Island Christmas

Camilla Davis is sitting in her office at the pediatric practice where she is one of five doctors in the group. All she can think about is that it’s almost time to start her vacation. It had been way too long. Her best friend, Stephanie, had been telling her for the last several years that she needed to slow down and take time to relax and enjoy life because she had focused on nothing but building her career. She doesn’t go out with any friends, co-workers, or on dates. It had been so long since she had taken a trip that she couldn’t remember the last time she had been on one. This Christmas, she finally decided to listen to Stephanie and take two weeks off to a nice, warm and sunny island in the tropics. She booked Aruba.

And as far as dates go, the last thing that she had on her mind was getting into a relationship while she was trying to build her career. She had been too busy. The last boyfriend she had was in college at Duke University. It had ended good. They were still the best of friends. They had both been career driven. She left North Carolina and headed back home to Ann Arbor, Michigan after graduation, and he stayed in Durham, taking a job as an orthopedic in Raleigh.

Malik Jones was exhausted. He felt the heavy drag of fatigue, both in his weary limbs and his clouded, unfocused mind.

He worked long hours at the hospital for years. Always on call. He had no days off, and when rotation allowed, he worked around the house.The concepts of rest and relaxation seemed foreign to him. Every time his friends would call and wanted to go have drinks, he would have to say no or cancel due to an emergency at the hospital. Dating was never in the forefront of his mind. Terry, his best friend and fellow doctor at the Henry Ford Medical Center in Detroit, had tried to set him up on dates, but he never had the time. Two months ago, it was as if he woke up and realized that life was passing him by. He had turned thirty-three, had no wife and no children, and no prospects. He had built a great career and maybe now it was time to enjoy the world around him. He decided to take two weeks off for Christmas. He was tired of the snow and cold. He wanted to go someplace warm and sunny; he picked Aruba.

Chapter1

Camilla had picked an early morning flight on Saturday, December 19th at 5:30 and couldn’t wait to get on it. She was so excited that she could barely sleep at all Friday night. She arrived at the airport at 4:00 a.m. Getting through security was easy that early, and she ended up sitting at the gate at 4:30 a.m. She had thirty more minutes until boarding. Normally she wouldn’t pay any attention or wouldn’t notice a handsome man, but today was a different story. She had been sitting and watching the people coming into the gate and debarking the plane. All of a sudden this gorgeous man walked up to the same gate she was sitting at. All she could think about was that he must have been an actor, model, or maybe an athlete. He was wearing a Detroit Lions T-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts. He stood bout 5’9” tall, she guessed, because she was 5’6” and he looked a little taller than her, light brown skin and hazel eyes. You could tell through his t-shirt that he was ripped, even his calves and thighs were muscular. Lord, what a handsome man.

She didn’t realize she was staring until he turned around and smiled at her. Now she was embarrassed. She smiled back, not to look rude, then turned away.

Malik showed up at Gate D15 almost right on time to board the plane. He had literally run from security to the gate. It had been so many years since he had embarked on a plane that he didn’t realize how early he needed to be here. All he knew was that he was ready to relax in the sun, either on his balcony, on the beach, or by the pool. He didn’t care which.

As he got to the gate, he felt like someone was staring at him. He turned around to find these mesmerizing blue eyes penetrating him like they were seeing right through him. Wow, and those eyes were just the beginning. She had long brown hair, and from what he could tell, a sexy body and was drop dead stunningly beautiful. He smiled at her, and she smiled back and her whole face lit up, and she blushed. He could tell she was embarrassed that he had caught her staring at him. But she had no reason to be. If he had seen her first, he would have been the one that couldn’t take his eyes off her.

Noticing beautiful women was not a problem he had, it was finding time to date one. His New Year’s resolution was he was going to make the time. He had always wanted a family. A wife and at least two kids.

If he didn’t make it a priority instead of his career, that dream would just pass him by.

He thought about going to sit by her while waiting on the attendants to announce the boarding, but he thought she might feel uncomfortable about it. But he did wonder where she was going. He was hoping Aruba, because he would like to meet her, but how many people actually flew to the tropics for Christmas? Most people preferred a white Christmas, right? However, she was leaving Detroit like he was, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going somewhere to be with her family. He couldn’t be lucky enough for her to be traveling to the same country he was travelling to.

Boarding was just announced over the loudspeaker as she was beginning to look up and see if she could see him again. They both got up when they called for first class. She got into line ahead of him. When she got to her seat, she got in by the window. She never set in an aisle seat. A few minutes later, she couldn’t believe it when he sat down beside her. She was going to have a heart attack! This flight had a forty-five-minute layover in Atlanta, but what would the chances they were going to end up at the same destination? She couldn’t be this lucky twice in one day.

He noticed immediately as he walked on the plane that he was sitting beside her. He couldn’t believe it. He stored his carry on in the overhead compartment next to hers and sat down.

“Hello, I am Malik. What’s your name?” he said.

“Hi, my name is Camilla. Are you heading to spend the holidays with your family in Atlanta or is that an overlay for you too?” she asked. She really didn’t know what to say. She hoped this wasn’t too noisy.

“This is the first time I’ve taken off in years. I decided I needed a vacation. Some much-required rest and relaxation in the sun! I am heading to Aruba. Where are you going?” he replied.

“Well, it looks like for one, we both live a busy life. I haven’t taken time off either and don’t remember the last time I took a vacation. Second, we both have the same idea. I am taking two weeks off for the holiday, and I am heading to Aruba for the same reason you are! I have been so busy building my career as a doctor. I didn’t want to take any time to relax,” she replied.

“Well, this conversation just got more interesting by the minute!” he laughed. “I never took time off because I was also building my career as a doctor. I am a neurosurgeon at Henry Ford Medical Center in Detroit. Where do you work?”

“I am a pediatrician. Our group is inside the Henry Ford complex! However, I live in Ann Arbor, born and raised. I keep saying that I should move into the city because of work,” she replied.

“So, your group is the one that does the hospital rounds? It’s a big place, but I am surprised that I haven’t seen you around there before. I am sure I would have noticed you,” he stated.

“Likewise,” she replied.

For the rest of the flight to Atlanta, they did some small talk.

Once they landed, they walked together to the next gate. Still talking mostly about their work, emergencies they have handled, things that they had seen, etc. They had a forty-five-minute layover, so they decided to grab some pizza and a soda from one of the small restaurants along the way.

Who would have thought that the first handsome man she met would have worked at the same hospital she did and they would have so much in common? They not only had the same idea about this trip, and that they had been so career focused that neither of them had taken any time off, but they also enjoyed a lot of the same things. For instance, they both loved pepperoni pizza with extra cheese, and add mushrooms and bell peppers. They were both huge Lions’ fans and alumni of Duke University, but of course their favorite college football team was the Wolverines. Thank God he wasn’t a Michigan State fan. However, they would occasionally root for their alma mater, since it was the number one medical school in the nation. There were a few other things they had in common too, like they both loved roller coasters, skydiving, and hiking. She knew they would be the best of friends.

Wow, was the only thing that came to his mind. She was not only beautiful, intelligent, and a doctor, but she was a thrill seeker too. He was hoping that they would hang out some in Aruba. He knew that they would have a lot of fun together.

They boarded the plane and once again were seated next to each other. What was the world telling them? She wondered. Maybe it was just a coincidence or luck, but it could be fate. At least she would have someone to hang out with and possibly even become and stay friends when they got back to Michigan. She wasn’t expecting them to hang out for the whole two weeks, but it would be nice for a few days. She was sure that he would find some beautiful woman to spend time with and maybe she would meet a man, too.

As he sat down again in the seat beside her, he wondered how she would feel if they kept in touch while they were there. They had already figured out that both of them were staying at the Manchebo Beach Resort & Spa. Hopefully that meant that even if unplanned, he would run into her again before the two weeks were up. He knew that they both agreed that on the first day, their plans were to do nothing but catch up on sleep and rest. They weren’t sure if they would leave the room.

They sat pretty quiet on this flight. Both dozing off and on.

When the plane finally landed in Oranjestad Aruba, they disembarked and then headed to baggage claim. Once they retrieved their luggage, they went out of the airport to look for the shuttle to the resort. They sat beside each other on the ride. Once they were in the lobby, they walked to the desk to check in together and the receptionist thought they were a couple. He smiled at the lady and told her that they had just met on the plane from Detroit. Each of them had a reservation and needed to be checked in. Once they had received their keys, she was in room 514 ocean view suite, and he was in room 716 also an ocean view suite two floors up from hers.

“You know I hate to say goodbye. Instead, I am going to say that I will see you later and if you are out on your balcony and hear someone yelling at you from above, it’s me!” he told her.

“Then I will see you later and I definitely hope you would be the only person who knows my name to be yelling at me!” she replied back.

“Well, since neither of us want to say goodbye, and we are both saying we will see each other later, how about dinner in the restaurant down here tonight at 7:30 p.m.?” he asked.

“Yes, that would be great. Let’s see, it is now 3:45 p.m. That gives us time to unpack, get settled, and take a quick nap!” she said. “You are right.That sounds like a great plan.You are in room 514, so I will come knock on your door at 7:25 p.m.” he replied.

“Yes, I am in 514 and that would be nice,” she said.

They both got in the elevator and headed to their floors. When she got off, he told her he would see her in a few hours.

She stepped into her room and looked around before putting her things away. Then she went and sat on the balcony for about an hour, just taking in the amazing scenery and salt air. This had to have been one of the bests views at the resort from this side. She could see the pool, the tiki bar, the ocean and the cabana tents set up on the sand for the guest. As much as she was ready to hit the beach, she was just too tired and knew that she needed to get a nap in before dinner.

As Malik got to his room, he couldn’t stop thinking about Camila. It was funny in a way, if his friends could see and hear him now. He felt like he was in high school when life was easy and carefree. When looking and wanting to go out with a pretty woman was more second nature and a career was not a real thought, much less taking up all his time. He was enjoying getting to know Camila and was looking forward to dinner. Now he needed to unpack, and take a nap, but only after he checked out the view from the balcony.