Emmett knocked politely at the door then stepped back setting his suitcase on the sand as sweat starting to trickle down his back. He'd misjudged how hot Sulani would be this early on a spring morning and how long of a walk it was from the station.
"Emmett, right?" He turned and found himself face to face with a girl of about his age, a mane of dishevelled blonde hair paired with a dress she might've slept in.
"Yes, that's me. You're the landlord?". She looked too young, he realised as soon as the words left his mouth.
She chuckled and shook her head. "I'm Serena. I'm staying here too. I got a message saying you'd be arriving today. Although I didn't realise it would be quite this early" she said with a mock sigh, a smile playing about her mouth.
"I'm s-sorry", he stammered a bit, caught off guard and unsure if there was an underlying criticism beneath her words. "I caught the night train", he offered as an excuse. But she had already turned grinning and grabbed his suitcase, bumping it up the steps and into the house.
"Oh..no..you don't have to", he said anxiously, starting after her. "I have breakables in th—"
"It's no problem, I've got it", she called over her shoulder. "You've got the downstairs room and the bathroom over there is pretty much yours too. I have the whole of the upstairs, and the rest is shared." She came to a stop in front of a door and offered him his suitcase. "This is you".
"I'll leave you to get settled in, just holler if you need anything".
Emmett set down his suitcase and looked around taking in the simple furnishings. This is perfect, he thought, I can get a lot of work done here.
As he gazed out of the window, he became transfixed. He'd pored over the special Sulani 'Touch Sand' edition of Touch Grass Weekly for months. But now that he was here, he could see that the photos hadn't done it justice. The palm tree-clad mountains, the turquoise waters, the sun kissed beaches - this place was magnificent.
