Summer Down Under (2 page)

“So, where in Australia do you live?”

“In the outback.”

“Big place.” She cringed at the sound of her
sarcasm. He must have heard it, too, because he continued.

“My mum and dad own a sheep station, about
the size of London, in central Queensland. Now that I’ve finished
with college I’m going to be helping them run it for a while.
They’re not getting any younger, and dad needs some help with the
lambing and shearing season coming up in a couple of months.”

“That sounds interesting.” Sam couldn’t
imagine a place the size of London being inhabited by only a few
people.

“It’s a lot of hard work, but I’m glad to be able to
help my folks, especially after they’ve been doing it all on their
own while I was away at university. How about you, what takes you
to Oz?”

“I’m fulfilling a dream.” Sam replied with
pride.
And escaping a nightmare
, she thought sardonically.
“I’m going to backpack around Australia for a year, starting in
Sydney.”

“On your own?” he asked in surprise, a crease
of concern appearing between his eyebrows.

“I can look after myself,” Sam retorted,
rather more sharply than was necessary. “I’ve been taking
self-defense classes with a police trainer for the past year,” she
added upon seeing the look of worry creeping across his face.

The training hadn’t just been in preparation
for her trip. She made it her mission to be able to defend herself
in the future, but she wasn’t about to divulge her reasoning behind
that to a complete stranger, especially one of the male
variety.

The conversation continued at an easy pace.
Daniel told her about his parents and the sheep station. The way of
life sounded fascinating to Sam, but it was very hard work. It was
obvious with the way he described everything with such passion that
it was a way of life he adored.

They must have been talking for a while
because they had been in the air for some time and hardly even
noticed the flight attendant wanting to know what drinks they would
like until they heard her clear her throat to get their
attention.

They stopped talking and looked up.

“What would you like to drink?” the attendant
asked Daniel, with a flirtatious twinkle in her eye. Sam couldn’t
understand why she had a sudden pang of jealousy at the way the
attendant gazed at him. Daniel was nothing more than the guy she
was seated next to on the plane.

“I’ll have a beer, thanks,” he told the
attendant, giving her one of those stunning smiles that Sam wished
were reserved solely for her, and then she wondered where that
thought came from?

“Make mine an orange juice, please.” Sam
smiled at the flight attendant, too, but was rewarded with a blank
look as she was handed her drink. The attendant made sure to flash
Daniel one more smile before moving on down the aisle.

Their meals came and went. Then an
announcement by the pilot stated that they were about to fly over
the equator and to “look out of the window to see something
special.” Only thing was, Daniel was sitting next to the
window.

“Do you mind?” Sam gestured to the
window.

“No, of course not. Go right ahead.” Daniel
leaned back in his seat so Sam could lean over to look out the
window.

Even though he had leaned back, Sam had no
option than to brush against his chest to peer out of the window.
Her cheek only lightly grazed his chest but she could feel the hard
planes of his muscles underneath his t-shirt. He smelled spicy and
masculine and it sent her heart racing. So much so, she was almost
distracted from the amazing sight that was presenting itself out of
the window.

At first she thought it eerie, then the true
beauty of what they were flying over took hold.

“Wow,” she breathed, almost inaudibly, but
Daniel had heard.

“I know,” he agreed, mirroring the awe she
felt in the tone of his voice.

It looked as though someone had drawn a soft
pastel line in the sky. One half of the sky was the beautiful pale
pastel colors you would expect from a sunrise, the other half
almost a dark night sky. It was beautiful.

While she was leaning up against Daniel’s
chest, she wondered how long she could get away with looking out
the window before he realized that all she really wanted was to be
pressed up against him. At that moment, her brain took over and
reminded her of the reason she did not want to get involved with
another man, possibly ever, and she straightened up.

As it started to get dark outside, the flight
attendants came around asking people to close the shutters over
their respective windows. Daniel obliged and pulled theirs down to
shut out the infinite darkness that was closing in around the
plane.

The cabin took on a different atmosphere now.
The cabin lights dimmed and people talked in hushed whispers. It
was like a sleeping pill. Sam could feel herself getting tired and
her eyes grow heavy.

The next thing she knew was the sensation of
being prodded softly in the shoulder. Consciousness was threatening
to override the cozy blackness she was enveloped in, and she fought
against it.

“Hmm?” she mumbled after a couple more prods
had started to get her attention.

“Would you like some breakfast?” a soft voice
whispered in her ear. She became aware of the now familiar scent
that was Daniel and the warm feel of him next to her cheek.
Next
to her cheek!

She was torn away from her blissful slumber
to the horror that she had fallen asleep on him. She sat bolt
upright with a start, mortification written all over her face as
her cheeks turned a rich shade of scarlet.

The fact that Daniel was visibly trying to
stop the smirk that was threatening to tug on the corner of his
lips did nothing to help her situation.

Desperately trying to gain her composure, she
smiled as she looked up at the flight attendant and managed to
croak. “Yes, please. What are we having?”

“Scrambled eggs and bacon,” the flight
attendant replied with a smirk that made Sam instantly lose her
appetite. It was a male attendant this time and he was ogling
Daniel even more than the female attendant did earlier. He handed
Sam a tray of food with a smile and passed one to Daniel.

“How long was I asleep?” she asked Daniel,
trying to mask the sheepish tone in her voice.

“Oh, about six hours,” he said with a
smile.

Sam groaned inwardly. She had just smooshed
her face up against a man she only just met, for six hours. She
prayed that she hadn’t snored. Her mother used to tell her she
would wake up the whole house snoring
.

She forced down a mouthful of egg that had
stuck in her throat and gave Daniel a sideways glance. “Please,
tell me I didn’t snore,” she whispered, somewhat pathetically.

His smile said it all. She brought her hand
up to her face, her cheeks burned under her palm and her eyes grew
wide with horror. Daniel’s smile widened.

Sam shoved down the rest of her breakfast in
relative silence so she could make her escape to the rest room. To
add insult to injury, when she finally got there, what stared back
at her in the mirror was just plain scary. She hung her head and
wondered if anyone would notice if she spent the rest of the flight
in the bathroom.

Sam’s hair was standing to attention on one
side of her head and her mascara had run. She looked like a panda
that had just stuck its paw in an electrical socket. She sighed;
there was nothing else she could do.

At this point, she was just relieved that
Daniel was staying on the other side of the island on his stopover
in Bali.

She only knew that because in one of their
conversations, he told her he decided to stay over in Bali for a
few nights before flying on to his home, and that he was booked
into a hotel almost on the other side of the island from her.

To be honest, she was secretly relieved. They
had been getting on so well she thought he may have wanted to see
where the friendship would take them, but she was still too shaken
up by her previous, and only relationship with a man, to have
anything to do with another one again so soon.

Thanks to her ex-boyfriend, she had no
confidence in herself and was extremely self-conscious due to being
told on a regular basis that she was fat and ugly. Sad thing was,
after being subjected to that for such a long time, Sam believed
it.

She was determined to make men, in general,
especially those of the gorgeous, dark haired, blue-eyed variety,
off limits until further notice.

She stared into the mirror, looked
herself straight in the eyes and puffed out a breath. After all,
her heart could only take so much. Why would she risk leaving it
open to more abuse when that could be easily avoided? She found it
hard to imagine that anyone would want to kiss her, let alone bear
the atrocity of seeing her with no clothes on. She
shuddered.

At that point, she decided she was
happy to talk and make friends, but would head for the hills if
things got any further than a hand shake
.
S
he gave herself a
determined nod in the mirror to cement the fact.

After making the necessary adjustments to her
appearance, Sam returned to her seat. A few more hours passed, most
of them in pleasant conversation. She couldn’t help but notice the
side-long looks Daniel would give her when he thought she was
preoccupied watching the in-flight movie. She could see him out the
corner of her eye and he would gaze at her with what looked like a
mixture of amusement and bewilderment.

Sam had to admit there was a pang of sadness
when the plane eventually landed. Although, she was relieved to be
able to get up and have a proper walk and stretch her legs. They
felt heavy and uncooperative.

Daniel and Sam both stood in front of their
seats and waited while people retrieved their carry-on luggage. Sam
was about to do the same, but as she backed out into the aisle, her
uncooperative legs decided to wobble. She was caught off balance
and started falling forward, heading straight toward the seat
again. Daniel caught hold of her arms and held her steady just
before her head would have bumped his. Their faces were just an
inch from each other and his eyes once again held hers captive
against their will. The hubbub in the cabin went silent and all Sam
could hear was the sound of her breath drawing in and out of her
lungs.

“Careful,” Daniel said, breaking the silence,
after what seemed like an eternity. “Are you alright?” The crease
between his eyebrows returned.

His voice jolted her back to reality, and the
sound of the cabin was now the same inaudible din it had been just
moments ago. She became very aware of the odd tingling that
remained where Daniel had his hands on her arms, which snaked its
way through to her heart. The feeling made her uncomfortable. She
looked down at his hands with confusion before purposefully
extracting herself from his grip.

“Sorry,” she replied with a sheepish
smile.

“No worries. No harm done.”

She stepped, with care this time, back into
the aisle.

Daniel walked with Sam to the arrivals lounge
where they stood side by side waiting for their luggage to slide
down onto the carousel. She stood holding her breath until her
luggage made an appearance and eventually slid onto to the
revolving belt. Daniel leaned over before she could and grabbed her
backpack for her. He set it down by her feet.

“Thank you.”

“No worries,” he said again. “It was nice
meeting you, Sam. Hope you have a great trip around Oz.”

They said their goodbyes and wished each
other luck for their respective journeys.

Sam admitted it was a pleasant start to her
adventure, that was for sure. At least she had someone she could
exploit in her dreams for a while. She wandered towards the shuttle
bus parking, making her way past the taxis waiting patiently for
their fares.

It was nighttime when they landed, and
feeling exhausted, Sam boarded the shuttle bus that was to take her
to her hotel. After getting the keys from reception, she was shown
to her room. Her eyes widened in awe as she followed the bell boy.
The hotel was inexpensive, yet it was beautiful. It was not just
one building. There were several ‘bungalows’ surrounding a big
pool. The crystal water sparkled in the moonlight. She could make
out the landscape clearly in the moonlight that illuminated
everything with a silver glow. The bungalows were made up of what
looked like reeds and woven sticks. It was rustic, but pretty.

The bungalows had two floors and Sam’s room
was on the top floor. She gave the young lad a tip and closed the
door behind her, leaning back against it. She let her backpack drop
to the floor. Once again, she was found staring. The spacious room
spread out in front of her was beautifully decorated in ornate
Balinese furniture, fabric and ornaments.

Almost in a trance, her feet somehow carried
her forward and she padded to the bathroom. First things first,
toilet then bed. She could have a shower in the morning. When she
stepped foot inside the bathroom, her trance was abruptly broken
and she let out a little shriek. Sam was not alone.

“Oh, my God. Oh, my God,” she mouthed to
herself, trying not to hyperventilate.

Staring back at her, almost as petrified, was
a small gecko. Sharing her bathroom!

What should she do? Were they
poisonous? Would it jump up and grab her by the throat? She’d never
seen a reptile up close and personal before, she didn’t
know.

After standing frozen to the spot for a
couple of minutes, Sam slowly began to realize that this little
creature was not, in fact, about to leash a savage attack on her.
He graciously turned around and wandered up the wall and onto the
ceiling. They kept a watchful eye on each other as Sam used the
toilet, brushed her teeth, and decided that she was much too tired
to care.