Chapter 5
CASH
Iran the towel through my hair as I stepped out of the shower and then quickly dried myself off. I had just tossed the towel over the shower door when Braxton came into my bedroom and flopped on the bed. He stared at me as I walked into the bedroom and to the dresser naked.
“Don’t you have a boyfriend to go stare at?” I pulled on my blue boxer briefs and went back to the bathroom to put on deodorant and get ready for my interview.
“He hates me today. Besides, you have better abs,” he said nonchalantly while he grabbed my sketchbook and started flipping through it.
“I won’t deny that.” I smiled but still shook my head at his comment. “And you wonder why the two of you continue to have arguments.”
“Cash, are you really going to an interview for the hotel thing?”
“Yes. Don’t act so surprised. I’ve been telling you this for a few days.”
“You have. But I still don’t believe that you’re going to throw away law school. I thought being away this summer would help you relax and realize you don’t want to change career paths. You just needed to get laid more.”
“Being away this summer did the opposite, minus getting laid. It gave me time to think and be sure that I don’t want to go back to school.
” He set my sketchbook down on my bed as we made eye contact in the mirror.
“Brax, I absolutely am not going back to school.” I turned my attention back to my hair.
“My folks and grandfather are going to cut me off permanently when they find out I didn’t register for classes. I need to have a job to live.”
“Okay, I’ll play along for a minute. So say you do land the job, which is ridiculous to even think about, let alone say out loud, because you have zero experience. But sure, let’s say you get the job. There’s only about a month left of the summer. Then you’re just going to quit?
“I don’t know. Let me just get through the interview. I’m kind of nervous. It’s my first interview. I had to call to get it.”
“You’re the only person I know who would actually call to schedule an interview,” Braxton said as I checked myself out in the mirror before heading back into the bedroom.
“If I did it online, I had to submit a fucking resume, which I don’t really have.”
Braxton swiped a piece of paper off my bed and held it in the air. “What’s this then?”
“I ended up using a resume template online and filling in some blanks. Since I don’t have employment history I put my schooling down.”
“You do have work history, though. You worked a few summers at your grandpa’s law firm.”
“Yeah, but it was a family business. That was nepotism in the purest form.” I pulled on my gray polo and tucked it into my blue pants.
I was lucky that I had a shirt with a collar and a pair of pants that weren’t jeans with me this summer.
“Anyhow, I put the resume together on my phone and went to the office supply store in town and had one copy printed.” I stretched my arms out to my sides and smiled. “So, what do you think?” I asked.
Braxton shook his head and said, “I think you’re crazy for doing this.”
“I mean, how do I look?”
“You’d get laughed out of a waiting room at a law firm. You’d never make it into the interview room.”
“Good thing I’m not being interviewed for a job at a law firm.
Are you still going to take me or do I have to fucking walk?
” I walked toward my bed and gently pulled the piece of paper out of Braxton’s hands.
I only had one copy and didn’t want it to get wrecked.
Without another word, I headed toward the door.
“Stop, Cash.” Braxton hurried over to prevent me from leaving the room. He brushed his hands over my shoulders and pulled some stray lint from the shirt. “You look fine, but I’d unbutton one of these buttons,” he said.
I put my resume on the dresser, unbuttoned my polo, and then turned to face Braxton.
“There. Better?” I asked.
“Yes, much. Now you don’t look like you’re trying to sell anything.”
“Good.”
“Come on. I’ll drive you to the hotel.”
The drive to the Equinox Lake Tahoe resort seemed to take longer than I thought it would. Most of the road leading up the mountain to the resort was only one lane in each direction. When we turned on to the road of the resort, Braxton and I had the same thoughts about the destination.
“This is way off the main road,” Braxton commented.
“Yeah, I was just thinking that.”
After another few minutes of dense passing trees being the only scenery, the resort came into view.
It looked similar to the photos online, only in real life the resort seemed much more elegant.
Usually things online look nicer than they do in person, but Equinox was the opposite.
The pictures of the exterior hadn’t done it justice.
Braxton pulled up to the curb right before entering the covered valet area and put the car in park.
“Okay, I’ll find a place to park—”
“You can go back to the cabin. The interview might run late, or I might not get seen on time. I don’t want you to have to wait. Besides, Quinn will bitch if you’re gone too long. And then when he finds out you’re with me, he’ll really shit.”
I pulled the car door handle and pushed to open the door with the side of my knee before getting out. I stood on the sidewalk and looked at the posh resort.
“Are you sure?” Braxton asked as he leaned toward the passenger side so he could see my face. I put my hand on the roof of his car and bent over to look at him.
“Yeah, I’ll text you when I’m done.”
“Alright, good luck, Cash.”
“Thanks. Later, man.” I shut the car door and walked toward the valet section where the main resort entrance was at.
I was careful not to grip the side of the resume too tightly.
I didn’t want to hand over a piece of paper with creases or dampness from my fingers.
As I made my way toward a set of double sliding doors, a man approached me with a smile.
“Good afternoon, sir. Welcome to Equinox Lake Tahoe.” My eyes shifted to his name tag. Luke.
“Thanks,” I replied as I glanced over at the busy valet area.
There were several valet attendants wearing brown pants and navy long sleeve button-down shirts.
Luke wasn’t dressed like the guys running around in and out of cars.
Instead, he wore a black shirt with a navy tie and black pants.
My guess was that he was some sort of manager or supervisor.
“Checking in?” Luke asked.
“No, I’m here for an interview,” I replied.
“Ah, yes. Interviews are taking place today. Please go through the sliding door to the atrium, and to your left you’ll see an information desk.” My eyes focused on the sliding door that Luke gestured to. “Let the folks at the desk know you’re here for an interview, and they will direct you.”
I nodded and thanked Luke before heading where he’d directed me.
The automatic sliding door had the Equinox Lake Tahoe logo with the mountain etched into the glass.
It was a clever design because when the doors slide open the mountain, Equinox slid to the left, while the Lake Tahoe portion slid to the right.
As I walked into the atrium, the smooth vanilla pine scent that I’d smelled in the cabin rental office was noticeable.
Was this an Equinox scent? I found the information desk easily and waited behind a guy wearing a suit and tie.
Was he here to interview for the same job?
Suddenly, I felt out of place and almost stepped out of the line.
Before I moved a muscle, I reminded myself of my situation.
I wasn’t going back to school, and I was going to need money and a job.
After the guy in front of me moved away, the man behind the desk made eye contact with me, smiled and motioned for me to approach.
“Welcome to Equinox. How may I help you?”
“Hi, I’m here for an interview.”
“Wonderful,” the man said and then he looked down at a tablet. “First and last name please?”
“Cash Jameson,” I answered.
“Yes, here you are.” The man looked at the tablet and pressed on it and then swiped some.
“You’re meeting Mr. Stafford—” The man suddenly stopped and frowned as he looked at the tablet and swiped a few more times.
“Forgive me, you’re meeting with Mr. Elliot in about a half hour.
Please feel free to have a seat or walk around the atrium.
The bathrooms are down the hallway to my left and a complimentary beverage station is in the atrium to the right of the fireplace. ”
Was there something wrong? Had the position already been filled? Why the switch of people I was meeting with?
“Thanks.”
I turned and made my way along the perimeter of the atrium toward the fireplace to get some water.
As I walked at a casual pace, I took in the sights of the impressive atrium.
The furniture and decor all seemed to go together, even though there were various styles.
Dark hardwood covered the floor of the spacious atrium that was open all the way up to the top of the resort.
Dark brown leather chairs that looked really comfortable were spread around.
Arm chairs made of dark wood that had navy seat cushions were arranged across from one another and separated by a small wooden end table.
The atrium had a few oversized round wooden tables that were decorated with tall black vases filled with greenery The scent of pine filled the atrium.
The fireplace wasn’t lit, but it was easily the focal point of the atrium.
It was made of gray and white stone and the stone went all the way up to the second floor.
I found my way to the spot where the impressive drinks were set up.
It was a gray, white, and black granite counter that sat on top of black cabinets that matched the fireplace.
On the stone wall behind the counter there were sconces with yellow, cream, and navy stained glass shades to gently light the drink station.
Sunken into the counter were two stainless tubs of ice with small glass bottles of water in one tub, while the other had cans of soda and juices in the other.
On the end was a coffee machine that made all the fancy coffees.
Before I reached out to take a bottle of water, I glanced around to make sure I was at the free drink cart and that there wasn’t a cash register around because this looked too fancy to be complimentary.
I then spotted a wooden sign on the floor near the coffee maker side that read “Please help yourself.”
I took a small bottle of water and napkin, then sat in one of the armchairs with my back to the fireplace so I could see the atrium.
I sipped the water and watched people. I no longer saw the guy who had been in front of me at the information desk.
So maybe he really wasn’t here for an interview.
I started sizing up the possible competition for the job among those who were sitting in the atrium.
I usually didn’t feel unsure, but I had zero experience and was swinging for the fence just by being here.
The worst thing that could happen was that I didn’t get the job.
The longer I sat there, I realized I hadn’t seen any families, which struck me as a bit odd for the time of year. I thought most of these ski resorts had family visitors during the summer. But maybe this place was too posh for that. Or maybe it was just too expensive.
I pulled my phone out and opened up the website for Equinox and then clicked on Lake Tahoe.
I’d been on this site several times over the past few days, just looking at the pics of the resort to get a better understanding of it.
I clicked on the option to reserve a room so I could see what the going rate was for this place.
I was surprised when the screen came up that said to call for room rates and availability.
With the technology of today, who the fuck would call for rates when they could skip the place and go to another resort that was more convenient and offered options for arrangements to be made online? Though, I was someone who called for an interview.
I glanced at the time and still had a few minutes before my scheduled appointment.
I opened up a new browser and searched for Mr. Elliot of Equinox Lake Tahoe.
I pressed the first option that came up from a reputable business site and glanced around the atrium while the page loaded.
There were a few more people at the info desk now who had their backs to the atrium, and I could tell they were wearing suits.
When I looked down at my phone, the name Tristen Elliot was at the top.
Under his name was co-owner of Equinox Resorts.
Co-owner.
It took me a second to realize that I wasn’t meeting with someone in human resources or recruiting.
I was meeting with one of the owners. I flashed back to Frank and Trudy talking about how nice the owners were.
I continued to skim the info on Tristen Elliot.
Fifty-six years old, earned his MBA from the University of San Diego.
I skipped over the large paragraph of awards and accolades and landed at the bottom of the page.
“Fuck,” I mumbled when I saw his picture under the award paragraph. Tristen Elliot was the second of the Silver Fox Daddies. My heart began to pound erratically, and my dick stiffened as I thought of the two Silver Fox Daddies on the deck of the cabin feeding the service tech their cocks.
I glanced in the direction of the info desk—where the hell had they gone?
Only the man I’d spoken to earlier at the info desk remained.
I took a large gulp of water from the bottle as I looked around.
Movement to my right side of caught my attention—six-foot-fuck-me-three Silver Fox Daddy number two, a.k.a.
Tristen Elliot, approached. His eyes didn’t look elsewhere but at me.
Forcing the mental picture of his muscular torso while sliding his cock in and out of the service tech’s mouth from my mind, I quickly swallowed the water and replaced the lid.