The sun burned fiercely in Zanzibar as Samantha stepped off the ferry. Her flowered dress and ponytail danced to the breeze. There was excitement in her eyes and relief within her to have finally arrived after hours of travelling. She couldn't wait to get to her already booked hotel room as she dragged her heavy suitcase along.
It was her first vacation alone as an adult and she was hyped about it.
Her slippers slapped against the terrazzo floor as she made her way into the hotel reception. The interior was a testament to the ancient Swahili architecture.
She pushed her sunglasses off he eyes and her hair and gave a friendly smile to the beautiful receptionist "Hello" she greeted
"Hi, welcome to Blue Haven Resort,”
"Thank you. Please, a reservation for Samantha Smith," she asked, still wearing a friendly smile while scanning the hotel's beauty with her eyes.
"Just a second, ma'am,", the receptionist said with a smile, searching the system before her for reservations with the said name.
Just then, the reception door creaked open, and a tall, handsome guy walked in the door dragging his suitcase along, which looked exactly like hers, Samantha was nearly drooling at the sight of the handsome man when her attention was called back by the receptionist.
"Miss Samantha Smith, room 208. Enjoy your stay" she continued, handing over the keys to Samantha while pointing to a big door nearby.
Samantha only nodded, turned and took another state at the handsome man who was already standing at the counter with a cute smile. Then she dragged her suitcase with her at the same time wondering why a man could be so handsome.
Her hotel room smelled of fresh lavender and tasted of salty air. Somehow she loved it.
She walked to the windows and pushed them open to a breathtaking view of the beach and tall coconut trees standing by its sides as if they were guarding the beautiful crystal liquid that stretched before them.
"I'm gonna love it here", she announced to herself, then walked over to the silk-covered bed and plopped onto the soft bed. It wasn't long before she dozed off.
She woke up after to take a cold shower. She pulled her bag closer, she needed new clothes to change after her bath. But as she tried opening it, it was a bit difficult to open which she found weird. With frustration she forced the bag open only to realize that it was filled with strange items: a bundle of cash wrapped in rubber bands, a gun, and a stack of passports, none of which had her name. Her heart thudded in her chest.
She had switched her suitcase with the dude at the reception. Did she just switched bags with a handsome killer?
Quickly, she shut the bag and dragged it to the reception
"Excuse me" she called the attention of the receptionist. "I think I must have mixed up my bag earlier with the other dude that came in as I was leaving"
"Apologies ma'am. We'll sort it out right away," the receptionist stepped out to get the bag from her.
But a deep voice came from behind "No need to worry. I have your suitcase here".
Samantha turned to see the handsome tall guy from earlier step into the reception. He had her bag with him. She felt shivers run through her body but she tried to play cool, acting like she hadn't seen the contents of the bag.
Was he a cop or a killer? She couldn't tell and wasn't interested to find out. All she cared for was to return the bag, get hers and walk back into the comfort of her hotel room. But her fears were too strong to hide.
" I'm so sorry" she apologized, swallowing hard. She was almost sweating."Same kind of err....bag, I mistakenly thought it was mine".
"It's fine. It happens" The handsome guy said with a big smile. "I'm Adrian, by the way", he added.
"Samantha"
"You know it's weird we're in an air-conditioned environment, and you're sweating,"Adrian said, wiping sweat off her head.
Samantha stood there frozen as he touched her. Several things ran through her mind as he touched her. Was she giving off so much clue that she had seen the contents of the bag? Or was he trying to get her DNA and track her later?
"Uh.. it's... it's just genetics. I sweat a lot," she lied, avoiding his gaze, too, as she dragged her bag. "Sorry for the mix-up", she apologized and walked to her room. She could feel Adrian's stare on her.
She got to her room, slammed the door shut, and locked it behind her. Then she took a deep breath, relieved to have escaped. She opened her bag, pulled out her toiletries and clean clothes, and walked to the bathroom.
A few minutes later, she walked out of the bathroom, drying her hair with the towel, to see Adrian seated on her bed. She stopped in her tracks as fear gripped her.
"You opened it, didn't you?" Adrian spoke before she could ask what and how he got into her room.
"How did you get in here?" Samantha asked, eyes wide open.
"That doesn't answer my question. Did you open it?" He asked again, standing up to face her.
Samantha noticed he had a gun in his hands. She nodded immediately. She was shaking to her feet by now.
Adrian walked closer to her. He could hear her breath and feel her shake. "You don't look like a spy, you certainly don't behave like one. And I'm done with so much violence for today. So, you're lucky I'll let this slide. But if you let anyone know what you saw today let alone call the cops and blow my cover and mission. I'll find you, Samantha Smith." he said, looking into her eyes. Then he walked to the door.
Samantha stood there like her feet were glued to the ground. She wondered how she knew her full name. She remembered only telling him her first name. Just at the door, Samantha asked
"Who are you? The good guy or bad guy?" She didn't know where the courage to ask that came from. But she just wanted to know.
Adrian turned and looked at her with a smirk on his face, "I'm just that guy making the world safer for people like you". Then he walked out the door.
Again Samantha couldn't tell what he meant by that. Quickly, she ran and locked her door. She sat on the bed and took deep breaths. Then, she got up and packed her luggage. She wasn't going to spend another minute in that hotel.
To her, it was better to spend money to book a new hotel than to risk her life staying in the Blue Haven Resort.
