by Amira Rain
“Being that he's our leader, he's obeyed. So, over the past however many years, he's 'asked' three different women to move to different parts of the island, and they each have. See, little sidebar here, there's really four inhabited sections of the island. There's the east side, where our little village, Clearwater, is here, then there are similar inhabited villages of a couple hundred people each, with their own leaders, in the west, north, and south sections of the island.
The island is really somewhat of a big diamond shape, maybe ten miles by ten miles across at the very blunted points, so you can think of the four little villages each getting their own 'point,' so to speak. And as far as the middle of the 'diamond,' well, nobody gets that part, because the most inland area of the island contains the lake, which we don't go near, as I'm sure Eric has already told you."
I nodded, picking up my coffee. "He has."
I was still a bit confused about the dark lake the island was named after, confused about its supposed currents, specifically, and I planned to ask Laura more about them. But not right then. I was still waiting for her to get to whatever she wanted to warn me about in regards to Eric's former flames.
After a long drink of coffee, she continued. "So, three former girlfriends have moved away from Clearwater, to different villages on the island. Two of them seemed to acclimate and move on fairly fine. But the third...Eric's most recent girlfriend from a couple years back...well, she doesn't seem to be completely over him.
“She lives in the village to the north of us, but she's still allowed to come back here to visit because she has a sister here. And when she does...oh, boy. The longing looks she gives Eric whenever she catches sight of him...and the dirty looks she gives to any woman who Eric has so much as smiled at or shared a meal with since she's been gone.
“Clearly, she's still not over him. Her addiction was pretty strong. Her name is Layla, and just so you can recognize her if she ever approaches you, she has dark hair and eyes, pretty attractive, I'll admit, and she's kind of on the shorter side, like you. Hopefully, she'll make her visits to her sister in peace, and she'll leave you alone. But I just thought I'd warn you about her in case she doesn't.
“She's so bitter about losing Eric that she might try to threaten you to stay away from him or something. Just try to ignore her if she does. Tell Eric, too. Everyone wants you to be happy here, and if Layla tries to upset you, I think Eric might ultimately forbid her from coming back here at all. Layla's sister might have to go visit her, in the north, instead of the other way around."
I nodded, sitting back in my chair, stuffed from breakfast. "All right. Hopefully, she won't bug me, but if she does, I'll go to Eric. And thanks for the warning, by the way."
"Of course. Now, before we head over to the clinic, do you have any other general questions about the island? Or questions about anything else at all?"
“Well...maybe just a couple. How long have you all been here? And why did you all come here? I mean...you and Eric both have American accents, so were you all part of some sort of group back in the States? Or were there several families that came here, or were you all just individuals, strangers to each other, or...."
Unable to think of any more scenarios, I didn't finish the thought. Suddenly, Laura looked very uncomfortable.
Frowning a little, with her gaze on her plate, she picked at her last few bites of fruit with her fork. "The answers to your questions are kind of...well, involved. And maybe it's better if Eric fills you in sometime."
A little surprised, because I didn't think the answers to my questions should be that complicated, I said all right anyway.
Laura looked up, smiling, seeming very eager to change the subject. "Ready to see the clinic? I'm ready to go if you are."
We soon left my little bungalow, and Laura introduced me to a few people and gave me a brief tour of the village of Clearwater on our way to the clinic. The people I met were friendly, and the island was nearly indescribably beautiful. The pale, almost white, sand on the beach stretched out in either direction as far as the eye could see, and the ocean was, as the name of the village indicated, crystal clear. The color of it was a bright turquoise blue, so gorgeous it made my chest ache in a strange way just to look at it.
Set back a short distance from the beach, there were a couple dozen bungalows similar to mine, with tall palm trees and stretches of rocky land and patches of grass between them. Hibiscus bushes were everywhere. Their blooms, in brilliant shades of pink, red, purple, orange, and yellow, were the biggest I'd ever seen, some of them nearly the size of dinner plates.
Behind the bungalows grew more palms and other trees, densely clustered with thick, ropy vines wrapped around their trunks. They appeared to lead into acres and acres of jungle terrain, with tall green hills, maybe even big enough to be considered small mountains, rising some miles in the distance.
Laura explained that as far as creatures on the island, like tropical snakes and spiders, I didn't need to worry at all. "There are snakes and spiders around, and very occasionally you might see them, though there's nothing here that's poisonous. So, feel free to wander around to your heart's content with no fear of getting any kind of a poisonous bite from anything.
“Oh, and by the way, speaking of wandering...Eric told me to let you know that you're more than welcome to wander wherever you like. He said to tell you to please make yourself right at home. However, miles and miles apart, there are wooden signs that serve as markers between our village and the others, and please don't go past those. You'd have to walk an awfully long time to reach either of them, though, so pretty much all the beach you can see is yours to stroll.
“Also, there are some marked hiking trails in the jungle area behind the bungalows, and feel free to hike all you'd like, but just don't go beyond the marked trails for any reason, ever. They extend maybe a mile or so into the jungle, to the foot of some of the lowest hills, and that's plenty far enough. No reason to get any nearer to Black Lake, not that you'd want to anyway. I've never been there myself, but I've been told it's just...well, it's just an ugly place. No reason you'd ever want to go there anyway."
I was sure there wasn't, but at the same time, I was growing increasingly intrigued by Black Lake.
Beyond the stretch of bungalows, there were a few different outbuilding-type structures that Laura said were for food production and storage. Behind them was a cleared space for animals, and then well to the east of that, were several enormous vegetable gardens. Connecting all the bungalows and buildings was a long boardwalk of wooden planks, much easier to walk on than the stony, sandy ground a ways up from the beach.
Further down the island from the outbuildings sat several dozen wooden structures that could only be described as huts.
Laura glanced at them, shrugging. "Some of us prefer the bungalows, and some of us prefer more 'natural' island living. Thank God, Matt is like me and prefers a bungalow. I'm not sure our marriage would survive if he wanted to live in one of those huts. I'm the type that needs electricity and a washer and dryer that runs on it."
I was definitely of the same mindset.
Before leaving the area of the huts, Laura introduced me to a dozen or so people, mostly women who were hanging laundry out on lines between the huts. I noticed there were only a couple of children around, and none of them appeared to be younger than six or seven.
While we continued on to the medical clinic, which was the last building at the edge of the village, I realized that while Laura had been showing me around, I hadn't seen one particular thing that I felt like I should have. Something that should have taken up a lot of space.
Something that should have been pretty hard to miss. I hadn't seen the airstrip that Eric and I surely had to have cruised in on in the private jet. There was really no way it could have been any further inland on the island, either, on account of all the trees, unless there was some clearing I just wasn't seeing. But it seemed to me that any airstrip would have had to have been fairly close to the
beach. Yet, I just hadn't seen it. It almost seemed as if there wasn't one, though I knew that was impossible.
I'd just opened my mouth to ask Laura about the airstrip, when she called out to someone, waving. An older woman with gray hair swept up in a twist at the back of her head turned from striding toward the clinic and waved back. Laura soon introduced me to Dr. Beverly Merriweather, the general practitioner of the village, who told me to please call her Bev. Soon I forgot all about the airstrip, or the lack of it, rather.
After introducing me to the two other nurses at the clinic besides herself, Laura showed me around the place. Maybe somewhat to my surprise, the clinic, which had an adjacent lab, did have all the equipment and supplies I'd need, just as Eric had said it would. It was actually very similar to my clinic back in New York City in terms of size and modernity.
Later that morning, women began showing up for initial testing, examinations, and blood work, and Bev, Laura, the two other nurses, and I got right to work. As I always tended to do, I soon became immersed in it, thoroughly puzzled as to why none of the women I was seeing were able to become pregnant, despite the fact that some of them had already successfully had children years before.
They all seemed strong and healthy, and my initial examinations revealed nothing. By the end of the day, I was very interested to see what the lab work would reveal, though it would take some time for the results to come back because the lab was only staffed with two technicians.
At the end of the day, Laura walked me back to my bungalow, offering to have me over to her and Matt's place for dinner that evening. "I think we'll steam some crab legs."
I accepted gladly, somewhat tired and not really wanting to do any cooking back at my own place. Though, when we approached my bungalow, it became clear that I wouldn't have to, even if I didn't join Laura and her family for dinner. Eric sat on the front steps of the porch in jeans and a white t-shirt, barefoot. Next to him sat some sort of a small metal cage with two lobsters inside.
With his coal gray eyes twinkling, he held the cage up, his gaze on me. "I'm cooking tonight. If you don't mind having me over for dinner, that is."
I didn't at all, and I said this in a near-squeak, to my extreme embarrassment. I couldn't decide if Eric looked more attractive in a smart black suit, like he'd been wearing the day before, or in jeans and a t-shirt, like he was wearing now. It was impossible to tell.
Anyway he was dressed, he looked pretty damn near irresistible. Though I had to admit that a white t-shirt showed off the chiseled contours of his chest much better than the suit had. Through the thin material, I could now see every hard, muscular ridge.
Laura turned her face to me and spoke in a low voice. "I'll take a rain check on having you over for dinner at my place. Somehow, I think you're going to enjoy Eric's company tonight more than my own."
Thankfully, he was just out of range to hear what she'd said. With a wave to Eric and me, she strode off, and I strolled over to the porch and came to a stop, feeling unusually bashful for some reason. Probably because I was having a difficult time keeping my gaze from Eric's wind-tousled dark hair, his handsome face, and his muscular chest. I was also recalling what Laura had said about Eric being "well-endowed."
Trying to put this out of my mind, I gave Eric what I imagined was a professional-looking smile. "Bringing me lobsters and cooking them for me? You'd better be careful, because I could get used to this."
I'd meant what I'd said to sound friendly and breezy, but instead, it had seemed to come out overtly flirty. Eric didn't seem to mind.
Giving me a sexy half-grin that sent my pulse racing, he extended one large, strong hand. "Oh, I'm counting on that. Let's go inside."
With my heartbeat hammering in my ears, I took his hand, wondering exactly how long I was going to be able to remain professional.
CHAPTER THREE
While Eric steamed our lobsters, I made a decision. It didn't matter how attractive and sexy he was, I was going to resist temptation. No matter how badly I wanted him, I was going to remain professional. I had to. I couldn't see any other way that my work on the island could be successful. I knew it was possible that Laura actually wasn't correct in thinking that Eric might not mind if things between us became less-than-professional, and I couldn't risk it. Maybe he was just naturally friendly.
Maybe he was just naturally flirty. And if I made a move indicating that I thought otherwise, I knew it was possible that he might send me home, disappointed by my lack of standards. Then, the women of the island wouldn't get the help they needed, which would devastate me after I'd gotten to know some of them and hear their frustrations and stories that day.
During the meal, I tried to show Eric my commitment to medical methods by talking only about "safe" subjects, such as my medical work and how I hoped to help the women of the island. Whenever I began talking about myself on even a remotely personal level at all, I caught myself and quickly steered the conversation back around. Eric seemed to pick up on this, and by the end of the meal, he, too, was only sticking to "safe" subjects.
I appreciated the fact that he seemed to realize my commitment to keeping things impersonal and seemed committed to the same thing himself. I realized that maybe I'd simply mistaken an earlier vibe of friendliness from him as one of flirtatiousness. I realized that maybe he'd brought dinner less as a romantic or sensual gesture and more because as leader of the people of Clearwater, it was his job to welcome me and make sure I was taken care of.
It wasn't easy to remain on that impersonal level over dinner, though. Colors of the setting sun coming in through a dining room window made Eric's lightly tanned skin even more golden than it usually was. It made it even more touchable-looking and kissable-looking than it usually was.
But I resisted. I was determined to keep things platonic, as a relationship between an employer and an employee should be.
After dinner, when he gave me a very brief kiss on the cheek before he left, I stiffened, barely allowing the feel of his mouth on my cheek to even register. However, I seemed unable to ignore a slight tingling on my cheek all night, a tingling on the precise spot that Eric's full lips had touched. I went to bed that night unsettled, restless somehow, in a way that not even the sound of the nearby ocean waves could soothe.
For the next week or so, I barely even saw Eric. He'd given me a cell phone, saying that mine probably wouldn't work on the island; and he checked in briefly with me by text on the phone he'd given me, though he was all business, as was I. I was so busy with my work trying to help the women of the island that I barely had time for anything else.
However, one evening after a very long day at the clinic, I decided to take a walk on the beach by myself. This relaxing walk, with my toes curling in the warm, nearly white sand, eventually led me to do some exploring on a path that led from my bungalow into the thick, tangled jungle beyond.
At first, I simply enjoyed the feeling of being alone. After being with patients at the clinic all week, I needed the solitude. But after maybe a half-hour of walking by myself, examining the tropical flowers and wild, tangled vines all around me, I suddenly began to feel that I wasn't by myself, in a strange way I couldn't even articulate.
Wondering if someone had been following me, for whatever reason, I glanced around the jungle. "Hello? Anyone there?"
No one answered. Just a few tropical birds, who screeched while lifting from branches into the sky.
I tried again, this time cupping my hands around my mouth. "Hello! Is anyone there?"
Not a second after I'd spoken, two very strange things happened almost at once. First, a gray shadow, or what appeared to be a shadow, even though I knew it was a solid form, crossed the path maybe twenty feet in front of me. The shadowy form was in the shape of a wolf. I gasped, pretty certain about what I'd seen. No one had told me about wolves on the island. No one had said a word.
Then, in the next split-second, a roaring noise from somewhere far above caught my attention. I glanced up, trembl
ing, just in time to see the form of what appeared to be a dragon soaring through a patch of blue sky between the treetops above me.
I gasped again, now panic-stricken. "Gotta get home."
I whirled around and began charging down the path that led to my bungalow. I knew I wasn't crazy. I knew I wasn't seeing things. I had, for certain, seen a wolf and a dragon. I hadn't even known that dragons actually existed, anywhere on earth. My tropical paradise, which the island had turned out to be, was now beginning to feel more like a nightmare.
It wasn't that I absolutely didn't believe in otherworldly creatures; to be honest, I'd always suspected there was more to the natural world than met the eye. I'd even somewhat believed in the existence of the supernatural. At least, a little. At least, I'd never not believed in it, despite being a doctor, and despite believing in the accuracy and power of science at the same time. It was more the shock of it. The pure, undiluted shock.
I'd seen a wolf in a tropical jungle. And a dragon flying overhead. I wasn't sure I'd ever get over the sheer astonishment. Or the bit of anger I was beginning to feel. Laura had never mentioned the existence of any dangerous creatures on the island, nor had Eric.