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Lauren continued to cling to me, figuratively if not literally. She was hanging on my every word and laughing at every joke, even the ones I didn’t actually make. It was an act she continued when we got into the cabs. Carrie and Thomas were in one while me and Lauren took the other.
I was pretty sure that Lauren was going for a raise or even trying to sleep her way to the top. It was a difficult decision but I decided to go along to throw her off the scent so she wouldn’t suspect my feelings for Carrie. Lauren was just narcissistic enough to believe she was the only one I could possibly like and wasn’t about to report on herself.
The resort was one of the newer ones. I would have rented four villas, but it was a bit too much of an undertaking and I wanted to keep us all close. Particularly me and Carrie. Distributing the room keys, we had some down time to shower and change and so forth.
I had just showered the morning we left and was still pretty fresh. The heavy heat and high humidity did want me to change into different clothes.
Trading my khakis for another identical pair, I slipped into a white silk shirt, only fastening the minimum number of buttons to be acceptable in polite society. It was actually a nice break after so many years of corporate formality.
Regrouping in the lobby, we took a cab to one of the finer restaurants in the area. The reservation was made two weeks before. As was the general requirement. I gave a moment’s thought to ordering the pig but wasn’t sure how it would go over. All of us went for pretty safe and standard fare.
Lauren was her usual charming self, all but squeezing my knee under the table and acting like I was the most wonderful guy in the entire world. It was something that was nice to feel on occasion, but I was still self-aware enough to know it wasn’t true.
I did my best but knew full well that I still had drawbacks. I generally agreed with the idea that the unexamined life is not worth living. Lauren could have benefited from a bit of this insight.
As casually as I could, I checked in with Carrie at various points over the evening. Every time I found her to be quiet and reclusive, barely looking at the server as she ordered. She was certainly not looking my way.
Had I had the guts, I would have taken her hand under the table just to let her know what was really going on. I was interested in her, not Lauren. I was just arrogant enough to think that she might light like me too. To be fair, there were clues up long before that.
Freeing myself from Lauren’s heavily perfumed clutches, I retired to my room for the night. I looked forward to relaxing for the rest of the evening and recharging and preparing for the next day. Alas, it was not to be.
The bing rang through the room like Hemingway’s famous bell. Though I didn’t even have to ask for whom it tolled I knew full well that it tolled for me.
“What’s the good news?”
“Sorry man, only bad,” Mitch said, followed by a cough.
“Fires, floods, viral plague?” I asked, meaning it as a joke.
“Two out of three ain’t bad.”
“Serious?”
“As Covid. It actually came. Looks like you just got out in time.
“Lucky me,” I said, not meaning a word of it.
“You have no idea. Then again, I just have a cold and was staying home anyway.”
Chapter Eight – Carrie
It seemed like a good idea at the time. Sometimes there really were cases in which that was the only thing to say. I knew this but never really thought I would be thinking it about one of my actions. Still, I felt really bad about ignoring Max like I was. My jealousy burned a bright green flame, making me act crazy. I guessed that he had noticed. It would be pretty hard not to with how friendly I would go out of my way to be at the office. I had to get him alone so I could explain myself.
We were planning to go to the beach after breakfast. While I still wasn’t confident to dress how I wanted to, even if the restaurant was outside, I decided to go for a layered thing. I wore my very sexy string bikini under a short, gauzy dress. Of course, Lauren had the same idea. Only her bikini was even smaller, and her dress was basically translucent, giving quite a good idea what she looked like underneath.
We nearly bumped into each other in the hall coming out of our rooms. Fortunately, she was surprised enough not to think about breaking into a run, which I did. I got to the table several minutes ahead of her. Max and Thomas were already there in their golfer gear.
