Castaway Ch. 03

I was speechless just then, knowing exactly who Tanya Pierce was. She was a major star on the big screen, acting in several very popular movies. Her latest, "The Windy City", was a thriller about a serial killer, set in Chicago. I had seen it, as I am sure the rest of the known world had. I had no idea Howard knew such famous people, but I suppose it shouldn't have surprised me that much. He WAS connected after all.

Eventually I found my voice, "Pleased to meet you Tanya. My name is James, and yes I know who you are." She smiled at this, although I am sure she was used to being recognized everywhere. The price of stardom I guess. "You said that Howard and Shawn are debating beer? This I gotta see," giving her a reason to segue away from talking about her.

"Sure, follow me."

And we did. She led us to his main cabin, where Shawn was sitting in my normal chair and Howard was at his usual spot on the couch. They both were holding up a pint of something dark, and arguing about which was better and why.

Tanya cleared her throat to get their attention, and Howard looked up first.

"OH, welcome back James. I assume one of these lovely ladies is your daughter, Madison?" He was all charm.

"Yep, this one is my pride and joy," pointing to Maddy, "and this one is Sarah, her girlfriend. They are going to be staying with me for the week. Ladies, this is Howard, my friend. This other guy is Shawn, my best friend and mechanic, although sometimes I think he just sits around and only pretends to fix things." I winked at Shawn with that last part.

He flipped me off, then turned to the rest of the group. "Welcome ladies. Don't mind your dad, he is delusional to think that he is the world's greatest pilot, or something like that."

The girls were still a bit stunned at being around such company, so just smiled and both said, "Thanks."

"So James, now that you are here, you can help settle the debate. Shawn here seems to think that the darker stout is better than my wheat beer. What do you think?" Howard asked.

"I think that you are both nuts, to be sitting here arguing the 'finer points' of beer, when we could all be out enjoying the sun," I replied, exaggerating the 'finer points' with air quotes. I looked over at a smiling Tanya, and asked, "How about you Tanya? Do you feel like getting out in the sun and enjoying this beautiful day?"

"Hell yeah. Let me get the others from below deck, and in a suit, and we can all go out on the bay and swim or something." With that, she ran down into the belly of the boat.

"See, at least she has the right priorities. Guys, seriously, Tanya Pierce is here and you argue beer?" I laughed, and walked over to my daughter.

"Ladies, why don't you both go back to my boat, and get into your suits. We are going to take this monster out on the water, and truly enjoy Hawaii as it was meant to be." It truly was going to be a Hakuna Matata type of day for all.

After everyone got ready to go, Howard went to the helm of his monster yacht, aptly named "Big Play", as Shawn and I cast off the mooring lines. Howard cruised us away from the dock and out away from the rest of the boats. Once a safe enough distance, he opened up his twin diesels, and it cruised up to his top speed of seventeen knots. It wasn't a speed boat, but for its large size, that was moving pretty fast. He told us once that he had worked with some engineers to upgrade it, from its original max cruising speed of thirteen knots.

The speed, combined with the slight surf conditions, created a nice spray as the bow plowed through each crest. It was exhilarating, and everyone was enjoying it immensely. After about twenty minutes of this, he slowed us down, and eventually stopped near an inlet. A beach could be seen from the boat, and like most beaches around here, had almost white sand, with crystal clear water gently moving back and forth over it.

Howard hit the button to drop the anchor, and declared that we had arrived. A chorus of cheer went up throughout the boat, and everyone rushed to the back deck. Tanya came up last, followed by four other people. She quickly introduced them all.

"Everyone, these are my friends that came with me. Howard already knows them all, but I thought I would introduce them, since we are all going to be having a good time here. From left to right, my Agent and friend Tyrone, and next to him is his husband Michael. Next to Michael, is my best friend since childhood, Diane, and her husband Marcus."

Howard spoke up, "Thanks for that Tanya. My local friends here are Shawn, whom you've met already. The other gentleman is James, who is the pilot of that seaplane you saw fly in. With him are his daughter, and her girlfriend. Ladies, I am sorry but I have forgotten your names already."

My daughter blushed slightly, and reintroduced herself. "My name is Madison, but all my friends call me Maddy. This is Sarah, my girlfriend, and she and I go to school together. It is an honor to be here, by the way. Thanks for making this trip extraordinary already, and we've only been here a few hours!"

Everyone had a good laugh at the introductions, and then moved on to having fun. Maddy and Sarah both jumped right into the water, and when they came back to the surface, were playfully splashing at each other. Shawn was next to go in, gracing everyone with a cannonball splash that made it up onto some of our clothes. I don't think anyone cared. Tanya's agent and husband both got near the edge, and finally Michael pushed Tyrone over the edge. Tyrone went belly first, yelling all the way in, "AAAAAHHHHGG." He made a big splash, and a slapping noise that everyone cringed at. Michael jumped in right after him, only to be dunked under by his husband for the effort.

I sat down for a minute, enjoying the rest of my drink, watching everyone having fun. Tanya sat next to me, and just smiled. Honestly, without all the movie glitz and makeup, she was a strikingly beautiful woman. Her flowing auburn hair contrasted nicely with her pale skin, and freckled shoulders. Her eyes were almost an emerald green, and I could get lost in those pools for days. She had a cute little button nose, and such soft looking cheeks, just begging to be kissed. I had to shake my head, to snap out of my trance. I think she had been asking me a question.

"I'm sorry, I was a bit distracted. What was that?" I asked, hoping I didn't look like too much of a fool.

"I just asked if you liked living out here, is all. I live in busy L.A., but sometimes wish I could just retreat from the world, to live out here in peace, like you do."

"Well I love it out here. I haven't been to L.A., but I can tell you it's great here, compared to where I came from. Virginia was OK, but this place is almost beyond words sometimes."

"What did bring you out here, anyhow? Why the big move?" she asked curiously. My face fell a bit, and she noticed. "Oh, I didn't mean to pry, I was just curious," she tried to backpedal.

"Oh, no it's ok, really. I just had to get out of a bad situation, is all." I paused, not sure just how much I should share with this goddess. I went on though, "My wife had been having an affair, and my business partner tried to kill me off, to take my half of our business."

The shocked look on her face told volumes, and I realized I had probably said too much. I tried to soften things a bit.

"Honestly, it was pretty crazy for a while, but things are working out great now. I have my plane, this paradise, my daughter that I love more than anything, and my friends here. Honestly, I am better off now because of it."

The shocked look fled, and she recovered her composure. "I'm so sorry. I am glad to hear you are doing well now. That sounds truly awful," she added, with a laugh. "Ok, can we change the subject? I think we've had enough of that, for one day, don't you? We are in Hawaii after all." She was smiling, with an obviously happy personality, bubbling to the surface.

I joined her in laughing. "Sure, want to talk about you? I'm sure no one EVER asks about your life, huh?"

My sarcasm was enough to make us both laugh again. She was remarkably easy to talk to, all things considered. I know I was mentally stereotyping a bit, but I had always expected super-stars to be lofty and unapproachable. I imagine some were, but not Tanya. She sounded about as down to earth as any other normal woman I had met.

"Sure James, let's talk about me. What do you want to know?" she asked, nervously biting her bottom lip slightly. I actually thought it was cute.

"Tanya, we really don't need to dig into it. I would love to get to know you better, but I'm not going to grill you for some news story or anything like that."

"Of course you aren't, I trust you. I know we just met, but I do. If you want to get to know me better, you just have to ask." She was smiling now, brightly showing off her glinting white teeth. It was a beautiful smile to see on such a lovely lady.

"Ok, basics then I guess. Where are you originally from?"

"Ah, easy one. I grew up in Nebraska, actually. A small town called Hastings, just south of I-80 and Grand Island. Well Hastings isn't too small for Nebraska standards, but where I live now, it's like a village." She chuckled slightly at her own joke. "My parents still live there, with my brother. He just turned nineteen, and will be going to Army boot camp later this summer. My sister is married, and lives in Minneapolis, with her husband. They are expecting their first kid sometime around January."

"Wow. That sounds like a great family, really. How often do you get to see them?"

"Not as often as I would like. I usually make it home for the holidays, but that seems to be about it these days. I had to sneak out the back door of a flower shop in order to take this little vacation. Talk about acting like a spy, just to get away."

"That must be tough, all the attention and such. Honestly, I don't know how anyone does it." She stiffened a bit as I spoke. "I don't mean any offense, it's just that I don't think that would be the life for me. I think you are a brave person for putting up with it, for your career."

She visibly relaxed back to how she had been, "Thank you. Yes it can be tough at times, but I've gotten used to it for the most part. The thing I hate the most, to be honest, is how truly fake most people are around me. I mean this conversation is the most real and honest one I've had in nearly six months. Everyone around me usually just tries to either blow smoke up my ass, or beg me for money for some project or another. It gets old quickly. Diane helps, but she has her own life to live, and can't be around all the time just for me."

"Ok, enough about you and your boring life," my sarcasm knows no bounds apparently. "How about we talk about your vacation this week? How long are you planning on staying, and what do you want to do while you are here?"

"Thanks. Well, my main goal was to unwind, and just enjoy being away from everything for a week. I plan to stay until Saturday, so six days total. This right here," she held up her glass, and waved it between the two of us, "is exactly what I had hoped for when I left."

I nodded, held up my glass, and announced, "Cheers to that!" We clinked glasses, and both took a nice long pull from them, finishing them off.

"You should come visit me sometime, in L.A. I know you wanted to avoid crowds, but I would really like to show you around my town. We could have a lot of fun there, ya know?"

"I think I would like that. Sometime soon, perhaps?" I honestly did think it would be fun, but had my reservations about our age and class difference. She was still WAY out of my league. Maybe I should just stop worrying about that, and have fun.

We both got up to refill our drinks then. That had been a very nice conversation, and I looked forward to more with her, if I got the chance. Turns out, I would have plenty. Later that day, Howard announced that we were going to spend the night in this inlet, and head back to port the next day. Tanya's group wanted to go visit one of the few tiny, uninhabited islands of the chain, and spend a few nights camping on the beach.

Of course, Howard had asked me to fly them out, and who was I to refuse? The only condition I had was that Maddy and Sarah be invited, and Tanya almost gave me a bruise when she slapped my arm for suggesting that she wasn't going to invite her. She giggled after doing it, at least. I was growing fond of that giggle.

So that night, we all sat in the main cabin, trying to play a drinking game of sorts. We had on the movie Super Troopers, and the idea was that anytime anyone said Farva's name, we all had to take a shot. We made it through the movie somehow, but it was only by a miracle that no one accidentally fell overboard.

We all made our way below deck to our bunks, and promptly passed out. A few cabins had some moaning noises emanating from them, but I had no idea whose and didn't care. I went to sleep quickly, and awoke with the sounds of the waves.

I got up, and was only the second to be awake yet. I found Diane up, and in the Galley waiting for coffee to finish brewing. I sat with her, and waited as well. She didn't look like she had too much to drink, the night before, or she somehow managed to fake it. Either way she was pretty, in a kind of girl next door way.

"So, Mr. Holmes, you're going to be flying us today? Hope you are sober enough for it." Her tone was abrupt, and totally unexpected.

"May I call you Diane?" I asked politely, she nodded, "I don't ever drink and fly. That's one of my pet peeves, and I would never risk my life or that of my passengers by doing it."

"So you live here like some kind of bum then?" Again with the harsh tone. I must have pissed her off in another life or something.

"Look, I am not sure what I did to offend you, but please don't mistake my comfort for laziness. I used to own my own business back in Virginia, and was very profitable at that. Thanks to my ex breaking my heart in a big way, I moved here to start over. I still own my own business, but now I do it at a much more reasonable pace. I DON'T need you coming here, and telling me how to live."

I was severely incensed, so got up, poured a mug of coffee, and went up on deck. How dare she come at me like that, accusing me of being a drunken bum? I sat down at the captain's chair, looking out over the water. There were no other boats in sight, and only one commercial airliner flying way up high, at probably 37,000 feet or so. The solitary quiet was as peaceful as always.

"I'm sorry," I barely heard from behind me. I turned around in the chair, and Diane stood there looking sheepish. "I was being rude, and you didn't deserve it. I saw how you were talking with Tanya yesterday, and was just worried that you were another leach, trying to get close to her and her money."

I paused to think for a minute, and recognized that she was behaving like any good friend should. Hakuna Matata! "No harm done, Diane. You are just being a good friend, and I can appreciate that. Honestly, it was just very nice to sit and talk with her. I haven't done that with anyone in a long while. I have no intention of trying to weasel my way into her money."

"Thank you. Sometimes I just feel like I have to watch out for her, because no one else will. She doesn't have the best radar for losers and moochers."

I smiled at her. "So, what do you do when you aren't hanging out with your superstar friend?" I chuckled to soften the question.

She joined my chuckling, before responding. "My husband and I are both doctors, actually. He is in sports medicine, as an orthopedic surgeon. Me, I work in Obstetrics. We were friends as kids, and all through high school. Tanya went off to college at some arts school in the northeast, while I went to med-school at UW Madison. Tanya and I grew up together, but we lost touch after high school. We both knew what we were going to college for, but time and distance split us apart. It was pure chance when we ran into each other again out in L.A., at a charity function for children with cancer. We immediately resumed our friendship, and have been close since."

"Wow, I'm envious, that sounds idyllic. My best friend, Todd, lives very far away. I haven't seen him for about 8 years now. Shawn is a great friend, and is rapidly moving to take over the spot, but I still miss some of the good times I had with Todd. Oh well, Hakuna Matata."

"What's that? Did you just quote Disney?" She had a good laugh at my expense.

"Yeah, I did. Ever since I got here, I decided I wasn't going to let things get to me, so I started quoting that line in my head. It applies fairly often, actually."

She was smiling, but not openly laughing at me anymore. "Oh, well it's a happy thought anyway, right? Well look, I am sorry again for being rude earlier, and look forward to chatting with you further." She stood up and paused, "You know Tanya likes you, right? As in, she LIKES you... I can tell just by the way she was behaving around you last night."

I was not expecting to hear that. I mean she was great, but totally out of my league. She was gorgeous, not to mention so famous that even the dolphins knew who she was. I think the look on my face told Diane just how crazy I thought that was.

"Believe it, she likes you. Honestly, if you get past all the movie star stuff, and all the fame, she's just like any other woman. And you, James, are actually quite an enigma. She is attracted to your mystery, I think, that and that you are very handsome. Anyhow, get to know her, and you never know where it might lead? Just don't hurt her, or you'll have to deal with me," she finished with a grin, and went back down to the main deck.

Well that was definitely an interesting conversation. By this time, I heard others talking down below, so decided to get down from the upper deck, and get ready for the day. I ran into basically everyone, aside from Howard and Shawn. I think those two had the same sleep cycle, as they were always sleeping in after a night of festivities.

Tanya smiled as I passed, and I turned to the group. "Is everyone ready for a fun time?" Everyone was nodding their heads. "We are going to fly out to a small island, as you requested, and camp on the beach. Once we get back to the dock, be ready to head out about an hour after that."

I pulled up the anchor, and started the large yacht's turbo-diesels, pushing the throttle forward to half. The boat lurched forward as the propellers began to spin faster. I turned the boat around, and we sailed back towards our home port. After about twenty minutes, Shawn finally made his way above deck, and gave me a nod with no smile. I felt for him. He must have tried to get into another drinking competition with Howard. Always a mistake, always. That man had years of experience over most of us.

I shook my head and kept us on course. Another half-hour and Howard finally made his way up to the land of the living. He looked like hell. There was no real way to sugar coat it, but at least he had a smile, oddly contrasting the rest of his disheveled appearance. He came to the wheel where I was, and just stood next to me.

"So, how are you feeling, Howard? Honestly, you don't look too good."

"I've been better. About how long 'til we get to port?"

"About another forty minutes or so. I already told the rest of the group that once we dock, to get their things ready and meet me at the plane after an hour. I have to pre-flight it, and get all my supplies ready for the trip, too."

"OK," he grunted, and went towards the galley.

All in all, the night on the water was a great time, and the next few days promised to be just as exciting, if not more so. I couldn't wait to spend more time with Tanya. I hadn't had a crush since college, and felt a bit like a teenager again. I just hoped that I would be enough for someone like her.