Hotel Tale- (On Hold)

Of Ladders and Lanterns

I could NOT stop staring at Mr. Six-packs for a very long time. Right after out encounter, I stood quite immobile in the pool till he swam upto his friends. I noticed with amusement that he joined the algae hair guy- they were honestly quite an attention grabbing bunch- all shrieking loudly at each other as they played all sorts of games in the water which included much splashing and laughing. Apart from my obvious crush, I envied the lot. They seemed to be having such a great time together. The thought however was not my priority; I kept looking at the object of my attractions, till I delightfully noticed him looking back at me. My cheeks flushing wildly, I popped my head straight into the water and remained submerged for as long as I could breathe. My fanciful thoughts were immediately drowned by a depressing one. What if they had seen me staring at their friend, and pointed me out to him? And what if he was just wondering what sort of creepy stalker had decided to ogle at him? I groaned at myself and swam to the other end of the pool where I could remain safely out of sight. Feeling restless, I sighed and placed my head against the edge, simply breathing in the fresh air. The outline of the hotel glowed a lovely beige-brown in the sunshine, giving it a warm feeling. Deciding that a safe period of time had passed, I swam back around the little concrete islets in the pool, back to my initial position. My inner cheerleader sank when I saw that the boys had left. The old man I saw earlier smirked at me, as though he had seen all of what happened. He possibly could have. In the distance I saw the acrobatic game- someone had climbed up the ladder and was having second thoughts about having come there at all- it was exactly what I needed. Cheering up at the exciting bit of news to tell Alice on the way, I left the pool.

I narrowed my eyes when I saw that my towel was no longer where I had left it on the beach chair. Grumbling audibly, I turned around to see Julian. ''Ma'am, may I help you?'' he asked, ever so politely.

''I left my towel here,'' I complained. With one look at the empty chair, he smiled apologetically. ''Please remain here ma'am, I shall fetch you a towel.'' When he did, I quickly wrapped myself around it. He gave me another one to dry my hair. Such a gentleman, I thought to myself, unlike whichever imbecile that decided to steal my towel.

''Julian, is there a faster way to the second floor?'' I asked, wiping my hair. After having courteously explained in depth about the emergency exit stairways that allowed easy access to my floor, I waved him goodbye and shivered my way up. On the first landing, you could see the vast expanse of green grass on the golf course. For some reason it reminded me of the book 'Heidi' I had read as a young child. Just as I turned to climb up the next flight of stairs, I met across with another solitary young man. With his bathing shorts on, a towel around his bare shoulders and blonde waves on his remarkably handsome head, he was a standard attractive prototype- perfect for beach modelling. Or perhaps Calvin Klein.

''Hello,'' he smiled in lopsided kind of way. I was acutely aware of my attire that consisted of a one piece bathing suit, a Hawaiian- print towel, and bare legs that now consisted of goosebumps from both cold and embarrassment.

''Hi,'' I stammered out. (only because of the cold! Obviously.)

''Need another towel?''

I forced out a smile, and mumbled out a 'no, thank you,' before scampering away hurriedly. Now if I were dressed up in something other than what I wore now, then perhaps this would have turned out another way, but given the circumstances, I would probably have sneezed in his face or something equally disastrous. I let out a loud sneeze the moment I landed on the second floor and thanked the heavens I had left. Unlike what those extremely untrustworthy romantic comedies, where it deems sneezing in the company of gorgeous guys cute, let me advise you that you best not. Having taken a bath, I put on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt and headed to my best friends' room. They had left the door unlocked, and I found the couple snogging on the couch. They jumped apart at my ''get a room!''