The Wine Merchant

We pulled up in front of the main building, and I went to the reception. It was a long low thatched roofed building with wide sweeping verandas. Covered walkways led to the other buildings. As I checked in, I was looking around hoping beyond all hope that I'd see Loren. Through the open back of the building, I could see a pool and beyond that the white sand and the blue sea.

"Mr Nolan," the voice of the receptionist pulled me away from my scanning of the women I could see. She handed me my room key and asked if the was anything else she could do for me?

"Yes, my wife is staying here, can you tell me what room she is in please?"

"I'm sorry sir, but I'm not allowed to give out that information if the booking isn't in both of your names, even if she's your wife. I can leave her a note that you are here. That's the best I can do I'm afraid. What's name is she registered under?"

"The same as mine. Nolan, Loren Nolan and she would have checked in five or six days ago."

She checked the computer and her lips went tight. She called her supervisor over. He looks at my documents and the registration form I'd just filled in.

"Could you come with me," he said and indicated a door to the side of the reception area. He briefly spoke to the young receptionist and then ushered me into his office.

"Mr Nolan," he said as we sat down. "We gave a problem. There is a warning note attached to that guest's account, that under no circumstances are we to give out any details about her to anyone that calls. There is a note that someone claiming to be her husband called yesterday, was that you?"

In for a penny, in for a pound, I thought. "Yes," and I explained what had happened, the reason Loren was here and why I was desperate to find her before anything happened.

While I was talking, he was viewing data on his computer screen. "The address you have given does not match the one the other guest has given," he pointed out.

Shit, of course, it wouldn't she'd used Jane's address. I told him that address and explained that it was her best friends and that she'd been staying there for the past eighteen months.

I could see that he wasn't convinced. I suppose he'd had cases of jealous boyfriends and husbands in the past. I checked the phone and found that Jane had programmed Rachael's home and work numbers.

"Look," I suggested, "Why don't you call the hospital and ask for Dr James, Rachael James. She'll be able to confirm everything I've said and explained why my wife is hiding out at the moment."

He thought for a moment. "What hospital?"

I told him and gave him the number.

"I think it's better if I get it myself," he said. He went online and a few moments later was calling a number. He got through to the switchboard, and after confirming that a Dr Rachael James was working there, he asked to be connected to her. He had to wait a minute or so, one of the longest minutes of my life. We just stared at each other while he drummed his fingers on his desktop.

Finally, he was talking. He asked her about me, nodding as he listened to her reply.

"She needs your permission to discuss your case with me," he said as he handed me the receiver.

I gave it and handed it back to him. He listened for a full five minute, only once asking her to describe me. She must have offered to send him some information as he gave her his email address.

He put the phone down and sat back in his chair looking at me.

"Were they really ready to switch you off?"

"They were," I confirmed, "It was only Rachael's conviction that I was still in there that convinced Loren to wait."

His computer pinged, and he opened the email from Rachael. For a few moments, his face was expressionless, then he smiled and stood up.

"Let's see if we can find your wife."

We returned to the receptionist, who rang Loren's room for me. "She's in room 130," she said after the manager told her I could know.

There was no response, so she checked the computer to see if Loren was scheduled for anything.

"Ahh, that explains it," she exclaimed. "She's booked on the all-day cruise to swim with the manta rays. They should get back sometime after six this evening.

I glanced up at the clock behind the desk, which indicated that it was only eleven o'clock. Christ, seven more hours to wait.

The manager, whose name I'd discovered was Malcolm saw the look of despair and disappointment that flashed across my face.

"Why don't you go to your room and freshen up," he proposed. "I'll see if I can get a message to the boat."

It wasn't what I wanted, but I could see the merit in his suggestion. The villa was a five-minute walk, and Malcolm left me promising to be back in half an hour. Twenty minutes later I was feeling fresher after a shower, and I'd changed into a pair of swim shorts and a t-shirt. After two years indoors I was as pale as a vampire. The only good news was there wasn't a spare ounce of fat on my body, I had lost the middle age paunch that I'd started to get. I can't recommend it, but a long-term coma is an excellent way to diet.

There was the sound of a loud engine from the beach in front of the villa. I found a large orange coloured RIB with a pair of outsized outboard motors nosing onto the sand. Malcolm was standing at the water's edge.

He said, "I wasn't able to get through to the boat, but I know where it is, or at least where it's supposed to be. The girl at the charter office says that the cell reception is non-existent where they are, and they are not answering the radio. Louis here will take you to where they anchor for their lunch."

Louis was a young Mauritian, and he helped me into the RIB. We backed away from the beach. Then he opened the throttles, and we speed away leaving twin rooster tails behind us.

"It'll take us about thirty to forty minutes," Louis shouted over the noise of the engines. "They're supposed to be anchored off Turtle Island," and he gestured in the direction we were travelling.

The RIB was bouncing from one wave crest to the next. We had to slow to pass through the channel in the reef. Then Louis buried the throttles again, and our bouncing ride continued. I hung on for dear life as Louis seemed to do his best to bounce me out of the boat. The sea was rougher outside the protection of the reef.

My world became the deafening growl of the outboards. The shock that travelled up my body each time we hit a wave and the harsh spray that felt like it was trying to strip the flesh from my bones.

It seemed a lot longer but half an hour later Louis tapped me on the shoulder and pointed ahead. Ahead in the distance was a large blue sailing catamaran anchored off a smallish island. Half a mile out we had to slow down to a walking pace.

"There are divers in the water," Louis said and pointed at several buoys mounting flags in the sea near the catamaran.

He eased us around the divers and pulled up at the stern of the yacht. A crewmember jumped down and started talking.

"Hi I'm Maddie," she said. "The hotel got through to us a few minutes ago and explained the situation. One of the passengers managed to accidentally disconnect the radio antenna cable. We only spotted it when we tried to talk to the office. Can you describe your wife?"

Shit, I'd completely forgotten to ask Jane or her parents if Loren changed her appearance. "Err, she's five foot six, really blue eyes and used to have long blonde hair. But I haven't seen her for two years, so I don't know she changed it."

She thought for a moment and called up to another crewmember. He passed down a digital camera, and she scrolled through some photos. "We take a photo of all the passengers when they board and print it out for them when they leave. Is this her?"

She showed me an image. It was a blonde but not her. "This one?" She asked showing me a second photo.

"No, she's a bit taller."

"There's another blonde, but I thought they were a couple," she muttered to herself, but I heard her distinctly.

"Show me," I demanded.

It was Loren, and she was holding the hand of a man. A damn good-looking man: six-one with an athletic build. Loren looks like she'd lost a bit of weight, but it might just be a trick of the photo. My heart sank, and I gasped out, "Fuck." I sat down on the edge of the boat. Both Louis and Maddie look concerned.

Maddie said, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you. I could be mistaken I only saw them holding hands and sit together on the sail up to here. They were with the first group that went snorkelling, that's the group that went to the beach about half an hour ago. We are setting up lunch on the beach."

She pointed to a strip of white sand a couple of hundred yards away from where there was a cluster of scantily dressed people. She gestured to Louis, and he started the engines, and we cruised over to the beach. The bow had barely kissed the coral sand before I jumped over into the ankle-deep water.

The crew had set up a barbeque and a serving table. A pair of open coolers heaped with bottles of cold beer, and soft drinks stood to one side. A group of tables and chairs were clustered in the shade of a group of palm trees further up the beach.

Everyone, including the crew, was in swimming costumes and most had been watching the RIB as it made its noisy arrival. Most the passengers were scattered along the beach in either direction, some watching but most just enjoying themselves.

Maddie spoke to one of the crew, showing her the image of Loren and her companion. She looked around and then pointed along the beach. In the distance, there were several small groups, but my eyes were drawn to a couple slowly walking towards us. They were splashing along in the shallow water at the shoreline.

She was a blonde with hair that flowed over her shoulders. She was wearing a small black bikini and a straw sun hat. Her skin was a tanned a light golden brown. She was slimmer than I recalled, my impression from the photo had been correct. It was Loren, and she was still as beautiful as I remembered, if not even more beautiful. They were holding hands and as I watched they paused knee deep in the foaming surf and kissed.

I was rooted to the spot, and all I could do was watch as they walked closer. They were twenty-five yards away before Loren looked up and saw me standing in front of them. Her gaze flicked past me. A look of puzzlement flashed across her face, and she looked back at me again. Recognition was quickly followed by surprise and shock.

She stopped walking, dragging her companion to a halt. She mouthed my name and then looked from me to her companion. He was asking her what the matter was as the colour bleached from her face, and she sat down hard on the sand as her legs collapsed under her.

I'm not sure what was the matter with me, but I was frozen in place, I couldn't move or speak. I desperately wanted to rush to her side, but it felt like my legs had grown roots. Loren's companion knelt in front of her asking if she was all right. She pushed him to one side so she could see me again and then rose to her knees.

"Oh Tom," she keened, her voice breaking up. "Tell me you are real." She staggered to her feet, shrugging off the helping hand her companion offered her. She moved to stand in front of me, and her hand hesitantly reached out to touch my face.

That first touch of her fingers unfroze me.

My voice cracked as I said, "It's me, my love, I'm really here." I wrapped my arms around her. Her face was hard against my chest, and I could feel her body shaking as she sobbed uncontrollably.

Around us, I could hear a hubbub of voices asking what was going on. One voice louder than all the others was demanding to know what was going on with his girlfriend and just who the fuck I was.

"You wanker," I heard Maddie tell him. "That's her husband, she thought he was dead." He'd called her his girlfriend and that sent a shiver down my spine.

"He can't be; he's supposed to be dead."

"He almost was," one of the hotel staff said. Their voices faded away.

It took a fair while for Loren to calm down. She'd pull briefly away to look at me, whispering, "You're here," and "I love you." Then she'd start sobbing again, holding me tight. I just murmured her name as I held her. Her actions eased the pang of disquiet that her companion's use of the word 'girlfriend' had created. A brief holiday romance, I could cope with that.

After a while, we eased apart, and the questions started. The crew had found us a quiet spot to sit. They spread a blanket under the shade of a palm tree. We sat, our backs resting against the trunk of a fallen palm. Maddie gave us a couple of bottles of cold water, and I drank half of mine in one go.

"I don't understand it; how can you be here?" Loren asked as she rested her head on my shoulder.

"Rachael's not sure why or how it happened. I just started to wake up the day after you left. They kept me in the hospital for another week or so. Since then Jane and I have been trying to find out where you'd gone. Nobody knew where you'd gone. We only found out where you were yesterday, and I jumped on the first flight here that evening."

She kissed me and said, "I never expected that you'd wake up. I hoped and prayed that you would, but I was losing hope. I almost said yes when the consultant proposed turning off your life support. It was only Rachael's conviction that there was a chance that made me wait. Thank God I did."

We were interrupted by one of the crew who brought over to us a couple of plates of food and some more drinks. I hadn't realised how hungry I was until I smelt the grilled chicken and I was soon savouring the food. As I was eating Loren had a brief but animated discussion with Maddie, who pointed at the sailing boat in response.

I looked around, but I couldn't see the man that Loren had been with earlier. I didn't want to blame her for looking for a holiday romance. She'd need a chance to let her hair down after two long years vainly waiting for me to recover. But while it had been more than two years for her, it had only been a couple of weeks for me, and I was finding it hard to come to terms with the idea that she may have taken a lover.

Loren came back and sat down beside me. She looked a bit worried but smiled when she saw that I was watching her.

"Is there a problem love?" I asked?

"Not really, we can go back on the boat that brought you My bags on the catamaran and Maddie is getting someone to fetch it."

"Ahh ok. So, do you want to tell me about him?"

Her face fell, "Christ I'm sorry! He's just someone I met again this week. Are you sure you want me to, I'm not proud of myself. I've only just got you back, and I don't want to lose you again."

I took her hand in mine, "Loren, darling. I'm not going to blame you for anything you have done. I know what Jane told you to do. Christ, you thought you'd be going back home to pull the plug and bury me. I don't begrudge you wanting to relax and enjoy yourself beforehand."

She was nervously squeezing my hands, and she was staring at me like a rabbit in the headlights.

I tried to reassure her. "If you had a little fling, that's fine, I don't blame you. I just need you to tell me that's all it was, and now it's over."

I know it's a cliché but to emphasise my point I reached out and drew a line in the white sand.

"We start fresh from now," I emphasised. "But I need to know that you're not going to leave me for him."

"Leave you! In your dreams, old man. It's not going to happen, I love you too much. I have you back, and I'm never going to let you go ever again."

"I love you too, but I don't want there to be any secrets between us."

"I'll tell you everything, and he's history, but ..." and she gestured around us. "Not here, can we wait until we get back to the resort please?"

I'd have preferred if we'd talk about it sooner than later. But I suppose it really didn't matter when so long as we did talk, so I agreed. Maddie was quick to organise everything when we told her we were ready to go. Maddie handed Loren her beach bag, and she pulled out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and slipped them on over her bikini.

In a few minutes, we were in the RIB with Louis at the helm. Again the ride was wet and wild. Several of the guests waved to us as we roared past the catamaran and I saw Loren acknowledge them. I looked for her companion, finally spotting him standing at the stern watching us through a pair of binoculars.

She sat as close to me as possible for the whole journey, not once letting go of my hand. I couldn't imagine what was going through her mind. For me, subjectively it had only been a few weeks since I had last seen her. But she'd watched me lying in my hospital bed for more than two years, slowly resigning herself to the realisation that it didn't look like I was ever going to recover.

This time Louis pulled up to the resort's jetty rather than the beach by my villa. Malcolm was waiting for us and looked relieved when he saw Loren with me.

"Mrs Nolan, I've taken the liberty to have one of the maids pack up your belongings and transfer them to your husband's villa. If we missed anything, please tell reception and we'll sort it out."

Loren gave him a startled look, and he was quick to reassure her that a duty manager had supervised the move, and he was sure that nothing of hers had been left behind. She thanked him, but she had a curious expression on her face as she said it.

We walked the couple of hundred yards along the beach to my villa, and I opened the door. I barely had time to close the door before Loren was hugging and kissing me. Her hands touching and caressing me as though to prove to herself that I was real and not a figment of her imagination.

Her bags were in the bedroom, and her clothes had been unpacked and placed

in the wardrobe and drawers. I recognised very few of her things, not that surprising given the intervening two years and her slimmer body.

The dam burst, and she was sobbing, tears streaming down her face and soaking my shirt, as she pressed herself against me.

"You don't ... know how much ... I missed you," she sobbed. "You just lay ... there, never moving."

She pulled me towards the bed, shedding the few clothes she was wearing until she stood naked in front of me. She self-consciously crossed her arms across her chest as she saw me studying her.

"I've lost too much weight," she apologised, "I'm skinny now, I know you liked my curves."

"No, you look beautiful, you'll always look beautiful to me. I'm the one who's lost too much weight." I pulled off my t-shirt, and she hissed. She ran her fingertips over my pale skin, feeling my prominent ribs. There wasn't an ounce of excess fat on me anywhere.

Loren softly kissed her way down my chest. She reached the waistband of my shorts and didn't stop. She eased them over my boney hips. My cock, that rebellious piece of flesh, freed from his cloth prison, sprang up, almost striking her face.

She swooped in to reclaim him, her lips circling the throbbing purple head. Enveloping my flesh with the warmth of her mouth. I groaned in animalistic need. Subjectivity my last blowjob had been a few weeks ago. The morning of the accident she'd woken me with her mouth. My body knew the reality, though, years had passed since it had felt such intense pleasure like this.

My legs shook, and I staggered. Loren pushed me onto the waiting bed, pulling my shorts from my legs as she did. As I settled on my back, she moved between my open legs. Her head bobbed, swallowing as much of my hard cock as she could. I abandoned myself to the waves of absolute pleasure, lost in the warmth of her soft mouth.

My need was absolute. Loren knew that, and within moments I was spilling my essence into her waiting mouth. She sucked and licked me clean finishing with a final kiss on the tip. She crawled up beside me, and half lay on top, and we kissed. I could taste myself on her lips.