Chapter Four
Hotel Carmen
A few months ago...
Immersed in what could be serenity in liquid form to her, Angel swims through her newly-discovered underwater realm like a mermaid. However, unlike a mermaid, Angel feels her lungs in need of air. Angel motions herself upward to leave her water world and ascend in the surface of Lake Anasazi with a clear blue sky above her.
After she resumes breathing, Angel is content with finding no one else around her, leaving the lake she swims in all to herself. Deciding to take a break from her underwater adventures, Angel swims back to the sandy shore of a small beach area surrounded by the tall cliffs of rocky mountains and a thick forest centered behind the secluded beach. Out of the lake and on the wet sand, Angel saunters to the beach blanket where Orpheus lies on, wearing his grey swimming trunks and sunglasses.
Orpheus props himself up on his elbows and lifts his sunglasses as he watches Angel emerge from the lake like a water nymph. Even though Orpheus finds Angel's simple black one-piece swimsuit is too concealing for his preference in women's swimwear, he's nonetheless allured by the wet fabric of the swimsuit tightly clinging on to the beautiful features of Angel's body while the sun causes her wet skin to glisten. Almost as good if she was in a string bikini, or even naked.
Orpheus sits up from the beach blanket in order to hide the hard on prodding against his trunks, hoping it won't put a damper on his fifth date with Angel.
Or is it his first date?
Orpheus recalls the next day after he talked with Angel at the Field of Eyesores behind the Pump 'n Chump, when Orpheus found sitting on the roof of the abandoned van he pointed out the previous day, looking out across Lake Anasazi. Angel welcomes Orpheus's company as he climbs on the van so both could admire the view of the Ben Williams Bridge and the Plutopolis skyline. Conversation between them was minimal, but Orpheus found the fifty-two minutes they spent together pleasant.
Technically not a date, but not a waste of time either.
Two days later, Orpheus goes to the Lakeside Motel for a quick check on the air conditioner in Rita's office, leading to having lunch with Angel at the dinner of the Pump 'n Chump. During which Angel mentions of discovering the illustration of her with wings. The awkwardness Orpheus experienced last for only a few minutes until Angel assured him she found it flattering. However, Orpheus decides not to bring up the second drawing of her in a leather zip-up corset and a leather thong, holding a riding crop.
Still, not a date.
A few days later, Orpheus and Angel arrived separately at the Lakeside Community Center for movie night. Not an event Orpheus usually goes to, but Gil hinted that Angel was coming as well with Rita. Upon arriving, Orpheus and Angel found themselves sitting together on the folding chairs lined up in the center's gym. As the movie projector played 'Same Time, Next Year', Orpheus notices everyone around them was more interested in him and Angel than in the movie and suspected the good people of Lakeside conspiring to make the mechanic and the maid into a couple. Angel also had the same suspicions.
After the movie ended and most of the people stayed for a showing of 'Heaven Can Wait', Angel said she was tired and was going home, where Orpheus offered to walk with her on his way home.
It didn't start off as a date, but almost ended like one.
Two days after that, Orpheus, Angel and a small group of friends spent the day at Lakeside Beach. But because the area was considerably small and it got crowded by noon, that day at the beach wasn't as fun as planned. However, Orpheus had the opportunity to inform Angel about a secret beach that Orpheus only knows about and offers to take her there sometime, intentionally being vague about bringing their friends along or it just being the two of them.
As Angel takes Orpheus up on his offer, it became a date.
Orpheus ends his contemplation of whether or not this is his first official date with Angel as he hands a towel to the blond water nymph. Accepting the towel, Angel sits near Orpheus on the blanket as she takes the towel to her hair.
"You seem to be having fun." Orpheus says.
"I guess I am." Angel replies. "This beach is great. I can't believe it's just us here."
"The mountains and the forest provide a natural cover to the beach so no one can see it." Explains Orpheus. "You might need a boat to find it but other than that, it's completely secluded."
"How do you know about this place?" Angel asks.
"The Dude took me and my gang...my friends here last year for a beach party/spiritual retreat."
"Rita told me you were in a gang. Was this Dude guy your leader?"
"Yeah, but you have to understand, The Dude wasn't just some gang leader, and he wasn't just another street punk, he had insight and a philosophy and he was very charismatic."
"And how did he find this beach?"
"Well, he was on a motorboat helping some friends transport some stuff they got from Canada and he had to jump off to avoid getting arrested by the harbor patrol and washed up here."
Done drying herself, Angel puts aside her towel and lies back on the beach blanket.
"What happened at this beach party?" Angel inquires. "Was it any fun just being a bunch of guys?"
"We had some girls." Orpheus clarifies. "The Dude brought his girlfriend and so did few other guys. When we got here, we straightaway went swimming and did the usual beach horseplay."
"Sounds like you had fun."
"We did. Then when it got dark, we made a campfire and watched the city lights from across the lake. It was quite a sight."
"What did you do next? Tell ghost stories?"
"Nope. The Dude brought some peyote and we all took it. That's when things really got weird and wild."
"Really?" A curious Angel sits up from the blanket. "How weird and how wild?"
"From what I can remember, Topaz was dancing around the fire wearing only her thong, High-Brow was making out with Airgirl thinking it's an ex-girlfriend he broke up with the previous week before while Airgirl thinks she was making out with her stepfather, and Dizzy and Ajax were taking turns slapping each other in the face."
"What about you?"
"At first, I was going down on Sprinter's girlfriend while Sprinter was passed out, then I had this hallucination of...well, her name was London, she lived in my old neighborhood in Mariner Park and she was standing in the water, naked and looking so beautiful. I walked over to her but I couldn't get any closer to her and I just kept going deeper and deeper in the lake."
"But you obviously got out before you got any further, right?"
"I almost didn't but luckily The Dude pulled me out in the nick of time. Next thing I remember was waking up in the morning, laying in the sand, completely naked."
