Couples' Retreat

Part One

She looked up at Jerry as he looked deeply into her eyes. There was no denying their attractions. "Well, maybe just for a few minutes. We are adults and we paid for this trip, after all. We should have some rights. Don't you think?" Jerry could only grin wide.

Jerry inserted his key card into the security lock and kicked the door open and held it with his leg. He twisted around, picked up Lisa and carried her over the threshold symbolically and instead of setting her down on the already turned-down bed, he let her down in front of one of the better upholstered chairs. It would be wrong to presume a sexual connection at this point. He was a romantic and Lisa liked that about him. ... but, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Feeling a little nervous and sheepishly shy, Jerry dropped his brown leather suitcase at the foot of the private island resort hotel check-in desk and waited briefly. This was an exclusive and expensive experience he was about to have and it could all go for naught in the end. The complementary two vodka martinis and the bag of Smokehouse Almonds on the plane didn't help that much. The white Lincoln limousine brought him directly from his chartered flight and the small private airport, directly to the resort hotel. This was all very nice, so far, but what was planned for the remainder of his stay had him a little bit nervous. What if...?

He'd planned this trip six-months ago, filled-in the original application and all the required ancillary sexual preference and experience questionnaires before he e-mailed the required - clothed and totally nude - photos they required before he was selected. The hardest part for Jerry was the had to borrow some of the fees for this experience out of his 401-K retirement savings to pay his $10,000 fee for the five-day experience he was about to have. For Jerry, there was more than enough tension, stress and anxiety within him to warrant his condition. The registration clerk quickly came to his aid.

"Yes, Mr. Jones. We have your suite prepared for you. Is there anything you additionally require?" He spoke with an English accent, but Jerry couldn't tell if it was real or authentic. It hardly mattered.

"Excuse me, but my name isn't Mr. Jones. It's... "

The clerk raised his index finger and interrupted him and spoke in a lowered voice, "Yes sir, but we don't use real surnames here. For our purposes everyone's surname is Jones - if we use it at all. We use only first names here and I recognized you from our photo database and your application as you approached the front desk. We pride ourselves on a more personal experience. We feel it makes the Retreat more comfortable. My name is Clark. May I address you as Jerry?"

Jerry understood and the professional clerk was very good about explaining the procedures here. "Yes, that would be fine, I suppose. "He gave it a quick thought and decided it would be better, unless there was another Jerry in the group.

"Very well, Jerry." At that, Clark pushed a single page, typed form toward him with an envelope and a pen. "If you will kindly read and acknowledge receipt of a copy of our Participation Agreement and kindly surrender your wallet, watch, cell phone and passport in this envelope, please. I will place your envelope in the hotel safe and make a photocopy of this agreement for your perusal. After you seal the envelope, please sign or initial it across the seal for security purposes."

Jerry signed the form on the line at the arrow without even a bother to read it. Clark turned to make the photocopy as Jerry put his valuables into the large manila envelope, sealed it and signed the crease. Clark returned with Jerry's copy of the form. Clark further sealed the envelope with bright red sealing wax and a specially designed hotel stamp. As Jerry folded the agreement and slipped it into his inner suit coat pocket he asked for directions to the bar. A uniformed bellboy suddenly appeared without summons to collect Jerry's bag. As Jerry turned to follow the bellboy, Clark spoke again.

"Ah, Mr. Jones?" (He was checking Jerry's response to the fake name.)

Jerry turned, remembering his instruction. "Yes, Clark?"

Clark held up a green slip of paper the size of a 3"x 5" index card. Jerry returned to the desk with a question on his mind, which was quickly answered. "We do have a very nice bar at the resort, but no cash or credit cards are allowed. You may use only these coupons if you wish to consume alcohol while you are here. If you'll refer to your agreement, you'll notice that you will receive one or perhaps two coupons daily if your needs and progress in our curriculum are satisfactory. This coupon is to help you relax from your long journey. This is for your benefit. I'm sure you agree."

"Or course, Clark. Thank-you." Jerry followed the bellboy to his room. Maybe Clark was right. He already had two drinks on the plane to ease his flight nerves, but his being-here-nerves would require more than one drink to calm. Besides, those two drinks had long worn off. The bellboy opened the door to Suite J and allowed Jerry to enter first before following with his bags.

"Will this suite be acceptable, sir?"

Jerry did a quick look around. This was no $100/night motel by the highway type of room. There was no apparent TV, which was a surprise. For a quick moment he felt he did not belong in such luxurious surroundings, until he remembered the price of admission. He tried to act sophisticated, "Yes, this room will be fine. He reached toward his inner suit coat pocket for his wallet to give the bellboy a gratuity but found his pocket empty." He turned around to where the bellboy had stood just moments before, but by then, his bag was already stored in the closet and the bellboy was gone, the door closed.

Jerry decided to make himself comfortable by taking off his suit coat, tie and shoes. He thought about going down to the bar to have that drink, but he already had his shoes off and his feet felt much better now walking around on the plush carpeting. Maybe later. He looked around the room for something to read and explore his surroundings a bit. It had all the usual things, including a writing desk, comfortable chairs, granite topped counter in the bathroom with a nice Jacuzzi tub/shower. What was unique was the dim-able lighting fixture controls all around the room to set the mood when/if needed. He didn't notice the special control which controlled nothing that he was aware of. This would be interesting, since Jerry came and was accepted as a single. This was supposed to be a couple's retreat. He wondered how they would handle that aspect of their program.

The phone rang. It was Clark's voice. "Jerry, there will be a general convocation of all guests in the main dining room in one hour. Please wear the bathrobe and comfort shoes provided in your closet. Your phone will ring twice when it is time to go. Thank-you." With that, the line went dead. Very mysterious, but why? I guess without a watch or clock in the room, how would he know what time it was? Jerry walked over to the closet and decided to unpack his things. He noticed the thick, white velour robe with his name embroidered on the right breast pocket. He had been to various business seminars in the past and he could always tell the first timers who wore their 'Hello, my name is: ' name tags on the left side. The trick is to wear the tag on the right side so that when shaking hands with someone new, your name is easily presented to them as you lean forward. "Geez, these guys thought of everything."

Jerry took his time to shower, freshen up and shave again to make sure he was presentable after his trip. To a new crowd of people, he had never met before he felt it was wise to look and feel at his best. Even though he would never meet these people ever again after this week, he still wanted to start off on the right foot. Being tired and disheveled never impressed anyone. A nice hot shower always worked. Just as he was getting dressed, the phone rang twice then stopped. It was time to go. Comfort slippers on, he grabbed his robe out of the closet and walked out of the room as the door self-closed behind him. He reached in his pockets and thankfully, the security keycard for the room was in there already. How did they know he'd forget that?

To be continued in Pt. 2

[word count 1,500]

2/4/25