AncilKate and I asked a couple of airport officials about the disease and they told us that the disease isn’t much of a problem within the country and the government is doing everything that they can to keep the disease from entering. Anyone showing signs of the disease was instantly quarantined and treated accordingly. It was all just a safety precaution to keep the citizens safe.
Kate and I made our way out of the airport and the piercing midday sun had me sweating almost instantly. It was a huge contrast from the cold weather back home and it was a different kind of sting altogether. Kate didn’t seem fazed by the blistering heat as her eyes scanned the area around us.
While outside, an airport official gave us some details about converting our money to TTD and after spending hours in the bank, Kate’s First Citizen’s account was packed with thousands of Trinidad and Tobago dollars which we then used to hire a cab and rent a hotel room at the Hyatt Regency hotel for three days.
It was nighttime when we got to the hotel and there wasn’t much sightseeing that we could have done especially since we spent all our sunlight hours in the cold air-conditioned room of a bank and in standstill traffic.
Kate threw her bag on the floor of the hotel suite and leaped on the bed face down with her arms spread wide. “Urgh!!!” She groaned.
“What?” I asked.
“I’m so tired. URGH.”
“Yeah, it was a long day. You should probably get some sleep.”
“Sleep? I’m not going to sleep on my first day in Trinidad,” Kate said before leaping off the bed like a little child who had way too many sweets. “I’m going to hit the pool.” She then headed towards the door.
“I’ve never seen you this excited before.”
“Isn’t it obvious why? It’s because I’ve never been this excited before. Duh.”
“Cheers for logic,” I quipped.
“Cheers for logic. I’ll be at the pool if you need me,” Kate said, before heading out the door.
“Well, I’m just going to take a shower if you need me!” I shouted, knowing very well that she was already probably halfway to the pool and didn’t hear a word I said.
I jumped in the shower and stayed in there for more than 30 minutes just thinking about life while I enjoyed the warm feeling of the water against my skin.
After my long shower and a change of clothes, I ordered room service which was a special traditional Trinidadian meal called Buss-up-Shut then, I limbered to the pool where I saw Kate sitting on the edge gracefully paddling her feet through the water all by herself. She didn’t change or remove her clothing and it was drenched in water and it stuck to her body like a layer of skin. Her hair strands were glued to her face and it brought back a distant memory of the first day I met her when we were under the shower. She seemed more radiant and her face had a kind of glow that I had never seen before. She looked happy; genuinely happy. The hauntings of her past were miles away and separated by the very thing she kicked in the pool.
“Why are you here all by yourself?” I asked.
“There were some people here a while ago but they all left for some reason.”
“Ahh, I see. Maybe because it’s 3 am on a weekday.”
“I thought you were going to come sooner,” Kate said.
“I got caught up with room service but I’m here now,” I said as I sat beside her at the edge of the pool.
“Now you’re making me hungry.”
“Well, we can always go order some more room service.”
“No, I like it here, by the pool,” Kate said, “I have never been in a pool before. Nor a beach.”
“Really?”
Kate nodded her head.
“Well-” I started.
“It’s not like I’ve never been invited to the beach but there’s something about it that just freaks me out. The fact that most of it is unexplored makes me fearful of what could possibly be in there. I have a gut-wrenching fear of the unknown.”
“I’m pretty sure there’s just a bunch of fishes,” I said.
“You don’t know that. You jump to your conclusion based on what you were taught and what society has implanted in your brain but not based on what is real.”
“I guess you’re right, but I do know one thing is real,” I said, staring into her eyes.
“What’s that?” Kate asked, staring back.
“My love for you. That is real. Unlike the ocean, there is nothing unexplored or unknown about that. I love you Kate Warren and it will mean the world to me if I can hear you say it back to me at least once.”
