The Marriage Contract

10. Unsteady

I blinked up at Ryland, hearing what he was saying, but still slightly confused on how exactly we were already in Tahiti. "How long was I asleep," I asked standing up, stretching out my tight, sore limbs.

Pulling out his phone, he checked the time, then looked back at me, "Well, it's about 6PM here, so you've been asleep for about twelve or so hours."

I stared at him in shock. I had been asleep for twelve of the almost sixteen and a half hours of the entire flight?

After I had thoroughly stretched out my aching limbs, I glanced out the window to be met with clear blue sky, not a cloud in sight as the plane came onto the landing strip. After coming to a full stop, Ryland pulled our bags from the compartments underneath the seats and began leading me towards the doors of the plane as they opened.

Following Ryland out of the plane, I looked around in wonder at where we had landed. It was beautiful. The sky was a clear blue that seemed to fade seamlessly into the water. Beyond the strip of concrete where the plane had landed were lush spaces of green grass and white sand.

"Come on, Rory. We are meant to check into our hotel in twenty minutes," Ryland said gently, almost whispering. Like he did not want to disturb the peace and tranquility of the island.

We didn't have to go far to find where to check into our hotel. "Welcome to The Brando Hotel on the lovely island of Tetiaroa," a small caramel colored woman greeted us as we walked away from the landing strip.

"Hello," I said to her with a polite smile while Ryland merely nodded in acknowledgment of her presence.

Leading me past her, we continued on into the main building of what I now know as The Brando Hotel. Walking up to the counter behind Ryland, I tuned out as I looked around the inside of the building. It was as serine as the rest of the island. The walls were painted a light tan with the plants scattered around giving a green pop to the room.

As I was studying one white flower in particular, Ryland nudged me, bringing my attention over to him, "Our room awaits," he said with a soft amused smile. Nodding, I followed him out of the main building.

"Where are we going," I asked. As we walked, we seemed to be getting farther and farther away from the lush green grass and closer to what appeared to be a dock.

"You'll see."

I rolled my eyes and focused on dragging my bag along behind me. Just when I think that you were slightly less infuriating.

We walked a few more yards until I could finally make out where we were heading – and it was definitely worth the wait to see. I was right in assuming that it was a dock we were walking towards, but what I couldn't see is that it stretched out far into the clear blue water, then broke off into several others that lead to little hut like houses.

I stared in awe of the pure simplistic beauty of them as Ryland lead me out onto the main dock. We walked past three, four, five and even six of the same matching huts until we came to a significantly bigger one; it looked newer but also more rustic and mystical somehow.

Pulling out a key, Ryland unlocked the door and ushered me inside. Looking around, the inside of the – uh room? – matched the outside very well. All natural, earthy tones covered the walls and was accented by the greenery that sat in the corners. The large California king bed stretched across the back of the accented pale washed wooden wall served as the main focal point of the room, besides the large window that looked out deeper into the clear, blue water. In front of the window was a black baby grand piano that was slightly smaller than the one in Ryland's living room.

To the right of the bed and around a slight corner, you could see the average sized kitchen; to the left of the bed in the same fashion was double doors that led into a large bathroom fitting with an equally sized stand up shower, stand-alone jetted bath tub as well as a double sinked vanity. Back in the main room to the far left corner, just before it met the window was a chest for clothes to be placed in.