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

  Sunrise In Bali (A Holiday Romance Novella)

  L. A. Shorter

  ©2013 L. A. Shorter

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Prologue

  More by L.A.Shorter

  Chapter 1

  Jenny awoke from a daze and a smile immediately hit her face.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, we will be beginning our descent into Denpasar in 20 minutes. If you need to use the bathroom, please do so in the next 5 minutes”

  She turned to the left and saw Sarah, her best friend, dozing beside her. Just beyond, she could see the plane beginning to descend through the clouds.

  “Sarah....wake up!” She gave her a nudge.

  “What, what?”

  “We're nearly there!” She explained, unable to keep her voice down.

  Jenny and Sarah had been best friends for years, and were setting off together on the adventure of a lifetime. They had the summer off from college, having just finished their first year in New York, and had been spending the last few weeks working away trying to save for their holiday.

  Thankfully, Jenny's dad had helped them out a bit, doubling up what they earned to give them a bit more money to play with. Their flights were paid for, and they'd booked themselves onto a tour to take them across Bali, it's neighboring island Lombok, and a small island group called the Gili Islands off the Lombok coast – together, as their research told them, these were known as the 'Islands of the Gods', which they took as a positive omen for a good trip.

  To say they were excited would be an understatement. The year hadn't been easy, especially for Jenny. She'd just broken up with her long term boyfriend, Trent, back in New York, after a year together but, as with all her previous boyfriends, it hadn't ended well. Jenny had had her exams coming up, and Trent surprised her with a visit. Insisting that she needed to revise at the library, Trent wasn't best pleased. Suffice to say, paying her back by getting drunk and sleeping with her room-mate was something of an excessive response.

  Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. As it transpired, Trent had been unfaithful for much of their relationship. While Jenny was away at college, Trent had seemingly been making his way through a series of local 'ladies' behind her back. Naturally, the relationship came to a grinding halt as a result.

  It still hurt though. Jenny really cared for Trent and thought they were going places. Did she love him? Perhaps not: what did love even feel like? Jenny was a girl of 19, and although she'd had a few boyfriends, she's never felt that true longing and devotion that love brings. However, she did see a potential future with him: they'd known each other for years, and their relationship had blossomed out of a close friendship. She thought that was grounds for a great starting point to a long term affair. She was wrong.

  “You're doing it again”, said Sarah.

  “What?”

  “Daydreaming. Trent again?”

  Jenny was prone to this, especially over the last few weeks since the break up. “Yeah, sorry, I guess I still miss him a little bit.”

  “Well, isn't that why we're doing this! We're gonna have the time of our lives and that little weasel is never gonna stray into your thoughts again. I hope he's having a miserable time back in rainy New York!”

  Jenny gave a cursory nod and smile before turning away. She loved Sarah for helping her get over the break up but still, it hurt, and there was nothing she could do about it. Her initial excitement upon waking up had suddenly been swallowed by a cloud of post-relationship blues. “I hate that ass”, she thought. “Making me feel like this...what a....”

  A quick jolt brought Jenny back to reality. The plane was now in its final descent, coming into the runway of a surprisingly well built-up airport. Given how small Bali was, Jenny didn't expect much more than a dusty landing strip. The plane landed safely and taxied into position and, after a quick word from the captain, Jenny and Sarah grabbed their carry-on bags and headed for the exit. In through the airport they went, past the security and visa checks, through baggage collection, and out into arrivals.

  Within the throng of greeters and chauffeurs crowding the arrivals area, they caught eyes of their surnames on a plaque. They approached the young man, who introduced himself as 'Ketut' before leading them outside to a compact vehicle in the car pack.

  They were headed to the center of Bali and a town called Ubud, known to be the cultural heart of the country, and a place of great significance to the Balinese. This is where their tour would begin, and they were eager to get started. Through the island they drove, past busy rice paddies and tangled jungles, listening to the local radio as they went. It was as far from New York as you could imagine, and that sat very well with Jenny.

  Ketut didn't say much from behind the wheel – they suspected his English was limited – but he did provide them with a few details of the area as they passed by, naming the odd temple or pointing out any potential places of interest for tourists. After about an hour or so, they arrived at their hotel, thanked and paid Ketut, and made their way inside to check in.

  They were greeted with typical Balinese courtesy by the staff and offered a complimentary cocktail as they were shown to their room. Sarah sat down and shuffled through her rucksack, drawing out a pack of information. “Right, let's take a look”.

  They huddled together in the dimly lit room, taking yet another look at their itinerary and the instructions they had received in the mail. Their tour was to begin the following evening, with a planned trip to a local night-time market following a meet-and-greet with the other members of their traveling party. Including themselves, they'd be 5 others, although they really didn't know what to expect quite yet. Sociable as they were though, they didn't really care – they had come to experience an adventure together, and if they could make any new friends along the way that would be a bonus.

  For the next hour or so they chatted and giggled. Jenny's thoughts had turned from Trent, and the excitement of exploring a new part of the world was now fully set in. During that time they popped downstairs for a quick bite to eat in the hotel restaurant, before relaxing by the outdoor pool under the stars. “This is bliss”, Jenny thought, as she gazed up towards the sparkling sky above, colorful cocktail in hand.

  It wasn't long before they were spent. Even Sarah's bubbly nature had begun to run out of steam and the laughing had dried up. They had been traveling for almost an entire day after all, so the time had come to get some rest. They headed back into their room, crawled into their twin beds, and fell asleep.

  Chapter 2

  Jenny woke with a start and checked her phone – 12.30 pm. She had slept for 12 hours straight, fair reward for a day spent traveling! She looked over to the bed opposite – empty. Drowsily she got up and wandered over to the window overlooking the pool in the courtyard below. There was Sarah, catching the sun – “typical!” she thought.

  She changed into her bikini and headed down to sit on a sun lounger beside Sarah. “How long have you been down here?”she asked.

  “A couple of hours. Didn't want to wake you up...you looked so peaceful and I thought you could use the rest!”

  “Thanks...I guess.” Their relationship had always been teasing and playful.

  Jenny lay down on her towel beside her. It was hot, but pleasantly so – pro
bably about 30 degrees. She was still feeling drowsy, a symptom of her jetlag, something she hadn't really experienced before. Sure, she'd traveled to Europe once or twice with her family, but that was only about 5 or 6 hours from New York. This was, she thought, entirely different.

  They chatted for a few minutes, discussing what to do for the rest of the day, before coming to the realization that simply relaxing by the pool was their best bet. They were due to meet their group at 7 pm, so thought they'd take this time to acclimatize and enjoy the peace and quiet before the evening.

  The hotel was quiet, with only a couple of other guests coming and going over the next few hours. Aside from a trip to fetch lunch and a few dips in the pool, Jenny and Sarah made the most of their time relaxing. Within a few hours Sarah was already changing color. “Damn you and your olive skin!” noted Jenny, enviously.

  At about 5.30 pm Sarah said she'd hit her sun quota for the day, and headed back to their room to do some reading. Jenny, herself with a book (some quirky romance!), sat and read under the sun for the next 30 mins. With an hour to go before meeting her tour group, she looked up to the other side of the pool to see two young men walk in through the hotel. They exchanged a few words in the lobby before stepping upstairs and disappearing into a room on the floor above hers.

  She gazed at the door, distracted from the love affair of Thomas and Charlotte in the book in her lap. Within a minute or two, the door opened again, and one of the young men walked out, towel and book in hand. He walked along the balcony, down the stairs, and towards the sun loungers on the opposite side of the pool to where Jenny sat.

  Already bronzed, it looked as though he had been in Bali for a while, but he certainly wasn't local. A sudden longing pulsed through Jenny's body, one she didn't expect. “Perhaps he'll be on the tour with us”, she pondered.

  She coyly continued to watch the man from behind her book as he positioned his towel on the lounger and sat down. He was wearing a vest, showing off impressively muscular arms, and a pair of board shorts that stretched down to his knees. He took no notice of Jenny, save a quick glance in her direction, and casually opened his book to start writing. She wondered what he was writing about – a story, a journal, perhaps he was drawing?

  After about 10 minutes, Jenny gathered her things and set off. She wanted to have a shower and freshen up for the evening, and there was only 45 minutes until she'd meet the group. As she walked past the man towards the stairs she noticed him turn his head to look at her as she passed by. She glanced over her shoulder and saw him quickly return to his writing.

  When she returned to the room she heard Sarah in the shower. She sat on the bed and laid out her things to wear for the evening. Within 40 minutes both girls were showered and ready to go. They set off from their room and down into the lobby – the prescribed meeting point. There they saw several people gathered, one of whom quickly stepped forward to introduce himself.

  “Sarah and Jenny?” he asked in a friendly Australian accent.

  “That's us” replied Sarah with a smile.

  “Great girls, lovely to meet you! I'm Andy and I'll be your tour guide over the next 2 weeks. Now, we're just waiting on a couple of people before we head off down to the market, but there's a few fellas you can meet right now.”

  He turned towards an eclectic group mingling around a table. “This is Eno, American, I believe...is that right Eno?” He got a response to the affirmative. “And here we have Andrew, an Irish lad if i'm not mistaken, and then this is Miley, from...Canada.”

  Each new face was more smiley and friendly than the last. Eno was a middle aged man from LA, who seemed to have a bit of Asian about him, perhaps Indian or Persian. Andrew was a chatty Irish lad, late 20s, apparently having one final flourish before moving in with his girlfriend and starting a new job back in Dublin. Then there was Miley, a slightly larger woman but entirely charming and personable – she looked like she was about 35.

  For the next few minutes, Jenny and Sarah chatted away happily with the three group members they had met, exchanging some early details about their lives. Soon though, with 7.15 fast approaching, Andy gave one final check of his watch before saying a few words:

  “Ok gang, we're not going to go into too much detail about the tour right now. Instead, we're just gonna head on down to the market to give you a taste of Ubud. And I mean that literally, because there's plenty to eat down there! After that, we'll come back and have a couple of drinks to get to know each other. Hopefully our two missing friends will have appeared by then. Then I'll tell you what we've got in store over the next few days. Sound good?” There were nods of approval all round. “Great, let's go!”

  Just as the group were turning to head out onto the street, a voice came from behind.

  “Is this the Bali tour group?” It was a slim blonde man, about 6 feet tall.. He looked to be early 20s and was flanked by a bronzed and athletic man on his right, the man Jenny had seen by the pool.

  “Yes, yes it is lads. I guess you must be Henry and Mark?” replied Andy. “You're a little late fellas, you almost missed our trip to the market.”

  The blonde man, Mark, spoke again: “yeah sorry, no excuse really, just lost track of time.” His accent was English, and well spoken. “Hey all, I'm Mark, and this is Henry,” he said, turning to the group.

  Jenny joined the chorus of “hello's”, but her eyes were fixed on Henry. He smiled and was polite in greeting everyone, but seemed a little more reserved than his friend.

  “Right all,” Andy interrupted, “they'll be plenty of time for getting to know each other as we go along. Let's crack on to the market shall we?”

  Jenny, Sarah, and their new tour group followed Andy out of the hotel and down the main road, passing little arts and craft stalls and beautiful little huts and houses as they went. Ubud was rustic and tranquil, nestled in between tropical shrubbery and exotic trees. The roads weren't roads, but tracks, and everywhere there was color and happy, smiley faces belonging to local artisans and shop owners.

  The market was a hive of activity. Jenny spotted few tourists and westerners, and was happy to see that the majority of the local shoppers and browsers were Balinese. She wanted an authentic experience, not the overly touristy and contrived experience you'd get elsewhere. She wandered through with Sarah, chatting with the other members of the group as she went. They feasted on some local meats and delicacies, and took time looking at the local paintings, perfumes, incense, clothing, leatherworks, and all manner of interesting souvenirs they came across. It was becoming quite clear why Ubud was well known for its arts and crafts as Jenny strolled around.

  There were also stalls set up for cheap and cheerful knock off hats, purses, dresses, and other types of clothing. Jenny and Sarah couldn't resist getting their hands on a few bits and pieces, both of them picking up a tacky baseball cap to help them with the sun over the coming days and weeks. Across the market, they spotted Mark and Henry sharing a joke with a local artisan over some fallic shaped souvenirs and woodworks. Mark seemed a little more loquacious, chatting away happily despite the language barrier, with Henry content to listen and chime in with the odd comment every so often.

  After about 90 minutes they found themselves being rounded up by Andy. “Right all, time for a drink! Let's head back to the hotel to get to know each other.”

  Back at the hotel Andy treated the group to a round of drinks on the house. The local lager, Bintang, seemed to be his beverage of choice, and no-one disagreed with it. As appeared to be the custom at the start of his tours, Andy insisted on everyone getting up and telling the group a little bit about themselves, just to “break the ice”. Jenny could see Henry retreat somewhat at the suggestion – he didn't seem like one for public speaking.

  Andy himself started, giving a quick rendition of his life story that seemed like it would be hard to follow. A history of narcotics and alcohol back in Australia set the precedent for his move to Bali, where he now owned his own villa on the beach and was in a long
term, committed relationship. It seemed he had kicked any drug habit he might have had, but was willing to have the odd beer on occasion.

  The following stories were less entertaining but equally illuminating: Eno, 3 times married and seemingly very wealthy, appeared to be in the midst of a mini mid-life crisis following the break up of his most recent marriage. Miley had a quiet life in Vancouver, working as a dog groomer, while Andrew was at a crossroads in his life, changing career and moving in with his long term girlfriend. Sarah and Jenny then got up together to tell their story, intertwined as it was. They briefly talked about their time at college in New York and how neither had ever been anywhere so exotic and beautiful. Needless to say, Jenny refrained from mentioning her current relationship status, or lack thereof.