This is my entry in the 2020 April Fools Day story contest. It starts more slowly than a lot of my stories, but I hope you all enjoy it and the little surprise toward the end.
As always, I welcome any constructive feedback or comments. Please do vote!
Thanks
Belle
*~~* *~~* *~~*
June Stephens curled up on the soft hotel mattress, her eyes dry and crusted, and her head pounding. She'd just downed a huge glass of water and some cold medicine. There was something about flying that always made her sick, feeling like she'd gotten a head cold, for at least twelve hours after she got anywhere. She envied her sister's constitution, and that nothing seemed to slow that girl down.
She groaned, rolling over onto her side and curling up under the soft down comforter. The room was too bright, the thick hotel curtains not quite meeting in the middle, and a shaft of sunlight was now bouncing on her face. Groaning again, she rolled to her other side, and buried her head between the two massive stacks of pillows.
"At least we were smart enough to save up a get a real hotel," she muttered to herself.
Finally in a position that blocked out most of the light, she now had only to contend with the noises her sister was making, unpacking, singing softly to herself as she changed and fixed her make up. June groaned again, knowing that May would not be dissuaded from going out on their first night of their last college spring break trip. At almost twenty-two, the twins knew each other so well they didn't even bother discussing it. May knew June needed a day to get over her marathon study sessions and the flight. June knew that May didn't believe a vacation had really started until she found some cute guy to flirt with.
June heard the toilet flush, the water run for a minute, and the telltale click of May's heels on the bathroom floor. She squeezed her eyes tight, but then the mattress shifted and she felt May patting her arm.
June yanked one of the pillows off her head, and glared up at her sister.
"You look nice," she managed to say.
May did. She'd pulled her long honey blonde hair into a high ponytail, and accented the sides with little hair clips decorated with flowers. She'd chosen a pale brown eye shadow that highlighted her green eyes, and her lip gloss accentuated her full lips and the smattering of freckles on her chin.
May looked at June with some genuine concern.
"You want me to stay in tonight?" she asked, uncharacteristically. "You look like shit."
"Thanks, sis. Love you too," June responded sarcastically. June made herself sit up, slouching over in the bed, still not quite used to her long hair swinging against her back. She'd decided to grow it out starting that fall, and it was now down to her mid-back, the same length as May's.
"Really," May said, "I'm trying to be nice and you're giving me attitude?"
They both laughed, and then June broke out into a coughing fit. She waved her hands.
"No, I'm good. It's just the usual traveling thing."
"Yeah, plus, what, like, four all-nighters in a row to finish that project?"
June cocked her head. "Yeah, something like that. But, naw. You go have fun. Find some guy. Break his heart. Tell me about it in the morning."
June flopped back down, sniffling. In one last act of sisterly love, May found a spare large hair clip and managed to seal the curtains together. When she turned out the light, the room was blissfully dark, and June slept like the dead.
*~~* *~~* *~~*
May walked into the hotel bar and surveyed the scene. Sure, it was Spring Break, but she and June had opted to stay away from the most popular places. They wanted one last fun romp together before graduation and having to go act like adults. But neither of them was in the mood for the ridiculous crowds, jacked up prices, and increased police that came along with the typical college spots. They'd found a place on the Gulf Coast, saved up for the nice hotel for a week with money left over to pay for a couple of side trips or to rent a boat if they wanted.
The bar was nice, crowded, but not packed. It looked like a grown-up bar, rather than a glorified Frat house basement, and that's just what May was in the mood for. She smoothed her satiny, blue and white, halter top. She adjusted the waist band to sit just at her hips thereby pulling it tighter over her front. She had on a loose white skirt, in a gauzy, summery fabric, that came to her ankles. Her heels were sandals, not too high, but enough to emphasize her slender frame and long legs. She was already looking forward to swimming and laying out on the beach, to really show those off.
She strode deeper into the room, and decided to sit at the bar. There were only two seats left, both at the far end. She took the one closest to the wall, and spun sideways so she could look out over the crowd. She might be the more impulsive of the twins, but one of her favorite things was to sit somewhere and people watch. She loved making up stories about what was really going on with them.
She didn't have to wait long before the bartender came over.
"What can'a getcha?" he said in a drawl that was music to May's ears.
She tried to sound more sophisticated than she felt. "Y'all have a specialty?" she asked.
"Well," he said, pausing as though he was actually thinking about it. "Pretty lady like you might want a mojito, I reckon."
It wasn't really an answer to the question she'd asked, but May decided to let it slide. She batted her eyelashes in a perfect mockery of a flirt, and said, "Well, doan mind if ah do."
The bartender laughed, catching the magnolia mouth imitation. "I'll need to see some ID, miss," he said, all business.
She laughed in turned, and fished her driver's license out of her purse. The bartender checked it, looked at her, checked it again, and nodded. As he handed it back, he asked, "You want to run a tab?"
"No, just charge it to my room, please."
The bartender walked away, and May watched him tapping on a computer screen, checking the room number she'd given him, and making sure the credit card attached for incidentals would accommodate a drink or three. She saw him nod to himself, and continued to watch as he set about making her drink.
She leaned sideways on the bar, legs crossed at the knee; she watched the bartender and then the reflection of the room in the mirror behind the bar. There was an agreeable amount of chatter rumbling through the room, and music playing, but not so loud that it competed with the conversation. She sighed, wishing that for once, her sister hadn't gotten sick from the flight, that for once she felt like hanging out on the first night of a vacation.
For May, the first night was always the best. They'd done spring break trips every year of college on their own. But even before that, on the family vacations in the summers, that first night in the hotel was May's favorite. She got that from their Dad, she'd come to realize. Once she was a teenager, it was always the two of them, striking out, finding the hotel restaurant, or the little hole in the wall joint next door, barely waiting long enough to check out the room and freshen up before wandering off again.
June and their Mom were the opposite. They always stayed in the first night, slept in late the next morning. They both said there was no point in being on vacation if you still had to get up at the crack of dawn.
May watched the crowd, listened with one ear to someone telling a funny story at the table a few feet away. She couldn't make out the words, but the laughter rolled out in waves. She sighed, content in the moment, and imagined what would happen next.
She was startled out of her reverie by a deep voice rumbling just in front of her.
"Miss, is this seat taken?" he said. May glanced up and looked into one of the most handsome faces she'd seen in real life.
She coughed, and managed to say, "No, please, have a seat."
She swung around facing the bar top, giving this Adonis room to slide in next to her. Just then the bartender came back with her drink.
"Here y'are. One mojito."
"Thanks," she said.
The bartender looked at the man who'd just sat down. He held up a hand and pointed one finger slowly.
"Hold on, lemme think. Bourbon and ginger, right?"
The man was nodding, "Tonight I'm in the mood for something different."
The bartender jerked his head toward May's drink. "Mojito?"
The man shrugged. "Sure, why not."
"A'ight. Comin' up."
May looked the man over, her nerves settling ever so slightly. An involuntary shiver tripped down her spine, and she saw him glance at her. She took a long pull on the straw in the drink, hoping he'd think it was just the cold liquid having the effect on her.
She looked at him through her eyelashes, and her mind ran away with all manner of delicious images of those full lips on hers, and his long fingers tracing over her skin. She glanced in the mirror, studying him. He was tall, she thought, though that was hard to tell now that they were both seated. His face was all smooth cheekbones and strong chin, with a wide nose that complimented those beautiful lips perfectly. His skin was a warm medium brown. His black hair was close cropped at the sides, and the top was a riot of short twists, maybe a few inches long.
