I heard her footsteps before I saw her, crossing the poolside with high heels and messy hair, sunglasses perched on top of her head. She was wearing her tiniest bikini–the blue one she said she probably wouldn’t fit–and she looked amazing. Her eyes flicked from me to Max and then to the space between us. She didn’t scowl or frown, but I’d known her long enough to read the irritation on her face.
I gave her a smile.
“Morning,” she said lightly as she walked over, tugging on the front of her bikini top, forcing her cleavage higher, the fabric barely covering her nipples. “So, you two met, huh?”
I nodded serenely, gazing at the water’s surface and enjoying her effort not to appear annoyed. Max straightened up on his lounger, flustered.
“Hey, Julie. Good to see you again.”
She smiled sweetly. “Mind if I join you guys?”
“Of course not!”
She nodded, but instead of moving to the sun-lounger beside me, she moved toward the one beside him instead. With a little smile in my direction, she set down her towel and laid out beside him, stretching out her body as if offering herself to him, the lounger barely reacting to her soft and delicate form.
“So,” she said, arching her back slightly as she settled into position. “Bring me up to speed. What did I miss?”
“Nothing much,” I said. “Just enjoying the sun. Right, Max?”
“Pretty much,” he agreed. And it was true. After Max had bought me a cup of coffee, we lay beside each other on our sun-loungers, not saying much; just two shy people stretched out side by side, breathing the same warm air. It was nice. Relaxed, even.
Or at least, it was, until Julie arrived.
“Oh, sounds boring.” She pouted her cherry red lips, looking at Max with a hunger she didn’t bother hiding. “So. Are you here on your own?”
Max hesitated.
“Yeah,” he said. “On my own.”
“Cool,” Julie said, not sensitive to the tone of sadness I had heard in his answer. “That’s so hot that you’re just…out there, doing it all yourself..”
“Yeah…I guess so.” He looked down at his knees. “Actually, I was supposed to come here with my girlfriend.”
Ahh, I thought. There it is. The reason for the sadness.
“Oh?” Julie said, prompting him for more.
“Yeah.” He let out a short breath. “We broke up.”
“Oh shit,” I sat up a little. “Recently?”
“Two weeks ago.” He pressed a thumb against his eyebrow, like he was smoothing out a headache. “I found out she was seeing someone else. Someone from her work.”
Me and Julie shared a glance of shared compassion, our game temporarily suspended for genuine sympathy.
“That’s rough.” Julie said.
“Yeah, that really sucks,” I agreed. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”
“Yeah,” he said. “It’s just…whatever…you know?”
Julie and I shared another glance, both of us understanding that it wasn’t ‘whatever’. It fucking sucks.
“Then I tried to get a refund but it was too late, I guess. And I didn’t want to stay home staring at my phone all week so I decided to come.”
“Yeah,” I said. “That makes sense.”
“Yup,” Julie concurred. She sat up, folding her legs under her. “That’s so shitty that that happened to you. The good news is that you don’t have to spend the rest of this holiday by yourself. In fact, you just acquired two absolute babes to spend the rest of the week with, and we’re gonna take lots of pictures together and make sure that bitch knows just what she gave up!”
He laughed. “Thanks, but I don’t want to put you guys out. You’re on vacation.”
“Don’t be silly!” she said. “We’ve decided. Right, Sarah?”
I stared at her for a moment. Then at him. A whole week of teasing and flirting and trying to one-up each other? I wasn’t sure this is what I had in mind when we booked the holiday, but now that it was here…
“Sure,” I said. “We’re here for you.”
He gave a short laugh. “Why?”
“Because being cheated on is the worst, and you need company,” Julie said plainly. “And we’re good company!” Julie pulled her sunglasses down a few inches, giving him her best puppy-dog eyes and bratty pout. “Unless you have something else you’d rather be doing?”
“No,” he said. “I don’t.”
“Good,” she said. “Then you’re with us. And guess what?”
“What?”
“We’re going to make it your best holiday ever.”
Click here for Chapter 5!
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Gotta say max is lucky to have such great girls like Sarah and Julie to take care of him after being cheated on. Bet his vacation will be MUCH better than with that crap of an ex.