"Sir, ma'am, your drinks," Brad alerted the two diners, placing the whisky neat in front of Nick and a glass of white wine on the table for Brooke.
Brad found himself in an unusually chipper mood tonight. Maybe it was the prospect of spending more time with Brooke after dinner. Maybe it was the exciting day. Maybe it was just the result of letting go and enjoying the atmosphere of the resort. Whatever it was, he was happier than he had been in quite a while. He found himself enjoying himself as he served Brooke and her lover their meal. It made him happy to see her smiling face, and hear her cheerful giggles. Seeing her happy brought him a sense of pride and added to his already jubilant mood.
"See you at the club, Ten." Nick called out, waving at Brad, who was standing by the kitchen door talking with one of the other servers.
Brad waved back, signifying he heard Nick, and was looking forward to the evening's festivities.
Brad stood there and chatted with Seven, for a few minutes before entering the kitchen and scarfing down his dinner. It wasn't long before Brad tossed his empty plate into the service bin and headed for the club. As Brad pushed the door open he heard a voice from the bar call out.
"Wow someone's anxious."
Brooke was sipping on another glass of wine as Nick held up his empty highball, indicating to the bartender to bring another.
"Didn't wanna be late," Brad said as he walked up with a smile.
"Well, have a seat Ten. Let me buy you a drink."
Brad was surprised at the offer, but quickly accepted.
"Uh sure, how about a beer," Brad cheerfully requested as he settled into one of the high barstools.
Nick turned his back to Brad, giving his full attention to Brooke, as the bartender brought Brad a beer and set it down. Brooke and Nick whispered to each other, obviously trying to keep their words from being heard by Brad, as he exuberantly drank down his beer and placed the empty bottle back on the bar top.
"One more?" Nick asked, not averting his gaze from Brooke's smiling face.
"Sure, why not." Brad graciously accepted, wondering if this guy had eyes in the back of his head.
Brad drank down his second beer as Nick leaned over and planted a soft kiss on Brooke's cheek. It was just another example of Nick's romantic attraction to Brooke, who could blame him Brad thought. She's incredibly sexy and certainly a prize to anyone that could earn her favor.
The club was starting to fill up as couples entered arm in arm hanging all over each other like newlyweds on their honeymoon.
A voice came over the sound system. "Ok lovers, let's get this party started. "As the music started to thump, Nick took Brooke's hand and led her to the dance floor with the rest of the couples.
One by one the other server's began to enter the club. Some came up to the bar and got themselves a drink; others just took a seat and longingly watched as the couples danced provocatively with one another. The music was pulsing as the night lingered on and the sexual atmosphere intensified. Brad was swallowing down the last drop of his beer when he noticed Dr. Kim had arrived and was now dancing with Brooke and Nick, the three grinding up against one another ratcheting up the sexual tension in the whole room.
"Ok it's time to play the ever popular Pine Lake Challenge." The DJ announced.
Brad noticed Nick waving his hand calling Brad to the dance floor, as others were making their way forward. Brad took the cue and worked his way to the front of the room as the DJ explained what was going on.
"As you all know, this is our most popular game. The Pine Lake Challenge."
"The rules are pretty simple. Each contestant gets a challenge from their sponsor. You pick the difficulty level one, two, or three. The higher the difficulty the higher the points earned for achieving the task. A refusal or failure to finish the task loses points, so it's not a good idea to decline a challenge." The enthusiastic DJ explained.
"When you complete your task bring the card it was written on up to the front, and I will put it in the bowl to be counted at the end of the game. The more tasks you can do before the time runs out the more points you can get so it pays to be quick. The one with the most points before the timer runs out wins a free years membership for two."
"So let's start the clock, and good luck everyone." The DJ finished, as he pointed to a large digital timer hanging on the wall.
The clock started its countdown and the game began.
Brad turned from looking at the clock on the wall hoping for some instruction from Nick, as he heard Kim say,
"We have a little problem Nick."
"Oh what's that?" Nick snickered with a sly grin on his face.
"Ten here doesn't have his collar on. He can't exactly play a formal game like this without his collar on, can he?" She mockingly asked.
"No, no he can't can he?" Nick teased.
Brooke's smile was quickly replaced with a look of disappointment, at the thought of losing the opportunity to become a full member, of the resort she had fallen in love with.
"You better run and get your collar Ten, that clock is ticking." Kim instructed, as Nick tried to console Brooke.
The look of disappointment that washed over Brooke cut through Brad like a knife. He knew by the look on her face she thought it was already over before it had even begun, and it was entirely his fault. He had completely forgotten about his collar. He had been instructed to come there directly after dinner service and never even thought about it. Regardless of the circumstances he knew the only way to redeem himself was to get his collar and return as quickly as possible.
"I'll be right back." Brad declared as he quickly turned and headed out the door.
Brad ran as fast as he could back to the dorm retrieving his collar and putting it on. As he ran full speed back to the club the silver tag rattled against the steel ring creating a harmony with the clack of the padlock against his cage.
Brad shoved the door open and quickly looked around for Brooke. She was entwined with Dr. Kim on the dance floor, passionately kissing her as they slowly rocked back and forth to the music. Nick was standing with them running his hands through their hair like an accordion player, encouraging the two to push on.
"Ah, Ten, you're back." Nick announced, as Brad approached them on the dance floor.
"Yes sir." Brad responded, short of breath.
"You ready to get started? You're gunna have to work fast to catch up now.
"Yes sir."
"Ok, well then you want a one, two, or three?" Nick questioned.
Brad was nervous, not knowing how hard the challenges would be and remembering that a failed task would lose him points, almost assuring they would lose at this point, so he figured he better start small.
"I guess a one sir."
"Well its gunna be hard to catch up like that, but ok. Your first challenge is to do a hundred pushups.
Brad dropped down and started doing his pushups. Although he had been breathing a little hard from running he had actually caught his breath and was zipping through them with ease. With two a day gym classes and all the running around the lake he was actually feeling really good. He could feel the muscles in his arms bulging as he pushed on but kept up the pace trying to make up time.
"Well dam Ten, you knocked that out fast." Nick said, surprised at Brad's performance.
