Sunrise in Bali - Across the Pond Trilogy (Book 1) (10 page)

She
looked back at Henry, who looked in wonder at the beautiful setting
around them. He released his left hand from Jenny's grasp and reached
up to her neck, gently pulling her head towards him as he leaned in.
Their lips met under the watchful stars, a gentle kiss that rose in
passion as the boat cut closer towards their destination. A minute
passed, then two, as they embraced, Jenny lost in a dizzy world of
shining lights and wet lips. The alcohol continued to course through
her veins, heightening the moment and emptying her of her
inhibitions. It was their second kiss, and even more magical than the
first: a moment of pure exhilaration.

As
their embrace ended they were quickly rounding the side of Gili Meno
towards the shore. Jenny reluctantly pulled herself away from Henry
and tugged at Sarah's shoulder: “We're back babe.”

They
disembarked and trotted off lazily up the beach towards their huts.
The island was silent and bathed in darkness save the lights from the
constellations above. After a minute or two they had reached Jenny
and Sarah's hut. Jenny quickly put Sarah to bed before returning to
Henry who waited outside, quietly shutting the door as she left. It
was late, about 3 am, but Jenny didn't want the night to end.

Henry,
it seemed, was on the same wavelength. He took her hand and turned
back the way they had come, walking back down the beach towards a
series of beach beds set up along the shore. They were large, four
poster beds, covered with triangular thatched roofs and with light
white curtains draped down the sides. They were set up to gaze out
towards the ocean, with Gili Air and the imposing silhouette of
Lombok visible on the skyline.

They
lay down on the first bed they came to and drew the curtains across
to give them some privacy, but with the front exposed to the water
gently lapping against the sand. Henry turned and started kissing
Jenny, quickly restarting their passionate embrace from the boat.
They kissed and touched each other, Henry carefully pulling off
Jenny's top and exposing her bra below. He sat up and unbuttoned his
own shirt, pulling it apart and putting his rippling muscles on
display. Jenny glided her hand across his chest and torso, feeling
the grooves of his abs and warmth of his sun-kissed skin. Their
passions rose as they lost their clothes and soon both were down to
their underwear, lying there under the early morning sky on a
secluded beach on Gili Meno.

Suddenly,
Jenny began to get nervous. Things were going too fast for her, and
the alcohol was beginning to betray her. As Henry continued to caress
her soft skin, she retreated and moved back a touch. Henry look up
quizzically, “are you OK?”

“
Um,
yeah I'm fine, I just don't wanna....you know....” she mumbled the
last few words, but Henry knew what she meant.

“
Oh
no, we don't have to at all....not if you don't want to. That's not
what I was trying by the way...I wasn't expecting that.”

“
Well,
it's not that I don't want to....it's just...oh it doesn't matter...”
she trailed off.

“
What's
wrong Jen...come on, don't leave me in the dark here. Is it something
I've done?”

“
No,
no, it's not you at all, nothing like that. Well, I guess there is
something that you did as well, but that's not what I'm talking
about.”

Henry
looked at her, a confused expression growing on his face. “Look,
I'm a little confused here. So it's not something I did, but then
there is something I've done that's upset you? Is this still to do
with whatever you were mad with me about back in Bali?”

“
Yeah
I guess so....I mean, it's just silly really but you did hurt me a
little bit.” Her tongue was now fully loosened up by the alcohol
coursing through her veins.

“
Well,
I still don't know what that was about. I just thought you weren't
interested in me. So....what exactly did I do?” There was a slight
air of irritability in his voice.

Jenny
was still slightly amazed that Henry could continue to not realize
that perhaps she'd seen him kissing Emily that night in Kuta.

“
Well,
you kissed Emily in Bounty when we went out. I don't know, I thought
we were getting along great and then you go and kiss a girl you've
just met in front...well, not in front of me, but you
know....basically I saw you kiss her, Henry, when I went to the
toilet.” Jenny was a little flustered, fumbling her words.

Henry
leaned back, frowning. “I didn't kiss Emily that night.” He said
it slowly, authoritatively.

“
Um,
well I saw you both leaning up against the wall in the club near the
toilet. She was leaning in kissing someone and then when she leaned
back I saw it was you.”

Henry
laughed gently. “And that's why you were mad at me....because you
thought you saw me kissing Emily. That's why you weren't speaking to
me?”

Jenny
nodded, “yeah, I....I know it's silly but, I really liked....I like
you...and I was drunk and I thought you liked me as well.”

Henry
smiled reassuringly and looked in Jenny's eyes: “It's not silly at
all. If I'd seen you kissing someone, I'd have been pissed as well.
But Jen, I
didn't
kiss Emily that night.....she tried to kiss
me, but I said no. That's why you saw her leaning in....she was drunk
and trying to kiss me and I leaned back and pulled away. You can see
what she gets like when she's drunk....”

Jenny
suddenly felt very stupid. She felt stupid for reading so much into
something. She felt stupid for being so offish with Henry for the
last week. She felt stupid for reading his diary to get some answers.
She felt stupid right now, knowing how pathetic she looked for
behaving as she had done.

Henry
saw what she was thinking and reached forward to lift her chin.
“Don't feel bad....it was a simple misunderstanding. I guess I'm
sorry as well....for not telling you how I feel about you. I suppose
I thought that I'd avoid it all since you're leaving in a week. I
guess I didn't wanna start liking someone only to have to leave them.
But I
do
like you Jenny....I really like you...”

Jenny
looked up and saw the sincerity in his face. “I really like you too
Henry, but I've just gone through a hard break up and I'm like you –
I didn't want to start something I couldn't finish. But I really like
you...a lot...and there's another thing....”

Jenny
took a deep breath: “I'm....I'm a virgin.” She looked away,
embarrassed.

There
was a slight silence, before Henry started speaking again: “and
that's what you were saying just now....that's why you wanted to
stop?”

“
Yeah.”
she paused, “I've just never found someone that I felt I wanted to
do it with....my last boyfriend, he...he kept pushing me and that put
me off a bit. I guess it's no wonder my boyfriends always cheat on
me.”

Henry
was shaking his head as he spoke: “no....if they cheated on you
they did it because they're idiots....because they're stupid. It's
not your fault, so never think that way. If you don't want to sleep
with someone, it's their problem, not yours. And being a virgin is
NOTHING to be embarrassed about....nothing. When you find someone
special, it will happen naturally.”

With
that they stopped talking and lay down on the soft cushions beneath
them. Jenny felt comfortable in Henry's strong arms, lying with her
head on his chest, listening to his steady, beating heart. The air
was cool on her soft skin, and the calming lapping of the water on
the beach soothing to her ears. She glanced her eyes up at Henry, who
had his eyes set on the ocean, before gradually, slowly, slipping off
to sleep.

A
few hours later Jenny awoke to find herself lying alone. She groggily
looked over her shoulder and saw Henry walking back down the beach
towards her. He was carrying a blanket and his camera. He climbed up
onto the bed and lay the blanket over Jenny: “you were shivering,”
he said, “and look,” he gestured out to the horizon where the
glow of morning light was just appearing.

They
sat up together and watched the sun rise once more, just as they had
on Mt Batur. This time the light appeared over the surface of the
water, turning the sky purple and gradually illuminating the
coastline of Lombok in the distance. The purple grew more intense,
like an artist adding layers of color to a painting, before the
golden sun burst into life, creeping over the skyline in a show of
magnificent gold, yellow, and orange.

They
sat huddled together under the blanket, Henry snapping away with his
camera to capture the moment. Soon, it was over, the sky returning to
its usual bluish glow and the sun making it's way higher above the
sea. They turned to each other and kissed before lying back down and
disappearing once more into a light slumber.

It
must have been another couple of hours before they woke, disturbed by
the splashing of local children in the shallow waters in front of
them. It seemed an appropriate time to get up, so they began making
their way back up the shore towards their huts. According to Henry's
camera it was now 8.30 am, so it was probably unlikely that the rest
of the group were up.

Henry
seemed in a bit of a rush, eager to find out what had happened to
Mark over on Gili Trawangan, Jenny thought. Upon reaching his room,
he found Mark passed out on the bed, and immediately began to relax.
Jenny also thought she'd check on Sarah, so peeked her head round the
door to see her snoring away lightly under her sheet. They both
grabbed their towels and quickly changed into their beach-wear before
wandering down onto the warm white sand, catching a glimpse of Andy
and Eno having breakfast at the bar on their way.

The
morning passed by quickly, both of them dozing in and out of
consciousness as the hours ticked by towards midday. By lunchtime
Andrew had appeared, and he shared with them what had happened the
night before. By all accounts, Mark and Emily were completely off
their heads, paranoid and delusional, while Todd was in relentless
hysterics the whole way back. Andrew had found them in a quieter bar
further into the center of the island, sitting around a table
chattering wildly. When he arrived, Mark was apparently overjoyed to
see him, clearly wanting to get out of there. He led them down to the
beach, bartered for a taxi, and got them all back home safe and
sound. “A hero,” was Jenny's reply, while Henry shook his hand
and thanked him for taking care of his friend.

By
early afternoon Sarah showed her face, looking slightly abashed as
she joined them down on the sand. “Erm, what happened last night
guys?” she asked somewhat timidly, to which she got the dumbed down
and censored version from the others. Then, it was Marks turn,
looking in an absolute state and barely able to compute what was
going on. Henry looked at him disapprovingly and spoke without much
sympathy: it was clear that he was completely against drugs and
perhaps thought Mark was on the same wavelength. He didn't push it
though, now wasn't the time for that.

By
2 pm the group found themselves hiding from the sun under a canopy
set up at the bar. There was a fractious undertone as they ordered
their lunch, Henry and Mark not seeing eye to eye and Todd far more
irritable than his usual jovial self. Emily, as Jenny had come to
expect, was also moody and unwelcoming.

Jenny
didn't care though: she was feeling blissful, like a weight had been
lifted from her shoulders. The previous night had been like a dream,
and she was sure that Henry felt the same. After a spot of food they
wandered off together away from the group, strolling around the
island and joking and laughing with each other as they went. On the
far side of the island they could see over to Gili Trawangan: there
were hundreds of people littering the beach, and the coastline was
teeming with activity as people prepared for yet another night of
wild parties and drug induced mayhem.

It
was much quieter on this side of the island though – no beach bars
or masseuse's coaxing customers onto their tables. They wandered
along the secluded beach, finding a beautiful canopy of overhanging
palm tree branches under which to settle. They sat and talked and
kissed, gazing out over the light blue waters stretching off towards
Bali in the far distance. Into the surf they went, splashing each
other like children and wrestling among the gentle waves. They
giggled together and swam out to the reef, diving under the surface
to explore the wildlife below. Small reef sharks darted this way and
that, and carefree turtles nonchalantly glided below them. Henry duck
dived low, shooting towards the drop off and examining a cluster of
corals that caught his eye. Jenny was amazed at how low he could dive
and how long he stayed under, watching him from the surface as he
searched for interesting fish and cruised from coral to coral. He
just looked so at ease down there.

Soon
they found themselves back on the beach, lying on the sand under the
hot afternoon sun. Henry's body shone under the suns glow, his brown
muscles pronounced and gleaming, enhanced by the residue of the sea.
He leaned over her, blocking out the sun, and kissed her deep,
stroking his strong hands over her body as he did. Jenny felt a
stirring desire, a primal urge to go further, but Henry stopped,
pulling his hand away from her and lying back down on the sand. The
feeling gradually dissipated from Jenny's loins as she lay there,
gazing up towards the heavens.