dirty with countless men before Jack, yet this one struck to the core of her– all control, sense, and reason abandoned her whenever he was near.
She would do anything for him, and she hoped that he’d do the same for her, and to her. She smiled at that thought–the two of them in their bungalow on the beach, fucking and sleeping and eating and drinking and fucking the weekend away. The tiny island resort they had booked was secluded and remote–just what they liked and needed. The only way to access it was by long tail boat from Phuket’s southern fishing pier. The path to this island was so hidden that there were not enough markers beyond sand and sea to find them.
As the plane gained speed and pushed into the sky, Karen held on to the armrest. She was a nervous takeoff flyer, and wished Bruno was next to her. As they climbed, Karen clutched her seat, her eyes sealed shut, holding on for dear life.
Finally, she heard the thirty-minute ding and the soft voice of the flight attendant.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have now reached a cruising altitude where it is safe to move about the cabin.”
Karen let go of the armrest and steadied her breathing. Bruno’s curly dark head sunk deep into the headrest. He was asleep, she was sure of it. She looked to the back of the plane and saw the green light over the restroom indicating it was free. She unhooked her seat belt, and stepped lightly down the aisle toward the bathroom. For a moment she thought she would finish off what remained of her arousal that takeoff didn’t extinguish, but decided she’d wait for Bruno to do the honors when they arrived on their island.
Their island . Their secret island. Whatever was in store for her when they landed, she already knew she didn’t want it to end.
Inside the cramped airplane bathroom, Karen ran cool water over her face and neck. Her long dark hair had frizzed out of the hair band she had hastily fixed before leaving her apartment. She removed the band and smoothed out her curly tresses before twisting it all back into place. It had only been three hours since she left her kids and husband in Bangkok, saying she had to leave on a rush field assignment for Asian Travel magazine. Jack had known better, of course, and only said, “See you when you get home,” before she slipped out the door. The kids would be fine; Jack with all his faults, was good father and great at making things look perfect.
With her anticipation mounting, Karen smiled at herself in the mirror and remembered how she got here, on this plane, with Bruno only a few seats away.
The night he asked her to steal away with him, they were at their regular Friday expat playgroup, Happy Hour Playgroup. They had spent the time chatting in a corner at the bar, while kids and other parents roamed the host’s five thousand square foot apartment. Five thousand square feet in Bangkok was the norm. Any less would mean a fruit and veggie tray on the food table and no booze. Any more meant house staff would serve hors d'oeuvres on bamboo trays while the host’s nannies followed kids around on their hands and knees. Five thousand square feet gave Bruno and Karen enough room to be alone in plain sight. None of the other parents had caught on yet, at least that’s what she was telling herself. For the last year, Bruno was the only stay at home dad to regularly attend their playgroup, and Karen had convinced herself it was all because of her. Maybe he had already made the rounds with everyone else and had finally made his way to her? She didn’t care. The attention he paid her filled her up, and she didn’t want it to stop.
After three cocktails and several shredded napkins later, their conversation had turned to Phuket. They talked about how they loved Phuket more than Krabi, and how their spouses hated it, how they complained of sand everywhere and the yawning stretches of nothing to do.
"Nothing to do? Watching the sea is something! Swimming her crystal blue waters