Gap Year - 13. Chapter 13

January 27, 2004

Hayman Island, Australia

Will

“That rocked!” I said enthusiastically as I hopped off the Jet Ski. Someone from the resort was there to take them from us, letting me, Connie, and Tom simply walk up the beach to our room. While the hotel was nice, it was the top-notch service that made this place incredible.

“Thank you so much!” Tom said.

“You’re welcome,” I said. He had such an easygoing nature when he wasn’t working. When he was working, he was still easygoing but he was also stressed, making sure things were done right.

“What are you guys up to?” he asked.

“Not sure,” Connie said. “What are you thinking?”

“I was kind of thinking a swim would be good,” he said. “I didn’t want to use the pool off the deck because it might bother JP and Stef.” They’d trained him to use their first names last night. He’d kept slipping up and calling them Dr. Crampton and Mr. Schluter, and it was cute for a while, but Stef started to get annoyed, and that ultimately convinced Tom to get his shit together.

“That could be good,” Connie said. “You should come swim with us.”

I stared at Connie, just a little shocked at that, since we had a private pool in our room. It was the perfect aquatic sex room. He was setting the stage for the threesome with Tom. I had to admire how he’d done that, because he’d be able to keep things dialed down if I wasn’t on board with that idea. “I don’t want to butt in,” he said nervously.

“Bullshit,” I said. “Come on.” We walked into the beach house and I noticed that Stef and Grand were nowhere to be seen. I peeked at their room and noticed the curtains were drawn, which meant they were most likely sleeping. They were probably fucked up from the time change.

“I’ll be right there,” Connie said, as soon as we were in our bedroom. Tom and I walked through the room and pulled open the sliding glass door that led into the pool area. I walked out on the deck, stripped off my bathing suit and did a lame belly flop into the pool, then pivoted around to face him.

He made to walk in, but I stopped him. “Nope.”

“What?” he asked.

“No bathing suits in this pool,” I said. He pulled his bathing suit down in a sexy way, slowly sliding it down his groin, teasing me as he showed off his trimmed patch, and tossed it onto the deck. I watched him slowly walk into the pool, watched the water lap up to his balls and envelop them, then his cock which was growing at a pace that matched my own, then his pubes, then his abdomen. I was so entranced by his sexy entry that I was kind of shocked when Connie came barreling in.

“Thought you might want this,” he said, handing me my dugout. “And I know we’ll need this.” He put a bottle of lube down on the edge of the pool, cracking all of us up.

“First things first,” I said. I packed a bowl for Tom, then Connie, then me, and let the Sydney weed give me an amazingly energetic high.

“Top or bottom?” Connie asked Tom. I noticed that with Tom, he was more brusque and, well, masculine. With me, he was gentler and caring. I was about to let that piss me off until it got through my stoned brain that I was about to get mad because he treated me well.

“Top,” said Tom firmly. “I mean, I’d be happy just watching you two fuck.” I couldn’t decide if he was a voyeur, or just shy, but I went with it.

“I think we can do a little better than that,” I said. He got out and sat in a chair, while I knelt in front of him and started sucking his cock.

“Fuck, that’s definitely better,” he said. I felt Connie working my hole for a bit, then he stood up and Tom blew him for a couple of minutes. If Connie’s reaction was any indication, Tom was one good cocksucker. I pulled off his cock and studied it, working my mouth up and down the edges as I did, so I was pretty much worshiping it. He really liked that. His dick was long and thin, making it look a little bit like a French baguette. Connie’s was about the same length, but twice as thick.

Connie moved behind me and plunged his dick slowly into my ass, I smiled up at Tom even as I continued to tease him by turning his cock into an idol. And then Connie began to pick up his pace, which prompted me to begin stroking my own dick in time and to work harder on Tom’s cock. Tom suddenly pushed me off and started jacking off, going slowly to make it last. Connie came first. I heard his growl and imagined I could feel his cock expand as his seed shot into me with amazing force. When he was done and pulled out, I stood up and started jacking with Tom. I cried a bit too loudly then blasted my load all over him. He scooped some of my cum up and used it for lube, which just made me shoot that much longer. He came last, blowing his own load all over his chest and abdomen, where I’d splattered mine just seconds before.

“Fucking incredible,” Tom said, as he played with all the cum on his chest with his fingers, mixing it up.

Something prompted me to stare at the room, and I saw Stef standing there, his pants tenting, and his mouth open. Connie and Tom started to freak out. “Hey Stef,” I said. “We were just getting in the pool.” That was our cue to jump in the water. It was hilarious to see little blops of cum floating in the water after Tom got in.

“Pardon me for intruding,” he said hastily.

“Did you just get here?” I asked, all but accusing him of watching.

He frowned at me. “We will assume that I did. In any event, I have set up dinner for us here on the property. We dine at 7pm.”

“I could have done that for you,” Tom insisted.

“You were much too busy for me to bother you,” Stef said, and giggled. “I will see you all later.”

He left. The two of them looked at me nervously and I just started laughing. “Fifty bucks says he’s already emailing my father about this.”

“Will he get pissed?” Connie asked.

“Hardly,” I said. “They’ll just gossip.”

“That is not how it would be at my house,” Connie said.

“Mine either,” Tom agreed. They both seemed to realize that they had cracked open the door to talk about their families, and quickly shut it. “I’ve still got a bit of energy. Either one of you fancy going to the gym?”

“I’m in,” Connie said. “Give me five minutes to get ready.”

“I’ll stay here,” I said.

“Going to turn into a pussy,” Connie said.

“Dude, whatever,” I said. “Make sure you’re back in time for dinner. That’s in two hours.”

“We’ll be ready,” Connie said. They both were out of the house within five minutes, just like Tom promised, which was pretty impressive. I lounged around in the pool for a bit, then took a shower and got ready for dinner. I walked out to the main room and out onto the terrace where JP and Stef were sitting on lounge chairs, enjoying the view.

“Beautiful isn’t it,” I said to let them know I was here.

“I think the scene in your pool was even more beautiful,” Stef said. “It is a shame you missed it,” he said, directing that to Grand.

“I missed it because I do not go snooping around in other people’s rooms, spying on them,” he said in his simple, logical way.

“You should try it,” Stef said to him, making me chuckle.

“That was the first time I hooked up with Tom,” I said.

“And he is the one you are lobbying for me to hire to replace Julian?” Stef asked with annoyance, as if I was trying to foist him off on Stef even though he was an idiot.

“No, he’s the guy I said you should consider for the position,” I said. “In addition to being amazingly hot, he seems to be very patient, and I felt he would be able to endure any tantrums should they come up.”

“That ought to be worth an interview,” Grand said, even as he tried to hide his smile.

“You are implying I can be petulant?” Stef demanded. I was sorely tempted to tell him that he definitely could be but opted to take a different approach.

“Here’s the deal,” I said. “I hired him to be a security guard and a guide, and he’s been setting up things for me. He’s done a really good job and was especially helpful when I had to get out of Bondi. So since he’s doing that, he could just handle things for all of us, and that way you could see how he does.”

“That sounds like a reasonable course of action,” Grand said approvingly. I noticed that their drinks were empty, so I picked up their glasses and went in to refill them. Since the gin and tonic was sitting on the counter, I assumed that’s what they were having so I made one for each of us and carried them back out. I expected that they would be talking about all this, but rather Stef seemed to be in deep contemplation while Grand had reverted back to reading some article.

“Thank you,” Grand said happily as I handed him the cocktail.

“Merci,” Stef said, and took a sip of his. “I like your idea about giving Tom a chance while I am here, but I make no promises that I will hire him.”

“I didn’t expect you to hire him simply on my recommendation,” I said, my tone a bit firmer. I kind of expected that he would think I was good enough at evaluating people to be a little more receptive to the idea. “I just thought it seemed like a good fit, and it was worth investigating.”

“I do not think Stef meant to imply that you do not have good judgement,” Grand said, reading me perfectly.

“That is not what I meant at all!” Stef insisted a bit too loudly. He was acting way too strange about this whole thing, so I called him on it.

“You seem really uptight about this,” I said. “What’s going on?”

Stef sighed. “When Julian left, he threatened to write a tell-all about his time with me. I should not have worried, because as scatterbrained as he was, he probably would never have gotten it done anyway.”

“So you had to give him some cash to keep his mouth shut, right?” I asked. It seemed that the problem had been handled, and to me, Julian had made a shitty bargain.

“Yes, but I feel betrayed at a very core level,” Stef said. “I have had employees fuck me over, but never anyone who has been so close to me.”

“I can understand why you would feel that way,” Grand said smoothly.

“So can I, but Julian was a problem from the start,” I said. “I mean, he’s been bitchy from the day you hired him. He’s just the kind of dude to turn on you.”

“I really felt that we had reached a point where we had a bond,” Stef said. I suddenly got that part of this was about betrayal, and another part was what I’d been irked at him for. He’d implied that I was a poor judge of potential employees, when in reality he was questioning his own judgment.

I paused to see if Grand wanted to jump in, but he sat there, his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses, saying nothing. I guessed that was because he’d had this same discussion with Stef a number of times already, and now it was my turn. “You know Stef, not everyone is like Julian.”

“What if Tom turns out to be like him?” Stef asked.

“Then you’ll have to buy him off just like you did Julian,” I said. “I actually had a talk with Tom about this.”

“Indeed?” Grand asked. It was always funny when I had these conversations with him and Stef, and he remained in the shadows until something piqued his interests.

“I told him that the thing people like us valued the most was trustworthiness, and that if he decided to sell you out like Julian, he was taking a pretty big risk,” I explained. “He was pretty upset that I even thought he’d do that, but I finally managed to calm his ass down.”

“I have seen how persuasive you can be when I saw you in the pool,” Stef said with a smirk.

“Very persuasive,” I said in a sensual way that bugged Grand. “I told him that Julian went for the payday now, but what he’ll find is that’s all he’s got. Finding another job will be really tough.”

“He will probably not starve,” Stef growled. “I do not know why those non-disclosure agreements are not more durable.”

I ignored that comment. “I also told Tom about Jeff and Tish, and how when they wanted to go after their dream, you made it happen. I forgot to tell him about Pedro.”

“He is back in Brazil working for an investment banking firm that we are involved with. He is doing quite well,” Stef said.

“So my point is that you can focus on the piece of shit Julians of the world, or you can think about the Jeffs, Tishes, and Pedros you’ve helped. I think that’s worth the risk, and worth taking the chance,” I said.

Stef smiled and reached out to take my hand. “Thank you for reminding me of the good people who have worked for me, and are still working for me. I will try Tom out as you have suggested.”

“Awesome,” I said.

“Now I would like to hear why you cannot go back to Bondi Beach,” Grand said in his steely way.

“Because there was a snake the condo, a taipan, one of the most poisonous in Australia. I did not think that knowing that, you’d want to stay there,” I said. Stef was visibly horrified, and so much did he hate snakes that Grand was as well.

“That was a very good decision on your part,” Stef said, then looked around nervously as if there were serpents in this place too.

“I am not clear how a taipan made it into a luxury beachfront condo in Bondi Beach,” Grand said. “It’s not as if they’re indigenous to Sydney.” Of course he would know shit like that.

“When we first got there, the guy who was our butler was this dude named Randy, who Connie used to go out with,” I said.

“I thought you said he only hooked up with a person once, and then never again,” Grand said. “Which reminds me to ask you...”

“One thing at a time,” I said, cutting him off. I so did not want to talk about how I got kit-katted in the bar, and that’s where he was about to drag me. I didn’t mind telling him, but I didn’t want to tell Stef, because while we’d worked through our trust issues last year, it was possible that he’d slip up and tell my father. That’s the last thing I needed. “Randy is the reason Connie made that rule. They had a bad break up, with stalking and other shit. When they saw each other in the condo, it was pretty clear they couldn’t stand each other.”

Of course, Stef wanted to know what Randy looked like, which threated to get us off track, but in his laser-like way, Grand got us right back on point. “That does not explain how a taipan ended up in the condo,” he said.

“When Connie and I went to Uluru, Randy went by the condo and claimed that he had left some stuff there. The security guard let him in, and Randy went into the bathroom, evidently to release the snake. Only it decided to bite him instead, and he died from his wound,” I said. “They found the snake and got rid of it.”

“What did they do with that horrible thing?” Stef asked.

“I assume they’re going to bury Randy in a cemetery,” I said, even though I knew he’d been referring to the snake.

“I am surprised that he had a snake in his backpack and did not know how to handle it such that he ended up getting bitten,” Grand observed. “And I am also surprised that once he was bitten, they were unable to get him an antidote, since I am sure there are hospitals close by.”

“I had those questions in my mind as well,” I said to him candidly. “But I decided that the best thing to do was to take the security firm’s story as they told it and move on.”

“I see,” Grand said, reading the situation without me having to spell it out for him.

“The man who supervised the condo rental was a really quick thinker,” I said.

“This is that Cecil man, whom you were annoyed with at first?” Grand asked. His memory and ability to keep things straight was both impressive and annoying.

“That’s him, but we had actually gotten to the point where we had a good working relationship,” I said. “After Randy was killed, he took the initiative and made sure that all of our stuff was packed up and removed from the condo, so there was really no record, at least as far as the police know, that we were there. And he called Hayman and made sure this place was all lined up and ready.”

“So you are confident that you will not be linked to this young man’s death,” Grand concluded.

“I am, and I am even happier because that will keep both me and Connie out of the newspapers,” I said. “Connie’s a rookie, and if this was published, he’d be outed, and he’d probably have a really tough time in rugby.”

“That is unfortunate,” Stef said.

“It sounds very similar to American football,” Grand said, shaking his head sadly.

“Yes,” I agreed. I could sense he was about to dive back in and ask me about Connie and our second date, and was starting to panic a bit when Tom and Connie came in, flushed from their workout.

“G’day,” Connie said. “We’ll be ready in time for dinner.”

“If you hurry,” I said. “I think I’ll stroll around the resort and meet you there.” That was my way of escaping this discussion.

“Works for me,” he said, and headed off to our room to shower.

Tom started to leave and head to his room when Stef stopped him. “Tom, Will has told me that you have done a very good job of handling the arrangements while you’ve been traveling with him.”

“Thank you,” he said to me, smiling broadly.

“I’m wondering if you’d mind helping me out while I’m here,” Stef suggested.

“I’d be glad to take care of anything you need,” he said, with just the slightest bit of suggestiveness.

“Excellent,” Stef said. Tom turned around and walked away, with the three of us staring at his vanishing hunky form.

“Well done,” I said to Stef as soon as Tom was gone. “I think I’ll go for my walk.”

“I think I will join you and leave Stef to ensure the other two young men are indeed on time,” Grand said. I walked out of the house with Grand next to me and started strolling through the pool area of the resort. It was funny because here women were allowed to go topless, which I thought was cool, but it was kind of freaky when I first saw it. I watched Grand try to pretend it didn’t surprise him at all.

“How do you know I wanted company?” I asked him.

“My mind goes back to several occasions when you opted to join me on outings without first seeking permission, so I opted to use that as a template,” he said loftily.

“Payback,” I translated, annoying him. “So what do you want to talk about?”

“I detected a little elusiveness on your part when you were talking about the beginning of your relationship with Connie. If that is something you do not want to talk about, we will leave it alone, but I was curious how you were able to acquire a second date with him?” He was so good at digging to the core issue.

“I didn’t want to talk about it with anyone,” I said honestly, “but I will share it with you.”

“Do not feel that you have to,” he said.

“If you did not want me to, you would not be wandering around this resort with me,” I said.

“Sometimes it is difficult to remember that I missed you when you were gone,” he said, pretending to be bitchy and cracking me up.

“The night after I first hooked up with Connie I saw him at a club. I’d gone there by myself and met up with a guy I’d hung out with the night before. He had some skeezy friends, but I didn’t worry about that too much,” I said.

“How did Connie react to you being there?”

I shrugged. “We smiled and said hi,” I said. “It was no big deal, at least to him, but it was to me, because I liked him, and he had this whole ridiculous deal where he couldn’t be with me because of his one and done rule.” I sounded bitter even now.

“I can see where that would be frustrating, and would also fuel your competitive streak,” he said, annoyingly getting that right.

“I came off the dance floor really frustrated with him and the situation, so I decided to bail. Other than Connie, there wasn’t really anyone there who interested me, and a lot of the guys were borderline gross. I was really thirsty when I got back to my table, saw my drink there and downed it quickly. A few minutes later I started to feel dizzy and lightheaded,” I said.

“You were roofied?” he asked, horrified.

“Actually, it was ketamine,” I said. “It would have been a lot of fun, but I was at this bar surrounded by creepy dudes and had almost no control over my body.”

“That is truly one of the scariest situations to be in,” he said nervously. “How did you escape from that dilemma?”

“First of all, I thought that if I didn’t figure out a way to do that, to get out of there without taking a bunch of dicks up my ass, I’d have to explain it to my father, and he’d say ‘I told you so’ until I was forty and come up with all these new rules I needed to follow,” I grumbled.

He started laughing. “I am impressed that your father can motivate you even when you are under the influence and thousands of miles away.”

“No shit,” I agreed. “I saw Connie on the dance floor and mouthed the word ‘help’,” I told him. “He came over, almost had to fight one of the dudes who thought I was his new princess, and took care of me.”

“That was a very nice thing for him to do,” he said.

“It was, and after that, he decided that I was worth the risk,” I said, being a little cocky.

“There is a reason that I am less worried about you traveling around on your own than other members of our family,” he said.

“Oh?” I asked, since he’d really piqued my curiosity.

“Most of them imagine situations such as this and visualize you as being the victim, but usually if there is a way out of a corner, you will find it, and I know that,” he said.

I stopped and looked at him, then smiled. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said. “Now let’s get to the restaurant. “I’m hungry.”

“Easy enough,” I said, and showed him the way.

January 31, 2004

The Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Will

“I was thinking we could do dinner tonight, just the two of us,” Connie said to me. We were standing at the back of the yacht staring at the spot where we’d been snorkeling, watching it get further and further away as we headed to Hayman Island.

“That sounds very romantic,” I said playfully. I was in a good mood because I’d had an absolute blast today. Stef had stayed back at the hotel and was spending the day at the spa, but Grand had gone with us and had snorkeled for the entire day. He was so excited about the reef, he was like a kid in a candy shop. I chuckled thinking about how he’d probably spend the next two days searching the internet trying to identify all the creatures he’d seen.

“Is that a yes?” Connie asked, pulling me out of my pleasant introspection.

“It’s a yes,” I said. I forced myself to smile at him and to be happy, but I knew what this was about. He was going to tell me he had to go back to Sydney, and that would end our relationship. I was surprised when I found that was much easier than I had thought it would be, and that I really wasn’t all that sad. Of course, I let that bother me, so I tortured myself by diving inside my own brain for most of the ride back. “Where do you want to eat?”

“Already got that covered,” he said. “Tom helped me out.” We hadn’t messed around with Tom since that one time at the pool, although it was possible Connie had hooked up with him. I didn’t really think he’d do that and not tell me, but it was possible. Instead, they were more like pals, or mates as the Australians say, spending a lot of time together at the gym. He put his arm around me and I did the same for him, and we silently watched our dive site vanish behind us.

We got back to Hayman at 6:00, which kind of stressed me out since we did dinner at 7:00 and we didn’t have much time to get ready. “We’ll have to move to get back to the room and get ready for dinner,” I said to him.

“No we won’t,” he said. “We’re having dinner here.”

“Really?” I asked. “Pretty cool.”

“Got that right,” he said. We ushered everyone else off the boat, then the ship got underway and cruised back out of the harbor while we fucked and took a shower. We were dressed casually, in the clothes we’d worn to board the ship, but that really didn’t matter since it was just the two of us and the crew.

I made to walk to the dining room but the staff directed us to the back deck, where they’d set up a table and chairs. The ship was barely moving, and there was almost no wind, so they were able to light candles. “This really is romantic,” I said, as I took a seat.

One of the crewmembers came out and brought us drinks, and I made him take a picture of us with my camera. We chatted about how awesome our day had been, and about how incredible this whole trip was, then he got more somber and really nervous. “I booked a flight home tomorrow.”

He probably thought I was going to lose it and go all drama queen on him, which might have happened a couple of years ago, but this was the deal, and I owed it to him to not be a dick about it. “I understand. Practices probably ramp up for you.”

He blinked at me, stunned at my reaction. “Starts on Monday.” They brought out appetizers and that reminded me that I was ravenously hungry, so we stopped to eat them. “I thought you’d be pissed off about this, or sad,” he said.

“You’re upset because I’m not crying or throwing a temper tantrum?” I asked.

He rolled his eyes. “No, but I’ve been dreading this, and for you this seems so easy.” He really was adorable, telling me in his own way he was going to miss me, and also exposing his insecurities about me not missing him back.

“I knew this day would come, and it makes me sad, but not as sad as I thought it would,” I said.

“You mean you’re glad I’m fucking leaving?” he asked, really annoyed.

“No, dumbass,” I said, and took his hand to make him focus on me. “I’m just sure this isn’t goodbye for us. I’m pretty confident that you’ll be a big part of my life going forward. So yeah, I’ll miss you, but I’m really stoked that I met you, and that we had such a good time together.”

“In different circumstances, it would be easy to fall in love with you,” he said. That actually did make me tear up a bit.

“Then you know exactly how I feel about you,” I told him.