This is a story involving several characters. Each one of them with their individual motivations and feelings, but in the end, their story will bring them closer together around a unifying experience.
Michael and Julie are in their early 40s, and have been married for 15 years. They are both career oriented and they have moved around in Europe for better jobs. Now, they both work in high level jobs at big companies. Their work takes a big part of their time. Out of the remaining time they try to allocate as much as possible to their daughter. But sometimes they wished to have her spend more time with the grandparents so they could have more time alone for themselves. This is why they were both looking forward to the first vacation alone in a very long time. They will first fly with their daughter to leave her with the grandparents and from there to Spain for a full week of relaxion and enjoyment.
Helen and Greg are in their late 40s, and have been married for 20 years. Their children are all grown-up and not living in their house anymore. Greg is working long hours and the family mainly relies on his income. Helen has not been working and she was taking care of the children. But recently, mainly out of boredom, she started volunteering at a foundation. Mainly because of Greg's long work hours and frequent business travel, they have little time to spend together at home. So they see this vacation as an opportunity to reconnect.
Both couples arrived on Saturday late afternoon at the hotel. They go through the check-in process and arrive in their rooms.
Once in the room Michael embraces Julie and whispers in her ear: "This looks like a great bed. I would like to give it a try before the dinner. What do you say?"
"Oh. I am really tired after all these flights, dear. Let's just relax for a bit. Besides, we don't have a lot of time".
"We don't necessarily need a lot of time! Or... we can even skip dinner altogether. Or we can order a salad from room service. It would also be better for our health... we make more exercise and we don't eat a lot in the evening."
"Michael, I said no! I want to dress nicely and go for dinner. We paid a lot of money for this vacation. Let's take advantage."
Michael is disappointed, but not totally surprised by his wife's reaction. He knew that she was tired and stressed. Her work was affecting her balance. She was constantly on the edge. And this made it hard for her to relax, to let go and to enjoy life. This is why, in the week before the vacation he thought about a possible solution. He procured this medicine that has the effect of lowering inhibitions. He checked the prospect and there were no interactions with alcohol. So he made a plan to slip it in her drink and then observe the effects in the coming hours. It was something that he wanted to do for both of them. They both would benefit from her being more relaxed and open to enjoy life.
With this in mind, he responded to his wife: "Ok. Let's do that. Let's dress nicely and enjoy a wonderful dinner. But we are in vacation. Let's celebrate. Look at this complementary bottle of Cava sparkling wine! Let's open it an toast for a wonderful and relaxing vacation!"
"That is a great idea! You open it and pour in some glasses while I go start getting ready. I need to change for the dinner."
Michael slips the medicine into Julie's drink and waits for her smiling to return. They toast to a great vacation and enjoy the Cava. This significantly improves their moods. So they head towards the restaurant holding hands and smiling.
When they arrive at the restaurant, a surprise risks ruining their evening. They are informed that more tourists than expected booked the dinner as part of their package and there are not enough tables. So, they are offered 2 options. They could either receive a reimbursement and they could try to find a restaurant outside the hotel. Or, they could share a table with another couple, and, to compensate for the inconvenience, they will receive a complementary drink. Reluctantly they accept the second option. They are taken to the table by one of the members of the staff and there they notice that Helen and Greg are already enjoying their complementary drink. Helen is enjoying a large sangria, and Greg a whiskey.
Greg greets them: "Welcome fellow trouble makers! It seems it's fashionable for our hosts to treat their guests with disrespect and to complain about Overtourism - this might be the only industry where people complain about getting more money from clients!"
"Yes. So annoying! I'm glad to see that some one agrees with me!" says Julie, with a nasty look towards Michael.
Helen and Michael look down, slightly embarrassed by their spouses overt aggressiveness towards the hosts.
Michael tries to change the subject and reduce the tension: "Nice to meet you! Even in these circumstances... I am Michael, and this is my wife, Julie."
Helen and Greg stand up to shake their hands, repeating their name with each handshake.
They all sit down, at the round table, having on one side their spouse and on the other side, the member of opposite sex from the other couple: Michael next to Julie, next to Greg, next to Helen next to Michael to close the circle.
Once they are seated, Julie continues to complain: "It's not that you are bad people, Helen and Greg! But it's just not what we paid for... It's just bad customer service"
Helen makes another attempt to change the topic and reduce the tension: "At least the free sangria is pretty good, Julie! You should ... try... it"
Her last words were barely mumbled and she looked as if she was in pain. Julie's look seemed to have made her hurt physically, it was so full of anger and aggression.
She accompanied her look with equally damaging words: "My darling, please do not interrupt me. If I will need your input, I will ask for it."
Michael was growing more and more uncomfortable with his wife behaviour and he was feeling bad for poor Helen. "We all agree it's a bad situation, honey. But let's try not to let it affect our mood. Let's order our drinks."
They order the drinks and the conversation continued for a couple of minutes, mainly between Julie, Greg and Michael. Helen seemed to be hesitant to say anything, afraid it might anger Julie again.
Noticing this, Michael tries to include her as well, and when a break in the conversation offers the right opportunity complements her outfit and asks her where she does her shopping.
Helen smiles for the first time since the initial incident with Julie. "Well, thank you very much, Michael! It's so nice to receive compliments. I am not used to it. I never get them at home".
Greg notices the subtle attach from his wife and gets really angry. "Helen darling, I bring enough money home to compensate for the lack of compliments. When I come exhausted from work I barely have energy for anything... the last thing on my mind would be compliments. As for you, Michael, I thought you had better manners than to hit on some one else's wife!"
Michael tries to apologise and explain that it was a harmless remark. But Julie also takes Greg's side and from there on the mood between spouses continues to deteriorate. Time passes slowly and the atmosphere is unpleasant, at least for Michael and Helen, that seemed to be more concerned by other people. But Greg and Julie, maybe under the influence of alcohol, seem to get past the incident quickly and continue to monopolize the discussion. Jumping from complaining about the hosts to complaining about the government or their colleagues at work. It seemed that all the people around them are idiots and only the 2 of them are worth anything. They could solve all the problems of the world if only they would try.
For Julie and Greg it was an amazing feeling. They seemed to find a perfect match in each other. Finally some one that understands their frustrations with the other incompetents. Finally some one that is able to appreciate their superior intellect and problem solving capacity.
Finally it gets too much for Helen, and she excuses herself: "I've already had too much to eat. I will not wait for desert. I think I will go for a walk to burn down some calories".
Greg dismisses her: "Sure darling. Go ahead! Go have a walk an take as much time as you want!"
As they bring the desert, Greg says: "This turned out to be a decent dinner. The food was good enough. At least the chef seems to be good at his job, unlike the rest of the staff... I feel in the mood for a good bottle of wine. I rarely have the chance to enjoy some good wine. And this vacation provides a good opportunity. What do you say? Should we order a nice Bordeaux?"
Michael prepares to refuse politely. But Julie is faster: "What a wonderful idea!"
Michael leans towards her and tries to whisper: "Honey, it's late. Let's go to the room. We can have a bottle in the room."
She whispers back: "I like it here. If you want, you can go ahead and I'll come later, after the wine."
Michael completely forgot about the inhibitions-lowering medicine that he slipped into Julies drink at the beginning of the evening. If he hadn't forgotten, maybe he would not have agreed so easily to go to his room and leave his wife with Greg.
Left alone, Greg and Julie continue talking for some more time, enjoy the wine and become more and more friendly.
Julie was feeling the effects of the alcohol and the medicine and a state of euphoria was taking a hold of her. At the beginning of the evening he did not find Greg particularly attractive. But as the night progressed, she started to get aroused by his confidence and his slightly aggressive manner of talking and behaving.
She started imagining how would he react if she would touch his leg with her foot. Would he respond if she would slightly rest his hand on his leg or his shoulder? Usually she was very controlled and she was thinking realistically about the possible risks and consequences of her actions. But now, Julie, under the influence of alcohol and the medication, could not see what could possibly go wrong. It was simply impossible for her to imagine that anything that she wanted to do could be seen as wrong. She was seeing herself as perfect and unable to make a mistake.
So, she slowly took her foot out of her shoe and started caressing Greg's leg. After a couple of moments, Greg responded by resting his hand on her thigh. She felt an irresistible excitement building up inside her. Without hesitation she grabbed his hand and pulled it closer, deep between her legs. And at the same time she leaned towards him and placed her hand on the bulge forming in his pants.
