A few hours later, the beautiful island of Tobago came into view. The white beaches created a lovely contrast against the gorgeous blue waters.

Hannah got lost inthought as the view before her mesmerised her into silence. It was not herfirst visit, but the islands never ceased to amaze her every time she saw them.

Trinidad and Tobago was a beautiful twin-island state, with Tobago being the more touristy of the two. Hannah had always enjoyed coming to the islands with Mikayla. She reminisced on their Carnival trips and, even though Nottingham had its own similar celebration, nothing could beat a Trinidad Carnival. There was just something euphoric and unique about the experience.

Caribbean people were recognised for knowing how to have a good time. This meant that having the smaller wedding in Tobago was really a good idea. Seeing all the preparations that had taken place over the last few months coming to fruition had been very exciting.

Excluding everyone on the jet, a total of seventy people would be attending the wedding. Mikayla's family and friends made up fifty-five of those guests, consisting mostly of family from Mikayla's mother's side, as her relationship with her father and his family had broken down over the years. This resulted in only one aunt from his side attending, who had always remained in contact with her mother Cynthia over the years, and Mikayla always visited her when she visited the islands.

In terms of the physical wedding preparations, Mikayla had decided on having everything catered from the islands itself. The only things that they would be bringing from London were their clothes. All the decorations, as well as the food, were being taken care of by the locals.

Even though Damien had the money to fly in world renounced florists and chefs, Mikayla had stated that they would not be able to give them an authentic Tobago wedding experience, as they would have been outsiders. That, and Mikayla would rather the money go into the pockets of those living on the island itself than some already rich person. Hannah agreed, seeing as the London wedding was proving to become beyond over the top as things progressed.

"Welcome to Tobago!" the announcement from the pilot brought Hannah out of her thoughts.

As they disembarked from the aircraft, they were instantly hit by a wave of warm tropical breeze. The airfield was located right next to the ocean and everyone walked through the small airport, from where a large maxi-taxi would be waiting to take them to the hotel.

Tariq looked around, taking in everything around him. He could not believe that such a small airport handled international flights. After all, the island was only 20km long. He simply could not imagine a Boeing 777-200 landing on that strip. However, he knew it was possible, since there was a weekly direct flight via British Airways to London.

"Is that a chicken?" Mrs. Clemons suddenly spoke up.

She noticed the bird crossing the road and stopping by the door of a fried chicken restaurant and burst out laughing at the irony.

"Welcome to Tobago," Mikayla chuckled, as they all got into the minibus.

They had booked a large portion of a resort that was located next to Pigeon Point beach where the wedding would be taking place. Each hotel room that was reserved had a balcony and gorgeous sea views. The accommodations came with all the amenities, including a huge pool as well as spa services available to the guests. There was also a large restaurant, which featured the same beautiful view of the ocean. The remaining rooms, not occupied by Mikayla and the others, would be used by the rest of the wedding guests who would be coming in later that week.

Seeing as their plane had landed just before 10am, they would spend the rest of Saturday, as well as the Sunday, relaxing while taking in some of the local sights. The real work would begin on Monday and Hannah could not wait to have everything finalised.

In the lobby, everyone agreed to meet for dinner at the hotel's restaurant later that night. Hannah and Tariq decided to meet with Damien and Mikayla in two hours, so that they could go and search for some food.

Back up in the hotel room, after they had freshened up, Tariq had seemed to have misplaced his phone. He asked Hannah if she could call it while he went back into the bathroom to comb his hair.

Shaking her head, Hannah dialled his number. The faint sound of his ringtone was heard from the side of the two-seater couch. It must have fallen out of his bag at some point when he had rested it on the seat.

As she picked up his phone, she could not help but smile as the incoming Caller-ID read 'My Woman <3' it was accompanied by her funny pig-face picture that she had put on his phone months ago.

"I can't believe he's kept that awful picture after all this time," she said softly, her heart warming.

Looking over her shoulder to make sure that he was still in the bathroom, Hannah unlocked his phone and took a new picture of herself. In this one, she did not make a funny face, but instead she was smiling up at the camera blowing him a kiss.

————— ▲ —————

"Come on you guys it's lunch time! If we don't hurry all the curry crab and dumpling will be sold out!" Mikayla said excitedly.

Her animated movements causing the sleeveless cotton beach cover-up that she wore to sway. The bright yellow shade of the thin caftan contrasted beautifully against Mikayla's skin. Her dark curly hair was untied and flowed freely down her back.

She made sure that everyone packed a change of clothes as well as some beach towels. As they loaded their things into the trunk of their rental SUV, Mikayla reinforced the need to make sure that they were all heavily covered in sun block.

"You guys look like such tourists, and what's with those pants!" Hannah snickered as she took in Damien and Tariq's appearance.

Both men wore obnoxious-looking beach shorts with palm trees, which they paired with white vests and black flip-flops. It was obvious that it was planned, as their shorts were identical in design, except that Tariq wore bright red and Damien bright blue.

"Good-looking ones at least," Damien said with a grin as the men flexed their muscles.

The women rolled their eyes and ushered them towards the vehicle. Damien drove them towards Store Bay beach, where there was a plethora of kiosks that sold all sorts of different types of Caribbean cuisine. The food court area was very close to the ocean, the soothing sound of the waves crashing against the shore could be heard between the sounds of the soca music that was playing through someone's speakers.

Tariq was in charge of finding somewhere for the group to sit, while the rest of them went in search of food. He found a round empty table under one of the many gazebos and he could not help but admire Hannah as she stood in line waiting for their food.

The cover-up that she wore was a simple black mesh top that reached the middle of her thighs, it did little to hide her white bikini. His hands were itching to just pull at the strings. The last three months had been nothing short of amazing.

Of course, they had had the odd hindrance here and there, when Hannah's emotions had threatened to get in the way. However, to his amazement, she had indeed kept her word on trying to embrace the feelings that she felt for him.

While she may not have been the most vocally expressive person as far as her emotions were concerned, Tariq knew without a doubt that her feelings for him were growing. Rather than hiding them, she was slowly beginning to embrace them. He was very grateful and happy the way things had been progressing in their relationship, even if they did not have any labels attached to what they were.

"It doesn't matter anyway for I'm absolutely in love with her," he said to himself as he continued to look at Hannah.

Before coming to Tobago, he had planned to do something special for her once the wedding was over. They would not be returning to London until the following Wednesday, so they would have three relaxing days to themselves. Since Damien had visited the island a few times with Mikayla, he had sought out his advice.

While on the plane, Damien had discreetly mentioned something about a beach called Lover's Bay, also known as Pink Sands Beach. It sounded perfect and he knew exactly what he would plan for Hannah. Tariq insisted that whatever he had planned would take place after the wedding, even though Damien said he could do it before.

Tariq shook himself out of his thoughts and smiled as he watched Mikayla, Damien and Hannah approach the table with bags of food in their hands.

"Okay, so I got us all Tobago's famous crab and dumpling, as well as some servings of barbeque pigtail," Mikayla said as they all sat down to eat.

"This is absolutely delicious!" Tariq commented as he ate, particularly enjoying the spicy pepper sauce.

Damien agreed in between bites, "It's always one of the first things I come to get once we land, that and doubles!"

"I can see why!" Tariq remarked before asking, "What is doubles?"

"It's a common breakfast item and snack made with two baras, which is basically flat fried dough that is filled with curry channa, or chickpeas as it's known to some," Mikayla replied as she continued to explain, "and people put all sorts toppings in the form of a variety of chutneys like mango and cucumber, not to mention the different sauces that they can put on it. We'll get you some tomorrow!" she added excitedly.

"Oh yes the sauces are to die for!" Hannah said as her eyes glazed over as she added, "The tamarind sauce is my favourite. Doubles at first might look a bit messy as it's not really a food that photographs well, but it's so damn delicious!"

Damien chimed in again saying, "It's like what the late Anthony Bourdain said, 'if you don't start your day with doubles, it will never be perfect' and that's coming from a world-famous celebrity chef!"

"Why is it called doubles though?" Tariq asked genuinely curious.

"Well the story is, in the beginning it only used to be served with a single bara but customers asked to have it 'doubled' up, and so the name was born," Mikayla said with a slight shrug, "at least that's what I was told."

The group had a great time as they continued to eat and chat. Their eyes often drifting towards the blue water in the distance.

"The beach here is beautiful," Tariq could not help but comment.

"You haven't seen anything yet!" Mikayla said enthusiastically, her eyes bright as she went on to say, "Tomorrow we'll all go on a drive around the island. Pirate's Bay, Englishman's Bay, as well as Castara are some of my favourites. There's also a small fishing village at Parlatuvier Beach that we need to check out."

"Sounds great!" Tariq replied.

Hannah nodded, "You'll love it! I still remember the last time we came with Cynthia and Roger; we packed a cooler full of drinks and visited almost every beach that we drove past. We ate at almost every stop too, trying out different things."

"Yea," Damien said chiming in, "the food here is just the best! I'm not that familiar with the roads to the north of the island though, so we'll be driving behind Mikayla's parents as they lead the way."

"A little mini-vacation before we get to work on finalising the wedding. The countdown is on!" Hannah beamed.

As the quartet relaxed, allowing their food to digest before going onto the beach, a young man appeared and began playing an instrument that Tariq had never seen before. The unique sound immediately captivated him.

"What is that?" he enquired.

Mikayla smiled as she answered proudly, "That my dear is what we call a steel-pan. It was invented in Trinidad and Tobago and is widely regarded as the only major musical instrument to be invented in the 20th century."

With a happy sigh, Tariq closed his eyes for moment, enjoying the instrument's unique and melodic sound, "Fascinating."

"It is," Damien said as he added, "you should hear them as a whole band, there's different sizes so they all have different resonances. Such a beautiful and distinctive sound, I promise you that you'll never hear anything else like it in the world."

Tariq was about to say something else when Hannah's loud shriek of excitement was heard as she suddenly spotted a van pulling up that sold coconuts.

"Oh! Let's get some coconut water and jelly!" she said grabbing Tariq's hand.

Mikayla and Damien smiled as they watched the couple interact with the vendor as he cut the coconuts for them, Hannah no doubt talking both men's ears off with her exhilaration.

————— ▲ —————

The next day started fairly early as Mikayla and her mother set out to show their guests the beauty that was Tobago.

As promised, they went for doubles in the morning. And, to no one's surprise, Tariq enjoyed them immensely. He loved the taste of the pepper sauce so much that he ended up asking for more. This surprised the Indian vendor, who had assumed he was white. Tariq went on to explain that he was half Qatari and was used to eating spicy foods.

While they stood by the doubles stand, eating, a half-drunk man idly crossed the road and almost caused a passing car to hit him.

The driver shouted, "Get yuh ass outta dey blasted road!"

To which the intoxicated man replied, "Haul yuh mudda cunt!"

Hannah giggled slightly as the latter term always elicited a laugh out of her. It always amused her when Mikayla said it, but hearing it in a proper Trinbagonian accent was something truly unforgettable.

"So much action in the morning and it's not even 8:30 as yet," Tariq commented with a smile.

"I know right! I just love this place!" Hannah responded.

Once everyone had eaten their fill, they got into their vehicles and headed towards a lovely day out. Hannah hated to admit it, but she really enjoyed being with Tariq. The way he would subtly touch her when no one was looking, how carefree and easy-going he was, made being around him all the more pleasurable.

In the three months that they had been dating, he had not once put any pressure on her. He never pushed to label what they had, and she could be herself without having to worry. To Hannah, this was something of great importance.

It still amazed her that, after all this time, he was still here. She would have thought that he would have grown fed up of her by now. However, he really did seem to understand the emotional battles that she was dealing with and, as promised, he had remained at her side every step of the way.

Even though she had not officially called Tariq her boyfriend, they both knew that he was and that they were both in a committed relationship with each other. They did not need labels to define what their relationship was, all that mattered between them was how they felt.

Although Hannah was still having problems voicing her feelings, Tariq knew exactly how she felt about him. The way she kissed him and held him told him everything that her voice could not.

Later that night, when they were curled up in bed, Hannah whispered against his chest, "I'm really glad that you're here with me."

"I told you Hannah, I'm not going anywhere," Tariq replied softly as he kissed the top of her head.

————— ▲ —————

The following week seemed to pass in a blur, and in no time, it was Friday night and the wedding would be taking place the next day.

Everyone had been such a pleasure to work with. The final preparations would take place on the wedding day itself. The beach in front of the hotel still needed to be decorated for the ceremony. Hannah was so glad that it was a private beach, so that they were able to have exclusive access for the wedding.

Mikayla did not want a bachelorette party. Instead, she opted to have a nice dinner with those closest to her.

"Ready for the big day tomorrow?" Sophie asked Mikayla and Damien excitedly, as they all sat around a large table, having dinner at a restaurant.

The couple nodded. The love flowing between them was undeniable. To the point that anyone who saw them could not help but feel themselves drawn into a cocoon of emotions. After dinner, everyone went onto the dancefloor and slow-danced with their respective partners.

While holding Hannah close to him, Tariq whispered in her ear, "I'm so proud of everything that you've done this week. This wedding is going to be amazing. The ease with which you planned everything it was as though taking candy from a baby."

Chuckling softly as she leaned more into him, "You've clearly never tried taking candy from a baby, have you?" Hannah replied and then said, "But thank you for the compliment, I really did try my best, I want this to be perfect for them. Not to mention the help from everyone else involved, it would not have been possible."

They continued to dance slowly; their bodies pressed together as they fluidly moved as one. If someone had told Hannah four months ago that by the time Mikayla's Tobago wedding arrived, she would have been committed to a long-term relationship, she would have given them the finger and told them to bugger off.

Yet here she was, having repeated sexual relations with one man and enjoying it. Each day she found herself feeling emotions that she had not thought herself capable of. Looking back on that night when she had run off from Tariq's penthouse, she could not help but smile. So much had changed since that night. Hannah no longer ran from her emotions. Instead, she took her time to analyse them and face them head on.

With Tariq at her side, she did not feel as afraid. He was unlike any other man that she had encountered in her past. Not to mention, Mikayla and Damien had been so supportive of their relationship.

"How things have changed," Hannah said softly to herself, a small smile on her face as she rested her cheek against Tariq's warm chest.

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A/N: Yes, Anthony Bourdain really did say that. Also, when Andrew Zimmern visited Trinidad and Tobago he said it was some of the best food he had ever had in his life!

I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and was able to get a little taste of the islands.

"Maxi-Taxis" are private, owner-operated minibuses in Trinidad and Tobago that are used in public transport.

Soca music originated in the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago. It is widely accepted to have been created by Lord Shorty also known as the "Soul of Calypso". He noticed that Calypso music was being threatened by the more popular reggae music and attempted to create a new hybrid that was more appealing to the masses. He fused Indian music with Calypso music and this resulted in a more energetic hybrid called solka, which later became known as soca. The music is a modern form of calypso with an up-tempo beat.

The "Steel-pan" is a tuned idiophone traditionally made from an oil drum, but today is made of high-quality steel. To make a steel drum, or a pan, the bottom of an oil drum is first pounded into a bowl, then shaped and tuned with hammers to form distinct resonating surfaces. Steel bands are stylistically versatile, but the most common steel band conventions of melodic phrasing and rhythmic structure are related to Calypso music.

Many of you may be more familiar with the popular "Handpan" well this instrument is derived from the steelpan.