neared its destination, the deckhands finished breaking out the gear and showing Auggie the rod and reel he'd be using, how to safely bait the hook, and how to cast the line out. He was wearing a huge grin as he examined the rod, reel and the harness that he'd wear to help hold and control the large rod.
Annie chose not to actually fish, but opted instead to assist Auggie. Once they'd anchored at the chosen site, she helped him bait his hook and then kept an eye on his bobber. She was struck how very similar, outside of the equipment being ten times larger, deep sea fishing was to what she'd been coaxed to do with her father and several boyfriends from high school. She hadn't particularly enjoyed it back then, and would have preferred to be somewhere else this time, too. But, she vowed, she would never let Auggie know that.
For several hours they bobbed on ocean's surface with moderate luck at catching anything. Auggie had hooked a few smaller yellow-fin tuna – which the deckhands had brought on board to sell to one of the local restaurants – but nothing that had really taxed his strength or needed much skill to bring alongside the boat. They were about ready to pull up anchor and head in when both Annie and one of the deckhands yelled to Auggie to yank on the rod to set the hook. From the tug on the line and rod, Auggie knew that he'd caught something much larger than either of the tuna he'd hooked previously.
For a long time Auggie played the line and reeled the unknown sea creature closer to the boat; suddenly the line went slack and Pierre exclaimed, "WOW!"
"What?" Auggie asked excitedly.
"It seems," Pierre began somewhat excitedly also, "that you have had a rare streak of beginner's luck. You, my man, have hooked a fair sized Marlin. Marlin are the top of the sport fishing chain and very rare in these waters."
"Really? What do I do now?"
"You play with her until either you get too tired to go on, or she gets too tired to fight anymore. If you get tired first, one of us will spell you for a bit. When she tires we'll bring her alongside and cut her loose. Unless you want a trophy for your wall."
"I'm not the trophy taking type," Auggie replied firmly. "Just wanted to be able to say I'd been deep sea fishing," he admitted moments later.
"Ah, I see," Pierre said. "Many serious sport fishermen go years before they catch one that big. I'm guessing 750 to 800 pounds. Only the females get that large. Just blind dumb lu…"
Auggie, the muscles in his arms bulging from the exertion of pulling back mightily on the rod, laughed heartily at Pierre's discomfort. "Yeah, it is blind dumb luck on several levels," Auggie said between tugs on the rod.
For the next hour-and-a-half they fought – man and beast – and at different times it seemed the other was winning the battle. Auggie's body, as fit as he was, fatigued and he reluctantly relinquished the rod and reel to one of the deckhands. Finally the large beast was subdued, brought alongside the boat, and cut loose from the line. But not until Pierre offered Auggie a chance to 'look' at his catch. Not surprisingly Auggie declined the honor.
Shortly after the man versus fish battle concluded, Pierre pulled up anchor and headed back to the harbor. They had been out longer than planned upon, but Pierre had taken photos and had a tale to tell his buddies at the café the next morning.
As the fishing boat headed back to shore, Annie and Auggie retired to the cabin to get out of the sun for a bit. Even though Annie had insisted on frequently applying a high SPF value sunscreen, Auggie was showing signs of being mildly sunburned on his face and arms. For that matter, so was Annie. On the trip back to the marina, both Annie and Auggie ate a sandwich and a piece of fruit that Pierre had brought along for them and his crew. Annie could not help but notice the self-satisfied demeanor of her husband. She was happy for him, too. Sometimes it was easy to forget that underneath that seemingly confident exterior was a man with a whole host of insecurities due to the fact that he could no longer see.
When Pierre announced that they were approaching landfall, Annie dug the bottle of sunscreen from her beach bag and insisted once again that Auggie apply some to his face, neck and arms; when he was done she did the same knowing that the sun was at its peak potency for a few more hours.
The slowing of the boat prompted Auggie to check the time on his watch. A mischievous grin curled the corners of his mouth and brought a subtle sparkle to his eyes.
"Auggie? What has you grinning like you've just hatched a devious plan?" Annie asked and chuckled lightly.
"Did you wear a swimsuit under your clothes? Or do you have one packed in your bag with the sunscreen?" Auggie asked in a non-revealing tone.
"Yeah. When I noticed you had your trunks on under your shorts I packed a suit and a towel in my beach bag. Why?"
"While you were below using the head when we were getting ready to head back in before I hooked the Marlin, I asked one of the men if there were any secluded beaches on the island. He mentioned one that was accessible only by a nice hike or by dingy or jet ski. There are jet skis available at the marina …"
"Oh, Auggie that sounds so … romantic. Yes, let's do it."
Auggie only grinned more broadly.
Once the boat had docked, Annie and Auggie thanked Pierre and his crew profusely for the wonderful time they had fishing and then made a beeline toward the jet ski rental. To his mock dismay, the proprietor of the jet ski place would not rent to Auggie, but soon the pair, now clad solely in their swimming attire, were on their way to the secluded beach with some bottled water, fresh fruit, towel and sunscreen in the small storage area under the seat.
With Annie at the controls, Auggie wrapped his arms firmly around her as they zipped, a few hundred yards offshore, across the calm tropical waters to the location of the beach on the northwest tip of the island. Although quite secluded, the beach is well-known so Annie was somewhat surprised when she beached the jet ski that there was no one else about. And there was no discernible signs that there had been anyone there for quite some time.
Once she'd retrieved her beach bag from the storage area on the jet ski, hand-in-hand she and Auggie traipsed partway up the beach with sand so fine it almost felt like baby powder. After spreading the towel on the ground, Annie dug out the mangos that she'd liberated from the sack of fruit that Pierre had on his boat that morning. She offered one and a bottle of water to Auggie. He accepted both and unscrewed the cap on the water bottle and took a swig.
As they snacked, Annie described their surroundings and the calmness of the water in the cove – almost as still as bathwater. Once they'd finished the mangos, Annie wrapped the pits in a paper napkin she'd also liberated from the supply on the boat and tucked it into the corner of her tote for disposal later.
Auggie suddenly rose from where he was sitting and took off running toward the water. After a moment of surprise, Annie followed him. For a time the newlywed pair frolicked in the secluded bay – chasing, splashing, and dunking each other like a pair of teenagers.
Auggie came up spluttering after Annie had swum up to him underwater and knocked him off his feet. "No fair, Annie!" he yelled moments later. "I didn't hear you coming!"
"That was the whole idea," Annie retorted matter-of-factly while dancing away in the chest deep water.
A broad smile erupted on Auggie's face. "C'm'ere."
"Nu-uh. You're gonna dunk me."
"No, Annie, I'm not. C'm'ere," he said a bit more forcefully.
"Nu-uh. Come get me," she teased.
Auggie paused for a moment listening intently and then took a few steps in the direction he'd last heard Annie's voice coming from. Pausing he listened again. "Annie, this is not Marco Polo," Auggie stated in a slightly exasperated tone. "Damnit, Annie," he muttered.
"What, Auggie?" Annie said a few feet in front of him. "I haven't moved."
"Something just brushed against my legs. Thought it was you playing tricks on me."
"Let's get out of the water," Annie said hurrying to Auggie's side. She grasped his hand and waded toward the beach.
When they were in ankle deep water, Auggie turned and wrapped an arm around Annie's thin body and pulled her to him. She struggled briefly against the confinement, but stopped when Auggie began to kiss her.
"You're not mad at me for knocking you off your feet?" She asked when he stopped kissing her long enough to take a breath.
"No. Why would I be? You treated me like you might anyone else. Yeah, I was briefly upset, but I would have been even if I could still see. The fact that I can't …"
Annie attacked his mouth with hers, silencing him. Auggie pulled her tighter to his body and she felt his unmistakably growing arousal as his hand drifted lower to cup her buttock. Moments later Annie took Auggie by the hand and led him back to the towel. It didn't take but a few minutes for Auggie to have Annie's bikini bottoms down around her knees and his trunks were soon in a similar position. The risk of unwanted discovery both hastened and heightened their love-making even though for the ensuing fifteen minutes the rest of the world ceased to exist for the newlyweds.
"Annie," Auggie began earnestly
"What?" Annie replied contentedly.
"Hurry. We need to get out of this position," Auggie replied withdrawing from her hurriedly.
"Why?" Annie mumbled with growing alarm
"We're going to get company," Auggie relay succinctly. "There's a pair of jet skis getting closer.
"Are you sure? I don't hear anything."
"You're questioning this blind man about sounds?" Auggie asked with a bit of disbelief as he rose to his feet and offered a hand to his bride.
After taking Auggie's hand and letting him pull her to her feet, Annie pulled her bikini bottoms up and situated the strings on her hips as Auggie pulled his trunks up, too. "No I'm not questioning a blind man on his hearing, I'm questioning my husband's over active imagination. And marveling at how much sooner you hear things than I do."
"So, you believe me now?" Auggie asked as he extended his hand to his wife again. When she took the offered hand he began to hurry toward the water's edge. They were once again frolicking in the water as the pair of jet skis entered the secluded cove, stopped short of the beach and sat bobbing in their own wake for a few moments.
"Ahoy," a male voice called from the nearest jet ski. "May we join you on the beach?"
"Of course," Auggie called back. "We're just about ready to leave so you can have the beach to yourself in a little bit."
"Don't mean to run you off," the man replied as he eased his machine closer to shore.
"No problem," Annie responded. "It's getting to be time for us to be heading back in."
"Are you sure about that?" Auggie questioned Annie so that only she could hear.
"Yeah, the mood's broken now, and it's about time to find something more than mangos to eat." Annie splashed Auggie one last time and brushed her hand against his. As the other couple dismounted their jet skis, Auggie grasped his wife's arm in standard sighted guide configuration. After Annie shook the sand from the extra-large towel she dried off a bit and then draped it over Auggie's shoulder. As Auggie toweled off, Annie took her sunglasses from the tote bag and put them on; when her husband was done with the towel she took it from his outstretched hand, loosely folded it and stuffed it into the bag.
Once again Annie brushed her hand against Auggie's and, once again, he grasped her arm just above her elbow and let her lead him back to their jet ski. Once Annie had straddled the jet ski and gotten settled, Auggie pushed it off the beach and then climbed up behind her, wrapping his arms about her loosely. Once they'd cleared the mouth to the secluded beach, Annie throttled the machine up and sped back to the marina. Behind her she heard Auggie laughing with glee and great abandon.
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