Finding Solace (62 page)

 
I woke up to
Ash nudging me. I wasn’t ready to wake up and one peek out the window told me I
was right, it was still dark out. I tried to fall back asleep, but there was
the nudge again.

 
"Why
are you waking me up this early? I promise I will have sex with you when the
sun comes up, just let me sleep a little longer, please."

 
He started
laughing and said, "You got a lot more sleep than I did, considering I had
to pack your bags. Now if you really want to miss our flight, then I will let
you sleep."

 
I shot
straight out of bed.

 
"Miss
our flight? What are you talking about?" I looked over and saw
all of our
luggage packed and sitting next to the door.

 
"Your
surprise awaits you, princess. Are you ready?"

 
"Work?
I have appointments on my book, Ash. I can't
just get on a plane?"

 
"It has
already been taken care of. Now if you don't mind, I would love it if you could
get ready to go.
Pretty please."

 
I jumped up
and hauled ass to the shower. Within minutes, I had bathed, brushed my teeth,
thrown my hair up into a bun, applied some makeup and gotten dressed. I walked
downstairs and found Ash carrying our stuff out to the car. I grabbed a bag to
help when he turned around and jumped five feet in the air.

 
"Did I
scare you? I don't look that bad, do I?"

 
"Not at
all, Sadie, I just
never
expected you to be ready so
fast. I think you just set a personal record."

 
"I'm
excited! So where are we going?"

 
"That
part is still a surprise."

 
"Really?
Can't we just call that part quits and enjoy
our vacation?"

 
"Not a
chance. This is going to go my way. You’re not breaking me now. I have held out
this long."

 
"Fine,
do we have everything?"

 
"Yes,
and don't go getting pouty on me now. Believe me, you will like it."

 
"I'm
sure I will just find out at the airport anyway, ha-ha. Bet you didn't think of
that."

 
"I most
certainly did. That's why we are flying a private plane out of a private
terminal.
"Private" being the operative word."

 
"You
suck!"

 
We both
laughed at that one. Once the trunk was loaded, we got in and were on our way
to the airport. I texted Heather and Tony to tell them I would be out of town.
Instantly I got back

 
Heather:
HAVE FUN! I LOVE U

 
Me: I WILL.
LOVE U 2

 
Tony’s came
in while we were waiting to board the plane.

 
Tony: ENJOY
UR TRIP. TELL ASH GREAT JOB ON PULLING IT OFF

 
Me: I WILL.
LOVE U

 
Tony: LOVE U
2

 
I got the
friends out of the way. Now I need to call my parents.

 
"Hello?
Sadie, is something wrong? It’s early, honey."

 
"Mom, I
just wanted to tell you I will be out of town for a couple of days. I don't
know where I am going to be able to give you details. Ash won't tell me
anything."

 
"Sadie
girl, Ash already spoke with us about this. Have a great time. Don't think so
hard. Just have fun. We will see you when you get back. Oh and Sadie, I really
do love that boy of yours. Good picking."

 
"He
took care of everything, didn’t he? I can't believe he called you guys
too."

 
"Of
course he did. Now go have fun and call us when you get back home."

 
"Okay.
I will. I love you guys. Talk to you soon. Bye."

 
I looked
over at Ash. He had a shit eating grin spread across his face. It only caused
me to smile back.

 
"You
really should be proud of yourself. I had no idea and I always can figure out
my surprises."

 
"I
can't believe I pulled it off. You really have no idea, huh?"

 
"Not a
clue."

 
A man
approached us and told us our plane was ready to board. We stood up and I
grabbed his hand to stop him from following.

 
"Before
I even get on that plane, I want you to know that this is the best day of my
life. Second to the day I met you. Thank you for loving me enough to go through
all this trouble."

 
He leaned
down to kiss me and said, "You are worth every second of planning this and
so much more. I love you, Sadie. Now let’s go have fun."

 
We went down
the tunnel that takes you out to your plane. When I entered it, I expected to
see a normal plane with people on it.
Boy,
was I wrong.
There were only a few seats and none of them were occupied.

 
"Ash?
When you said private, you really meant private,
didn't you?"

 
"Yes,
silly girl, that's generally what the word means. Come here and sit by me,
princess. The flight attendant is going to need to be able to get through and
your kind of blocking the way."

 
I looked and
noticed I hadn’t moved since I stepped foot on the plane.

 
"Sorry,
just got a little shocked by it all. I don’t mean to invade your privacy, so
please don’t answer if it’s inappropriate. But how much did this cost you, Ash?
How could you afford this? I mean I can't imagine this cost any less than my
annual income?"

 
"You’re
wrong on all accounts. My dad’s company owns this plane, so it didn’t cost that
much at all. As far as my finances are concerned, it is okay for you to ask.
It’s okay for you to ask me anything. In the short version, I am very, very
wealthy. Neither of us would have to work for the rest of our lives and still
could live more lavish than we already do. I like the life we have. My parents
never raised us to be dependent on our wealth or the spoils that come with it.
So with that said, please princess, let’s just enjoy ourselves. It is your
birthday week after all."

 
"Wow! I
had no idea. I promise to have fun and I won't ask again."

 
"I know
you had no idea. You love me, for me. That in itself means so much. It’s just
money, Sadie. Happiness is what defines us, not the money."

 
I got up and
straddled his lap, "We are the definition of happiness,
you’re
right about that. I don't give a shit about your money." I started to kiss
him and it was getting me excited. My hips began to grind into him and he
responded by grabbing my head to pull me down closer. As if I could get any
closer.

 
"
Hm
hm. Excuse me. You need to return to your seat. We are
about to take off. And please, buckle yourself in,” the flight attendant
snapped and then walked away and shut the door to the cabin behind her.

 
My head was
buried in Ash’s shoulder. I started to shake and then so did Ash. Slowly the
laughs started to escape and then they were loud, obnoxiously loud. Have you
ever tried to stop laughing? Yeah, didn’t work for me either. The harder I
tried, the harder I laughed. Ash was right there with me. My head never left
his shoulder. I thought maybe I could smother it out of me. Finally, I started
to slow down.

 
"Do you
want to sit here all day or can you please take your seat?" Then the door
slammed.

 
We both lost
it. I fell backward off Ash's lap from laughing. He jumped up to help me but he
was laughing too hard. He had no strength. I eventually calmed myself enough to
crawl over and knock on the door the crabby lady snuck back into and said,
"We will be good now, promise."

 
Ash wasn't as
good. He could not help but tease her. "That is, until we're in the air and
the seatbelt sign turns off, then
it’s
game on. I
always did want to enter the mile high club. What do you think, Sadie?”

 
"Ash,
we are never going to get out of here now."

 
"Sure,
we are. I could call someone and complain that the staff wasn't being
professional or they can take us to where we are supposed to be going."

 
The plane
started within a minute and we never saw the crabby lady until it was time to
eat or drink. We flew for hours, lots of hours. I slept on and off to try and
kill time, but I was too excited to stay asleep. The last time I woke up and
looked out the window, water was under us.

 
"Where
are we going, Ash? The ground is gone." He laughed at me looking out his
window.

 
"Yes,
Sadie, the ground is in fact, gone."

 
"You’re
still not going to talk?"

 
"Not
about where we are or where we are going. Anything else you want to know and
it’s yours."

 
"How
did you cancel all my appointments without me knowing?"

 
"I
called your boss. All the people from your work helped. Every one of your
clients
were
willing to be pushed back for a week, if
it meant I could surprise you like this."

 
"But my
book looked the same?"

 
"They
copied your appointments onto a second book."

 
"You’re
pretty awesome, you know that?"

 
"I
do."

 
"Since
I have zero idea where we are, can you at least tell me how much longer?"

 
"The
last time you slept, I asked. So I would say” he looked down at his watch
"in about 20 more minutes."

 
I sat
straight up in my seat.
"Really?
I am so
excited!" I couldn’t help but clap my hands and jump up and down. Ash's
faced morphed into a very happy one.

 
"That
right there, made all of this worth it."

 
"I am
going to show you just how worth it, as soon as we get to where we are
staying."

 
"That
is what I'm counting on. If not, I'm showing you. Either way, it’s on."

 
The crabby
lady came out to tell us to fasten our seat belts and prepare for landing. I
looked out of the window again and saw land. Thank God. I was tired of being on
a plane, private or not.

 
After we
landed, I finally learned where we were. Due to a man greeting us saying,
"Welcome to Fiji." My jaw dropped and I turned back to Ash,
"Fiji? Are you kidding me?
Holy shit!"

 
"I
think I'm enjoying this even more than you."

 
"That's
not possible. This is incredible!"

 
"We
aren’t done yet."

 
"What
do you mean, we're not done? Are we not staying here?"

 
"You
will just have to wait and see."

 
"Oh my God!
I'm dying here."

 
"Please,
don't. I kind of like having you around."

 
A woman
walked up to Ash and said something I couldn’t hear. He responded and then took
my hand. "Come on, princess. It’s time to go see what's next."

 
I gladly
accepted his hand and followed him to a car waiting outside for us. Several men
were filling the trunk with our luggage. Ash put me in the car first. He then
followed me and closed the door.

 
"This
next part is going to be a blast."

 
"I
know. I shouldn’t even ask. I'm finally catching on"

 
Ash leaned
over and kissed me, confirming my answer. We rode in the car for another half
an hour before we came to a stop. The driver came around to open the door and
the first thing I saw was the most beautiful water I have ever seen. The color
of it was so blue, it was almost green. Aqua would be the perfect description.
The sand was white. Not yellow or brown, but pure white. I couldn’t move. It
was amazing.

 
"Sadie.
Honey, you need to get out of the car if you plan to enjoy the trip."

 
His voice
snapped me out of the trance I was in.