The Island Made All the Difference

Chapter 1

Frankly, I could care less where we go, he thought to himself. He was tired. He was tired, but excited at the same time. Who wouldn’t be? Any guy who was going to go on a cruise and share the same cabin with Jasmine Brown would hardly be able to contain themselves.

Ted just smiled to himself. The irony of it all was too much to comprehend, so he just sat there and wagged his head slowly from side to side. He was dating one of the most sought-after, well-known, and lusted-for women in television. Here he was, an average Schmoe, a hard-working guy who held a pretty good high-tech job, spending his free time with one of the most beautiful women today. He just couldn’t believe his luck. Here he was, the envy of perhaps thousands, even millions, of men everywhere, planning a little “get-away" trip—and dreading it.

Well, okay, maybe “dreading” is a bad word. He was looking forward to being away from the rat race of everyday life, of at least a little peace and quiet. You can never get that, though, when you date a television star. Reporters, paparazzi, and fans were forever trying to take their picture—well, mostly of Jasmine, but she was by Ted’s side a lot when she wasn’t filming. And if that weren’t bad enough, he dreaded the picture-taking because of the strain it had put on Jasmine. It wasn’t because she hated having her picture taken, though. No, it was for a slightly different reason.

She hated pictures of her eating.

The publicity shots of her slightly-more-padded figure lately had become a sore subject in her life in the limelight. When Jasmine first started on the remarkably (but illogically) popular show “Beach Watch,” she was a slender 125 pounds. That may sound like a lot, but on her 5'6" frame, she was that borderline between emaciated model and voluptuous vixen. She wore it well because of her family genes. All the women in her family were shapes and sizes outside of what was commonly known as “acceptable.” Fortunately, her family hadn’t succumbed to the pressures of society. That’s what Ted loved about her family. They were great, Ted sighed to himself. If only he could get Jasmine to accept the same look on life and health.

Jasmine was definitely a member of her family, but she fought it all the way. She knew that her five pound gain in the last few months caused quite a stir amongst the tabloids, both printed and televised. Everywhere, it seemed, she was being ridiculed for becoming “fat.” Jasmine loved to eat and she knew it, but she loved her job more. She was desperate to lose the five pounds, but her way of dealing with the depression of seeing her picture on the tabloids every time she put food in her mouth only drove her to want to eat more. She was miserable.

Ted felt sorry for her. Here was perhaps the brightest, funniest, and sincerely nicest women he had ever met—defeated and insecure. It broke his heart. And what broke his heart the most was that he would’ve loved to see her put a few more pounds on. She had real trouble accepting that fact. He tried his best to convince her, but to no avail.

“So, sweetie? Which is it: Bermuda or the Bahamas?” Jasmine’s smile was so full of life and childlike happiness, Ted’s heart melted.

“How could I deny you? The Bahamas it is!” Ted exclaimed.

“Yippeeeeee!” Jasmine cried, as she jumped up and hung around Ted’s neck.

Ahhhh, life just doesn’t get any better than this, Ted thought to himself as he hugged the love of his life—except maybe if there was just a bit more to love . . .

_____oOo_____

The cruise was great: the cabin was luxurious, the service impeccable, and hardly any pictures were taken. Ted and Jasmine were able to just enjoy each other’s company. Ted wished it would last a long, looong time.

Ted noticed Jasmine had been enjoying herself, too. She was eating with abandon at times, only to look like she had suddenly seen a ghost. She’d become nervous and look around, expecting some reporter to be capturing her indulgence on film. Ted would always calm her, reassuring her that he took every precaution to hide their identities and escape the flock of reporters. She would always look at him is disbelief, and then slowly smile in complete trust. She would then take another big bite of whatever she was enjoying.

Ted could hardly believe that he had actually pulled it off. He would take a quick look around. There must be a reporter around somewhere.

He looked at his girlfriend as they got ready to go swimming at the outdoor pool on the top deck. Jasmine was getting into her bikini. Gawd, he loved her curves. They hinted of being a bit more soft, a bit curvier than usual. He came up behind her, put his arm around her waist, twisted her around and planted a kiss on her lips before she could even think. “What are you doing, silly?”

Pop! Their lips parted with a rush of air (not to mention hormones). She loved it because it was so unexpected. He loved it because his hand sunk a little more into her side than normal. She was getting softer.

As they were getting ready, Ted noticed that the ship was suddenly and noticeably starting to rock. There was too much motion. The captain had mentioned that there might be unsettled weather, but this was ridiculous.

“May I have your attention. This is the captain . . .”

The PA system on the ship was turned up more than normal. Ted’s heart sank. He knew that the captain wanted to make sure that everyone heard him. This is not good.

“ . . . We are being overtaken by a squall. Please remain inside the ship. The decks are off limits to passengers and unnecessary personnel. Deckhands alone are allowed topside. Please remain calm and the storm will pass. Thank you.”

The bow of the ship suddenly surged, being lifted by a wall of water 10 feet tall. It came down with a crash. Ted had been in the Merchant Marine, and knew that this was marking the beginning of an ugly time. This storm had come onto them quickly.

Jasmine looked worried. “Are we gonna be alright?” she asked.

“Yeah, Hon, we are, but we’d better get out our life jackets just in case.” Oh, good one, Teddy boy. That’s a great way to calm her nerves.

Suddenly the ship surged and rolled again. Ted knew there was trouble. “Quickly, Jaz, get your life vest on. Now!”

Ted took a quick look out the porthole. The sky was a combination of black, gray, and a dark, menacing forest green. They were in for a bad afternoon. And just as he suspected, the storm whipped up seas of 30 and 40 feet. They were in the middle of a squall like the crew of the ship had never seen. The ship was rocking uncontrollably. The crew on the bridge could not control the ship’s movements.

Ted was trying desperately to regain his sea legs while trying to comfort his beautiful girlfriend at the same time. He could tell that the ship was heaving in a weird fashion. He felt the bow dipping down. He looked outside the porthole. He couldn’t see any sky. All he saw was water—a huge wall of water. All he could get out was, “Oh, sh—”

The huge wave pounded the ship, breaking it into pieces. Ted and Jasmine were thrown the cabin. Too much was happening. The next thing they knew, they were in the water, trying to swim up (wherever that was). They made it up to the surface and grabbed onto something that was floating. The rest was a blur . . .

_____oOo_____

“Mmmpf.” Jasmine looked so cute when she was starting to wake up. She scrunched her nose and rubbed it. Ted cradled her in his arms. He knew it was only a matter of time before he told her the awful truth. She looked up at him and smile. Then the color went out of her face.

“Omigod, what happened? Where are we?!”

“Don’t panic, honey, don’t panic! We’re okay, we’re okay! It’s alright.”

“Wow, what a nightmare. Oooh, I’m so stiff.”

“I know, Jaz, so am I. Listen, I have to tell you something. I think we’re the only ones on this island. We’re on a small island. I took a look around while you were sleeping.”

Jasmine asked him how long she’d been asleep. “I don’t know, but it was quite a while. We were exhausted from swimming and trying to survive all night. Anyway, it’s a fairly large island—for two people, that is. We must be on one of those many small islands in the Bahamas chain. A lot of ship debris has washed up on shore. I haven’t seen any other survivors.”

Jasmine got up and stretched. “Well, sweetie, I guess it’s just you and me. Let’s go take a look. We ought to look for food, seeing as how we don’t know how long we’ll be here, right?”

Ted looked at her with amazement and admiration. Always cool under fire. It made her brown-haired beauty more radiant. Forget how she looked in a red, form-fitting bathing suit. She was gorgeous right now.

They made their way around the island, gathering what they could. They scavenged enough to make some shelters, rough though they were. They also began gathering food (or, at least what they could tell was safe food). They ate their fill of various fruits for lunch and then went out to continue gathering. What they ended up finding was beyond their belief.

“I can’t believe it,” is all Ted could say. Before them were huge containers, taller then them and quite long. These container were similar to tractor trailers, only shorter in length and made of plastic and fiberglass. And they were filled with food.

Junk food.

After looking dumbfounded for about one minute (which seemed like eternity), Jasmine slowly smiled and said, “Well, I guess we’re set for a while.”

Ted looked at her sideways and said with a smirk, “Understatement of the century.”

They gathered up in their arms as much as they could and tromped back to camp. They settled down and gave each other full-body massages as they snacked on some Ring Dings. They drank from bottled water that they discovered in the third container. They discussed how very fortunate they had been, and how lucky that so many of the ship’s storage containers had floated to their same island.

Ted was amazed at his girlfriend’s appetite. She was scarfing those Ring Dings down like there was no tomorrow.

“Whoa, honey, take it easy! Slow down.”

Jasmine looked at him in mid-bite and smiled. After she swallowed, she simply said, “Geez, I thought I’d never hear you telling me to stop eating so much.”

“Well, actually, I wish I didn’t have to, but we need to conserve food. We don’t know how long we’ll be here.”

“Oh, no, we’re gonna be just fine. Besides, all this stress has taken its toll on me, baby. I’m starved! ”

Ted wasn’t convinced, but he let her eat and put off dealing with the situation until the next day.