I'm Yours
Chapter 5: Hella Scary
That night, they just stayed on the mattress. Given their attire—or rather lack thereof—they decided not to talk to the manager until the next morning. They had been too tired to get their regular clothes back on. So, they just slipped their undergarments and nightwear on, then went to sleep. That is, after they put the broken bamboo parts off to the side.
However, come morning, once they were awake, they got dressed and ready for the day, then called down to the front desk.
"I am so sorry. We planned on taking next month off so that we could replace the beds in all the rooms with sturdier, more modern beds. We even have them in our cellar, waiting to be set up. We just didn't get to setting them up yet," the manager stated.
"If the beds weren't sturdy, then why did you get these ones to begin with? Why didn't you set the other ones up earlier?" Lily asked, her arms crossed over her chest.
The manager held his hands out. "Again, I am so sorry, Ma'am. The beds seemed fine when we first purchased them. We bought them years ago, when these were actually considered one of the best quality. This was before all the newer stuff came out. They seemed to be fine for now. We've never had someone actually break the bed before."
Lily shot him a look, and began to tap her foot. "So it's our fault?"
The manager shook his head. "No, Ma'am. I'm sorry if it sounded like I was implying that. I assure you I was not."
"What can you do to rectify our situation?" Rufus asked, a little embarrassed at his wife's hostility. What happened to the woman who thought it was hilarious last night?
"Well, we can give you another room, but the bed would be the same. We can give you a refund on last night, and or let you out of our twenty-four hour cancellation policy if you don't wish to stay here any longer. Or, if you choose to stay, I will give you half off what you paid to stay here for the full week. Are you guys going out today? If you do, I can assure you, your new, sturdier bed will be here all set up when you get back." The manager smiled at them, his hands clasped behind his back as he waited to hear their decision.
"I think we should just go to another hotel," Lily said, her arms uncrossed now, and her eyes fixed on her husband's.
"Lil, he's offering us half off if we stay here! Plus, you heard him. When we get back, we'll have a new, sturdier, bed," Rufus insisted.
"I assure you, you won't find a better deal," the manager told them. "You can feel free to look around at other hotels, but you'll see I'm right."
Rufus looked at Lily. "We don't want to waste time looking for a new hotel anyway when we have an excursion to go on."
Lily sighed, and rolled her eyes. "Oh, fine! We'll stay." She cast a glance at the manager. "But I want clean sheets on the bed too! The comforter can stay. The maid washed it for us already."
Rufus silently willed the manager not to question the maid washing it, since of course, she hadn't really.
The manager. "Done! I will make sure last night is free, and that the rest of your bill gets adjusted."
Rufus nodded. "Thank you!"
The manager left.
Rufus turned to Lily with a smile. "You ready to go?"
Lily sighed. "I suppose."
"What's wrong?" Rufus asked her.
"I missed my chance to change hotels," she said with a sigh, heading for her purse.
Rufus followed her, and wrapped his arms around her from behind. "We're getting this hotel cheaper now! And we get an all new, never before used, bed. It will be guaranteed clean."
She smiled over her shoulder at him. "Well, the never before used bed is a good thing at least."
Rufus kissed her cheek, then nodded toward the door. "Come on. Let's go do our first excursion. It's our helicopter tour! You look so sexy. I want to show my sexy wife off!"
Lily grinned. She was wearing a pair of khaki shorts that went to her knees, and a baby pink lace cami. On her feet were white strappy sandals. "You really like?"
Rufus nodded. "I don't usually see you in pink. It's a great color on you!" He kissed her sweetly on the lips, then took her hand in his own. Her finger and toe nails were painted the shame shade of baby pink as her top, as were her lips.
She squeezed his hand. "I'll have to wear pink more often then!"
"I hope you do!" Rufus told her.
They grinned at each other, then left their room hand-in-hand for their first excursion.
"I paid for the sixty-minute helicopter tour instead of the forty-five minute one. It was fifty-four more dollars per person, but, I figured, since we're on our honeymoon, why not splurge a little?" Rufus said excitedly as they arrived at the landing strip.
"You really went all out," Lily said sarcastically.
Rufus didn't seem to pick up on her sarcasm. It was either that, or he was ignoring it. "I wanted the best flight for the best wife!" He grinned at her, and kissed her cheek.
Lily sighed. She certainly couldn't stay annoyed with him after a comment like that. "In your face, Alison!" she said with a grin.
Rufus laughed.
"So, where's the helicopter?" Lily asked. "All I see is that heap of junk over there." She pointed to an old, battered looking helicopter that looked like it was on it's last leg.
Just as she did so, a pilot came out of it, and waved to them.
They waved back, a little confused.
"Aloha! Are you the Humphreys?" he asked.
Rufus and Lily nodded a little hesitantly.
He extended his hand to them. "My name is Jack Driver, which is funny because I'm a flyer—not a driver! I mean that too. I never learned how to drive." He winked at them.
Even though they were in Hawaii, Jack had an accent. It sounded to Lily like a cross between western and hillbilly. In fact, he didn't even look Hawaiian, what with his blonde hair and barely tanned skin. Lily was reluctant to shake his hand, so Rufus shook it first. Lily did after Rufus did, but only because she didn't want to be rude. Was this guy for real?
"Don't worry though! I'm am excellent pilot for having only flown twice before," Jack assured them.
Lily felt her face grow hot. She suddenly felt clammy. She leaned up against Rufus for support.
"Um, you know what? Maybe a helicopter tour isn't really right for my wife and I," Rufus said, sounding as nervous as Lily was.
Lily nodded.
Jack burst into laughter. "Relax! It's just a little humor from a pilot to his passengers. I've flown a lot of times. I'm great at flying. I wouldn't have gotten my license if I wasn't." He winked at them.
Rufus visibly relaxed, but Lily still felt a little on edge.
"Besides, unfortunately, there are no refunds. So, if you guys give up the flight, you throw away the five hundred ninety dollars total y'all paid," Jack told them.
"You okay?" Rufus asked Lily, gently squeezing her hand.
Lily wouldn't call herself cheap in the slightest, but, even so, she hated wasting money—especially that much money. So, even though she was still a little scared, she nodded. "I'm fine." She squeezed Rufus' hand in return, and smiled at him. "Let's do this. It will be fun to see the island."
"It's a great tour of the complete island!" Jack said with a nod.
"Don't we have to wait for the others?" Rufus asked Jack.
Jack shook his head. "No, Sir! You two are the only ones signed up for this flight. You can't fit many more than two in ol' Angelica here. I named her after my first girlfriend." Jack winked at them. He then headed over to the "heap of junk" as Lily had called it earlier, and opened the door. "Your copter awaits!" He said with a toothy grin and an over exaggerated bow. He was missing a tooth, Lily noticed with disdain.
"Are you sure that's safe?" Lily asked, pausing at the entrance.
Jack nodded. "Yes, Ma'am! Sure it looks a little rusty, and it could use a good paint job, but the engine and propeller were just put in two weeks ago, all brand new! This baby is safe to fly. It was looked over twice by the mechanics, and got the okay to fly." He pat the side of the helicopter for emphasis.
Lily sighed.
Rufus took her hand, and she reluctantly got in. She wasn't too fond of being by the window, but there wasn't much choice in a tour helicopter.
Rufus got in beside her, and Jack slammed the door shut. She tried not to panic, but she was starting to feel a slight bit claustrophobic.
Rufus took her hand and squeezed it, then kissed her cheek.
She looked at him, and he smiled at her.
"We'll be fine. You won't even think about it once you see all the beautiful scenery," he assured her.
Lily took a deep breath, and slowly let it out. She loved how he knew her so well that she didn't even have to tell him her problems. He already knew her worries.
"Y'all ready?" Jack asked, looking back at them from his seat in front.
Lily sighed. "As ready as I'll ever be."
Rufus nodded. "Ditto," he said, his hand still squeezing Lily's hand.
"I hope you remembered your cameras!" Jack said as he started the helicopter.
"We did!" Lily said, putting on a smile. She tried to concentrate on Rufus' hand in hers, and the thought of all the wonderful things they would be able to photograph. She was still nervous, but it helped.
It didn't take long for the helicopter to be up in the air, and soon, it was higher up than Lily would have liked it to be.
"This is the best way to see Maui, and the rest of Hawaii. I just got to make sure I don't crash into any mountains!" Jack laughed at his own joke, but Lily didn't find any humor in it. She didn't look at Rufus to see what his reaction was. She just squeezed his hand even tighter for moral support.
"That's how Patsy Cline died, ya know. Her plane hit a mountain," Jack continued.
Lily suddenly felt like she was going to throw up.
"Of course, hers was just a little prop plane—not a helicopter. Even so, her plane was probably still bigger than this helicopter is. One wrong move and this baby is toast!" Jack said.
"Can you please stop talking about the helicopter crashing? You're making my wife nervous," Rufus said to him.
Jack looked over his shoulder, and smirked at them. "From your tone, I think your wife isn't the only one I'm scaring!"
"Please keep your eyes on the sky!" Rufus said weakly.
"Relax, Mr. Humphrey! Take a chill pill! I know what I'm doing. There's nothing to crash into...for now anyway." Jack looked back to the sky anyway.
Rufus squeezed Lily's hand so hard it almost hurt her.
Lily smiled to herself. As much as she loved her husband, it felt good to know she wasn't alone in her fear. Besides, she was glad Jack had called Rufus out on pretending to be concerned about her when he was clearly concerned about himself. Though, she supposed he was concerned about her too. Still, him being concerned for her clearly wasn't his only motive in kindly asking Jack to shut up.
"All right! Here we are flying over Molokai. That beautiful sight down there is the Kalaupapa Peninsula. The Kalaupapa Peninsula has the highest sea cliffs in the world. The highest cliff dropping as far as 3,315 feet! Trust me, you would not want to fall off or jump off one of those cliffs! Well, unless you plan on killing yourself. Even with the Pacific Ocean down below, I'd imagine you'd hit the water so hard, every bone in your body would break!" Jack said.
Lily was starting to feel a little shaky, but Rufus was too busy taking pictures for her to grab onto him. She took a few shots herself, but then sat back in her seat, and tried not to think of how high up they were.
"There's a low shield volcano straight down on the left side." Jack pointed to where it was.
Lily peeked out the window, again, trying not to think of how high up they were, and to just enjoy the sites.
"And, that large area of land down there is Father Damien's Leper Colony. Father Damien settled there in 1873 when 1,200 men, women, and children were exiled there for having leprosy. They were quarantined there, so as not to pass the disease onto anyone. In 1969, the law was appealed, meaning the lepers no longer had to stay there. However, today, there are still fourteen who chose to still stay there, for, even though they no longer have leprosy, they are scarred so badly, their reintegration into mainstream society would probably prove too difficult for them. This way, living with only others who suffer through the same thing, they don't need to worry about being frowned upon, whispered about, or looked at funny. Nor do they have to worry about bullies, because The Good Lord knows, people bully no matter what age they are. Bullying certainly does not stop after high school like it should." Jack shook his head in disgust. "Anyway, the colony is now part of the Kalaupapa National Historical Park."
Lily was so enthralled by the story, she found herself listening, and taking pictures without even worrying about the height.
"I'm trying to see the lepers, but I can't see any movement," Rufus stated, his hands and face pressed to the window.
"Well, then, lets go down and see them! Shall we?" Jack asked.
Before Rufus could respond, Jack made a nosedive down toward the ground.
Lily and Rufus both screamed.
Jack laughed, and brought the helicopter back up. "Just kidding!"
Lily's heart was pounding so hard in her chest, it felt like it was going to break free of her rib cage. "Don't...do...that!" she said between breaths. She was panting so hard she could barely breathe. She wondered if that is what a panic attack felt like.
Rufus held her close, and kissed the top of her head. "So not funny!" he said to Jack.
Jack chuckled. "I'm sorry I scared you. It's just a little pilot humor!"
Lily eased up a little when they passed over the Haleakala Crater, the "7 pools" of Oheo (as Jack had called it), Hana Town, and the breathtakingly beautiful but rugged waterfall coastline of the North Shore Rainforest.
As Jack began telling them about the sights they were seeing, Rufus and Lily both took some time to calm down from the near heart attack Jack had given them. Eventually, they both calmed down enough to take some pictures.
Lily took a lot of pictures, and noticed that Rufus was taking a lot as well. She smiled, loving that they could both appreciate the beauty.
After they passed by the rainforest, they rode in silence for a moment, then they came across some mountains.
"These are the West Maui Mountains," Jack said, finally speaking again. "To the Hawaiians, these are known as Komohana. To geologists, they are known as Mauna Kahalawai. Then there are those who simply call it the West Maui Volcano. It is an eroded shield volcano that is one quarter of Maui."
Rufus and Lily both took pictures of the volcano, then stopped taking pictures for a moment to observe the beautiful scenery below. However, they did snap a few more occasional photos of things they found particularly breathtaking as they went along.
"There are three districts on west Maui—Lāhaina, Kāʻanapali, and Wailuku, also known as the four waters," Jack said. "The four waters being, Waikapū, Wailuku, Waiʻehu, and Waiheʻe."
As they passed over each district and the four waters, Jack pointed out which one was which. "The summit peak is called Pu‛u Kukui. It is 5,788 feet, or 1,764 meters if you'd rather," he then added.
He then proceeded to tell them more about Pu‛u Kukui. When he was finished, he smiled. "All right! That concludes your tour. I'm so glad ya'll were the first to accompany me on my first solo flight!"
Rufus and Lily looked at each other, and then at Jack. "Solo flight?" they asked in unison.
Jack nodded. "Oh, yeah!" he looked back at them, and raised his eyebrows up and down. "Cool, isn't it?"
"You told us you flew many times before!" Lily reminded him.
"I did! With a copilot. He got sick today, and they didn't have anyone else to take his place, so the boss thought it would be the perfect time for me to go out on my own. I'd have to eventually anyway. I can't always be with someone. I need to learn how to take care of myself when I have no one else," Jack explained.
"Can you please just bring us down now?" Rufus asked, sounding nervous. He grabbed Lilly's hand, and gave it a not to gentle squeeze.
Lily realized that Rufus' hand was as sweaty as her hand was. She knew that meant he must have been as nervous as she was.
"Sure thing! Like I said, this concludes the tour. Your parachutes are in the back. You can jump here. You'll land near where we started if you're lucky," Jack said. He then laughed at the looks on Rufus and Lily's faces. "I'm just kidding! Chillax! I'll take you safely back. I just need to switch over to the other gas tank. Hold on a second..." He looked at the tank, his hand paused on the lever. "Uh oh."
"Uh oh? What uh oh?" Rufus asked, his voice already sounding panicked.
"The gas tank! It's not filled! I could have sworn I filled it before I left!" Jack sounded panicked.
"Don't you double check these things before you take off?" Lily asked, sitting straight up in her seat now. She gripped the bottom of her seat—hard.
"I forgot this time! I just assumed it was filled. Usually my copilot checks on that for me. I am so used to him taking care of it, it didn't cross my mind to check it myself this time!" Jack said.
"Well, it darn well should have!" Rufus screamed.
"Maybe we have enough to gas to land," Jack said.
"We had better!" Lily said, her voice panic-stricken.
"I'll try my best. Hold on tight! This is going to be a fast and bumpy ride!" Jack said.
"Rufus!" Lily cried out.
Rufus held on tightly to her with one arm, and onto the bottom of his seat with the other.
Lily did the same, holding onto Rufus with one arm, and her seat with the other.
They nosedived quickly toward the ground.
Lily was sobbing, and even Rufus was crying out in horror.
Suddenly, a loud beeping sound could be heard.
"What's that?" Lily asked.
"It means we're out of gas. We're not going to make it!" Jack said.
Lily let out an even louder sob.
The plane started down faster then.
"I think we're going to hit a mountain! I am so sorry guys. It has been a pleasure knowing you!" Jack said, sounding as if he were going to cry.
"Rufus!" Lily cried, squeezing Rufus' hand tighter.
"I love you, Lil." Rufus said sadly.
"I love you too, Rufus" Lily said.
They gave a loving, longing, look at each other, and then closed their eyes, and prepared themselves for the collision.
"And this concludes your tour with Hell of a Tour helicopter tours!" Jack said after safely landing them back on the landing strip at the Hell of a Tour helicopter tours.
He got out, and opened the helicopter door. "I hope you all enjoyed your tour. It was a pleasure to meet you both!"
Rufus and Lily both slowly sat up straight and looked at him. "Huh?" they asked in unison.
Jack smirked. "We're back! Y'all didn't actually think we were really out of gas, did ya?" He winked at them.
"Uh, yes?" Rufus said, as he exited the helicopter. It came out more as a question than an answer. He helped Lily out of the helicopter.
Lily dropped to the ground, and kissed it.
Jack chuckled. "No way! I was just razzin' ya! Didn't you know that that is what our tours specializes in? When we say 'hell of a tour' we really mean a 'hell' of a tour! As in, it scares the hell out'a ya! Get it?" Jack snorted.
"So, that wasn't your first solo flight?" Lily asked, standing up now.
Jack hit the air with his hand. "Na! Are you kidding me? When first flying solo, I flew without passengers for a month before I flew solo with passengers. That was years ago that I flew solo with passengers for the first time. I know how to fly just fine, Ma'am. There was never any real danger of me crashin.' I'm just supposed to shake you guys up. It's what we do here at Hell of a Tour helicopter tours. People get a kick out of it. Some even take their unsuspecting friends on our tours as a practical joke! Didn't you know?"
"Well, I certainly didn't know about it anyway." Lily glared at Rufus.
Rufus' mouth dropped open, and he held his hands up. "Don't look at me! I had no idea either! I was just as scared as you were!"
"Didn't the travel agent tell you anything about what kind of tour this was?" Lily asked him.
Rufus shook his head. "Obviously not! All she told me was the price, and the areas it toured. She probably didn't know what kind it was either. I never even heard of such a thing before, and she probably hadn't either."
Lily crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. "A travel agent should have known!"
"Hey, I'm sorry for scarin' y'all. I just thought one of you knew, and was playing along to scare the other. Like I said, we get a lot of practical jokers on our tours. Or, I figured maybe you both were playing along just to get into the fun of it. We also get those kind of people on our tours."
Lily glared at him. "You honestly couldn't see how terrified and out of our minds we both were?"
Jack shrugged. "Like I said, Ma'am, I thought one of you was playing along, and the other was a real good actor. Or, I thought you were both real good actors, and just playing along."
"Well, you did a good job or acting scared at the end. Maybe you should be the actor," Rufus said to Jack with a smirk. He reached into his wallet and took out a fifty, then handed it to the pilot as a tip.
Jack took the money, and stuffed it in his pocket. He nodded at Rufus. "Thank you kindly! So sorry again about the misunderstandin'."
"It's all right. What matters is that we made it back safely." Rufus pat Jack on the shoulder.
"Have a good day now, ya hear?" Jack said to Rufus and Lily. "It was a pleasure meetin' ya both." He nodded politely at them.
"You too," Rufus said with a nod.
Lily smiled forcefully. "Charmed." She looked none too pleased, and had her arms crossed over her chest. She was tapping her foot.
Jack waved and smiled, then quickly slipped back into the building.
Rufus turned to Lily. "I'm sorry about that, Lil."
Lily shot a look at him. "You shouldn't have even tipped him, you know. What kind of helicopter tour is this, anyway? A tour to scare people? I never heard of such a stupid thing before in my entire life! The helicopter looked like a heap of junk, and I still don't think it's normal that only two passengers can fit at a time. All the other tours I know of, unless privately run, are for more than two guests at a time!"
"It wasn't his fault. He was just doing his job, Lil. He was nice!" Rufus protested.
Lily rolled her eyes. "More like dumb as a doornail for not seeing how genuinely scared out of our minds we both were. Rufus Humphrey, why couldn't you have looked into the tour more before buying it?"
Rufus held his hands up to her. "You said yourself you never heard of anything like that before. How was I even to expect it was a tour to scare people? You saw me. I was just as scared out of my mind as you were. Do you think I like being scared out of my mind?" He held his thumb and index finger within centimeters apart. "I'm telling you, Lil, I was this close to peeing my pants!"
Lily didn't want to, but she couldn't stop it. She smirked. "You were pretty scared."
Rufus nodded. "I would have died all wet and smelling like urine."
Lily laughed, and uncrossed her arms. "You're disgusting!"
Rufus grinned. "I never thought I'd see the day where Lily Humphrey drops to the dirty ground and kisses it!"
"I was just so relieved to not be a burned up pile of ashes!" Lily said, crossing her arms over her chest again.
Rufus nodded. "Even so, it was a good tour aside from the scaring us out of our minds part, wasn't it?"
Lily sighed. "I suppose." She uncrossed her arms. "We did get some great shots."
Rufus nodded.
Lily sighed again, and linked her arm with his. "I still can't believe you finally spend a lot of money on something here, and it's to scare us out of our minds."
Rufus laughed. "It figures, right?"
Lily smiled, and rested her head on his shoulder. "Please tell me there are no more excursions planned for today. I don't have it in me for another one right now."
Rufus shook his head. "The only thing I have planned now is getting lunch, then testing out our new bed together." He grinned down at her, and wriggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively.
Lily grinned up at him. "Now that I think I can handle!"
They kissed, then, headed with their arms around each other to catch a cab, and find a good place to eat for lunch.
After a lunch at a nice little cafe, they headed back to their hotel.
"I'm afraid to look," Lily said as Rufus opened the door to their hotel room.
Rufus grinned over his shoulder at her. "It couldn't possibly be as bad as the one that broke."
Lily shrugged. "With this place, you never know."
Rufus got the door open, and they both walked in.
Immediately, they looked at the bed.
"It's not bad!" Rufus said, shutting the door behind them.
Lily nodded as she took it all in.
The bed seemed to be made of a cherry wood this time. There was a cute little beach scene carved into the headboard with what looked like a piña colada carved in the middle of it. The linens all looked clean. Their comforter, as promised, was still there, and the bed was nicely made.
"The piña colada looks a little out of place in the middle of the beach, but, other than that, it looks like a pretty nice bed! I must say, I'm quite surprised," Lily stated.
Rufus wrapped his arms around her from behind, and grinned. "Maybe someone was drinking it on the beach, then set it down while they went for a swim."
"But it's full! It's like no one drank out of it yet," Lily stated, still examining the headboard.
Rufus nuzzled his nose against the side of her neck. "What are we doing discussing the headboard when we could be testing out the sturdiness of the bed?" he murmured. He kissed down the side of her neck.
Lily smiled, her hands resting over top of his around her waist. "Good question! Should I slip into another one of my lingeries?"
"Na! I plan on getting your clothes off pretty quickly anyway. You're better off just saving it for tonight!" Rufus said, before backing her toward the bed.
She smiled, and took his face between her hands. "Sounds like a plan."
He laid her back down onto the bed, and they kissed passionately, more than ready to give the bed the ultimate test of strength.
"Mm, that was amazing, as usual," Lily said with a smile, as she cuddled up close to Rufus after their lovemaking.
Rufus grinned, and raised an eyebrow. "Did you expect anything less than amazing from me?"
Lily grinned, then kissed him sweetly on the lips. "Nope!"
Rufus gently stroked her cheek. "You were pretty amazing yourself—no surprise there!" He lowered his eyes as they kissed again. "Well, I guess the bed passed the test! We sure gave it a good workout," he then said with a proud grin. He wriggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively.
Lily laughed. "That we did!"
Rufus sighed contently. "So, what should we do next?"
Lily tapped her right index finger to her lips. "Hm... Well, I don't know. We're in Hawaii. I kind of want to do something different. Something exciting, but not dangerous like the helicopter."
Rufus thought about it for a short moment. "You know, I think I have just the thing!" he said.
Lily raised an eyebrow at him and smiled. "What?"
"Let's get dressed, and then I'll bring you there." Rufus said, getting out of bed.
"I don't know, Rufus. This isn't something that's going to turn around and bite us in the butt, is it?" Lily asked.
Rufus shook his head. "Na! At least, I don't think it will."
"Rufus!" Lily said in a warning tone.
Rufus smirked at her. "Trust me, Lil, okay? Believe me, I don't want another helicopter incident any more than you do."
Lily examined him for a moment, then sighed. "Oh, all right, fine! But if we end up fearing for our lives again, you're not seeing that lingerie tonight, or possibly any night!"
Rufus nodded. "Warning taken." He was pretty sure Lily would like his idea. Besides, even if it didn't turned out as well as he thought, it couldn't possibly turn out as bad as the helicopter ride had! At least, he hoped.