The flight was long and tiresome, as all flights to resorts in remote areas of the world tend to be. The initial trip to the airport and boarding of the first plane was full of eager jubilation. But after a flight delay, 2 lay-overs, and a turbulent flight aboard a plane which he was certain should have been retired after the Cold War, Lip and his wife finally pulled into the resort they would call home for the next week. Wearily, they made it to their room and, without so much as unpacking their suitcases, both collapsed in exhaustion onto the bed.
Lip awoke sometime later. After a few vacations that were marred from sleeping too much on the first day, he was cautious to not oversleep on his first night. The downside of traveling great distances was the ease in which he could fall into a bad sleeping schedule and get out of sync with his plans. True, most of their plans for this trip involved sitting by a beach with a cold drink and a book, but it would be easier to enjoy that if the sun were out. Lip wasn't going to miss out on it.
"Hey, don't fall asleep just yet," he told Kell, gently rubbing her shoulder. "It's only 5 pm. We should try to stay awake for a little bit, just yet. It'll make adjusting to the time difference go more smoothly."
"Mm," Kell responded.
"Kell?"
"Mm."
"...Kell?" He rubbed her shoulder a little more. "I'm going to head down to the bar for a bit and get a drink."
"Mm, ok." She reached her hand out and pulled the covers further up over her shoulder and adjusted the pillow.
"You're going to regret sleeping all day when you're wide awake at 4 am." He smiled, kissing her gently on her forehead before pulling his sandals out of his bag. Patting himself down to confirm he had his essentials, he smiled at Kel before turning towards the door and closing it gently behind him.
The resort they chose was carefully selected. They didn't need anything fancy with well dressed servants holding doors open and attending to every need they could possibly have. They wanted something low key, with easy access to a beach and a decent sized bar. What they found was exactly that. The reviews labeled it as a hidden gem in the Caribbean, and after scouting out the bar and dining area with a perfect view to the setting sun, Lip couldn't agree more.
The bar was fairly busy this time of evening, and he only saw a few open stools to choose from. He picked one off to the side next to the corner of the L shaped bar and made his way towards it. Seated next to it was a lone woman, wearing a knee-length sundress of light fabric and printed with colorful tropical birds and fauna. Her long blonde hair fell in careless curls past her shoulders. Lip didn't like his chances that he chose a seat being held for someone else but, as he often said, 'You never know until you try.'
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" He put on his friendliest voice he could muster.
"No, it's all yours," she responded, gesturing to the open seat while inching hers away to give him more room.
Lip took a seat and scanned around the bar for a drink menu. He spotted one in front of his new friend, but before he could ask for it she grabbed it and slid it across to him.
"Ah, you read my mind," he said with a smile.
"I did, and you should be ashamed of yourself," she chuckled.
Lip chuckled back. "Hey, don't kink shame me."
She laughed, a hearty laugh that seemed to change her demeanor. She looked over at him. Her blue eyes hid behind a pair of wire framed glasses. She had a softness about her face that almost took Lip off-guard.
The bartender made her way over, placing a coaster in front of Lip and smiled. "Hi there, what would you like?"
Lip was still mulling over the menu of beers, mixed drinks, and everything in between. "Well...I don't know. This is a pretty important decision. I know you're only allowed one drink here." The bartender's broad, beaming smile perfectly contrasted her dark complexion and brown eyes. Her hair was straight and pulled back to a long ponytail. Lip was sure working behind a bar left no time for a hairstyle that required any level of upkeep. He couldn't tell if she was naturally tall, or the seat he was on put him at a disadvantage, but she loomed over him in a way that didn't feel intimidating.
"Don't worry," she said warmly. "You can order all the drinks you want. If you start making trouble, you'll get introduced to security and won't be my problem anymore." Her light accent made her veiled threat sound almost fun, but Lip had no intention of calling her bluff.
"I'll take a strawberry margarita, blended. Please and thank you." She smiled and nodded, grabbing the necessary glasses and items.
"Wow, a sense of humor and manners? What planet are you from?" his neighbor said.
Lip smiled. "Wisconsin. We've got most of the friendliness of Canadians." He smiled back at her, offering his hand. "I'm Ryan, but most people call me Lip."
She took his hand with a shake. "I'm Felicia. Lip? That's an interesting nickname. Dare I ask the story behind it?"
He shrugged. "There's not much of a story. I got into a fight when I was a kid with a group of older boys. One of them split my lip open but they left me and my friends alone after that, and the name stuck."
"Wow," she said, with her eyes shot open. "That's intense."
He shrugged again. "Maybe, I don't really know. Boys fight over dumb things, I'm sure."
The bartender soon returned with his drink, which turned out to be much larger and far more potent than he anticipated. His eyes shot open and his face puckered involuntarily.
"Is everything okay?"
"Oh, yeah...no problem." Lip responded, licking his lips. "Any chance I could get some margarita with this tequila?"
The bartender laughed. "There wasn't much left in the bottle, so you got what's left. I can remake it if you'd like."
"Oh, no, no way. That's alcohol abuse and where I come from that's punishable by excommunication."
"And where is it that you come from?"
"Wisconsin, basically southern Canada," Felicia interjected with a smile.
Lip cocked an eyebrow and gestured at her. "If you have any more questions, please direct them to my assistant Felicia. She's already read my mind and knows everything."
"Will do," the bartender said with a smile before walking to the other end of the bar.
Lip took a long pull from his drink before wincing and smacking his lips slightly. "You going to make it back to your room? Or should I have hotel staff on standby?" she joked.
"I've got a crisp $50 if you could get one of those luggage carts ready and wheel me back to the general vicinity of my room." She laughed. "No, I'll be fine. I don't plan on blacking out just yet. I've only been here a few hours."
"Same," she responded. "We're not leaving until next week, so I'll save the heavy drinking until the day before."
"Oh, neat. Us too. I take it you're here with your..husband? Boyfriend? Wife?"
"Husband. He's in the room, asleep. He booked a fishing trip tomorrow and wants to be rested for it." Her voice and face soured slightly. Lip caught it, but it was clear she was hiding something.
"It doesn't seem like, and pardon me if this is out of turn, you're excited."
She shook her head. "Fishing isn't really my thing."
Lip nodded slowly. "Oh. Sorry. I shouldn't have-"
"No, it's fine," she cut in. "Don't worry, I wouldn't have said anything if I didn't want to. We both planned on something to do individually, I just didn't think his would be on the first day."She took a slip from her wine glass before spinning the stem slightly between her fingers.
"Oh...well, still. Sorry, I shouldn't have-"
"Please," she waved her hand dismissively. "And you? You're here with..."
"My wife. She's also upstairs sleeping off the miserable trip we just completed to get down here" He took another long sip from his margarita before licking his lips. "I think this thing is like 50% tequila."
"Care for a second opinion?" Felicia said, grabbing a straw from the container on the bar. Lip gently slid the glass near her. She leaned over, placing the straw in his drink and softly curling her lips around the other end. Lip watched as the fluid inside climbed up the straw to her mouth. She looked up over her glasses at him, making brief eye contact. Sitting back upright in her chair, her face had a similar reaction to his.
"I'll be expecting a letter of apology on my desk first thing in the morning." They both chuckled. As Lip returned to stirring his drink up with his straw, Felicia reached over and grabbed hers. Pulling it from his mug, she stuck her tongue out and licked off the lingering ice mix from it before wrapping her lips around it and cleaning the rest of it off. Lip's eyebrows shot open slightly and his gaze bounced between her and his glass.
