Cassie gave me a quick, polite nod, then headed back to the other side of the pool. Her pert butt cheeks bounced hypnotically in her skimpy bottoms as she walked away from us.
“Cassie fucking Summers. Holy shit,” Mike whispered to himself. He slapped me on the back.
I slugged him in the shoulder, hard.
“Ow! What the hell was that for!?”
*
Even though Mike and I hadn’t done anything wrong in talking to Cassie, walking back to our hotel room felt like loping home after a wilder-than-expected night out at the casino.
Disney’s Polynesian Resort Hotel (The Poly, as Mike called it), was more resort than hotel. We walked down long, winding paths that led past palm trees and tiki torches, all scattered across a faux-tropical beach landscape. Along the way were multiple multistory, longhouse-style structures. The sides were brown and topped with faux-grass-thatched, sloping roofs. I knew each building was filled with hotel rooms.
The four of us were staying on the far side of the resort, at the longhouse located furthest from the main, lobby building where the pool was. So, it took Mike and I a solid fifteen minutes to get back, giving me plenty of time to stow away any misplaced guilt.
My wife, Emily, met us at the door of our hotel room. Petite, with long brown hair up in a twist bun and dark-rimmed glasses, she was wearing a simple blue, sleeveless blouse and jeans with sandals. Even though I’m only about 5’10”, my tiny wife had to stretch up on her tippy toes to give me a kiss ‘hello’ on the cheek.
“Allison’s in the shower getting ready,” Emily told Mike.
“OK cool,” Mike said. He walked past her, then flopped onto the queen-sized bed. He immediately flipped on the TV and found SportsCenter.
I’d only stopped by the room for a second on the way to the pool earlier, so I took a moment to take another look at where we’d be sleeping for the next few days. For a theme park hotel, it was surprisingly nice. Everything felt high end, with thick carpeting and heavy wood furnishings. We were sharing this room with another couple, so the awkwardness also came standard. But overall, the place felt premium.
My pretty wife walked to the other side of the room, near a set of sliding glass doors that led out to a small balcony. There was a two-person couch next to the doors. Later, we’d fold it out to form our bed. But for now, we’d left it as a place to sit.
Emily and I had met in college, both of us quiet STEM types. I was a programmer, she was a scientist (can I make it any more obvious). We hit it off almost immediately. We got married a couple years after graduation and life had pretty much followed the storybook from there.
We both had good jobs, were making good money, and had a good-sized house in the burbs outside Philadelphia. If our lives were a Disney movie, we’d already gone past the happily ever after part and were now living the life beyond the credits; the one they don’t show you because there’s nothing interesting to see.
“How was the pool?” Emily asked me, quietly, as she sat down on the couch. She had bright green eyes, a cute, pert nose and thin lips. Like I said, she was tiny, especially next to my thick body. If she was an elf, I was definitely the ogre.
“It’s very hot out,” I said
I kept our encounter with Cassie to myself, mostly for Mike’s sake. I’d decided it was his decision if he wanted to mention we’d met her. Otherwise, I’d keep it under wraps. I’m good at keeping secrets. It’s hard to break a confidence when you don’t talk much in the first place.
“I had a nice nap,” Emily said, “Then I took a shower and got changed.”
“You look good,” I said, meaning it.
Emily gave me a quick peck on the lips. Then she darted back, like a tiny animal grabbing a piece of food before a predator could catch her.
“Hey! Get a room you two!” Mike called out to us. I hadn’t realized he’d been paying attention.
“This is our room,” Emily said, indignantly.
Mike stared over at her, eyes wide. Like me, my wife wasn’t outgoing. It was one of the reasons we made for a good pairing. But Emily was different in that she could actually hold her own once she got comfortable. She wasn’t truly shy — not really — just epically, terminally nice.
To this point, at our dinners and afternoons out as two couples, Mike had only met the timid version of Emily. Having her snap at him, give as good as she got, had to be quite the revelation. His half-hearted retort made it even clearer she’d put him on the wrong foot.
“We’re in Disney,” Mike said, “Keep it family friendly.”
Emily looked at Mike and her eyes flashed. She leaned over and gave me a full kiss on the lips. I felt myself rise to the occasion, the public nature of our affection only enhancing my arousal. I slid my hand up her side.
When we broke, Emily sat back and primly folded her hands in her lap. She colored a little bit, like even she couldn’t believe what she’d done. If Mike had been startled before, now he looked downright shocked.
Again, I wondered at the wisdom of our going on this trip in the first place. Mike and his wife had some sort of Disney timeshare setup called Disney Vacation Club, or DVC. Mike tried to explain it to us once, some complicated thing with points and use years, but we didn’t truly understand any of it — and my wife has a doctorate in chemistry. To simplify things, Mike and Allison had accidentally stored up an ‘extra’ vacation and offered to host us at the hotel for free. I like free — it fits my budget nicely — and so we agreed to go along.
But we’d been in Disney for all of five hours and already we’d had multiple uncomfortable episodes. I couldn’t see it getting any easier going forward.
Our silly standoff was interrupted by a low rumble as the shoji-style door of the bathroom slid open. Mike’s wife, Allison, walked into the room. She was wearing a bright pink tank top and a pair of mesh shorts. Her poker straight, strawberry-blonde hair was tied back in a tight ponytail.
Allison was a tall woman — at least six feet — lithe and trim, with pale skin. She had been an athlete in high school and college, and it showed. Her arms and legs were toned, yes, but it was more than that. There was a confidence to how she moved, like she was completely in control of her body; comfortable there.
I’d always thought Allison was pretty. She wasn’t the ideal of beauty, like Cassie Summers, but I think that’s what drew me to her. Allison was unique. She had an oval face with deep brown eyes and her nose was a bit too angular. Her chest was small, almost non-existent. But it all came together in a way that I found alluring.
It helped that she was so open and fun. Allison asked you to come along on her adventures and you found yourself saying yes. For example, this whole thing with Disney and the hotel room.
“Emily and Paul were making out,” Mike told his wife, with a splash of whine.
Allison put her hands on her hips and glared at us, mockingly. “Oh really?” she said, hamming it up. “I expect better of you, young lady, when you’re under our roof.”
Emily responded by rolling her eyes. Both women broke into giggles.
Emily and Allison might seem like a strange friendship — my shy, mousy wife and her leonine lady friend. They’d both met at their job, a sprawling pharmaceutical company outside the city. Emily was in the development side, engaged in the creation of new compounds. Allison was a sales rep, helping to sell the medications after Emily’s department was done with them.
The way Emily told it, Allison had basically adopted her one day. The tall blonde had walked right up to her in the cafeteria during lunch and declared that they were going to be best friends. Like Emily was a lost puppy up for adoption.
The funny thing was, Allison was right. The two of them got along like they were meant to be together. Part of each other’s karass, as Kurt Vonnegut might say.
“Also, Emily was mean to me,” Mike said.
“Well, I know that’s a lie,” Allison said, “Look, with all of us staying together, there’s bound to be a few uncomfortable encounters. But I’m so happy we can all share this. I’m sure we can make it work. We just have to sacrifice a little.”
Mike made a loud, demonstrative sigh. “I guess I’ll put the dildoes back in the suitcase.”
Allison shook her head at him. This time, I could tell her disdain wasn’t in jest.
“Go take a shower, you big doofus,” Allison said.
“I don’t want to take a shower,” Mike said.
“You sure, babe?” Allison asked.
“Pretty positive, babe,” Mike said. His focus didn’t leave the TV.
Allison gave us a look that said, ‘what are you going to do?’ She lay down on the bed next to her husband. I thought that was the end of it.
Before Mike could react, Allison grabbed the remote and changed the channel. SportsCenter flicked over to a Mickey cartoon.
“Hey!” Mike said, “I was watching that.”
He grabbed for the remote, but Allison ripped it away. She gave him a heated glare. Mike withstood the onslaught for a moment, then wilted.
“Fine, geez,” he said. He got off the bed and went to the bathroom.
Emily reached over and squeezed my hand. She smiled at me, coyly. Nothing like seeing how other peoples’ marriages work to help you better appreciate your own.
It was also a reminder, however, that I, too, needed a shower. Fortunately, one of the finer amenities of our hotel room was that we had two bathrooms, both with showers. So, I went into the unoccupied room and opened up the tap. I was about to strip down, when there was a knock on the door. I slid it open and was surprised to see Allison on the other side.
“I need to pee before you start,” she said.
I was confused. Why didn’t she use the bathroom her husband was in?
“There’s two showers, but only one toilet,” Allison said, “And you’ve got it.”
I thought that was odd but didn’t argue it. After the tall blonde was done, I went back in and washed up. After, I changed into a nicer outfit for dinner: a green polo and khakis, to be precise. When he was done with his own shower, Mike put on something similar, but in blue. Everyone was finally ready to go, so we all gathered our things and headed out the door for dinner.
We followed the meandering paths from our longhouse to the main building, back by the pool where we’d been earlier. The sun had settled a bit, so the tiki torches along the way were now lit. They gave everything around us a soft, orange glow. Jaunty Hawaiian music followed us as we went. It felt peaceful, relaxing. Also, extremely hot. We’d barely left the building and I already found myself pining for a fresh, dry outfit.