A Slice of Life - 21. Chapter 20 - What Am I Seeing

Jasper tapped his fingers against the steering wheel trying to reign in his emotions. Sitting outside Galant Industries, he was waiting for any hint of Xavier, hoping to catch him and truly explain the misunderstanding. Waiting for what seemed like hours, Jasper finally had enough and entered the building running into David sitting at the front desk.

“Good morning, Jasper, lovely to see you as always,” David said as they exchanged greetings and pleasantries. “I am surprised to see you this morning. I do not believe that we have you scheduled for anything for at least another week,” David looked briefly through his tablet reserved for VIPs to be sure that he had not overlooked anything.

Jasper waved his hand and smiled. “It is nothing formal; I was just hoping to catch up with Xavier before he wrapped up his day.”

David looked back at him; the confusion was clear on his face. “Xavier will not be in for several days. We made sure to update your office; we confirmed that same information with your staff this morning.”

It was Jasper’s turn to look down at David with confusion upon his face. “I have not received a memo this morning, or at all for that matter, whom was this information relayed?”

David once again pulled up his tablet, after a few clicks, he found what he was looking for. “Right here, our first communication was confirmed by Alexander; it was noted here that he is your acting personal assistant, and again this morning, he was the one to confirm receipt of this information.”

****  

“What do you mean he is just gone?” Kyle exclaimed as Jasper filled him in on what he knew.

“He took leave but none of us knew about it or even where he went. Did Alexander say anything to you?”

Kyle looked at Jasper with a raised eyebrow. “You would know something from Alex before I would. This is a slow week for us, so he decided to head to the beach. If it was not for my event obligations, I would have gone with him.

Jasper was pensive with a terrible feeling in his gut that he just could not shake. Picking up his phone, he called Charity hoping she would have some answers. “Is this a business or pleasure call?” Charity asked coming on to the line.

“You could say it is a little bit of both. I came into the office earlier today and to my surprise our golden goose has flown the coop so to speak,” they heard a few clicks from Charity’s end assuming she must have been looking over her files.

“He sure has, and it was sort of last-minute on the books. Off the record, Jas, he seemed to be a bit out of sorts… found it,” Charity exclaimed in excitement, which quickly morphed into a sense of concern, mostly due to what she knew of Jasper’s feelings. “He seems to have booked himself at an all-inclusive men’s resort.”

Jasper felt as if his gut sank any lower, he would wish that the ground opened and swallowed him. He knew that this was partly his fault for not being clear about his feelings. He sighed before gearing up to call in a favor. “Charity, I need your help. Kyle, I need you to get ahold of Jess in the meantime; it is all hands-on deck. I need to go get my man!”

****  

Alexander smiled to himself as he watched the bartender talk to the gorgeous man that he had his sights set on. With a plan formed in his mind, he wore a smile that just would not quit.

“Here you are sir, complements of the gentlemen at the bar,” Xavier lifted his shades to catch sight of a cute guy at the end of the bar. He nodded in his direction taking a sip of his drink; he could not help but feel that he had seen this man somewhere before. Unable to place the feelings, he shrugged and sipped the frozen cocktail.

Alexander strutted down to the pool with his drink in hand. Keeping a watchful eye on his target from behind his shades, Alex found a lounge chair strategically placed in full view of his prey. Placing down his drink, Alex made a show of removing his linen cover-up, earning the attention of many resort guests as he revealed his scantily clad swimwear. Over his shoulder, he was aware that he garnered the attention of his anticipated target and strutted down to the pool fidgeting with his swimwear to draw the maximum amount of attention to his assets. The bait was set, and all he needed to do was wait a little.

Xavier was grateful that he opted for his favorite set of dark shades and a large sunshade hat as he admired the man who sent him the drink. Xavier, along with many other guests, enjoyed the show presented for them and found himself in a similar predicament as the men around him – trying to subtly adjust tightening swimwear. While not as salacious as the man in front of him, they did leave little to the imagination. Attempting to keep his disguise in place, Xavier walked over to the pool to join his gracious admirer.

****  

“Explain to me why you are on this flight with us. It is not like either of you can get into the resort since it is men only,” Kyle asked annoyed that his impromptu vacation was being interrupted by a female. Or was it? Kyle did not want females distracting him or cock blocking potential opportunities.

“Who was it that just saved your ass and postponed very important sponsorship meetings, so you could play savior,” Jessica barked as the steward served her a cocktail.

“Remind me again who pulled a favor to get a chartered flight at the last minute,” Kyle barked back sticking his tongue out at Jessica.

“Are they always like this,” Charity chuckled as she watched the longtime friends bicker.

“This is nothing, back during our time in school, they would fight like brother and sister,” Jasper laughed wistfully thinking about days long gone before his thoughts shifted back to Xavier as the conflicting feelings of serendipity and tragedy began to take over his mind. Swirling the fluid in his cup, he just hoped that he would be able to salvage his fledgling relationship; he knew that he did not have the best track record in these scenarios when it came to Xavier.

“It is official. I can never travel any other way,” Jessica proclaimed as they traveled luxuriously by way of the car service. “Jasper, I expect you to pull out all the stops from this point forward.”

“I do not think that my budget could accommodate that level of luxury too often,” he laughed as they pulled up to the resort. “Alright, ladies this is our stop. The driver knows where to bring you, and the reservation is under your name Jess, so you should not have any trouble getting settled in. Once we find him, we will let you know. I wish that the circumstances were better, but both of you enjoy yourselves.”

Jasper and Kyle were all checked in. “It is almost like old times,” Kyle laughed poking Jasper in the side earning a light push from his friend. “You cannot tell me that the irony is lost on you. The two of us in a ‘lovers’ suite,” Kyle teased.

Jasper groaned as Kyle continued with an onslaught of innuendos. “It was the only thing they had left on such short notice, but do not get your hopes up as this is pretty much a celibate weekend for you. I, on the other hand, intend to make things right again.”

One thing Kyle was enjoying about the resort was their guest policy; it seemed that this place was no stranger to A-list guests, and the other guests were aware not to bother VIPs. Even so, Kyle did his best to remain inconspicuous. “I could get used to this. Heck, this is where I should have been sowing my wild oats,” Kyle joked earning him another push from Jasper.

“Can we remain focused on the task at hand? We are looking for my man, not your next adventure,” Jasper hissed before he stopped dead in his tracks.

“A little warning next time, my eyes were not focused in front of me with all of this eye…,” Jasper clasped his hand over Kyle’s mouth and directed his head to the desired direction. “What the hell is going on?” Kyle exclaimed.

Walking along the beach just off the resort patio was none other than Xavier himself, looking every bit as desirable as ever, as Jasper gave him the once over. Walking along with him sipping a drink and laughing was none other than Alexander who made Jasper’s blood boil with every flirtatious touch and fake laugh as he showered Xavier with attention. Jasper’s mind entered a place buried deep inside his psyche. A place rarely seen by others.