The premise of the island was that any
person in the world could get anything they wanted there. There was no limit
for what the people that managed the place could provide. It could be someone
to spend the holidays with or a really great adventure, the best sex of your
life or maybe something that most people wouldn’t even think about. Everything
was on the table or, at least, that was what the brochure said. David was very
nervous on the plane, trying to figure out if he had done the right thing by spending
so much money on that vacation.
When the plane landed, his worries were soon a
thing of the past. As people descended to the tarmac, it was impossible not to
see the beautiful waters that surrounded the main island in the atoll and the
lush and exotic vegetation all over the place. All the people that were in the
plane were also watching and even taking pictures. David was going to imitate
them but then a woman that worked for the hotel arrived in front of them and
greeted them. She asked everyone to follow her and so they did, to what would
be the terminal of the landing strip.
The flight that had just ended was a private
one, only for the people that had paid to live the experience of the Takua
hotel. The journey had been very long from home, but David was very excited now
and looking forward to everything the trip had to offer. When everyone was in
the room, the woman told them that all electronic devices were barred from the
island in order to have a better experience. So they needed people to put all
of those objects in a small locker right there in the terminal. They would be
able to open them with their electronic bracelets the day of their departure.
Everyone complied and five minutes later they
were in the docks just outside the terminal. The woman told them that, as
everyone hadn’t come to have the same experience, they would not be staying in
the same areas of the hotel. Some would go to the lagoon, others to the main
island and the forest and others to an artificial island, which was on the
other side of the atoll. Three boats were ready and she called people one by
one, reading from a list. Once everyone was ready she reminded them to follow
instructions and to have a nice stay. The boats departed as she waved to them.
The boat ride was short for David. Apparently
he would stay in the cabins that were located in the main island, surrounded by
the lush forest. When they arrived there, another hotel person greeted them.
Her name was Valery and she asked them to ask any questions they could have.
Someone then asked when would their experience begin. She smiled at the
question and told them that it would begin differently for everyone. She gave
everyone yellow bracelets with a number and told them to go find their rooms,
luggage would be already there.
David got a nice cabin that was as close to
the water as it was to the forest. The only thing that he didn’t like was the
fact that bugs may enter his room but he was assured, the following day, that
there were no bugs in the island. He thought that was weird, but he didn’t
dwell on it. The first night was great: the bed was just perfect, as was the
weather. He had regained the energy he had lost through travel and he was ready
to meet his experience, whatever that was. The first thing he did was shower
and then go to the breakfast buffet because he was starving.
As he was choosing some fruit, he noticed
there was only one remaining passion fruit and he loved that fruit. So he
grabbed it but then someone else wanted the fruit too. Their hands touched and
they both recoiled as if the had been burned. He looked at the guy and David
was instantly attracted to him. It was a very strange feeling because he had
never seen that person before but, somehow, he felt he really liked him. David
asked him to take the fruit; he could have it some other time. The guy wanted
him to take it. Finally, they both had passion fruit as more was served in a
second.
They decided to sit together, as they both had
come by themselves. Actually, everyone in that place was alone or meeting
people there, which maybe had something to do with their desires. But David was
not thinking too much about that. He was asking the guy his name and where he
had come from. His name was Michel and he was from Paris but his parents were immigrants
from Africa. He started telling David his story and it was so interesting that
David didn’t notice all the food from the buffet had been taken away because of
the hour.
They decided to keep talking, walking around
the island, discovering the place together. David confessed that he didn’t
really know what he had wanted to achieve by coming to the island because he
wasn’t even sure of what he was looking for or what it was that he wanted from
life. Michel told him he was more certain than that but that he was open to
anything that could happen in life. He wanted a better job for himself but also
to please his family by getting together with someone and having a family or
something like that.
Both men decided to meet again later for
dinner and so they did. The mood was strangely romantic but nothing really
happened besides a lot of flirting and maybe holding hands for a short time.
David was very happy, as he had not been in a long time. He felt as if he had
gone back in time, just as a boy in school who is excited about meeting people
and having their first crush, That was exactly how it felt and it was very
strange but he intended to enjoy it thoroughly.
His stay was of one week. And he spent almost
everyday with Michel. They explored the island together by foot, kissed in the
middle of the jungle and swam together in the lagoon, playing around with
seashells and other things they found. David loved to watch Michel swimming and
then walking towards him, dripping water. Somehow, that was very sexy to him.
By the fourth night, David let Michel into his bedroom and they made love. It
was very particular but even sex felt better there, it felt much more natural,
easier if it makes senses.
They both noticed it and they talked about it
the next day in bed. They kissed a lot and then had breakfast in the buffet.
But then, something really weird happened. Valeria, the woman who had greeted
them the day they had arrived, approached them on the restaurant and told
Michel that he had a “penalty point” because he hadn’t registered into his room
the night before. David didn’t believe what she was saying. But then again,
other people from the hotel’s staff, were apparently having the same
conversation with other guests.
Michel responded to her saying that he had the
best sex of his life that night, so not following those rules had been a good
idea. The woman didn’t laugh or seemed even annoyed by the comment. She just
repeated that he had that “penalty” and that if it happened again, he would be “invited
to leave the island”. And then she left, leaving them with their mouths open
and wondering if that had been just to play with them or an actual thing that
hotel had. It was a very weird situation but they forgot about it later, during
sex in Michel’s room.
They decided to respect the rules but not
fully: they would have sex in each other’s rooms but not during the night. They
would go have something to eat or hike or swim after that. The truth was that
both of them had the best week of their lives there. When time come to leave,
people from the hotel told everyone that each person would be picked up individually
in their rooms with their luggage and then taken to the landing strip by boat.
They came for David just after lunch, which he had with Michel. He was not on
the boat and then, not in the plane.
Everyone was leaving at the same time, that’s
how it worked. But why was the plane taking off without Michel. Maybe he had
forgotten to take his phone from the locker or something. But as the plane flew
over the island one last time, the guy besides him smiled and asked: “¿You
thought it was real, right?”. And David realized that that was exactly what had
happened. He had bought into the hotel’s experience and now he had the best
memories with someone that wasn’t real. Or was he?
