by J Lymer
“Do you want to go and get something to eat?”
“You don’t have to stick around me if you want to explore on your own.” Julia said.
“I know it’s just I think I owe you an apology for my behaviour, I’m not use to alcohol in the morning, I think it topped up last nights. I don’t normally act like a prat, so I’m sorry.”
Julia thawed a little, “You don’t have to apologise, we’re both grown up women, I’m sorry if you felt pressured, I’d just like us to be friend’s.
Leia went over and hugged her, “of course we can. Come on let’s go and explore the hotel and get something to eat.
They went into the hotel lobby, to the right was very high-class shops, everything from clothes and jewellery, there was a bistro type restaurant where breakfast and lunch was served. They went in and were immediately seated at a table for two. The waiter explained that the placemat was in fact the menu as well, it was impressive with seventy choices of lunch. They chose something light and simple if this was lunch then what would the evening meal be like.
“Are you eating in the main dining room tonight, or on the beach. You decide, every day you can have something different, but the beach restaurant gets booked early.”
“What do you think Julia.”
“Can we do the main restaurant tonight. I don’t know if I want a beach setting tonight.”
“Thank you, I will take your lunch order now.”
They made their way back to the room.
“I’m going down to the beach, would you like to come.”
“Yes, the sea looks beautiful.”
They reached for their bikinis Julia just stripped off her clothes in the bedroom, Leia couldn’t help but glance at her perfect body, she suddenly felt old. She picked up her bikini and headed for the bathroom. Her body wasn’t bad, but she worked hard to keep it in the condition it was in. Every morning she did yoga or went for a run, that had been another thing to get on Grace’s nerves. She had liked to lie in bed, she wouldn’t do any sort of exercise ever, she would just have her breakfast, nothing else.
When she came out Julia was lying on the bed in her skimpy bikini.
Fuck, her heart pounded in her chest she had never seen anyone so beautiful, she wanted to make love to her, she blushed.
Julia noticed and grinned “are you okay, you look a bit flushed.”
“Just warm, come on.” They picked up the towels and went to the beach. The suites were completely separate from the hotel only the lift connecting them. Their exit led them through beautiful manicured gardens, to the beach. They lay down on a couple of sun loungers under the straw parasols on the beach, a waitress came to take their order.
“I’ll have a vodka and coke, Julia what would you like?”
“The same, thank you.”
“Come on let’s go for a swim” Leia pushed herself up.
They ran across the hot golden sand it was burning their feet and ran into the warm sea.
“This is beautiful.”
They relaxed in the sea just talking, when their waitress paddled into the sea to give them their drinks.
“Wow, how much did this hotel cost, what fabulous service.”
“I think it’s about seven hundred a night, for a suite, the rooms on their own are cheaper.”
Leia gasped, “please tell me you are joking.”
“No, why.”
“Julia that is more than I earn in just under a week.”
“Really”
Leia nodded.
“Well we better enjoy it while we can.”
They went back on the beach. They stopped there all afternoon in the afternoon sun. When it was time to go, they took a quick look at the beach restaurant. The bar and cooking area, which was a charcoal pit, was covered
with a straw roof the same as the parasols, the seating area was tables and chairs placed in the sand it was beautiful.
“Come on we’d better get ready for dinner.”
After a walk around the hotel, Sandie and Skylar had a drink at the bar by the pool, before going to the room.
“I feel as though this is all a dream, I can’t believe we are in such a fantastic place.”
“They have a show in the main room night if you want to go.”
Skylar grinned, “We’ll see after all it is our honeymoon.”
Sandie blushed, Skylar was always so gentle with her, she loved being made to feel so special and wanted.
“Come on we had better dress for dinner.”
***
“Do you want the bath or the shower”
“What”
Leia looked petrified. Julia laughed,
“I was only joking. The look on your face was a picture, I promise I won’t jump on your body unless you want me to.”
“There’s no danger of that then.” The words had just slipped out she hadn’t meant to sound so callous.
“Perhaps we should just try being friends”
Leia laughed, “yes, friends.”
“And not with benefits” replied Julia.
“No, all that does is allow one person to cheat, and trust me I’ve had enough of that already this year.”
“I don’t blame you it must have hurt.”
“It doesn’t matter, it’s not important.”
“I couldn’t cheat on anyone.”
“Come on let’s get ready this is getting too serious, we are supposed to be having fun.”
Julia went and took a shower, she sat at the dressing table putting on her make-up, whilst Leia had her shower.
Julia decided to ignore the urge to try and make a move after Leia, she wasn’t going to worry about getting her into bed if it was going to happen it would.
Leia had bought her clothes into the bathroom, but she didn’t know if it was the right things to wear for dinner, she hadn’t got any evening wear with her.
They went into the dining room, the maître d’ took them to their table, there was already two women sitting there.
“Would you be alright with these ladies just for tonight, we have had more people wanting dinner at the same time tonight”
Leia didn’t mind, and Skylar and Sandie weren’t bothered. Julia was going to decline but she was hungry.
They sat down,
“Hi, I’m Skylar and this is my wife Sandie.”
“Hi, I’m Julia and this is my wedding planner Leia.”
Leia was annoyed she felt as though Julia had put her at a disadvantage introducing her as though she was a servant. She felt uncomfortable.
“Hello” said Leia, “just to set the record straight, I’m not Julia’s wedding planner, I walked out of the job and Julia walked out of the wedding.”
The conversation between them stalled.
“So, when did you get here.”
“Today.”
“We did to. It seems quite nice doesn’t it.”
“So how long have you two been married” Leia asked.
“Two days.”
“OMG is this your honeymoon” Julia said.
“Yes, our friends from work paid for our honeymoon.”
“Where do you work” Leia asked.
“We work together in the police force.”
“Have you been there long.”
“We’ve both been working for the police for ten years, but together just over twelve months.”
Leia smiled she liked these two.
“So, you haven’t been together long, it must have been love at first sight.”
“It was but Skylar got stabbed and nearly died so it puts it in perspective what’s important in life.”
“I can imagine.”
“What do you do for a living” Skylar asked Julia.
“I worked in a solicitors office for a bit.”
“Did you go to college?”
“I studied law, I wasn’t particularly good at it, but of course my father said it didn’t matter because I would get married soon and have children. So, I never really t
ried.”
“But because you’re gay, doesn’t that alter things, or are you still going to get married after your gay flings,” Leia said.
Julia looked shocked, she stood up and walked out.
Leia couldn’t believe how she was acting,
what had gotten into her, Julia had only been good to her and here she was acting like a prize arsehole.
“I’m sorry, I’m not usually such an arsehole, we have been having a discussion whether or not she was gay.”
She apologised to Skylar and Sandie.
“What makes you think she isn’t.”
“She arranged to marry a man, she hoped he wasn’t going to turn up, because her mum and dad wouldn’t accept that she was gay. I just can’t get that she let them spend so much money on something, what would she have done if he had turned up.”
“God that’s ridiculous, so what made you come on holiday with her.”
“After the non-wedding, I went home and found my girlfriend of three years in bed with someone else, I went back to the hotel and she asked me to come away with her. We aren’t together as a couple, I guess I felt sorry for her, it’s not good when your parents don’t accept you.”
They nodded, all of them thinking what a mess their life’s had been, because their parents were the wrong people.
“We’ll see you tomorrow, we are going to call it a night.”
Leia had another cup of coffee and then left the dining room. She went for a walk along the beach before going back to the bedroom. She needed to apologise again. When she arrived there the place was empty, she thought she’d just relax it had been a very peculiar day. She didn’t normally act like a bitch, but she was doing a good impression of one. What was it about Julia that wound her up so much? She wondered where Julia had gone, she relaxed on the sofa and decided to read for a bit. She woke up with a creek in her neck, the place was in darkness. She switched on the light it was nearly midnight, she needed the bathroom, she decided not to switch the bedroom light on she didn’t want to wake Julia, she crept in the bedroom and looked across, the bed was empty. Leia switched on the light, it was definitely empty, where on Earth was, she. She went downstairs to the reception,
“Can you tell me, have you seen Miss Cotton from suite 104, I can’t find her.”
“She checked into another room.”
“what, when did she do that.”
“After dinner tonight.”
“Can you tell me what number she has moved to.”
“No, I can’t give out that information, sorry.”
Leia went back to the room she would have to make sure she saw her in the morning. She flopped on the bed this wasn’t how things were supposed to work out. Julia was young and took everything to heart, anyone else would have shouted at Leia or argued, no one would have hired another room certainly not at these prices. She wondered what Julia wanted out of her, was it just a friendship she couldn’t imagine she had many friends some-how. Leia could understand she had very few friends, in fact they were more work colleagues. They both needed each other no matter what the other one thought, Leia decided to make more effort.
When Skylar and Sandie had made it back to their room, they had talked for an hour or more about Leia and Julia and then made love for most of the night.
CHAPTER
Five
Leia waited in the restaurant, for hours, but Julia never showed. Skylar and Sandie joined her for breakfast and decided to go on to the beach Leia went back up to her room and changed, she put her bikini on and put her shorts and t shirt on top. She realized that Julia had taken all the sunscreen with her because Leia hadn’t bought any yet. Damn, she went to the shops near the reception to buy some
and then made her way to the beach.
She lay under the umbrella, with her sunglasses on wondering what she was going to do. It wasn’t right that Julia had rented another room when she had done nothing wrong.
“Are you happier now?”
Leia sat up.
“Julia, I’m so sorry for my behaviour, please come back to our room, if anyone should have moved out it was me. I never meant to be so bitchy.”
“I’ll think about it.” Inside Julia was pleased, she knew she had been a bit hasty last night. She didn’t want to be in separate rooms. She sat next to her.
“Do you want me to put your sunscreen on you?”
“Not yet, but I do want you to do something for me.”
“What’s that?”
“Come parasailing with me.”
“I know I said we could have fun but isn’t it dangerous?”
“You only live once.”
“No, you only die once you live everyday” said Julia.
Leia laughed out loud, some people turned around to stare, which in turn made Julia laugh. It felt good.
“Come on, I’ll be holding your hand.”
They made their way along the beach until they were in the queue for it. The idea was you went off the end of the pier, the boat took you around the bay and then they pulled you in, and you dropped in the sea.
“What if we get entangled with the parachute.”
“We won’t, fingers crossed.”
“you are not selling it to me.”
Leia pulled Julia closer and she felt Julia take a deep breath.
“Thank you, for everything”.
The man on the pier fastened them into their harnesses and before they could think about it, they were up in the air leaving the beach behind.
It took a few minutes before Julia had stopped screaming.
“I’ve got you, you’re safe,” Leia said trying to calm her down while her own insides were doing triple somersault’s. Julia started to relax.
“It’s gorgeous up here, I could float around all day,” they felt themselves being pulled in gently and they floated down into the sea, it was freezing because they were so far out. They were pulled on board and they made their way back to the beach. Back under the parasol and their towels wrapped around them, they sat down.
“It was brilliant wasn’t it” cried Julia.
Leia hadn’t stopped shaking yet.
“Are you cold.”
“Freezing, I’ve never been so nervous in my life.”
“So why did we go?”
“You said you wanted fun, I thought it would be fun, I didn’t realise how high they went.”
Julia couldn’t stop laughing “thank you.”
“Come on let’s just go for a swim and see what other things we can do tomorrow.”
Skylar and Sandie were already in the sea, “was that you two parasailing?”
“Yes, it was brilliant, are you two going to have a go.”
“We might, but not today.”
At night they all went to the main restaurant again.
“So, what do you do for work now?” Leia asked Julia.
“You are determined to find out, what I do, aren’t you?”
“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me, as long as you’re not a mass murderer.”
“Does that mean I can be a murderer as long as I don’t kill more than one?”
Leia laughed again.
“I’d better be careful then and go to sleep with one eye open.”
“I think you might notice if I was concealing a knife.”
“True but is there a cord on the light switch?”
Julia couldn’t stop laughing.
“Don’t do it while we are here though, I don’t want to arrest anyone for at least another ten days.”
“This is the best day I’ve ever had.”
Leia felt sorry for her, if this had been the best, it was good fun, but it didn’t rank as the best surely.
“I’ll promise to make the rest of them even better.”
A tear, filled Julia’s eye, “thank you, it’s so nice to have a good friend.”
They had an enjoyable meal with Skylar and Sandie then they all went for a walk along the beach afterwards.
“Should we go and book into the beach restaurant tomorrow.” Leia said.
“Don’t think I’m being silly about this, but I think that’s a bit romantic, and not for two friends.”
“Perhaps you’re right there does seem to be a lot of couples there.”
Sandie and Skylar left them and went back to their room.
“Are you regretting not getting married?” Leia, asked.
“No, but… I don’t know, will I ever have a happy ever after?”
“Julia you’re a stunning woman, of course you’ll have a happy ever after Why would you think you won’t. You are young you’ve got your whole life in front of you, just don’t rush these things wait for the right person. Look at me, I’m nearly ten years older than you, if I’d married Emma Humphries, the woman who I thought was the love of my life, it wouldn’t have lasted.”
They went into the bar and ordered a couple of vodka and diet cokes and sat on a couple of soft chairs in the corner.
“So, what happened.”
“What happened to what.”
“the love of your life.”
“it’s a long story.”
“I’ve got time.”
Leia pulled a funny face at Julia she giggled.
“We were together at college when we graduated, we were going to go around the world and have fun,” she took a long drink of her vodka and coke, for a few minutes her mind drifted back to her naked girlfriend lying next to her
“tell me where we are going again Leia”
“Well our first stop is France”
Julia watched her face it seemed to take on a different look almost serene she touched her arm
“are you okay”
Leia looked up she hadn’t realized but there were tears rolling down her face.
“Yeh, I’m okay.”
“You don’t have to tell me I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“It’s okay, it was three weeks before graduation, my father had an accident and he couldn’t work, his was the only money we lived on, so I had to go work to feed us. I already had a job at the hotel while I was at college, so I just increased my hours. It ended up he didn’t work for over twelve months, so Emma my girlfriend left to go around the world and I ended up planning your wedding.”