Wild Heart

Clumsy in Hawaii

"You've gotta learn to start packing lighter," James complained as he carried his girlfriend's luggage out to the car.

"We're gonna be gone for two weeks! That's a long trip. I'm obviously gonna need enough to get me through."

Camila worked long days as a nurse and James spent almost all of his time studying for medical school so he could finally become a doctor, so needless to say this vacation was much needed.

"I'm so excited," Camila mused as she got into the passenger's seat. "I've never been to Hawaii before. I can't believe your parents invited us to go with them."

"What better way to spend your 25th anniversary then by spending all of your money on a vacation for your whole family, I guess..." James chuckled as he put the car in reverse and pulled out of their apartment building's parking lot. A couple of months ago, his parents had told them that they had planned on taking a three week trip to Hawaii. James and Camila both found it a bit too good to be true when they offered to pay for them to join them for the last two weeks, but they definitely weren't about to turn down a free tropical vacation.

"Maybe this can double as a trip for our anniversary."

"We've still got like...two months," he chuckled. Camila just shrugged and relaxed back into the leather seat of the car as he drove them to the airport. "Four years...right?"

"Yup," she said with a soft smile.

Camila loved him, obviously. She'd always had a love for him since they met on the first day of college. Their relationship was incredibly domestic and conservative; they weren't the type to make out in public. He wouldn't be caught dead randomly grabbing her butt like some of his other guy friends would with their girlfriends. And despite having been together for multiple years and even living together, they hadn't had sex yet. Not because she didn't want to; it was actually James' decision. He was adamant that he wanted to wait until marriage. It wasn't Camila's ideal situation, but she was willing to wait for him. Their friends always teased them for how conventional they were, often referring to them as the "old married couple". James and Camila didn't let it get to them though; they knew that others often considered them boring but as long as they were happy, it didn't matter.

James slowly drove through the parking lot of the airport trying to find an empty space.

"There's one right there," Camila said as she pointed to an open space up closer towards the door.

"How do you always manage to see them before me?" James chuckled as he drove up and pulled into the parking space. He lifted the luggage out of the back of the vehicle and set it down on the pavement. Camila grabbed the handles of her bags so she could easily roll them into the airport. They made their way inside and began the tedious process of checking in for their flight. James felt himself getting nervous as they ran his carry-on bag through the security x-ray machine. The diamond ring was hidden inside the bag because he was scared of losing it on the off-chance that his checked luggage would be lost. He had been thinking about proposing to her for a while now, and when his parents gave him the opportunity to do it on a beautiful tropical island he knew he couldn't turn it down. He went into a full panic when one of the security officers pulled his bag off to the side to inspect. Luckily for him, they saw the ring inside his bag and were able to put two and two together. They quietly shut the ring box again and made sure to keep it hidden before giving him his bag back. James mouthed a silent "thank you" in their direction as he took the carry-on from them.

They unfortunately weren't able to get a direct flight, so instead they were flying from their current home of Portland, Oregon to San Diego, California before getting on another plane that would take them to their final destination of Maui, Hawaii.