lobby.
Jessica dramatically winds up and proceeds to start bickering with
Michael about his tardy entrance. I quickly look away, and pull a
Travel Costa Rica magazine off of the table beside me. I flip
through the pages and keep my eyes down, but Eric’s stagy entrance
distracts me and causes me to look up. I watch him stumble through
the lobby hunched over in a stretch for the nearest sofa. His hair
is a mess, his clothes are wrinkled, and his face is a pale yellow.
He moans when he makes contact with a sofa, and exasperatingly
whips his arm across his eyes.
My breathing quickens when I finally
lock eyes with Ben. He looks fantastic. His dark hair is poking out
from under his backwards cap and his crisp clean turquoise t-shirt
clings to his muscles. His dark eyes are soft and sullen, and his
face is cleanly shaven. I gulp and look away, but I can feel him
staring at me. He sits down beside me and drapes his left arm along
the back of the sofa. I pretend to busy myself by searching for
something in the distance, but he places his thumb and index finger
on my chin and turns my face towards his.
“ Megan.” Ben whispers with
a hint of desperation in his voice.
“ What?” I say keeping my
eyes on the ground and fiddle with the fringe of my
shirt.
A lingering moment passes between us.
Ben drops his hand from my chin and runs it through his dark hair.
He hesitates, taking a deep breath, but as he tries to speak,
Stephanie shouts, “What’s going on over there?” and suspiciously
crosses her arms in front of her chest.
“ Nothing,” I say and scoot
back on the sofa. I lift my eyes to Stephanie, but I am worried she
will be able to see everything all over my face.
“ I was just telling Megan I
was sorry I missed out on last night.” Ben calmly says.
Stephanie glances back and forth
between us. She furrows her brow and un-crosses her arms, now
completely oblivious. “Well, you did miss out on a good
time.”
“ It’s always a good time
when tits come out.” Matthew says and pokes Michelle in her
coma-like state.
Ben leans back on the sofa, turns away
from me and clears his throat, “What? Really?”
“ We all went skinny
dipping.” Stephanie laughs, “It was hilarious.”
Eric gives a thumbs-up from the sofa,
and Matthew laughs and nods in agreement. Ben gives me a sideways
glance, and even though I do want to clarify I was not amongst the
skinny dipping crew, I don’t. For some reason, I have this silly
immature instinct to let Ben wallow in the idea that I bared my
birthday suit. Maybe part of me wants him to think that if everyone
else has seen me naked, it somehow minimizes the fact we slept
together.
“ The bus is here!” Jessica
shouts, waving us over to the bus and tour guide.
Ben pushes off the sofa and
briskly walks toward the bus, leaving the rest of us behind.
Jessica remains next to the tour guide as we line up single file. I
hear her pestering him about having us back on time for our dinner
reservations. I slide past her and find my way onto the wonderfully
air-conditioned bus. I notice right away, Ben is sitting in the
very back, gazing out the window. He looks up, but quickly turns
away as soon as our eyes meet. Old times would have dictated we
definitely would have sat together. We would have played the, would
you rather game, something we always did
when we travelled on the subway or in a cab. Ben would always start
by asking a question like, “Would you rather live in a boat, or in
a motor home?” I would always laugh and wonder where he came up
with all his questions. I even accused him of carrying around a
journal and jotting down his dumb rathers, just so he could be
better prepared than I was.
Part of me really wants to go back to
those moments, and play a simple game of would you rather, but the
other part of me wants to rip off his clothes again. Everything
about our demeanor to one another has quickly changed over such a
short period of time. I can’t even look Ben in
Jessica dramatically winds up and proceeds to start bickering with
Michael about his tardy entrance. I quickly look away, and pull a
Travel Costa Rica magazine off of the table beside me. I flip
through the pages and keep my eyes down, but Eric’s stagy entrance
distracts me and causes me to look up. I watch him stumble through
the lobby hunched over in a stretch for the nearest sofa. His hair
is a mess, his clothes are wrinkled, and his face is a pale yellow.
He moans when he makes contact with a sofa, and exasperatingly
whips his arm across his eyes.
My breathing quickens when I finally
lock eyes with Ben. He looks fantastic. His dark hair is poking out
from under his backwards cap and his crisp clean turquoise t-shirt
clings to his muscles. His dark eyes are soft and sullen, and his
face is cleanly shaven. I gulp and look away, but I can feel him
staring at me. He sits down beside me and drapes his left arm along
the back of the sofa. I pretend to busy myself by searching for
something in the distance, but he places his thumb and index finger
on my chin and turns my face towards his.
“ Megan.” Ben whispers with
a hint of desperation in his voice.
“ What?” I say keeping my
eyes on the ground and fiddle with the fringe of my
shirt.
A lingering moment passes between us.
Ben drops his hand from my chin and runs it through his dark hair.
He hesitates, taking a deep breath, but as he tries to speak,
Stephanie shouts, “What’s going on over there?” and suspiciously
crosses her arms in front of her chest.
“ Nothing,” I say and scoot
back on the sofa. I lift my eyes to Stephanie, but I am worried she
will be able to see everything all over my face.
“ I was just telling Megan I
was sorry I missed out on last night.” Ben calmly says.
Stephanie glances back and forth
between us. She furrows her brow and un-crosses her arms, now
completely oblivious. “Well, you did miss out on a good
time.”
“ It’s always a good time
when tits come out.” Matthew says and pokes Michelle in her
coma-like state.
Ben leans back on the sofa, turns away
from me and clears his throat, “What? Really?”
“ We all went skinny
dipping.” Stephanie laughs, “It was hilarious.”
Eric gives a thumbs-up from the sofa,
and Matthew laughs and nods in agreement. Ben gives me a sideways
glance, and even though I do want to clarify I was not amongst the
skinny dipping crew, I don’t. For some reason, I have this silly
immature instinct to let Ben wallow in the idea that I bared my
birthday suit. Maybe part of me wants him to think that if everyone
else has seen me naked, it somehow minimizes the fact we slept
together.
“ The bus is here!” Jessica
shouts, waving us over to the bus and tour guide.
Ben pushes off the sofa and
briskly walks toward the bus, leaving the rest of us behind.
Jessica remains next to the tour guide as we line up single file. I
hear her pestering him about having us back on time for our dinner
reservations. I slide past her and find my way onto the wonderfully
air-conditioned bus. I notice right away, Ben is sitting in the
very back, gazing out the window. He looks up, but quickly turns
away as soon as our eyes meet. Old times would have dictated we
definitely would have sat together. We would have played the, would
you rather game, something we always did
when we travelled on the subway or in a cab. Ben would always start
by asking a question like, “Would you rather live in a boat, or in
a motor home?” I would always laugh and wonder where he came up
with all his questions. I even accused him of carrying around a
journal and jotting down his dumb rathers, just so he could be
better prepared than I was.
Part of me really wants to go back to
those moments, and play a simple game of would you rather, but the
other part of me wants to rip off his clothes again. Everything
about our demeanor to one another has quickly changed over such a
short period of time. I can’t even look Ben in
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