If there was one thing that annoyed Kimberley Armitage the most about her new husband and THE HOBBIT star Richard it was that when he wanted to keep something a surprise from her, in this particular case their honeymoon location, trying to get even the slightest hint out of him was similar to trying to break into Fort Knox, he was suddenly something of an immovable object, or as Kimberley liked to put it frequently to her friends: downright stubborn, but she also had to admit at the same time that there was something about his stubbornness making him somewhat sexy.
Just as Richard had predicted, she slept for the majority of the connecting flights (London to Sydney, Sydney to Tahiti) so the first she knew about the location of the next two weeks of their lives: the Intercontinental Resort and Spa Moorea was when they arrived by seaplane, pulling a suitcase each along the jetty behind them towards the resort where they were quickly shown to their overwater bungalow accommodation, Richard unable to help the laugh that managed to escape him when he noticed that Kimberley had collapsed on the bed, clearly unused to persistent travel like an actor would be.
"My beautiful bride" he whispered as he pulled her hair away from her face, putting the length of the front of his body against her back, pulling her securely towards him as sleep also pulled him under despite his protests. Kimberley didn't know how to explain it to anyone, much less be able to explain it to herself, but there was something in the way Richard held her whenever they slept like this that made her feel safe and protected, even though she somehow knew that last bit was incredibly feministic, she didn't care because Richard always made her feel safe.
When she woke up, the sun was turning the turquoise blue water a brilliant shade of gold and she stood on the deck of their overwater bungalow watching it set. So oblivious was she to anything else happening around her that she didn't hear Richard walking up behind her barefoot, only knowing he was there when he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against him again, kissing the side of her forehead as she slightly turned her head to look at him, their lips softly joining before they turned back to watch the sun slowly vanish to the horizon.
"Just you and me for two whole weeks baby" Richard whispered as they turned to go back in their bungalow, her hand firmly clasped in his as he pulled her towards him, tilting her head up slightly to look into her eyes as he gently brought his face closer, wondering whether or not there was still a chance she would think he could change his mind and become forceful with her, even though that was something he had never done and had promised himself that he would certainly never do, because he loved her too much to think of harming her.
Even though he had not actually said it out loud during the exchange of non-denomination wedding vows, it was during their first dance as newlyweds that Richard promised her that he would never harm her in any way, that the love he had for her was just far too strong for him to so much as try to consider it, and because she instinctively knew it wasn't in his nature to even think of doing harm to anyone; including women and that was one of the few things Kimberley knew her father would have liked about him, were he around.
Dressing appropriately, they headed to the Le Lotus Gourmet Restaurant for their first dinner on the island, but Richard had promised himself that for the rest of the time, or as much of it as Kimberley would allow, he would ask to have their meals brought across to their room so that he could have as much time alone with his new wife as possible because they both knew that they would be going their separate ways as soon as these two weeks were over, as much as Richard had tried to get out of that particular commitment; he just couldn't.
The two weeks seemed to fly past and upon arrival at Sydney airport, Richard walked with Kimberley to the British airways departure lounge where he sat with her until she had to go back to London and back to work while he remained in the Australian city for six weeks for his newest film. Richard's agent and the studios knew he didn't like the idea of being forced away from hsi new wife one bit but there was nothing that they could do about it because like him, Kimberley also had a job to do that could potentially save countless British lives.
Working on the front line of Britain's border protection unit Kimberley overheard bits and pieces of certain conversations as people were walking through on a daily basis, but one bit she happened to overhear in particular directly involved her husband; it was claimed by one Australian woman that a friend of hers had been sexually intimate with Richard on far more than one occasion and, luckily for Kimberley, her good friend Stella was working the table on the same bar so that she too heard what was said about him, but encouraged Kim to think about it during her upcoming break.
"We haven't even been married for two months yet Stella is it possible that what she said about him is the truth; that he has already been unfaithful to me" Kimberley whispered as the two women sat in an empty interrogation room, Stella making sure there was no way that what they said could be recorded or overheard by anyone. "I know you just got back off your honeymoon Kim but you've got your annual three week holiday coming up; I don't know when he's due back like you do but if it is at all possible go surprise him" she replied
