Love in Paradise by Maya Sheppard Page A

she had yet to become dissuaded. She was fully expecting to find the love of her life, and perhaps even experience the incredible honeymoon that she had arranged for so many others in the past.
    Was it possible? If there was one thing she had learned at this point, it was that love was not something to be sought out; it would come when the time was right, not before, not after, though possibly sometime in between.
    Lost in her thoughts, Nika had dozed off, her hand still clutching the black binder laying neatly across her lap. Her brief, unsatisfying sleep lasted until she heard the all too familiar *Ding!* followed by the canned announcement:
    “Attention passengers, we will be landing at Sian International Airport in approximately fifteen minutes, the captain has turned on the fasten seatbelt sign. Please power down any electronics including laptop computers, and make sure your tray tables are in their upright and locked positions. Once again, thank you for flying Intercontinental.”
    The stewardess abruptly ended her speech and placed the handset back into the receiver. Nika was close enough to the front of the plane to hear the clack! as the plastic shell pressed on the button. As promised, the plane finally began to make its descent, and before she knew it,   she felt the familiar ‘thud’ as the landing gear struck the tarmac. It was time -- finally time to disembark and begin doing her job -- except...
    “Attention passengers, welcome to Sian Island, we’re experiencing a slight delay as another aircraft is parked in our spot. We expect to be delayed another fifteen minutes. Please feel free to remove your seatbelts and use any electronic devices you might be carrying...”
    There was an audible sigh from nearby passengers, some of which became more of an angry huff. Nika on the other hand was not in a hurry. She took the opportunity to take out her smartphone and browse to the IM application. The ‘SmartIM’ logo appeared promptly on the screen and logged in with the usual screen name. There was only one name in her contact list: Maria. Her supervisor at Sojourn. Nika opened the IM window and began to type with the on-screen keyboard.
    Nika: Plane touched down, delayed on runway.
              Maria: Great! Did you read the packet?
              Nika: A little bit -- I fell asleep on the plane :(
              Maria: Please, PLEASE read over it before you meet with the hotel manager!
              Maria: Nika?
    At that moment it was announced that the plane would be would be taxied into the gate, and the passengers would be permitted to disembark. Nika switched the device off and waited patiently for the plane to make contact with the terminal. Slowly but surely this event came to pass. As the plane parked into what would surely be a temporary resting place,
    Nika smoothed her skirt as she stood and removed her small suitcase from the overhead compartment. Following the steady line of people, she wandered into the airport and walked immediately to baggage claim, joining a crowd of passengers, some who waited patiently, and others who were visibly irritated by the delay.
    After a few moments of waiting, her bag, a larger version of her carry on rode into view. She removed it from the conveyer belt and walked swiftly through the terminal, her three inch heels making their patented *click* *clack* sound until she stepped onto the carpet outside the baggage claim.
    As she walked through the busy airport she noted that this small sampling of the population was comprised of a melting pot -- every sort of individual from every walk of life from black to white, Christian to Muslim. Nika recalled from the information packet that the majority of the population here was comprised of expatriates -- people who had not abandoned their home countries but rather had the desire to live elsewhere. Aside from the expatriates, there were plenty of tourists. Families with