Lilavati
The tables in the restaurant are almost all empty at breakfast the morning after the hens’ and bucks’ night. Emily and most of her close friends carried on to a nightclub somewhere after the hula lesson finished, so they’re probably hung over. And the men have already left on their deep-sea fishing expedition, although according to Louise, more than one missed the boat in favour of lying face down on their bathroom floor.
Ant and I snuck in an early morning snorkel with the turtles, and I’m just about to tuck into my malasadas when Mum and Grandie walk in.
“I see you didn’t go fishing with the men today, Ant.” Mum doesn’t even bother with a strained smile for him this morning. “I hope you’re not going to drag Lili off on some wild adventure again.”
“Not today, no. Lilavati is looking forward to a day at the spa. I’m going to take myself up the coast for a surf.” He leans over and kisses my temple. Swoon. Which is odd for me. I’m not aswooner. But nobody has ever kissed my temple before, and I’ve just discovered I like it.
Ant's right. I am looking forward to the spa. Mostly because I won’t have to spend time talking to the Emily Brigade while I’m being pampered. I’ve put my name down for a massage, a facial and a mani-pedi. In between, I’ll be hopping into the sauna and spa pool. And Ant has promised me a treat this afternoon before the luau, where I’ll be humiliating myself in front of fifty or so of Emily and Julian’s closest friends. Not sure if the treat is of the snorkelling or sexing variety, but whichever it is, I’ll be happy. Ooh. Not to be greedy, but maybe we’ll have time for both.
“I see you’re eating rubbish for breakfast again,” Mum says as she and Grandie help themselves to the two spare seats at our table, uninvited.
“Yes, I am,” I singsong, and Ant beams at me as though I’ve discovered gravity. When all I’ve actually done is not let my mother get under my skin.
I wish I’d known years ago how easy it could be. Maybe it’s only easy because Ant has given me the courage. Either way, it feels good.
It takes a lot for my brain to switch off. But just walking into the glorious resort spa, with its infinity pools, cascades of water and aromas of frangipani and coconut, gets me half-way there.
After a brief wait in a sitting room, that’s stocked with fruits, pastries and herbal teas, I’m escorted to my private treatment room by my assigned therapist, Kailani.
It turns out I’ll be getting much more than a massage and facial today. Kailani runs through the treatment plan. And it’s heavenly. First, she polishes me from head to toe with sea saltand coconut sugar, then I’m rinsed off in a rainfall shower before a thick, soothing body and hair mask is applied. Once I’m covered, Kailani wraps me in a warm towelling cocoon before dimming the lights and leaving me to drift off.
By the time Kailani is massaging me with scented oils, I’m sure my bones have dissolved. And all the overthinking I do, all the tension I carry, has floated away, allowing my mind to drift and revisit the past few days with Ant.
He seems to understand instinctively what I need. He’s kind and thoughtful when I need it, but knows when to lighten the mood with teasing. He thinks about what I might like and somehow makes it happen. He has my back when I don’t even realise it’s needed.
This is so much more than a holiday fling, or a sneaky link, or even just sex. With the luxury of alone time to process, my unravelled brain finally catches up with my newly opened heart, and leaves me with nothing but the inescapable understanding that, against all odds, and all common sense, I’m falling in love with Ant Stevens.
And maybe it should, but right now it doesn’t scare me at all.
All the Zen my day at the spa gave me disappears when I arrive back at the suite to find a sealed envelope addressed to me waiting on the dining table. It contains instructions for tonight’s luau. And our top-secret hula extravaganza. Oops. I’ve already spilled the beans to Ant. But I’m pretty sure he won’t be spreading the news, given how the bucks’ night went.
As instructed, I wear a bikini under my Hawaiian-print sundress, so I won’t be in danger of flashing my underwear when I’m in my costume.
“Damn, I thought you’d be wearing a grass skirt,” Ant says from his position on the lounge as I exit the bedroom, in no way mentally ready for the festivities, but dressed at least.
“Don’t worry, that humiliation comes later.” I roll my eyes. “Well, we might as well get going.”
If I didn’t know what was in store for me after dinner, I’d be entranced by what the resort has set up. Tiki torches light up the grass in front of the bay, where long tables are decorated with banana leaves, hibiscus and frangipani, and a buffet table is loaded with the most delicious-looking selection of foods. The smell of roasting meat fills the air, although it’s not from a traditional underground oven because the resort—strangely enough—declined digging a great big hole in their grass. Fortunately, I wasn’t around for the fallout when Emily was told, but I hear it was as colourful as the floral decorations on the tables.
A traditional Hawaiian band plays on a small stage, and waitstaff circulate with drinks.
Ant and I spot Louise and make our way through the crowd, snagging seats next to her. Ant plucks a hot pink hibiscus from the centre of the table, tucks it behind my ear and kisses my nose, distracting me from the worst of my terror.
I’m still too nervous to eat, but Louise is unbothered, so she and Ant tuck into the poke, poi and lomi salmon before the main food event, the kalua pig, comes out.
No sooner have I caved and slurped down a spoonful of the delicious haupia Ant brought from the buffet table to tempt me, than Emily appears behind me.
“Time to go,” she hisses. Louise and I exchange a look of resignation and traipse after her back into the resort to get changed.
Our costumes are a bandeau top of colourful Hawaiian-print fabric and the thickest, lushest grass skirts I’ve ever seen,decorated with feathers and shells. Leis of orchids are draped around our necks, a leaf and shell lei po’o positioned on our heads and kupe’e wrapped around our wrists. If I wasn’t so nervous, I’d be enjoying the beauty of the costume.
Megan and Emily manhandle us all into the right order for our progress through the crowd as the band’s music cuts off abruptly.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the beautiful bride and her friends have prepared a special treat for you tonight. Please welcome Emily and her friends,” the MC for the night announces.
The band starts the introduction for the song we’re dancing to, ‘Ke Kali Nei Au’, and out we dance, up onto the stage.
