I sat down for a minute, enjoying the rest of my drink, watching everyone having fun. Tanya sat next to me, and just smiled. Honestly, without all the movie glitz and makeup, she was a strikingly beautiful woman. Her flowing auburn hair contrasted nicely with her pale skin, and freckled shoulders. Her eyes were almost an emerald green, and I could get lost in those pools for days. She had a cute little button nose, and such soft looking cheeks, just begging to be kissed. I had to shake my head, to snap out of my trance. I think she had been asking me a question.
“I’m sorry, I was a bit distracted. What was that?” I asked, hoping I didn’t look like too much of a fool.
“I just asked if you liked living out here, is all. I live in busy L. A., but sometimes wish I could just retreat from the world, to live out here in peace, like you do.”
“Well I love it out here. I haven’t been to L. A., but I can tell you it’s great here, compared to where I came from. Virginia was OK, but this place is almost beyond words sometimes.”
“What did bring you out here, anyhow? Why the big move?” she asked curiously. My face fell a bit, and she noticed. “Oh, I didn’t mean to pry, I was just curious,” she tried to backpedal.
“Oh, no it’s ok, really. I just had to get out of a bad situation, is all.” I paused, not sure just how much I should share with this goddess. I went on though, “My wife had been having an affair, and my business partner tried to kill me off, to take my half of our business.”
The shocked look on her face told volumes, and I realized I had probably said too much. I tried to soften things a bit.
“Honestly, it was pretty crazy for a while, but things are working out great now. I have my plane, this paradise, my daughter that I love more than anything, and my friends here. Honestly, I am better off now because of it.”
The shocked look fled, and she recovered her composure. “I’m so sorry. I am glad to hear you are doing well now. That sounds truly awful,” she added, with a laugh. “Ok, can we change the subject? I think we’ve had enough of that, for one day, don’t you? We are in Hawaii after all.” She was smiling, with an obviously happy personality, bubbling to the surface.
I joined her in laughing. “Sure, want to talk about you? I’m sure no one EVER asks about your life, huh?”
My sarcasm was enough to make us both laugh again. She was remarkably easy to talk to, all things considered. I know I was mentally stereotyping a bit, but I had always expected super-stars to be lofty and unapproachable. I imagine some were, but not Tanya. She sounded about as down to earth as any other normal woman I had met.
“Sure James, let’s talk about me. What do you want to know?” she asked, nervously biting her bottom lip slightly. I actually thought it was cute.
“Tanya, we really don’t need to dig into it. I would love to get to know you better, but I’m not going to grill you for some news story or anything like that.”
“Of course you aren’t, I trust you. I know we just met, but I do. If you want to get to know me better, you just have to ask.” She was smiling now, brightly showing off her glinting white teeth. It was a beautiful smile to see on such a lovely lady.
“Ok, basics then I guess. Where are you originally from?”
“Ah, easy one. I grew up in Nebraska, actually. A small town called Hastings, just south of I-80 and Grand Island. Well Hastings isn’t too small for Nebraska standards, but where I live now, it’s like a village.” She chuckled slightly at her own joke. “My parents still live there, with my brother. He just turned nineteen, and will be going to Army boot camp later this summer. My sister is married, and lives in Minneapolis, with her husband. They are expecting their first kid sometime around January.”
“Wow. That sounds like a great family, really. How often do you get to see them?”
“Not as often as I would like. I usually make it home for the holidays, but that seems to be about it these days. I had to sneak out the back door of a flower shop in order to take this little vacation. Talk about acting like a spy, just to get away.”
“That must be tough, all the attention and such. Honestly, I don’t know how anyone does it.” She stiffened a bit as I spoke. “I don’t mean any offense, it’s just that I don’t think that would be the life for me. I think you are a brave person for putting up with it, for your career.”
She visibly relaxed back to how she had been, “Thank you. Yes it can be tough at times, but I’ve gotten used to it for the most part. The thing I hate the most, to be honest, is how truly fake most people are around me. I mean this conversation is the most real and honest one I’ve had in nearly six months. Everyone around me usually just tries to either blow smoke up my ass, or beg me for money for some project or another. It gets old quickly. Diane helps, but she has her own life to live, and can’t be around all the time just for me.”
“Ok, enough about you and your boring life,” my sarcasm knows no bounds apparently. “How about we talk about your vacation this week? How long are you planning on staying, and what do you want to do while you are here?”
“Thanks. Well, my main goal was to unwind, and just enjoy being away from everything for a week. I plan to stay until Saturday, so six days total. This right here,” she held up her glass, and waved it between the two of us, “is exactly what I had hoped for when I left.”
I nodded, held up my glass, and announced, “Cheers to that!” We clinked glasses, and both took a nice long pull from them, finishing them off.
“You should come visit me sometime, in L. A. I know you wanted to avoid crowds, but I would really like to show you around my town. We could have a lot of fun there, ya know?”
“I think I would like that. Sometime soon, perhaps?” I honestly did think it would be fun, but had my reservations about our age and class difference. She was still WAY out of my league. Maybe I should just stop worrying about that, and have fun.
We both got up to refill our drinks then. That had been a very nice conversation, and I looked forward to more with her, if I got the chance. Turns out, I would have plenty. Later that day, Howard announced that we were going to spend the night in this inlet, and head back to port the next day. Tanya’s group wanted to go visit one of the few tiny, uninhabited islands of the chain, and spend a few nights camping on the beach.
Of course, Howard had asked me to fly them out, and who was I to refuse? The only condition I had was that Maddy and Sarah be invited, and Tanya almost gave me a bruise when she slapped my arm for suggesting that she wasn’t going to invite her. She giggled after doing it, at least. I was growing fond of that giggle.