"It sounds like a terrific resort," Josh had told her. "Sun and sand, lazing by the beach, all meals included. Just the two of us for a week, away from our troubles."
Cassie wasn't at all sure their troubles were the sort of things you could get away from by going to Mexico. But Josh pitched it as his way of making up for his past misjudgements, and she felt she had to give him a chance. Even when it turned out she was going to have to pay for most of it.
She steered Josh away from the airport bar but couldn't stop him from leering at any young woman walking by who was a C-cup or better. Cassie sighed inwardly. Before Josh she'd always felt her own small breasts were good enough, but his focus on other women's mammaries had made her insecure about the issue.
She'd once made the mistake of asking Josh why he'd been attracted to her when he was such a fan of big chests. He'd said it was because she gave great blowjobs and laughed like a hyena. Worse, he'd then repeated the exchange more than once to their friends, thinking it was the height of hilarity.
Boarding the plane brought new humiliations. After they had their seats Josh got up to assist a woman (who had a truly massive set) put her carry-on in the overhead bin, even though she was several rows forward from them. When he offered his assistance she said she was fine, but he took the bag from her and put it up anyway, making sure to "accidentally" brush against her boobs in the process. The woman had given him a scathing look, which she transferred to Cassie when Josh returned to his seat and it was obvious he was with her. Then he'd ordered another double vodka and seven the second time the service cart came by despite Cassie suggesting it was kind of early to be drinking.
But none of that came close to the level of embarrassment Cassie felt that night at dinner at the resort. No argument would stop Josh from ordering a pitcher of margaritas. He gave the excuse that it was more economical than buying them one at a time, despite the fact all the prices were ridiculously cheap in U.S. dollars.
Naturally Josh drank most of the pitcher by himself. When Cassie came back from a trip to the women's room she found he'd ordered another pitcher. And once he was drunk he starting getting loud and offering to buy any attractive woman that caught his eye a drink, sometimes even when they had male partners with them. Cassie wanted to sink down through the floor. The only thing that saved her from total shame was the fact that half-way through the second pitcher Josh was too blasted to focus on much except refilling his glass.
After dinner it was straight back to their hotel room, where Cassie poured her completely hammered boyfriend into bed. He made a sloppy pass at her as she pulled off his trousers, but Cassie knew from experience that if they did start to make love he'd certainly pass out in the middle of things.
After undressing Josh she changed into her bikini. Being right about their problems following them from Fort Worth didn't make Cassie feel particularly happy, instead the tension headache she so often had these days was back with a vengeance. She'd spotted an outdoor jacuzzi earlier, she'd go and see if the hot water could loosen her tight neck muscles.
[]
It was ten PM when Cassie got to the jacuzzi she'd seen. This was a stand-alone one closer to their part of the hotel than the larger heated spa by the pool, and set behind some fake-looking boulders so you had be on the path leading to it to get a good view of it. She suspected it was meant for couples who wanted to make out in a hot tub, though in her opinion you'd have to be pretty brazen to do something like that at a resort.
Admittedly at this time of night there didn't seem to be many people in the area. Cassie could faintly hear music from the resort's nightclub, which was where most of the guests who wanted to party were hanging out. That was fine by her, she didn't really feel like dealing with people at the moment. Slipping off the towel she had wrapped around her and laying it on one of the chaise lounges around the jacuzzi she located the controls and turned on the jets.
Immediately the pool foamed vigorously. The jets of the system were quite powerful, and correspondingly loud. She got into the warm water and settled down onto a seat, letting the streams billow against her. Letting out a loud sigh Cassie leaned back and closed her eyes. The heat and pulsing water and even the motor sound were almost hypnotic, she could feel the tension in her body start to ease.
If only her other problems could be so easily washed away, she thought.
After maybe a quarter of an hour she heard a cleared throat. Opening her eyes Cassie saw she had company.
He was a bit taller than her, with a short brown haircut and a tan that looked new. He was definitely older than her though not by a whole lot. His legs looked decent, like he bicycled or ran, but he also had a little pudge pushing out the waist of his trunks. Cassie classified his look as the better sort of Dad bod.
"Hi. Didn't want to scare you by getting in without warning," he said. He put down his towel on a chaise lounge and lowered himself into the jacuzzi across from Cassie. "I'm Keith, by the way."
"Cassie."
"Ahhh, that's better," Keith said as he sank into the foaming water. He kept his arms out on the lip of the tub, and Cassie noted that the left hand bore a wedding ring.
"I can leave if you and your wife want some privacy," Cassie said. Her headache was gone now, and while she didn't really feel like going to bed yet (especially with her drunk boyfriend probably snoring up a storm) she didn't want to be the dog in the manger if a couple wanted some hot tub time to themselves.
"Nice of you to offer, but I'm pretty sure she's not coming," he said with a grimace. "We just had a pretty big argument, that's one of the reasons I need to relax."
"Sorry to hear that," Cassie said.
"Thanks. I guess I should be used to it by now, we've been going through a rough spot," Keith answered. Then he sighed. "That's what I've been telling myself for the last six months, anyway, but the 'spot' just keeps getting longer and rougher. We did this trip to see if maybe getting out of our usual environment would help, but we've been arguing pretty much nonstop since we got here."
Cassie laughed ruefully. "That sounds just like me and my boyfriend, except that this is our first day here."
"Wow, did you have a blowout day one?"
"No, he just got drunk as a skunk," Cassie said. "I could yell at him about it tomorrow when he's sober, but it never helps."
"Now it's my turn to say I'm sorry to hear that," Keith said.
Cassie shrugged. "Life is tough all over."
"Yeah." Keith sighed again. "It's weird, when I met Joanne I was sure she was the one, you know? We dated for twelve months and lived together for six before we got married, thought we knew each other, but a year later we started getting on each other's nerves and it just snowballed from there. Now we can barely be in a room together without someone saying something that starts a fight."
Cassie told him this sounded a lot like her own experience, except of course that she and Josh never got married. The drinking didn't become a problem until about twelve months after they'd moved in together and things had gone steadily downhill since.
"Why do relationships have to be so hard?" she finished.
"You got me there, amigo. I guess I should feel lucky Joanne won the argument about waiting to start a family. If I'd had my way we'd have a kid right now..."
Keith's voice trailed off. He was gazing at nothing in particular, yet his look was so unhappy that Cassie felt sad herself.
"So, what part of Texas are you from, cowboy?" she said to break the mood.
He blinked, chuckled. "Shucks, and I thought leaving my ten-gallon hat at home would fool people. Dallas."
"Really? I live in Fort Worth."
"Honey, that is not no Texas accent you got."
Cassie grinned. "I grew up in Rhode Island."
"Ah, from the smallest state to the biggest one, good choice."
"I thought Alaska was the biggest state?"
"Nope, that there's purely an optical illusion caused by the Aurora Borealis."
The pump timer clicked off. Cassie turned around and climbed half out of the pool, leaning over the edge to reach for the controls.
"Uh, honey, there's a button right by you that restarts the timer, you don't have to get out of the water to do it," Keith said.
Cassie turned back around and saw the button he'd mentioned, in easy reach of someone in the jacuzzi. She punched it and the jets resumed. At the same time she glanced up and caught Keith eyeing her bikini-clad body appreciatively before the water once again filled with foam and became opaque.
Cassie realized that her prior movement had essentially made her stick her ass out at her new acquaintance, and he'd clearly enjoyed the view. She felt a little embarrassed, but also rather pleased that she could still draw that sort of attention. One of Josh's tactics when they were fighting was to tell her that since they'd been living together she'd stopped bothering trying to look sexy. It was true she'd gained a little weight, but he'd gained even more so who was he to complain!
Keith interpreted her silent revery as the cold shoulder. "Sorry, I shouldn't stare," he said.
"Don't worry about it. I know that guys have to fight their instincts to admire the scenery even when they're trying to be polite."
He grinned. "Then I'll confess that while I enjoy these here bubbles, the scenery was much better without them."
She laughed. "And from living in Fort Worth I know that Texan men come up with the corniest lines."
