Despite their breathtakingly luxurious villa, they didn't waste too much time inside. The travel fatigue was instantly blown away by the soft, warm ocean breeze, fragrant with the scent of flowers – and a barbecue happening somewhere nearby.
„Oh my God, I'm super hungry, actually", said Lana.
„Me too."
„Shall we freshen up a bit, grab something to eat and then go explore?"
„Sounds great, let's do that!"
They both took a quick shower and changed into fresh clothes, wearing some light summer gear over their bikini and bathing shorts respectively, in case they later wanted to take a dip in the pool or the sea. Or both.
Hand in hand they took a stroll through the luscious garden until the main pool, reception and restaurant area was in sight and the barbecue aroma was getting stronger. The resort was fairly empty, though there were a few other guests – all couples, pretty much, and on the older side, no families – it was certainly exclusive by design, but it must have been far from booked out.
They chose a table in the shade of a palm tree from where they had a good three-sixty view around, and immediately a friendly server approached to hand them the menus and cite them the specials of the day.
They opted for grilled chicken sandwiches with a side of fries that they would share along with two freshly squeezed fruit juices with a refreshing kick of mint. After lunch, they moved on down to the beach, initially just wanting to take a look. When they felt the warm sand underneath their feet though, the invitation of the comfy lounge bed for two that was just there waiting for them with its gorgeous ocean view was just way too tempting. They both stripped down to their bathing clothes before snuggling into the cushions of the wide sun bed with the canopy that looked a little like a seashell.
For a moment they enjoyed the closeness and physical contact with each other, skin on skin, it was the first time they were together like this, somewhat in public and with so little clothes on. She let her fingertips dance over the muscles of his torso, as she so loved to do, and he could feel her touch sending a shiver down his spine.
„You're so beautiful", he whispered, allowing himself to briefly stroke her butt cheek that was barely covered by her bikini bottoms. He was wondering whether she would have chosen to wear such a saucy ensemble also if she had been here all by herself, and he immediately got a little jealous at the thought. Nevermind though. He was here, and she was his. Or rather, she chose to be with him, that much was clear by the way she was nestling up to his chest, shoulder and neck, teasing him with sweet little kisses.
For now, she would not join him in the ocean though, she still wanted to soak up the sun for a bit longer. Instead, while he was gone, she ordered herself a Mango Martini, she deserved it! He was laughing, dripping wet, when he came back a good ten minutes after she had been served.
„You should come in, the water is incredible!"
„I just got a drink, babe, maybe later."
„Aww, come on! Your drink can wait, please!"
He started teasing her, making her shriek by putting a few drops of cold water on her, taking her drink out of her hand and gently trying to pull her off her lounge bed, which she protested loudly. It was all in good fun, and she was laughing about it, from the outside though, in the midst of the serenity of this place, the whole scene might have looked a little different to bystanders. The waiter of the beach bar who had served Lana her Martini before, approached them.
„Excuse me, Ma'am, is that gentleman harassing you? I'm sorry, Sir, but this is a private beach. I'm gonna need to ask you to leave."
Jordane instantly froze, visibly embarrassed to the core, and Lana looked at the guy, completely puzzled. „What?? No! No, no, he wasn't harassing me, we were just playing around... He's a guest, he's with me!"
„Oh...", he looked from one to the other as he slowly realized his mistake, „Oh, most certainly, I'm so, so sorry, Ma'am! Sir...", he even took a little bow in Jordane's direction, „my sincerest apologies, may I please offer you a drink on the house?"
„Maybe another Mango Martini, would you like that, honey?", Lana reached out her hand and pulled him down to lie next to her, he was still shaken, she could see it in his eyes. He barely gave her a nod and mumbled: „Sure..."
The waiter bowed once more to signal his compliance and left.
Lana gently ran her hand over his arm and shoulder to comfort him. „Are you alright, babe?"
„I... uh... yeah. Sure. I... I'm sorry if I... was I harassing you? I'm so sorry, I just wanted to tease you a little."
„Of course!", she gently framed his face, „Of course, baby, I know that. You were really not harassing me, absolutely not! I like it when you tease me, you know that. I'm so sorry that YOU got attacked like that, in front of everybody. I guess we should just keep things a little more low-key for the time that we're here", she looked around, then whispered conspiratorially, „This place seems to be a little more refined than most of what you'd find in LA. It's a place for peace and relaxation."
She put her hands together in a Namaste sort of prayer gesture and nodded her head, then she brought her hand against his cheek and gave him an encouraging smile. „Come on, let's try to forget about this and enjoy the rest of the afternoon and our drinks, okay?"
Their attempt to forget was seriously compromised though when they saw that the server from the beach bar would also be waiting their table for dinner that evening. He did his absolute best to smile as politely as he could and give away as little as possible of an indication of their previous encounter earlier that day.
Tonight though, there was absolutely no mistake to be made that Jordane was an esteemed guest of this establishment just like everybody else. He wore a light, sand colored, custom tailored suit, a white shirt and expensive leather shoes. If anything, he even looked somewhat overdressed, as if he was about to attend his own wedding, but Lana knew better than to point it out to him. She herself was dressed in a tight, light, black top with striped linen pants in beige and sandals.
She smiled at him. „You look so handsome tonight, babe! I still don't know how this guy could think you were some sort of intruder who was about to kidnap me in bright daylight, or something?", she wondered aloud before taking a sip from her wine glass, „I mean, that was the most plausible explanation for the scene that he could come up with?"
He sighed: „You know what's worst? I'm not even surprised. I mean... look around! We're very much unlike most of the other guests here. First of all, we're younger than most of them, and I don't just mean me, but both of us. Then the age difference, a woman with a younger man, and also, I gotta say, there's not a lot of black folks here either. I thought I saw a brother here before, but it turned out, he was working here."
Now it was her time to sigh. „I'm so sorry, Jordane... Also for earlier, at the airport lounge."
„Don't be! It's not your fault. This here... this whole day with you, I've been part of a world where I don't really feel I belong, and the world feels it too, that's all. And that's certainly got nothing to do with the color of my skin, but that also doesn't make things any easier. You know, I think we, as a couple, are just a little harder to figure out."
„No wonder, I can barely figure us out myself", she took another sip, then leaned forward and took his hand into hers, „But that's exactly why we're here, huh? To figure it out. And we will."
She gave him a warm smile, he gave her a soft kiss. „You're right. In the end, we have barely been here for more than a few hours, the staff here still needs to get to know us and remember us."
She nodded, looking him deep in the eyes, seeing a pain behind his smile that she hadn't seen before, and it shook her down to her core. Then, she caught the waiter from the corner of her eye shooting them somewhat of a weird look.
„Well, I'll make sure they'll remember us a lot more quickly."
She got up and walked over to the bar, ignoring her lover's confused expression.
„Hey there", she greeted the waiter with her most charming smile, „me again. Okay, listen, here's the deal... I know you're just doing your job, and your job, among other things, is to protect the exclusivity and integrity of this place. And maybe we don't fit the classic role profile of the typical couple you're usually hosting here. Yes, we're a biracial couple, I'm Latina, he is black, and yes, he is much younger than me, 15 years to be exact, not that it's any of your business. And we're dropping an awful lot of cash to stay here and have a quiet, peaceful vacation together, without being questioned or stared at or judged in whichever other way. Now, I'm always one in favor of believing in the good in people and giving them the benefit of the doubt. But the next time I catch you or anyone of the staff here giving us even as much as a disapproving or irritated look, especially my man over there, I'm going to be filing an official complaint, is that clear?"
He swallowed and nodded. „Absolutely, ma'am! Again, I'm so terribly sorry! I fully understand, and I'll make sure of it myself. I do hope that the two of you will have an amazing stay here. I'm always at your service."
She nodded in approval and headed back to her table.
Later on, after they had finished their dinner, they took a stroll along the beach. The waves were playing their soft symphony on the shore, and the sky was still aflame in a myriad of red, pink, purple and orange colors after the sun had set a while ago. On the other side, where the night was already painting everything in black, they could see the first peacefully twinkling stars high above them.
„What did you say to the guy, actually?"
„Oh, nothing in particular. Just that he, and everyone here should please mind their own business", she smiled, then stopped and turned towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck, „I'm sorry, Jordane. I should have said something earlier right away when it happened. I should have protected you."
He shook his head. „It's alright. I don't need you to protect me. I'm a grown man and I've learned to live with little things like that all my life and defend myself if need be. Still though... thanks for standing up for me."
„Of course, baby!", she pulled him closer to kiss him, then she whispered, „What do you say, we put all of this behind us, go back home and christen that massive canopy bed of ours, huh?"
He felt a shiver running down his spine as he slowly nodded his head. „I think I'd like that..."
It wasn't all that easy though. They slowly undressed each other, as usual, kissing, deeply, again and again, until they were both gasping for air, looking each other in the eyes trying to talk without actually speaking. They hugged and caressed each other, both wanting to make their first night here as special and memorable as it deserved to be. She looked so beautiful in the pale moonlight shining through their panorama windows, and her skin smelled so delicious it nearly made him lose his mind, an irresistible concoction of sun, the resort's body lotion of hibiscus flower and coconut, and simply, Lana. He wanted her so bad, he missed her so much! But eventually, both of them realized that no amount of foreplay would be enough for him tonight...