"Cherry Cobbler"
Mark Randolph Cobb was one curious character. He was a nice person, has a decent job, possess a degree or two, a cute girlfriend, etc. Yeah, I could go on about how good the man was. The physical traits were equal to his personality. He had dark brown hair, soulful brown eyes, light cream skin, slightly muscular and and almost six feet tall. He was one helluva guy!
"Hey, Mark," Xavier said, giving him a fist bump. "What's up with you, man? You keeping out of trouble with those sharks in Miami?"
"As always. I'm always browning my nose into my books. Anyway, great news, you are looking at the head accountant for the firm of Garcia Brothers!"
"Nice!" Devon said with pride for their new friend. "Congrats, man! You earned it!"
"Yeah," the man beamed timidly, scratching his head. He looked at the girls covered in blankets. "Who are those two cuties, guys? I thought you two are an item back in Fayetteville."
The two men blushed and laughed with some cracked voices. "Well, you see..." Xavier cracked, looking at the man. "The girls were canoeing and were in the way of the yacht. Thankfully, the jumped out of the way before their canoe crashed and sank. We feel pretty bad about their misfortune so we helped them warm up in their blankets as we dry off their clothes."
"Well, that's really nice of you, guys! Helping the innocent girls from a cold lake sounds like a good deed of the week! Did you two thank these awesome guys?"
Rosa and Katie giggled and looked at each other. "Yeah...yeah we did." Rosa replied with a crimson face. She looked over to the board dock where a slender woman with a blonde ponytail ran to the yacht. "Mark? Mark, are you up there?"
Mark looked to the side and waved to the jogging woman. "Hey, Heather! Come on in! I just told the guy the news!"
Heather Salisbury entered the yacht with a beaming pair of cheeks, holding her chummy boyfriend's arm. Her sparkling blue eyes caught the girls' eyes as she grinned at the good news. Xavier and Devon awed at the couple. "Heather, you must be proud of your Mark here."
"Oh, you betcha I am!" Heather cheered, nuzzling under his soft chin. "My Mark is very hard worker. He's been doing so well, I want to give him a reward for his new promotion."
"Oh now, Heather," the man beamed and hugged his girl. "I'm...I'm just a humble guy doing my job. Quite frankly, I really don't know how I got to top accountant."
Rosa tilted her head and smiled at the man. He sounded like he was a humble man from a working background. He may have stumbled upon his path to privilege, she thought to herself, but he would never shake off his gentle, earthly manners he learned from his upbringing. He looked at the girls, feeling rather goofy. "So, you guys, why don't we take them to the gift shop at the camp and buy them new clothes? I'll buy."
Xavier grinned and patted the nice man. "Okay, big shot, you got it. I'll steer my Casper to the spot." As his boyfriend walked to the wheel, Devon sat next to Katie, looking at her sullen face. "Say Katie, I hope you're not disappointed with this?"
"Huh?" Katie snapped out of her thoughts, turning to the concerned man. "Oh! Well, no, I'm not disappointed with this. In all honesty, I'm a little relieved. I don't know what it's like to...well..."
Devon got the message and nodded. "Say no more, hon. I know what it's like. I was in your shoes, feeling nervous and all. I'm going to say what my best friend said to me. 'It might hurt at first. Your body might not be used to the foreign part. However, once the pain subsides, it'll be the greatest feeling you'll ever had in your life. Plus, if there is a right person with you, it will be more special.' Does that help?"
Katie made a tiny smile, whispering to her companion, "It helps. What should I do to reduce the pain?"
The man blushed and chuckled. "Well, some stretching would help..."
The advice from Devon made Katie more relieved about the experience. She felt it would help her as the yacht drew closer to the shore. Mark nodded, seeing a humble oak lodge with the words "Hattawata Gift Shoppe" in a log pediment. As the yacht docked, Mark escorted Katie and Heather to the grounds. Of course, Rosa stayed behind needing to thank Xavier for helping them in her own way.
"Thanks for keeping the secret between us, man," Rosa blushed, covering her shoulders with the blanket. "You, uh, are a nice guy, you and Devon."
"Hey, it's what we do. Anything to help. And next time you need some assistance, don't hesitate to come to me, okay?" He ended his statement with a wink. Rosa grinned and gave him a soft knuckle tease on his jaw, rubbing him with it. "You got yourself a deal."
"Rosa!" Katie said to Rosa, waving her her hand. Rosa smiled at Xavier and ran to the others, joining them to walk to the gift shop. Mark smiled as he led the girls to the cabin gift shop. "Here we are, Camp Hattawata's gift shop! This one is everyone's convenience, whether it be clothes go or some snacks, this store will have anything at your request."
The man walked to the swinging door and opened into the girls. While Heather accepted Mark's courtesy, Rosa and Katie stayed behind, covering their naked bodies. Mark wanted to ask what the matter was until he realized there was a policy in the store. No one entered allowed in the shop without shirts or shoes. He thought to himself, "Geez, I'm such a knuckle head!"
"Okay, girls," he said to the girls, "why don't you sit on the stone bench until I come back with your new clothes. What size do you usually wear?"
"10." Replied Katie, while Rosa made a face and murmured, "14."
"Seems like very comfortable sizes. I'll go and see there any clothes great enough for you two to wear." He entered the store where Heather ran all over the green store to see some cute clothes, keychains, and plushy animals. Mark chuckled. "Heather, you're so adorable when you see some bargains!"
"Bargains?" Heather said with her hands full of animals and some shirts. "This is an absolute steal! They have soft cotton that usually sells Bukoo bucks in big stores, but this! They want six bucks for shirts like this! Six bucks, for soft cotton! I'm also so excited they have snow globes! I'm buying one for my nephew in Oregon!"
Mark laughed as his girlfriend ran to the snow globe shelf. A man with thinning blonde hair came out of the fitting room and saw a costumer rushing around the store with a load of clothes in her hands. He clacked his St. Martin flip-flops to the register and rang a service bell at the shopaholic. "Hello, dear woman," he chirped, waving his hand to her. "Are you being served?"