“I can’t,” Emily said, not unlike the whiny kid that Jack had been playing parent to. “I’m sorry but I’m done.”
“We could split up,” Allison said, “It is date day after all. Emily, you and Jack could go back to his place while the four of us stay here.”
“Nah, I think we could all use a break,” Cassie said. She winked at Mike. I was starting to understand that ‘break’ might mean different things depending on who was talking. “Besides, that was the rule, right? We all stay together.”
“Paul?”
The whole group turned to look at me. Since when was I the final say? It was the whole not-speaking thing again. Your words carry so much more power when you use them so infrequently.
Emily looked over at me, clearly pleading with me to agree. I couldn’t tell if she really wanted to get out of the park because she wasn’t feeling well, or if she was just hoping to head back to the room so we could engage in other activities. I realized, though, that her motivations didn’t matter.
As usual, I wasn’t going to deny my wife.
*
We headed back to the front of the park, the surrounding attractions all a sweaty, unsteady blur. The decision to step back didn’t make us any more sober, unfortunately. In allowing our appetites to take control, we’d clearly all overindulged. I did my best to ignore the obvious, ominous metaphor that could also be applied to our other activities.
I felt sluggish, like a weight was pushing down on my shoulders. I was drunk, for sure, but also overheated. Allison and Emily both seemed well beyond their limits. Compared to us, Mike and Cassie were doing better, but not great. Only Jack seemed unaffected by all of it. He strolled through the park, keeping his eye on my wife like a puppy going off leash for the first time.
We all seemed a little steadier by the time we got back to our resort, but the ride had only served to make me sleepier. Emily, Allison, Mike, and I turned on the path to head towards our longhouse when Cassie stopped us.
“Why don’t you come back to the bungalow?” the beautiful blonde asked, radiating her usual sunny energy. “There’s plenty of space for all of us there. And we can be together for the rest of our date day.”
The walk there from the Ticket and Transportation Center seemed so much longer, but I didn’t have the energy to argue. I don’t think any of us did. So, we turned around and followed Cassie and Jack to their place on the lake. Every step seemed to sap me of more energy.
When we got to the cabin, Cassie cracked open the door and we stumbled inside. I oozed past everyone, down the hall. My only thought was to lie down on something soft before I hit the floor.
“Come with me,” Jack said. I was vaguely aware of him steering Emily somewhere.
I found the couch looking incredibly comfortable. I stumbled onto it, lying back. Sleep wrapped me in its warm, powerful grasp. I was powerless to fight its pull.
“It opens up to a bed,” Cassie said to me, but she sounded miles away.
I slipped into unconsciousness.
*
I awoke to the sound of loud, smacking kisses and light, little giggles.
Cassie and Mike were both sitting across from me, on the floor of the living room. The tall, thin man and his beautiful, blonde crush girl were casually making out. They were both fully clothed, but they were totally engaged in each other. The sun, bright from reflecting off the blue lake, shone down on them through the wide windows, like giving them a golden spotlight.
I groaned and rolled over. Getting off the couch, escaping sleep, felt like an epic undertaking.
“He’s alive!” I heard Allison shout.
The athletic woman was standing in the kitchen in her turquoise tank top, slicing up a mango. Like her husband wasn’t fondling another woman right in front of her.
I gave Allison a quick nod, then looked around the room. I realized I didn’t see Emily anywhere.
“She’s napping in the bedroom,” Allison said, noticing my concern. Is it weird that one of the things that attracted me to her so much was her constant ability to realize when I was worried about my wife?
I slowly stood up, telling myself to be calm. Acting the jealous husband at this point was beyond silly, but I couldn’t help the growing anxiety in my gut. Let’s say the worst happened — and I guess the worst would be defined as finding Emily making out with Jack? — was that so much more inappropriate than what I’d already seen? More unacceptable than what I’d already engaged in?
Yes, actually. I decided that it would be.
The first bedroom I went to was empty. The second, thank God, held Emily. My cute, brunette wife was laying on the bed, on her side, kissing Jack. They were both clothed, but I saw that the older man was cupping my wife’s little breast over her shirt while Emily ground her body against his thigh.
Jack noticed me first, not even breaking his kiss with Emily. “What’s up, bud?” he asked, casual as anything.
“Paul!” Emily leapt up from the bed and hurried over to me. Her face was bright red. “I’m glad you finally got up.” She stretched up and kissed me on the cheek. Her lips still felt warm from another man’s caresses. “I missed you.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. Emily looked back at the bed and, somehow, flushed even brighter.
“We were just talking,” Emily said, “And, um, maybe some other stuff.”
I gave her an evaluating eye.
Jack sat up on the bed, giving us both a warm, confident smile. “Your wife is an amazing woman,” he told me.
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Despite the fact that they’d been lying on the bed, Jack’s silver hair wasn’t a bit out of place. His shirt, I noticed, had a few more buttons undone. I wondered whether it had been him or my wife who’d opened them.
“Let’s go check on the others,” Emily said.
She grabbed my hand and led me out of the bedroom. I could tell she was nervous about what I’d seen, and wondered if maybe there was more she’d rather I didn’t know about. For all her talk of wanting me to watch, Emily seemed deeply uncomfortable that she’d been caught with Jack.
“Feel better?” I asked.
“Oh yes,” Emily said, “I passed out in the bedroom, I was so smashed. But when I woke up, Jack was there! We talked for a bit. And, well, you saw. It was fun. What about you and Allison?”
“I just woke up,” I said.
“Oh,” Emily said, and I couldn’t tell if it was disappointment or relief that twinged in that tiny word. “Well, I’m sure there’ll be time for more stuff later.”
We got back to the living room and found Mike and Cassie still engaged in their make-out session. It seemed like their lips ought to be getting chapped or something. Much as I liked kissing, going at it for hours seemed more painful than pleasant.
As soon as Allison saw me, she raced out from behind the counter and pulled me back to the kitchen.
“You have to try this,” she said, giving me a slice of mango. It was sweet and tangy. Very good.
“Mmm, you’re sweet, too.” Cassie cooed to Mike, maybe a bit too loudly.
“And you’re hot,” Mike said back.
Meanwhile, Jack slid up behind Emily. I didn’t realize he’d followed us out. The older man wrapped his arms around her little body and kissed the top of her head. All of us were back with our respective not-partners.
“I think we should head back to EPCOT,” Allison said, her voice surprisingly stern. “Now that we’re all awake.”
I was still unsure of where the athletic blonde stood with her husband. It was clear that they had some kind of agreement, Allison had admitted as much, but I didn’t know what it was or where they’d drawn their lines. All the more confusing was that Allison, at times, seemed as flirty and playful as Mike. Others, like now, I got the feeling she was going along reluctantly at best.
“I don’t know, I think I’d like to have a little more ‘date’ time here,” Cassie said, “And I bet I’m not the only one.” She looked meaningfully at Jack and Emily. My wife looked down at the ground, but I saw a little smile sneaking onto her face.
“What are you thinking, hon?” Jack asked. He too, was grinning, broadly. Like he couldn’t be prouder of his spouse.
Allison scowled. “The park’s open now,” she said, “I don’t want to waste that. We can do dirty stuff in a hotel room anytime.”
“Agreed,” Cassie said immediately, “We’re in Disney! We should enjoy it. I promise, we’ll make it extra quick. I’ll even set a timer.”
Allison raised an eyebrow. She could sense a challenge coming on, for sure. She crossed her arms but stayed silent.
I caught Emily’s eye and we both shared a knowing look. Emily was Allison’s best friend, and I guess I was Allison’s lover. Sort of. What I’m saying is, we both had a pretty good sense of the woman, and we could tell she was about to be convinced.
“It’s a bit like dirty musical chairs,” Cassie said, “Or husband roulette. I don’t know, I’m still workshopping the name on this one. Guys all stand up.”
Too intrigued to ask and too excited to argue, the three of us stood on the side of the living room. Jack was in his Hawaiian shirt and khakis. Both Mike and I were in our t-shirts and shorts. Cassie pushed some of the furniture back to give us more room.
“OK, girls, go to your partners and stand in front of them,” Cassie said. She went and stood by Jack to make it clear that she meant actual spouses, not the ones we’d adopted for the day.
Emily stared up at me, her green eyes large. She leaned up and gave me a little kiss on the lips.
“Slow down there, girl,” Cassie said, laughing, “I haven’t even explained the rules yet.”
“I couldn’t help myself,” Emily said.
“Me neither,” Mike said, and kissed Allison.
Cassie rolled her eyes at us, but she gave Jack a kiss, too, then set about explaining the rules.
“It’s pretty simple. I’ll set the timer for 90 seconds and you can do whatever you want. When the alarm goes off, the girls go one to the right.”
“So, Emily moves to me,” Mike said.
“And I go to Paul,” Cassie said, “And so forth.”
“I’m not sure I understand,” Allison said, “Whatever you want?”
“Yup,” Cassie said, “As long as you can get it done in 90 seconds.”
“Babe, that’s, like, 80 seconds more than it usually takes me,” Mike said, and we all snickered. Allison rolled her eyes, but her expression made it clear that that wasn’t actually true.