“What’s that?” he asked, taking a drink of his coffee and nodding his approval; his mood already improving.
“How doyoufeel about me being your Guide?”
He looked surprised, as if his feelings on the subject weren’t something he expected to be consulted on. “Oh…well, I mean, what you just said makes sense. Plus, Dad said you used to be a Guide here, so if I needed, like…actual guidance, you had the experience and wouldn’t just be filling the role to fill the role.”
“Ever the pragmatist, that one,” I said with a sigh and a shake of my head. “Now, what else? Is that okay?”
“I mean, sure.”
“Alright, so clearly, getting you to talk about your feelings and your wants and needs is as much a struggle with you as it is with your dad,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “We came up with this plan to make things simpler,butI will make adjustments if that would make you more comfortable.”
“No, it’s fine. I just…it’s different, so I’m kind of trying to go with things,” he said, ducking his head and shrugging. “I don’t…most of the time, I know exactly what I’m doing with my day, hell, my whole month. Mom always made sure of it and then made sure I was staying on top of it. The chance to just…exist without doing…sounds weird but kinda great too?”
“Well, you’ll be delighted to know that not only is that allowed here, but it’s encouraged for someone in our Relax category,” I said with a chuckle. “So, if that’s what you want to do, then by all means, take the opportunity.”
“And I mean with you…yeah, that’s great actually,” he said with a shy smile. “I mean, I know you and I text, and we talk sometimes when you can remember to pick your head up and breathe from all the work you do, but I haven’t spent time with you in a while. I know you’re still going to be busy, but if you’re my official buddy or babysitter or whatever…that counts as hanging out, right?”
“I’m not your babysitter. No Guide is a babysitter,” I told him quickly. “Buddy is…closer to what we try to achieve. It gets more complicated in our more at-risk categories, but even then, we make sure the guests know they aren’t beholden to their Guides; they aren’t subservient.”
Jude nodded. “And…Dad said you had a few things you wanted to talk to me about?”
I snorted. “Get that look off your face; it’s nothing bad. But you’re here because the guys here agreed that you being here wasn’t going to be a problem for them. There was the stipulation that you wouldn’t go into the group therapy sessions; that’s ourbiggest thing. If you want a one-on-one session, no problem. There’s also keeping quiet about who you are; that’s a big one. We mentioned you were interested in how this place functions for your upcoming studies.”
“I can do that,” Jude said with a shrug. “I don’t…wanna be Dad’s kid here, anyway. Feels like everyone would treat me differently, and I don’t want that.”
“Good, then it won’t be a problem,” I said with a shrug. “Otherwise, everything else can be covered on the tour. How hungry are you?”
“Kind of starving, actually,” he admitted.
“Good, we’ll get you something from the cafeteria,” I said, telling him what the normal food hours were, that the food served was never the same unless someone had a restrictive diet, and that he could always see what the meal plan for the week was on the panel in his room or on any tablet connected to the system. “But don’t worry, there’s always snacks and stuff in the cafeteria as well, so you don’t have to wait between meals. Which is what we’ll be doing because someone slept in and probably doesn’t want to wait until lunchtime.”
The growl of his stomach was answer enough, and I told him to get ready. That apparently required him to shower and fix himself up, and I didn’t know if that was just the fastidiousness he had gained from his parents or if he thought there was someone he needed to impress. Either way, it let me go through messages in the system waiting for me, so that would be less for me to deal with later.
It wasn’t my first one-on-one with Jude, but it was the first in a while, and I liked it. He had always been a bright kid, and he hadn’t dimmed with age and experience. He took to what I told him with ease and seemed to absorb it quickly, and he asked some pretty solid questions that actually made me smile as I showed him the facilities.
“Are the hot springs…are you supposed to be naked?” he asked hesitantly after I’d shown him the gym and locker rooms and led him toward the entrance that would take him to the springs. No one was in them, but the steam filled the air pleasantly as we stood there.
“No, we have bathing shorts that are allowed in the springs. Just rinse you and your shorts off before getting in,” I told him with a shrug.
“I’d probably be the odd man out with shorts on, huh?” he asked wryly.
“Probably,” I said with a chuckle. “But like I said, the guys here know a little about you, so they know you’re young. They won’t be surprised if you’re a little…not into being naked around a bunch of guys.”
“Well, no, it’s not…” he said and then shrugged. “It would be a little weird, but I guess I’d adjust pretty quickly.”
“That’s up to you,” I said. “I’d offer to join you so you feel less awkward, but that somehow seems more awkward.”
“Probably,” he said, and I thought he looked startled. “That’s…that’s okay. You don’t have to do that.”
“Well, if it’s worry about my nakedness, then you want to avoid the springs while I’m in them, the locker room while I’m changing, and since you don’t have access to my room, you don’t have to worry about that part because I’m not worried about being naked around here,” I said, gesturing. “C’mon, there’s more to see.”
There was the Observation Room at the tallest part of the resort, its quiet seclusion a popular place for the guys to sit and relax with nothing bothering them. There were the activity rooms where mostly yoga classes went on, but they were also used if the guys wanted to drag out board games where they could be as loud and competitive as they wanted.
“What are they loudest about?” Jude asked as I explained the multifaceted aspects of the rooms.
“Uno,” I said with a snort. “And this is our medical wing. Which is just a fancy word for a small clinic, well-equipped though, and if you ever need medical whatever, that’s the place to go. Also, if you want condoms and lube, that’s always popular.”
Now he looked surprised. “Wait, what?”
