He stood, panting, and pulled his shorts back on. “There’s a shower in the room, there” he indicated. “I’ll ask Maria to find you a hut. Amy was right: you will do very nicely here.”
Chapter Four
Day Two. I could feel sunlight streaming through the blinds, willing me to wake. I opened my eyes and looked at the ceiling of my hut and I remembered: I am on the island. I thought back to yesterday, the day I had arrived, and remembered how I had secured a job here, by sucking Nick’s cock and letting him fuck me in his office. And I remembered meeting Amy and her description that led me here.
No particular job guidance had been given to me. I was free to do as I pleased most of the time, and they would let me know when my services were required. They hadn’t said how, or how often.
I pulled the thin sheet from my naked body and headed for the shower. The water was warm, not hot, but in this tropical paradise that was a relief. I washed quickly and towelled myself dry then decided what to wear. I did not have many clothes so a bikini covered by denim shorts and a thin top would have to do.
I walked over to the main dining area where fruits and pastries and breakfast items had been laid out, and helped myself to some mango. I had slept in and there were not many guests or staff around in this area, so I ate my breakfast and decided to have a snoop around. In the main building here was a dining area, staff offices, a communal lounge, a bar, and a bookcase - filled with books and with a note on the shelf: Feel free to take one, if possible please leave one.
I was delighted. I loved reading and had grown accustomed to this simple book-sharing mechanism on my travels. I had a paperback in my hut I could donate later, for now I perused the shelves to see what took my fancy. Near the top there was a well-worn copy of The Count of Monte Christo, by Alexandre Dumas. I reached for it and thumbed through the pages. This was perfect, I thought. I enjoyed the classics and this was one I had not yet read.
Taking the book I walked outside and looked at the view before me. Huts dotted along the shoreline at long intervals, a few trees, and still blue water meeting beautiful white sand. The beach was shallow and the water crystal clear - I could see the sand turned pale blue for a long way. Later I would have a swim, I decided, but for now I wanted to find a quiet place to sit, enjoy the warmth, and start my book.
I kicked off my sandals and picked them up to walk barefoot on the sand. Later in the day it would be too hot to do so, but for now the sand was still warming up after the cool night. This part of the beach was quiet and I only saw one other person, a young man. He was sitting on the sand reading. I decided to be sociable and walked over, stopping a few metres from him.
“Hi” I said.
He looked up, startled. “Oh, hi” he replied. I saw now he had an ebook reader.
I smiled at him. He was probably about my age, light brown hair, slim, a little pale, awful shirt, looked somewhat out of place on a beach. Cute though, I decided. “Good book?” I asked him.
“Book? Oh, well, actually it’s a paper” he said.
I pinched my lips together, suppressing a smile. “And, is it a good paper?” I asked.
“Er, yes” he said. “It’s about deep learning.”
“Deep learning, what’s that?”
“It’s a way that computers can be smart and teach themselves. Have you heard of AI? Artificial Intelligence?”
“Yes, a little.”
“Well, it’s part of that. It's really interesting.”
“Mmm, okay” I said.
He looked at the book in my hand. “And you?” he asked. “What are you reading?”
“Oh, it’s The Count of Monte Christo” I said, holding it up for him to see. “I love classics. I picked it up in the book share.”
“Book share?” he said, frowning.
“You know, in the main building. The bookshelf?”
He shrugged. I didn’t know that was there. I loaded up my tablet before I came.
“With papers?” I said, raising my eyebrows and smiling at him.
“Well yes, but I have some books too. Mostly non-fiction.”
“Whatever floats your boat,” I said. I wondered if I should leave him alone to continue his paper or stay and talk. His geekiness was endearing and I thought maybe I could get him to read a fiction book or two if I got to know him. I decided on the latter, walked over and sat cross-legged on the beach next to him. “I’m Hannah” I said, smiling broadly and reaching out to shake his hand. “Tell me about deep learning and I’ll tell you about my book.”
~ ~ ~
By the time dessert arrived, fruit salad no less, I knew a lot about Ryan. He was single, super-smart, a workaholic, absorbed in IT, lived in California, had no dress sense, founded his own Silicon Valley company, and was actually very funny once he had opened up. I also knew that I liked him. We had talked for hours on the beach and when he’d asked my to have dinner with him I gladly accepted. The evening felt like a date and I had put on the one dress I had allowed myself to bring in my backpack, a small black number that wouldn’t take up too much room and would be perfect for any occasions where I needed to make an effort.
My concern now, as we approached the end of the meal, was why each of us was here on the island. He seemed an odd fit, and while I was free to do what I wanted I felt my employed
