Third Chances - Chapter 4
Daphne
"Look!" Kristen said and elbowed me in the ribs. "There's a monkey over there!" I slowly opened my eyes and looked to where she was pointing. We were in the middle of a rainforest. I must have fallen asleep. I wiped the drool off the side of my face.
"Awesome. How much longer until we get to the hotel?" A layover and seven hours in the air was plenty of travel. But now we had been in this stupid car for hours too. All I wanted to do was curl up in bed.
"Seriously," Alina said. "Where the heck is this place?"
"We're almost there, ladies," the driver said from the front of the town car.
"See, we're almost there." Kristen pointed out the window again. "Another monkey!"
Layla groaned in her sleep.
"We should draw a mustache on her face," Kristen said. "I think I have a pen somewhere." She grabbed her purse.
"No." Alina grabbed Kristen's purse. "Don't be mean. You know how much Layla helped me after what happened at the ITAs. I don't think I could have survived all the backlash without her."
"You mean all the publicity? We were there for you too. And besides, I'm not being mean. I'm just pulling a classic bachelorette party prank."
"That's not a thing and you know it. Back me up, Momma Bear."
I stared out the window. I actually thought it would be kind of funny to draw a mustache on Layla's perfect face.
But I knew if I didn't put my foot down, I'd eventually wake up with a mustache drawn on my face at some point during the week.
And I wouldn't be able to pull it off nearly as well as Layla could.
"Stop your bickering, you two. No mustaches. "
Kristen sighed. "Fine. Ah look!"
The rainforest had suddenly parted and a high rise building appeared in its place.
We pulled up under the porte-cochère. In the lobby, I could see a group of women in heels and tiny bikinis.
Who wears heels with a bathing suit? I rolled my eyes.
Alina, Kristen, and Layla were all going to fit in fine here.
But it was pretty clear I was going to stick out like a sore thumb.
Especially in the one-piece bathing suit I brought.
It wasn't even one of those monokinis with sexy cutouts.
It was just a straight up one-piece that an old lady would wear.
I nudged Layla. "We're here."
She immediately opened her eyes. "Thanks for preventing the mustache drawing," she whispered. "I owe you one."
"Wait, you were awake?"
"Yeah. I just wanted to see if Kristen would actually try it. I was going to titty punch her in the other boob if she did."
I laughed. I didn't know Layla that well, but she definitely fit in with us just fine. "As long as you don't draw one on me, we're even."
"You got it. Wow, this place looks amazing."
The driver opened the door and Layla stepped out. I quickly followed her as Alina and Kristen got out the other side of the car.
"I'm so sad that Em couldn't come," Alina said as she came up beside me. "She's always wanted to leave the country." Em was Bryce's little sister. We had all grown really close to her too.
"She could either get the time off for the wedding or this," I said. "I think she made the right call."
Alina laughed. "Still. She would have loved it here."
"Yeah." My stomach seemed to churn as I looked up at the hotel. I folded my arms across my chest. It was hot and humid, but I suddenly felt cold.
"Hey," Alina said. "I'm sorry, I could have worded that better. I wasn't thinking."
"What?" I laughed awkwardly. "I'm fine. It's fine." I shook my head. A good night's sleep would make me feel better. I just needed to clear my head and focus on having Kristen's kind of fun.
"We'll all have to take a shot for Em tonight then," Kristen said and grabbed Alina's arm.
"Wait, aren't we just going to call it a night?" I was exhausted.
"It's only 8 o'clock! This place is known for their awesome clubs. Let's get checked in and get this party started!"
Everyone else looked excited as they followed Kristen into the hotel. I slowly followed them with my arms crossed. We were going to be here for a week. If I didn't get enough sleep I'd just be a grumpy Gus the whole time.
"Welcome to the Blue Parrot Resort," said the man at the front desk. "My name is Javier. How may I help you?" He was several years older than us and wearing a black tuxedo. I had never seen a concierge dressed so fancy.
"Hi, we have a reservation for four under Kristen Dwyer," Kristen said.
"One moment please, Ms. Dwyer." Javier typed a few things into his computer and scanned the screen. "Ah, there you are. It says here that you'll be staying with us for seven nights in two queen beds. Is that correct?"
"Yes."
"Excellent. Have any of you ladies ever been here before?"
"No."
"Then let me give you a quick overview of what we have to offer.
" Javier grabbed a pamphlet and slid it across the counter towards us.
"We have three onsite restaurants that are open every day from 6 a.m. to 2 in the morning.
Or if you'd just like a quick snack, there's a mini bar in your room and we also have a snack bar here at the front desk to my left.
" He gestured with his hand to the left.
I glanced over and saw that the snack bar was fully stocked with everything from potato chips to ice cream to bottles of wine. I suddenly realized how hungry I was. My stomach actually growled while I was examining the choices.
"We also have four pools, including an infinity pool on the roof that provides spectacular views of the rainforest, especially during the sunset.
And then we have activities every day. You can sign up on that board over there, but just to whet your appetite, we have tours of the rainforest, zip lining through the canopy, ropes courses, and more.
" Javier pointed to impressive pictures in the pamphlet of happy people zip lining through the trees.
"Wow, that looks awesome," Alina said.
"Yes, the zip lining is one of our most popular activities. Just make sure you sign up for it soon so that you don't miss out. The spots go very quickly."
"We'll definitely do that," Kristen said and leaned against the counter. "Is there dancing in the restaurants in the evening?"
Javier pointed down a hallway to our left. "The Jaguar's Den is right down there. They have excellent steak and even better dance music."
"Perfect."
"I don't want to keep you much longer, but the last thing I have to tell you about is our bracelet game. Are you familiar with it?"
The four of us looked at each other and we all shook our heads.
"No problem," said Javier as he pulled out four beautiful gold bracelets and fastened one to each of our wrists. "These will be yours for the week."
It made the other bracelet on my wrist look a little dingy.
I tried to unhook the bracelet Javier had just given me, but there didn't seem to be any visible clasp.
Maybe it was broken. I didn't need a new bracelet.
The one I had was the only one I wanted.
"Do we have to wear them?" I asked. "I think mine might be broken. "
Javier laughed and pulled out some sort of credit card.
"Every woman who stays with us gets one of these bracelets that they must put on each morning.
And every man gets one of these cards. While you're wearing the bracelet, any guy can come up to you and ask you to follow the directions on his card.
Once you've done so, he can wave his card over your bracelet to activate the RFID chip and allow you to take the bracelet off. "
"What sorts of directions do the cards have on them?" I asked.
"A wide variety of things." Javier flipped the card over he was holding. "Give a massage."
Alina laughed. "That's not too bad. For a second, I thought they were going to be sexual things."
Javier didn't laugh. He simply shrugged his shoulders. His reaction gave me an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach.
"What if we don't want to play the bracelet game?" I asked.
"Stop being lame, Momma Bear," Kristen said. "It'll be fun. They're just silly little tasks. It's perfect for a bachelorette party."
I guess.
Javier nodded. "Yes indeed, Ms. Dwyer."
Maybe Kristen was right. The example Javier had given seemed pretty harmless. Giving a massage to a stranger would be awkward, but not horrible. Before I could ask any more questions about the game, Javier handed us each a keycard.
"You'll be staying in room 510. Just take those elevators and then go left when you get to the fifth floor. Is there anything else I can help you with today?"
"In the instance of the massage, how long would I have to give the massage? Does it have a specified time?" I asked.
Kristen grabbed my arm. "Nope, there's nothing else you can help us with."
Javier smiled at me. "Very well. I hope you enjoy your stay. If you need anything, I'll be here at the front desk."