The Billionaire’s Fake Marriage

“And that is where we are going? To a prison made by the British?” Janet wanted to confirm.

“Well, we will not stay in Port Blair, but yes.. we will stay in those islands.”

“What are they called? The islands.” Janet asked.

“Andamans.”

“Sounds good.” Janet looked at her ticket.

An hour later, both of them boarded another flight that landed on a small airstrip in Port Blair. The morning sun was still rising over the horizon and Janet could feel the cool ocean breeze. The airport here reminded her of those Hollywood movies from the 80’s.

“Wow! What is this place?” Janet could see that the glorious 80’s never left this part of the world. Unlike the airport in Chennai, this airport had no cab driver or any other person trying to aggressively lure them into their vehicle. This, was a refreshing change for Janet.

Kitty was reading Janet’s face while she looked around.

“Alright, I am impressed. Now what?”

“Now, we have a ferry to catch.” Kitty checked her watch.

Within half an hour, the two of them were standing at a port where they saw two small passenger ships. A tall man with a fair complexion greeted them with a warm smile, “Hello, are you Miss Kitty?”

“Yes, and this is Janet.” Kitty replied.

The man joined his hands in the traditional Indian manner of greeting, “Namaste! I am Ravi, and your ferry is waiting for you. Shall we leave?”

“Please lead the way, Ravi.” Kitty replied with a smile.

Ravi took them to a smaller boat that was waiting only for them. Janet and Kitty were the only passengers. Ravi showed them to their gorgeous cabin. “I hope you will find it comfortable. Please make sure to wear your life jackets if you decide to get out of your cabin. It’s for your safety.”

Leaving the port, the boat soon reached in the middle of the ocean. Janet and Kitty got out of the cabin and looked around, in one direction they could see tiny mountains at a great distance. While on the other hand all they saw was water.

An hour later, the boat reached an island and Ravi appeared again. “We have reached the Neil Island. Hope your trip was comfortable.”

“It was. Thank you Ravi.” Janet smiled as she got off the boat. A cab was waiting at the port to pick them up. On their way to the hotel, Janet was surprised to see this new side of India where she hardly saw people on the road. The small houses scattered all over the island told her that this place was still far away from the modern world.

“You think you can think here?” Kitty asked Janet with a smile. “I hope this is not too crowded for you.”

“Now you are just bragging.” Janet smiled showing her appreciation. Both of them shared a chuckle. The cab stopped outside a hotel that seemed too big for this kind of island. After checking in, Janet and Kitty entered their beautiful room that was overlooking the beach.

“Now you can unpack! We are here for at least 15 days.” Kitty told Janet.

But Janet did not want to do anything right now. The only thing she wanted to do was stand by the beach and stare at it.

“This is perfect!” she said feeling the breeze in her hair. Her eyes tried to find a single soul on the beach, but failed. It was completely empty. The water was blue like it was painted and the sand was shining with the sun light.

“You like it?” Kitty asked standing behind Janet.

“I love it!” Janet did not hold back her admiration for this place.

Kitty felt a little proud of herself in that moment.

“Have some rest, we can start thinking tomorrow.” Kitty said while she jumped into the bed, “I am going to sleep now.”

Janet stayed right there and stared at the ocean in front of her. All her apprehensions and doubts slowly washed away with the sound of the breaking waves.

Jet-lag and exhaustion made Janet and Kitty sleep the whole day. They woke up in the middle of the night and found out that the beach now had signs of life. From the distance they could see and hear people laughing and singing. Few bonfires were lighting up at the various spots all over the beach. Couples, singles and small groups were enjoying the moonlight that showered the clean waters.

“Lets go there!” Janet suggested, but Kitty seemed tired

“You go, I will stay here.”

“Suit yourself.” Janet said stepping out on the beach.

She could see the group that was closest to her — some people were sitting together, laughing and talking. When Janet came closer, they welcomed her with their smiles.

“Hello there..” one of them said. “Come, join us.”

Encouraged by the warmth of the fire and kind words, Janet joined the group. The man who invited her introduced himself and the rest of the group — “I am Ted! And here are Bilal, Elena, Joseph and Rose.”

Janet looked at all of the people in the group — Ted was a tall blonde man with a clear American accent, Bilal was a young man with sharp looks and curly hair. Elena was a black woman with beautiful eyes and lips. Joseph made it clear with his greeting that he was a Frenchman while Rose, seemed from Eastern Europe.

“I am Janet.” she introduced herself to the group who lovingly welcomed her.

“So Janet, where are you from?” Joseph asked her with his French accent.

“New York.”

“Yeah, what do you do?”

“Joseph!” Elena stopped Joseph as soon as he asked his question. “Remember the rules. No talks about work.”

Confused, Janet looked around when Ted solved this mystery for her. “This is your first time here, I presume.”

Janet nodded in approval.

“We come here quite often and have a rule, that we don’t talk about work.” Ted concluded. “You see, we come here to forget work, and that’s how it should be. No work!”

“You are what you are here, and not what you are in your professional life.” Rose made it simpler.

“Wow!” Janet was surprised at this concept. “So you guys do not know what you do?”

“Nope.” Bilal replied with a smile. “But we guess.”

Bilal’s smile sprouted several similar grins in the group. “There is no harm in guessing.” Rose replied.

“You can just be yourself and enjoy your time here,” Rose told Janet.

Janet sat down among her new friends and looked around herself — several small groups of people who did not care about who they really were and what they do. All they wanted was to live in the moment. She instantly fell in love with this idea.

All of them kept talking the whole night and soon the sun was starting to spread its fuzzy light all over the beach.

“Good morning!” Joseph said looking around. “Alright Vampires, it’s time to go back to bed.”

“So we meet only at night?” Janet asked.

“We all are jet lagged and so spend our time together until our biological clock is used to the local time.” Ted explained while getting up. He patted his bottom to clear the sand and stood straight. “This will continue for a few days, a week tops. And then we will be used to the local time.”

“I will catch you guys later.” Rose said while walking away.

The group disbanded after a small session of goodbye and Janet was left standing there. She liked this new society with no burden of formal courtesy or chivalry. “I think I will like it here,” Janet said to herself.

Walking back into her room, Janet saw Kitty was still in her bed. After taking a shower, Janet got into her bed as well and pulled the sheets over her head.

“What is the time?” she suddenly heard Kitty’s voice.

As she looked out of the sheet, she found Kitty waking up.

“Good morning,” Kitty said with a smile.

“How the hell you are not jet lagged?”

“Cause I am freaking awesome!” was Kitty’s reply.

Janet kept staring at Kitty’s smiling face with awe and then she gave up.

“I am going to sleep.”

“Suit yourself!” Kitty said getting out of bed.