“Anyone playing this evening?” I asked my head receptionist, Kelly.
Idly I let my finger run through the dust on the top of the reception desk and then studied the tip with a satisfied smile; the new cleaner seemed to at least be doing her job.
“Just Mr. Franklin and one other player. I’ve never seen this one in here before.”
I craned my neck to peer round the glass doors of the small casino that joined the main body of the hotel. One benefit of running a small island hotel; mainlanders loved to get away for a few days and gamble their hard earned cash!
I saw Joe Franklin’s large frame fill the seat at one end of the small card table as he acutely studied the hand that he had been dealt. Joe was a regular; hopping over on the short flight between his home on the mainland about once a month to try his luck. He was almost always accompanied by his wife, May – an island trophy wife, I guessed – but tonight she was obvious by her absence.
“Mrs. Franklin not here?” I enquired of Kelly
“In her room. I gave them 802, the junior suite.” Kelly replied and brandished a large bouquet of colourful flowers. “Her birthday, I guess. I was just going to run these up to her now.”
I nodded my agreement. Franklin and his wife and last been here only a week ago. It was unusual for them to return so quickly but, I supposed, the birthday explained the impromptu visit. I felt a surge of pride that Joe had selected a visit to the Hotel Paradise for his wife’s treat.
As I looked back into the main gaming room I was not so interested in the game that was going on but rather in Joe’s opponent. We didn’t get many surfers at Hotel Paradise but this one was a real “water-rat”.
I considered the two men as they faced each other across the table; poker-faces, concentration obvious. They made an odd couple. Joe, in his late forties, dark-skinned and with a well-fed, handsome face that comes through good living and expensive soap, wore his usual lightweight suite. His hair, greying at the temples, was combed back neatly. His opponent was in direct contrast. Several years Joe’s junior, the young man wore below-the-knee baggy shorts that were fashionably frayed and a patterned shirt that had clearly seen better days. His skin looked burnt rather than bronzed.
I remained behind the reception desk, tidying and making myself useful, until Kelly had returned from delivering May Franklin’s flowers. I watched her as she sashayed through the main lobby on her way back to reception. She had only been working at the hotel for a short time but she was a good find. The guests liked her easy and polite temperament and I liked the way that, in the late afternoon with the sun coming through the lobby doors from the west, I could see right through the almost translucent dresses that she wore!
“Thanks.” Kelly said simply as she replaced me behind the desk.
“No problem. Did she like the flowers?”
Kelly grinned back at me knowingly.
“I think she has more than flowers on her mind for tonight.” She said wickedly. “She’s dressed to kill!”
I smiled back, my mind imagining Kelly in the sort of lingerie or sexy clothes that I supposed Mrs. Franklin was currently wearing.
“Evening, Harry!”
My reverie was immediately broken by the loud, booming voice that I knew belonged to Joe Franklin. I turned and waved at him as he passed through into the Neptune Bar.
“Evening, Mr. Franklin. Time for a drink?”
I followed Joe into the bar as he propped himself up on one of the bar stools and poured him his usual scotch and ice.
“Join me?” He said, friendly as always.
I nodded and poured a second. It was early and we were the only people in the bar.
“Thanks.” I said. “So, who won?”
Joe smiled. “Who do you think? It’s May’s birthday, did you know?”
I nodded, indicating that I had already seen the huge bouquet that Joe had purchased.
“Big one this year,” he continued, “forty.”
I raised my glass in a silent toast.
“For her thirtieth we went to Vegas. She won $500 on the roulette table. She was so happy she went straight upstairs and banged the bell-boy!”
He stopped and saw the look of shock on my face. I was thinking hard. The bell-boy? He seemed to understand the unspoken question in my mind.
“Oh I loved it.” He said quickly. “I got to watch it all!”
As the thoughts jostled for position in my cluttered mind, suddenly things seemed to come into focus. This now made sense of all the times that I had seen Joe and May in the company of another man – Joe was a “wife-watcher”!
“For her thirty-fifth, a friend and I took her to Disney Land. She was a real kid; dashing about and giggling like a teenager again. She completely wore us out – in the bedroom too!”
I took a long gulp of my scotch, feeling it burn the inside of my throat.
“Where is she now?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“I got her a surfer, they’re upstairs now.”
He seemed happy. I took another mouthful of scotch, draining the glass. I poured us both another drink. “On the house” I explained quickly.
Joe accepted graciously and downed the drink in one swallow.
“Well, I’m going to go and see what’s happening upstairs.” His eyes twinkled as he smiled.
I watched him walk to the door of the bar, his back straight and adjusting his already perfect tie as he went. Suddenly he stopped and turned. His eyes seemed to bore into my soul.
“Unless….” He started. “Maybe you would like…..?”
I wondered if I was hearing things. Was Joe Franklin really asking if I’d like to go up to his suite and watch his wife being fucked by another man?
“Come on,” Joe said as if hearing my unasked question. “It’ll be fun! I know you like May, and to see her naked is something else! You like to join me?”
How could I refuse? The express elevator lived up to its name and deposited us on the correct floor within seconds. As we approached Joe’s suite the door opened and the young man that I had seen him playing poker with earlier exited furtively. I could see his hand adjusting his zipper as if he had just put his shorts back on. Seeing Joe and I approach, the surfer scuttled away down the corridor.
“Shit!” Franklin explained. “That was quick!”
As Joe and I entered the room quietly, May Franklin was sitting on the leather sofa. The tiny denim skirt that she was “wearing” was rucked up around her waist. Her panties lay discarded on the floor and the thin t-shirt was pulled down. She wore no bra and I could see the exquisite mounds of her breasts as they heaved up and down with each breath.
Joe seemed completely unfazed by his wife’s semi-naked appearance.