“You told me you didn’t know Cruise, when I asked about him the other morning.” When he warned me about getting too attached to the hotel. Nick seems like a strange guy. A little shady, maybe.
“He likes to keep a low profile.” Nick tells me.
“So, your boy Cruise, who you forgot you knew because he likes to keep a low profile, thinks that I might like to party.” I enunciate every word.
“I told him he was crazy to invite you, but he says he wants you to come down to his villa whenever you get off work.”
Crazy to invite me. Maybe, but I can’t deny that excitement floods through me at the thought of seeing him again. At the thought of seeing him in his room, at night.
“I’m not off until quite late,” I say, turning away because I don’t want this guy to see my excitement. I don’t want him to see how badly I want the next few hours to pass.
“Late is when the party starts,” he calls after me with an evil laugh that says I’m way out of my depth here.
If Nick was trying to throw me off balance, he’s succeeded, because I’m not quite sure I understand what he, or Cruise, means by partying. My first interpretation was just an invitation to Cruise’s villa, but when Nick said, ‘that’s when the party starts’, did he mean lots of people will be there? I’m not sure if that makes me feel better, or worse.
I hesitate in the doorway to the bar, and finally work up the nerve to ask, “So, I just show up, at the villa, when I’m off work?”
He snorts. “Now don’t go and mess up my odds. I bet ten dollars you would tell me to go to hell.”
“I can still tell you to go to hell,” I retort. “But, I have a couple of questions for Cruise. I might show up at his party, just to ask them.”
He laughs. “You do that. It’ll be worth the loss of ten dollars to see it. Should be an interesting night.”
I walk away, making it a point to smile at customers so it isn’t obvious how badly shaken I am.
Tonight could be my chance to step outside my sheltered good-girl bubble. To do some of the things I never did in college because once I’d arrived, I established myself as the no nonsense girl who doesn't get drunk and act like an idiot, the girl who never sleeps around. Once you’re that girl, it’s hard to break out of it.
Here at Seascape, I have the chance to be someone else.
Sure, Cruise and his buddies already have me pegged, and the staff is starting to know me as the new manager, but no one here really knows me.
I can be whoever I want to be. And if I don’t want to be the girl who goes to Cruise’s villa tonight, well, who cares? I’m sure he will be moving on soon anyway.
Sure, Nick might judge me for going, but he obviously parties with Cruise, so he can’t think that badly of me. And no matter what he thinks, I’m still technically his boss.
I barely make it through the rest of the night as anticipation wars with apprehension.
What if Cruise didn’t really invite me? What if it’s some sort of prank invented…by who, Nick? What did he really mean by partying? He seemed certain that I couldn’t handle it. He was probably right.
At the end of the evening, I slip out the side door. I took the time to change, from my managerial button down, into a simple green dress. It’s short enough to show off my legs, and casual enough that it doesn't look like I was trying to hard. My hair falls over my shoulders, released from all restraints. If only I could say the same of myself. I’m so nervous I feel like I could throw up.
The path to the villas is illuminated by moonlight. I hear the sea in the background, feel the ocean breeze caressing my bare shoulders. It’s a magical night. The kind of night I imagined when I agreed to come work at Seascape Bay.
Chapter 6
I tap at the door to Villa Seven and it swings open. Music plays, but not loud enough to solicit complaints, I hope. The maid, Dawn, stands extremely close to Nick, her hand on his shoulder. They both turn to stare as I hesitate in the doorway.
Their body language and facial expressions register a certain amount of hostility, and despite all my anticipation, I almost turn and run away. But I can’t. I’m a manager here. I have to retain some dignity.
“So, you came,” Nick says.
“Cruise is hard to resist,” Dawn tells him.
He frowns at this. Possibly jealous.
“You want a drink?” Dawn asks. She’s playing it cool, but I can tell she doesn’t like me being here.
“I’d love one.”
Her expression says she didn’t expect me to accept the offer. I’m not sure why, I’m here, aren’t I? A very well equipped bar is set up on the bureau. Several other members of the hotel staff are sitting on the edge of the bed, talking. Cruise isn’t here. My heart sinks.
Nick goes to the bureau and mixes something, reprising his bartender role from the hotel. He hands me a plastic cup with Seascape Villa printed in big white letters.