Stranded Read online

  “Please.”

  “You could try an independent transfer company. I dare say, that might be your best bet. Most of the commercial companies are booked because of the storm. It will probably be expensive though,” she warned, oblivious to whom she was speaking.

  Charles smiled broadly, pleased to be making progress. The last thing he needed was to delay his business. Once he got to the island, he could check out the site, and then relax with his hosts in luxury.

  “Sweetheart, that’s a fine idea. Do you think you can make a few recommendations for me?”

  It took a few tries, but Charles was finally able to book a seat on a privately owned, eight seater, Cessna Grand Caravan. The only flight time available was the next day at 18:00 hours (6:00 pm, to non-military folk), weather permitting of course. He actually spoke to the pilot himself, who aside from his grumpy demeanor, was actually quite helpful. True to the clerk’s promise, it was expensive, particularly because he was booking the last available seat, apparently on any flight, any where in the Fiji Islands. He was to meet Captain Grant at the docks no later than 17:00. If he was late, he would leave him behind. No worries there, Charles prided himself on punctuality.

  Although the flight would set him back a day, he was satisfied with his itinerary, confident that he would have plenty of time to take care of business and still have several days to rest. He was just grateful he’d found a flight. What was he worried about? he thought. Fate always had his back.

  * * *

  He was able to book a suite at the Novotel Nadi. It wasn’t a five star, but his room was spacious and clean and they did offer a shuttle service from the airport, and another to the docks the next day. Seemed like a win-win. It had been a long day, but he wasn’t complaining. As far as traveling went, he’d been pretty pampered. The nearly twelve hour, first class flight would have been almost unbearable in coach. As it was, he had plenty of room to stretch out, and wanted for nothing. In spite of it being only 10:00 am, the only things he wanted were a full breakfast, a hot shower, and a long nap.

  He picked up the phone and ordered room service, then jumped into the shower, with the promise that his meal would arrive within thirty minutes. He was never thrilled with the idea of going to the buffet by himself. In spite of his extensive traveling experience, he was rarely alone. He was accustomed to having at least a few people by his side, even if they were only staff or colleagues, and he preferred it that way. He liked company, especially in public. It kept him from dwelling on his loneliness.

  Charles quickly washed his dark hair, then soaped up his toned body, grateful to rid himself of perspiration and the stale stench of travel. He wasn’t in bad shape considering he was forced to cut his work out routine in half, but certainly not as cut as he was in his thirties. Still, he didn’t have much to complain about. Genetics had been kind to him. He did have salt through his pepper hair, but thankfully he still had most of it. He looked and felt ten years younger than he was, aside from his tender ticker, and as long as he focused on reducing stress, he could live a relatively normal life. At least that’s what his doctor promised.

  It was strange being single. He never planned, or wanted it, that way. He’d always imagined himself married with children. Unfortunately, none of his marriages ever resulted in offspring, aside from an ungrateful step-daughter from his last wife. She was a thankless, spoiled, young woman who took after her mother. That divorce ended up costing him a small fortune, but it was worth every penny to send them packing. In the three years they were married, his ex tried to embezzle millions from his company, with the help of daughter dearest. He was a patient and generous man, so their betrayal really threw him for a loop. If he was being honest, it might have been the fissure that finally broke his heart. It wasn’t long after the divorce papers were signed that he found himself in the ER, clutching his chest.

  She had not been the only disappointment in his life. He had a knack for picking the wrong women, if three ex wives was evidence of that. Of course, he wasn’t solely blaming them, he wasn’t perfect either. Far from it. He was rarely home and spent way too much time building his empire, somehow trying to find his worthiness in a pile of money. It took a heart attack for him to start looking at his life, really dissecting it, to recognize that he wasn’t content. He had so many regrets and needed to start focusing on the things that made him happy, even if he didn’t have a clue where to begin .

  That was the third reason for the trip. He was hoping the solitude, the time away from the chaos of his life, would offer some sort of divine guidance. An intervention if you will.

  Life was too damn short.

  Chapter 3

  “Ryan, what’s next? Do you have any projects coming up?”

  Ryan ran a hand through his blond hair and smiled his signature cheeky grin before offering the same canned answer he’d given the last six reporters who’d sat in front of him that day.

  “I’ll be heading back to the States in a few weeks to start working on a film with Ethan McLaughlin. It’s an action flick, untitled as of yet.”

  “You’ve been compared to Ethan a lot lately in the press. Your career is following the same parallels as his. It must be exciting to be working with him?” the pretty Japanese reporter gushed.

  “I imagine it will be. I’ve always been a fan,” he agreed, digging deep to find some enthusiasm.

  He’d been at the press junket all afternoon, and normally he had no problem turning on the famous Ryan Watt charm, but he was worn out, and a little hung over. Tokyo had proven itself a crazy city. He’d been partying all night and was functioning on only a few hours of beauty sleep. All he wanted was to head back to his hotel room and crash, but as soon as he was done with the press, he had to collect his luggage and go to the airport.

  He’d booked a romantic vacation for Trina and himself, a long over due holiday. They desperately needed some time together. He’d been so busy the past few months that they’d barely had any time together, not since his movie was released in the United States. Now he was on the foreign press junket for the movie release, and although she’d finally met up with him the day before, they’d barely seen each other. Things were a little tense between them and he was hoping they could rekindle the heat that had been missing for months. He hated that his professional success seemed to have an opposing effect on his private life. It was something he’d been struggling with since becoming a “star” and something he hoped to figure out soon.

  “Just one more question. There’s been word you’re planning to ask Trina James a very important question. Is there any truth to that?”

  He cocked his head and smirked, wondering how the hell such crazy rumors ever got started. He loved Trina but he was no where near ready for marriage, not yet.

  “If the question is ‘what would you do if you were invisible for one day?’, I already asked her,” he quipped, drawing a giggle from his pretty interviewer.

  “Seriously, I just turned 26, I think I have a few bachelor years left in me,” he winked. He knew how to work the press, especially the ladies.

  * * *

  It was just past six. Ryan had managed to sneak out of the junket a little early, feigning a migraine. He was hoping for a little ‘snap’ (sex and a nap, a favorite combination of his) before he and Trina had to leave. Their flight was at 10:30, which left them a few hours before they were due at the airport.

  He fished the key fob from his pocket, clumsily juggling a bottle of Merlot and a take out container of buffet offerings. After finally managing to unlock the door he shoved it open with his shoulder, allowing it to close noisily behind him. The light from the television shone its blue hue into the short hallway, illuminating his path.

  “Trina?” he called out, wondering if she was already napping. As he rounded the corner he saw his buddy Alex staring at him anxiously and whipping up his pants. For a moment Ryan wondered if he had the wrong room, until he saw Trina sitting in the bed, the sheets wrapped tightly around her.r />
  “What the fuck?” he cursed, still trying to make sense of the scene unfolding in front of him.

  “I’m sorry man,” Alex croaked, quickly pulling his shirt over his head. He grabbed his jacket and shoes and skirted past Ryan without stopping to put them on. Ryan spun around and watched him leave, his slack jaw conveying his surprise. He had invited Alex to join him in Japan to keep him company, not to fuck his woman!

  What the hell was happening?

  “Ryan, what are you doing here? You weren’t due back until eight?” Trina stuttered, forcing him to look at her.

  “What am I doing here, Trina? This is my room. Our room,” he answered, banging the bottle of wine on the desk, ignoring the impulse to throw it at her. He set the take out down beside it. “A better question might be, what the hell was Alex doing here?”

  Alex was the first friend he made when he landed in L.A. They’d met at a casting call for a laxative commercial, oddly enough, and became instant buddies. They had a lot in common, both of them 22, both aspiring actors, and both of them hungry for stardom. The difference was, Ryan caught a lucky break. It was a combination of boyish good looks, great comedic timing, and his sarcastic wit that landed him the lead in a silly teen movie. The low budget rom-com was not expected to be successful, but for some reason, people loved it, and so did the critics. The script was funny, raunchy and filled with nostalgic ‘easter eggs’ from the eighties, so once it hit the theaters and word got out, everyone went to see it. Some people twice! It was one of those flicks that snowballed from nothing, its success surprising everyone, especially Ryan.

  It wasn’t long afterward that he was promoted to Hollywood’s hot list, the star to watch. He was offered another movie, which also turned out pretty good, and that role led to the current film he was promoting, an action film in which he was playing a hyperbolic super hero, a down on his luck dude that nearly met his maker in a nuclear melt down, but became an indestructible bad-ass instead. The script was outrageously unbelievable, much like his own rise to the top had been. His success came fast and furious, and Ryan was completely unprepared with how much his life would change.

  His friendship with Alex had practically been the only stable thing in his life. They were good buddies, or so he thought. Ryan never had siblings, so Alex was the closest thing to a brother he’d ever had. He shared the abundance of his success with him, showering him with expensive gifts and letting him live rent free in his new house. He even told him, ‘what’s mine is yours, brother’.

  I guess I should have been more specific, he thought miserably.

  Ryan forced himself to make eye contact with Trina. She had yet to answer his question, but the truth was, there really wasn’t anything she could say. He caught them red handed. She shook her head slowly, as though searching for words.

  “I’m sorry,” she finally choked, shifting the sheet so she could modestly shimmy off the bed. She walked toward him, her eyes pleading for forgiveness.

  “About which part?” he snorted, moving out of her reach. “The part where you were banging my best friend? Or the part where I walked in and caught you?”

  “Ryan, you don’t know how hard it has been for me these past few months. You’ve been gone so much and I’ve been so lonely. We didn’t mean for it to happen. We both love you so much, but I guess your constant absence forced us together. Try to understand...”

  When did they become a ‘we’?

  Ryan looked at her incredulously, shocked that she was turning the betrayal back on him, as if it were somehow his fault. If there was one thing that could shake his forgiving nature, it was people that refused to own up to their mistakes. Christ, Trina was an actress, she could at least pretend to feel remorseful.

  “Oh, how selfish of me, Trina. Jesus! How could I have been so insensitive? I’m sorry that my job forced you to fuck another man. You poor thing. I should be fucking ashamed for putting you into such a difficult position,” he spat caustically, anger churning deep in his gut.

  “You don’t need to be sarcastic...” she pouted, moving closer to him.

  “What the hell should I be? Christ, if you’re bored you find a hobby, visit friends, join a frigging book club...or I don’t know, maybe go to work...you don’t fucking cheat!”

  “Wow, did you just say that?” she protested, dramatically yanking her head back as though he’d delivered her a slap. He stared at her expressionless, waiting for her to continue, his patience dangerously slipping.

  “Was that some sort of crack at my acting abilities? You don’t think I’ve been trying to find work? I’ve been auditioning my ass off, Ryan. Fuck you. We can’t all be as lucky as you,” she chided, poking him in the chest. He brushed her hand away, frustrated as hell by the deflection. She’d always been so good at turning things around and making him feel bad. Jesus.

  And the Oscar goes to Trina for her role in ‘Nothing Ever Goes My Way’, he thought miserably, suddenly wishing he had not left the press junket early. He really did want to slap her.

  “Get dressed,” he insisted instead, choking back his anger.

  He wasn’t a violent guy. Quite the contrary. People were often surprised by how easy going he was. Very little could shake his good mood, his positive demeanor. He seemed to take everything in stride. But this, this was too much.

  “No. Let’s talk about it, Ryan. I don’t want to get on that plane with you if you’re still angry. It will start our vacation off on the wrong foot,” she whined, as though they were fighting over something mundane, like squeezing the toothpaste tube in the middle or forgetting to put the toilet seat down.

  “Not to worry, sweetheart, you’re not getting on that plane,” he retorted, his eyes landing once more on the unmade bed behind her. The disheveled sheets, still sticky with Alex’s cum, cruelly mocked him.

  “You don’t mean that. We’ve been looking forward to this. It’s the first time in months that we’ll have quality alone time together, that neither of us are working. It’s fate!”

  “You’re kidding, right?” he scorned, confused by how soulless she seemed, like her betrayal was just an insignificant blunder. It made him wonder what else she was capable of, or had hidden from him.

  She shook her head, her eyes willing him to reconsider. He wouldn’t. He was fucking going without her.

  “Well, guess what, honey...destiny just changed.”

  Chapter 4

  This was supposed to be his honeymoon trip but he was going solo. Of course he hadn’t planned it that way, but life threw him a remarkable plot twist. His fiancée, or rather his ex-fiancée, blessedly jilted him at the alter, and Daniel Townsend, having paid for the trip upfront, decided to go anyway. He had the time off, and honestly, Fiji seemed as good a place as any to start over, to reinvent himself.

  Their honeymoon was planned to be an adrenalin junkie’s paradise, from sky diving to deep sea diving, and everything in between. Katie, having organized the whole wedding, left the honeymoon plans up to him, and he took full advantage. The itinerary was packed full of adventure and he’d been looking forward to it for months. Of course, he’d envisioned his blushing bride by his side, enjoying the experience as much as he would, but in truth, she probably would have preferred tanning on the beach or shopping for expensive clothes and jewelry.

  They had been engaged for three years. Katie was a lawyer in his firm, a smart, successful woman whose parents adored him. She was a descendant of Queen Victoria, an inherited privilege that had absolutely no relevance in the real world, but made her decidedly more endearing to his mother. That, and the fact that she had an affluent father who was also loaded to the gills.

  Daniel started dating Katie about six months after he started working for the firm. He couldn’t explain what attracted him to her, other than the fact that she was beautiful, and that most of the single blokes in the office wanted to fuck her (and some of the married ones too!). Katie kept them all at bay. She just wasn’t interested in being pursued. Her aloofness mad
e her irresistible, not just to him, but to everyone. Maybe for Daniel it was the thrill of the chase that intrigued him. He watched as his colleagues, hot on her, crashed and burned time after time.

  So he decided to play it cool. He ignored her, pretended he had absolutely no interest, even acted as though he didn’t like her. Those ambiguous little breadcrumbs finally got her attention and before he knew it, she was the one pursuing him. One evening, after a particularly long day, they ended up alone in the elevator together. Katie flirtatiously asked him to join her for a late supper, and he agreed. By the end of the night he was in her flat, knee deep in her pussy, and the rest, as they say, was history.

  They became the power couple, climbing the ranks of the firm, working together like a well oiled machine, winning case after case, earning quite a reputation for themselves as the dream team. It just made sense for them to be partners in life as well as in business, so after a few years of dating, and with his mother’s incessant encouragement, Daniel popped the question. An outsider looking in would have considered them the perfect couple. Rich, happy, in love.

  But it was all an illusion.

  Ok, maybe not the rich part. Not even the love part, really. Daniel did love Katie, as well as he could, and as much as she allowed. They had a very sensible relationship. Everything about them worked, from a practical sense, and they never fought. Ever. That was the problem. There was absolutely no passion, no fire. Even their lovemaking was pragmatic, systematic, thorough, and unmistakably bland. Yes it was frequent, and yes, they both would climax, but it was never inspiring, and rarely spontaneous. They treated sex like shopping at the grocer’s, a necessary task that needed to be attended to once or twice a week. Everything they needed was on their list and they never strayed from it. Polite conversation, check. Compliments, check. Gentle kisses, check. Oral, check. Orgasms all around check, check, check (always an extra one for Katie). Followed by the missionary position, and finally spooning themselves to sleep. It was all very routine. Oh, yes, they knew how to put the fun in functional.