I was standing on the lanai staring out at the greatest view in the world. My second floor condo was on Napili Beach on Maui, facing the island of Molokai. Beyond the small lagoon was an open waterway that was a favorite playing ground for humpback whales migrating back North this time of year.
I should have been happy; after all, it was the Christmas holidays, and I was in Paradise. But I was alone for the first time in 30 years. My wife had left me for another, younger man, and the one thing that I insisted on in an otherwise-amicable split of assets was the Hawaiian vacation we had scheduled (and which I knew she would love to take her new "boy-toy" on). So here I was, with 15 days to kill in "our" favorite spot in the world.
I don't want to dwell on the past. Suffice it to say that I had gotten past the shock, anger, hurt, and "oh, poor me" stages and was ready to start the rest of my life. I had maintained more than $2 million in the assets split, was on good terms with our 22-year-old daughter who now worked in Denver, and had a consulting job that allowed me to work when and where I wanted. I had worked hard to take off 30 pounds of middle-age fat and was in better shape than I'd been in 20 years.
I was determined that I was going to enjoy this vacation. I didn't realize just how much it would define my life. Besides the shirts, shorts, and sandals that are all you need to go anywhere on the island, I had brought a digital camera, a dozen paperbacks, my MP3 player, and plenty of running clothes. I stopped at a local snorkel shop for mask and fins and was now ready for two weeks of sun, sand, and sea.
Since it was mid-morning, the first thing on my agenda was a 5-mile run. I walked back into the condo and had just put my jogging shorts on when I heard voices coming from the unit directly below me. Great, there goes the neighborhood! Water running, doors slamming, flip-flops flopping. I grabbed my shoes and followed the noises out toward the beach. Looking over the railing of my lanai I saw three ladies appear below, heading toward the beach a few yards away. OK, there couldn't be many more in that 1-bedroom unit, and at least they weren't grade school kids. I sat on the lounge chair to put my shoes on, checked that my key was tucked away in my hidden pocket, and stood up to go back inside. I glanced out at the beach and saw my downstairs neighbors at the water's edge, all shading their eyes and staring out to sea. Maybe they see whales, I thought. Grabbing a pair of binoculars (conveniently provided by the condo owners), I started scanning in the direction they were looking. Sure enough two spouts appeared several hundred yards out.
"Good eyes!" I yelled to the trio. They turned and I gave them a grin and thumbs-up. They waved as one and turned back to watch.
Whale watching from the beach is tough, especially at water's edge. I had the better view from the second floor, particularly with the high-powered binoculars. I could see the size and regal beauty of the largest whale and recognized the second as a much smaller animal.
"It's a mother and calf," I yelled to the girls. They obviously heard me since the middle one started to jump up and down in excitement. I aimed the binoculars down at the movement, and was rewarded with a view of a spectacular pair of legs-runner's legs, if I wasn't mistaken. No, three great pairs of legs, all slightly tanned like they had just arrived like myself. Since all three had cover-ups on, I could only guess at ages or shapes beyond the legs. A passing lecherous thought, and I returned to watching the whales. They eventually sounded and the show was over.
Turning to head back into the condo, I thought to myself, "This is a good start to the vacation. Whales in the first hour, and I've kind of broken the ice with my neighbors." I assumed they were attached, gay, old, or out of my league; but at least they wouldn't look at me like a freak if I spoke to them again.
I headed out of the condo complex on my run. Napili is an isolated community but is right next to Kapalua at the western edge of the "tourist" part of Maui. So it wasn't more than a mile before I was running on roads that were mostly for local and a few surfers' use. For 45 minutes I listened to music and thought about filling the companionship gap during my stay. First, I needed to find out more about my downstairs neighbors. Then there was a cute girl (mid-twenties) who worked in Lahaina and had attracted my attention the last time I was here with my wife. Back then I just passed it off as flirting-now I could see if it was more than that. And if none of that worked out, I'd check the beaches in Kannapali and Kehei, where I knew that at least the snorkeling and bikini watching were worth the drives.
I had turned around and was nearly back to Kapalua when I saw another jogger approaching. It was clearly a woman. As she came nearer, I recognized the "bouncer" from the beach. She was about 5'4", late 30's, about 110 pounds, with dishwater blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. A black sports bra kept very nice B or C tits squeezed in for jogging, wrap-around mirrored sunglasses hid her eyes, and her skimpy running shorts highlighted those legs I had noticed before.
I took out my earbuds and said "Hi, neighbor," as we passed. She glanced at me, quickly smiled then turned immediately to join me as we jogged along the sea wall.
"Hi-you're the guy in the condo above us, right?" she said as she caught up on my right. Not surprisingly, she wasn't even breathing hard since she had just started out.
"That's me-Steve Riggs. Are you heading back already?' I asked.
"Jenny Hendricks," she said as she held out her left had palm up.
I slapped it in greeting. My sweat didn't seem to bother her. We ran back toward the condo, even though Jenny had just started. She said that she just needed to loosen up after the trip from the mainland. As we talked, it turned out that Jenny, Susan, and Amber were all from Seattle and were in Hawaii to celebrate Amber's 30th birthday as well as Susan's recent divorce. I took that opportunity to give Jenny the short version of my story, without sounding bitter. While I hadn't met the other two ladies, I didn't want to kill all chances with Jenny by coming across as someone needing a shoulder to cry on. No one comes to Maui for that.
Jenny asked me how far I'd run, and seemed impressed with my answer. I pointed out that I was in the best shape of my life and that I normally ran at 6000 feet, making sea level seem easy. Her eyes looked me up and down as we ran; I assumed she was assessing my comment about being in shape.
We reached the condo complex, stopped, and stretched for a few minutes. It was now my turn to more thoroughly take in the charms of my "running mate". Jenny had spread her legs apart, bent over at the waist and was pushing on the ground. The shorts pulled up to expose her taut inner thighs. The globes of her ass were clearly defined by the nylon shorts, and the small of her back was sexy as hell. She caught me looking at her tight butt and thighs as she looked up between her legs. I smiled and said, "Let me help."