Anderson makes a mistake.
He'd only had three beers. He wasn't drunk but he was relaxed and careless. Four and he would have put his phone and laptop away to prevent just this sort of mix-up.
He was texting his son about football. His son was going to start for the first time all season. It would be the last football game he would ever play in. He was undersized and slow for high school ball. Injuries to the starting juniors meant he was going in. Anderson was excited for his son and scared at the same time.
He was texting his wife. He was trying to be flirtatious and playful. He would get home about ten that night from the airport and he was suggesting she wear something lacey to bed. She was putting him off as usual. He hadn't been welcomed home from a business trip in ten years.
He was texting his boss. He had been on calls all day and hadn't gotten a chance to "update the system," so he was having to pass on the details item by item and account by account. He had to wait for his boss to ask the question, the man couldn't follow the conversation if Anderson deviated in any way.
He was texting his old buddy Kurt to see if his company was hiring a field rep.
And he was texting Natalie. Natalie was the adorable young blonde sales rep that covered Colorado. His wife hated Natalie despite never having met her. Anderson told her she was crazy. Natalie was too young, too cute, and too in love to cause the sort of trouble his wife expected a younger woman to cause. They mostly texted each other about the company and their boss and how both were becoming too much to bear.
"I looked online, the place in Cancun we went last year is available for the week of the 1st. Are you up for a week on a naked beach drinking rum? Just like last year, we don't have to do anything if you don't want to." He was excited. He needed a vacation. He liked being naked on the beach. He liked all you could drink rum drinks He liked hotel sex and as much as his wife had more or less moved on from the sexual being she might once have been, she too still got excited when it came to doing it in a hotel.
"1st of November?"
"Yeah. They told me I have to use a week before the end of the year. Daniel said the sooner the better." He was ignoring Daniel's texts for the time being. He needed his wife's answer about vacation first.
"Are you serious?"
"Of course. We don't even have to go for the full week, with everything that is going on. We can fly in Sunday, fly out Thursday. It will be like a business trip. Jack won't even notice."
It is a coincidence that my son and Natalie's husband are both named Jack. They look alike as well despite being 18 and 26. I think my Jack actually looks older. The kid grows a better beard than I do.
"So the 29th to the 2nd? We will be there for Halloween."
"Yeah, you will need a sexy costume. There is a party. Like one of those masquerade masks and lingerie."
"Tell me one more time you are serious."
"I am."
"Okay then. I am clicking the button. No going back on it now. You promised."
I read it a second time confused. I took another long drink of beer and looked back at my phone.
"Done. Check your email."
"Shit," I muttered aloud in the airline lounge.
Natalie had sent me the confirmation from the Airline. She was getting into Cancun Sunday at 11:45 am.
I went back to my text messages and reviewed all the different strings in play. I had stopped texting the wife a while before with the message "Okay." The last message to the son was "Drive Safe," and the last message to my Boss was about a customer. He had sent seven more questions after that but I hadn't sent him anything by accident.
I went back to the browser window with the hotel booking page and clicked "complete booking" and used my timeshare week.
I clicked windows and refreshed the airline search for only one passenger. I would get in at 12:05 and we would probably clear customs about the same time. When the confirmation came in I sent it to Natalie.
"Do you know where we are staying?" I texted her.
"It looks like there are three options. I am guessing its one of the two nicer ones."
"It is," I replied. I sent her the link to the hotel's webpage.
"I always wondered." She texted me.
"Wondered what?"
"Wondered when you would make your move. Everyone does. Daniel did! I didn't think you were interested. I always thought it was going to suck to shoot you down."
"But you didn't shoot me down."
"No one ever offered a week in Cancun!"
"I see..."
"Sounds like you are going to see everything!"
I studied the end of my beer. I had three weeks before the end of the month. I savored the last three swallows of beer I would have all month.
Natalie ends up in Mexico
It takes me an hour every morning to decide what to wear. If I have a big meeting it can take even longer. Jax has to get our drinks at the bar because if he left it to me, the bartender would walk away before I could decide which beer or what flavor of Vodka I want. I am absolutely incapable of buying laundry detergent. Do you know how many options of that shit there are?
On the other hand, I bought my Audi because the driver's window on my Mustang was sticking. I was just driving home from work thinking what a nice day it was and how much it sucked I couldn't roll down my window when I passed the dealer. I offered what the web told me to offer and they took it. I wasn't even late for Dinner.
Marrying Jax was about the same. We had been dating all of two months. We were waiting in line to get into Star Wars and in the window of the Jewelry store at the mall, I pointed to the ring I wanted. I wasn't paying any attention when he asked me what size I needed. I was a little pissed that it took him so long to get popcorn. The movie had already started when he finally joined me. About halfway through the bucket he took it away from me and dug around in it for a while. When he handed it back the ring was right on top. I didn't say yes, that would have been rude. I just put the ring on. We were married two months later.
I guess it was the spontaneous way that I went online and booked my ticket that made me realize what a big deal this was.
We talked about it from time to time over the three weeks before we left. I had to ask him questions. There were theme nights I didn't know how to dress for. I asked him about being naked in front of other people and seeing other people naked. He assured me it took about an hour to get used to.
I asked him if I was too young once. He told me there was no doubt about it. I was way too young.
I asked him why he even asked me. He told me it was an accident. Never drink and text. I laughed and wondered if it was true.
I asked him about orgies and playrooms and swapping partners and threesomes and he answered all of my questions in two ways, first almost clinically, distant and scientific, and then more as though he was writing a dirty story, more personally, more explicit.
I asked him if he wanted me and he wouldn't answer. I asked him why not.
"I don't want to be disappointed when I get there and you have come to your senses and decided not to get on the plane."
I told him that was fair. I couldn't believe I was going through with it either.
I usually fly on Sundays so it was no big deal for Jax to drop me at the airport on his way to the gym. I kissed him and told him I would miss him. I was pretty sure I was being truthful. I would miss him. I checked my bag. It was a large suitcase packed to overflowing. I had seven pairs of shoes and had prepared for many costume changes. I thought it was funny considering it was a nude resort.
I had one mimosa before the plane boarded and three more in first class on the way down. There are perks that come with this whole traveling sales girl thing. I had gotten a text before I left from Anderson. He told me "Safe Travels." My reply to him bounced back. He must have left earlier than I did.