She hadn't made my life easy for several days, as both a woman and a camp admin. I've had my fair share of trouble with both, but never as much as with her. It's like she'd made it her personal mission to push me away. Far, far away. It's pissing me off!
She even threatened me that if I ever entered her cabin uninvited again, they would never return to our 'facilities', as she put it. Frankly, for me that would be ideal! My crew is overworked for the shit we've put up with! And there's still two weeks left! So, as the grounds manager, I was doing the happy dance (on the inside of course). But as a man... I wanted as much time with her as possible. I was dreading her leaving in two weeks. It wasn't enough time!
I had a feeling she was pushing me away for that very reason though, so I made plans to find out.
It was Sunday, their 'day of rest'. I'm familiar with the concept, just not enthusiastic about it. Last Sunday they had several church services throughout the day in the main building. I did respect the hell out of the fact that they didn't discriminate between religions. Multiple faiths were represented, and even if there were a few people that didn't fall under a service provided, they opened up a meeting room for them to use.
My parents would shit a brick to hear all that. Well, the very concept of the camp would literally make my mother faint. Maybe I should invite them over next weekend... well, maybe not. Might be a bit too soon to tell them I'm falling for the founder of a religious sex camp. I'm pretty sure they would disown me..... nah, still not a good idea.
There are no classes on Sundays. Just Church, Bible studies, and stuff like that. So my staff was working extra hard to keep the place running smoothly. Thus my unenthusiastic view of the day. Only one more to go! The last day they're here is a Saturday, so I'm all for getting that little break.
We have another booking starting a week after they leave. I look forward to a lazy week, but I dread the next group. A high school not far from here, booked the grounds for their whole senior class. Apparently they plan to make it an annual thing, based on how it goes. I may even ask to borrow some of the sex camps rules to keep the kids in line!
Megan and I made up from our misunderstanding the day before and she was now back on board with getting CeCe to have a little fun. It turned out she kept her birthday a secret, but I got Megan to spill and it couldn't have been more perfect, it was today! I found out yesterday and got to work planning it out. I even hired a local Christian band to play, and brought in extra hands to set up. We were having the party on the beach and we'd set up a tiki bar, only serving 'mocktails' and non-alcoholic beer. Which I personally hated, but apparently the no alcohol is a big rule.
I kinda get it, it would defeat the purpose of all their hard work if they wound up drunk and in bed with a stranger. So my staff, additions included, knew to keep that shit away.
I hoped it'd work! There were moments when I looked at her and she'd look away, she'd been staring at me. I knew she had feelings for me! But she was so stuck in the past that she couldn't imagine a happy future. Shit, even if it wasn't with me! I just wanted to break through the wall of hers so she could finally be happy! I was completely lost. I wanted to be with her, but I knew once the camp was over, she'd move on to the next and I'd stay here. So, why was I working so hard? It was truly beyond me.
"When do you want me to take CeCe to our designated hiding spot?"
Megan had come up with a way to keep her away from the set up and surprise on the beach. Since her cabin was too close, we'd convinced one of my maintenance guys to show her his secret getaway, where he grows blackberries. I'd been there and it was a slice of heaven. It was also on the other side of the camp from the beach, so it couldn't have been more perfect.
"What time does her service let out?"
"Ummmm.... she goes to the 2pm one. So lunch will be before, then I can take her straight to the main building. After the service will be the place to catch her. She'll have on her swimsuit and cover up, which will be perfect for the party. So I just have to delay lunch long enough that she can't go back and change before 2 o'clock. Then George is meeting us when the service is over and he can easily take her the long way, plus berry picking time, then the long way back... 6pm party time!!!"
I honestly didn't think she took a single breath through all that. I was seriously impressed, not just with her lung capacity, but her scheduling skills. I knew that she prepared the class schedules, so I guessed that would take a lot of talent. I was still blown away with the number of classes they offer. How many ways can one say 'sex is good, but be careful with it'. Because it's what I heard every time. I couldn't judge though, I wasn't one the ones that signed up it (or even paid a ton of attention) and if they were getting good information, I was all for it.
"Okay Megan you've done a great job. But right now I need you to head to the pool and make sure she's not only there, but won't leave before lunch. Oh, and tell Darren if I catch him ogling at her again, he's fired!"
That got a big laugh, but it wasn't a joke. That kid had been staring at CeCe every time he was around her. So her in a bikini, plus him on duty, equaled his eventual death. Or unemployment.
Once I'd gotten the text from Megan that we were good to go, I called the guys over and got them setting up. There would be tables, string lights on poles, the 'bar', a band stage, and I even brought in a portable dance floor. I was assured that it worked well on a beach, I guess people used them at weddings, so it would make the night perfect. I'd wanted to dance with her since our first date at my place. Holding her in my arms had changed my life. Truly I didn't think there was any going back.
It took several hours to finish the initial setup, sand is not the easiest surface to work on. I was really glad I had most of the day. She would be just getting out of service, so I was getting stressed. I texted Megan to see how things were going. She said that service was running long, small miracles!
I called the caterer to get an ETA from them, then called Donna to check on the cake. Because of CeCe's allergy, I wanted to make sure she could eat her own birthday cake. I was assured that eggless wasn't too difficult and would taste great. There would be nothing at the party with egg, she shouldn't have to worry about it at all.
Once the food arrived and cake was delivered, I felt much better. Most of the camp knew what was planned and would attend. Megan assured me that it wouldn't be everyone, a lot of their guests preferred 'silent reflection'. Worked for me! If I didn't think she'd be upset about it, I would have had her all to myself. I knew she would rather be around her friends and guests.
I just hoped she would spend some time with me. I had so much to tell her.
Everything turned out better than expected! I was now super ready for her to get there. It would be a few hours before dark (stupid daylight savings time), but delaying past six was pushing it.
The last to arrive was the band, but they made it and got set up right before a text from Megan that they were almost there. I told the band to start playing.
Sunday had been..... weird.
Megan stopped by at the pool to wish me a happy birthday, which was fine, but she said it way too loud. I loved her, but sometimes she got overly excited.
Way too many people had heard and felt the need to talk to me. I ended up getting to lunch later than I wanted to. But she stuck to me like glue and insisted that because it was my birthday, I 'wasn't getting rid of her'... fantastic.
Even lunch took longer. Which annoyed me even more because I had wanted to change before church service. Going there with only a cover-up was embarrassing. I would usually say a few words, but couldn't do it in my attire. Megan was starting to piss me off. I knew she could tell too.
"You know how I told you about George's blackberries?"
She was whispering, but still disturbing the service. I gave her a quick nod, refusing to speak back.
"Well, I asked him to meet us here when the service ended to take us! Happy Birthday!"
Way too loud, Megan! I shook my head and whispered back.
"First of all, be quiet. What has gotten into you? Secondly, I'm too tired. I just want to go back, shower, and nap."
"Too bad, he's on his way here and we're going. I planned it out and you know very well that I don't stray from a schedule."
Oh, I knew. Shoot, guess I was going berry picking. Yay.
After the final prayer, which was drawn out way too long, we saw George at the back. I put on a huge smile and thanked him for doing this for me. He beamed and gave me a fatherly hug. It was so sweet that my earlier frustration washed away. I loved blackberries, so we headed out.
People kept stopping us to wish me happy birthday. Apparently word had spread quickly from the pool, so I had to be gracious and thank everyone. It made the long walk, even longer. It wasn't all that bad though.
I learned more about George and the camp grounds. Turned out he was one of the first people hired and was one of the only staff not living on the lake. He'd settled on a piece of land near the edge of the property, it was far enough away that from everyone else that he had quiet, but was still close enough to do his work.
I was surprised to see just how big the grounds were. Even past the last of the cabins, there were several acres not in use. He said that it would probably get developed at some point, but the owner was happy with the size they had.
Once we got the George's place, I could see why he lived out here. It was beautiful. All along his back fence (which also happened to be the property fence) were plump, juicy blackberries. He invited us in for water, I was getting dehydrated, and was very thankful. After a bit, he gave us baskets and we got to picking.
I tried not to eat too many, really I did! But I probably ate as many as I picked. Megan kept slapping my hand and telling me I would ruin my dinner. I made a joke about her not being my Mom, but that just got her play acting and I couldn't shut her up. Once my basket was full, we went in to cool off and get more water. He insisted that we leave the berries for him to clean and would bring them by the next day. That was probably best, otherwise I would go into a berry coma and eat them all right away.
Megan and I walked back to camp. Neither of us felt the need to head straight to dinner. We would have had to wait for a little while, plus I wasn't hungry. All I wanted was to get in the shower and off my feet. It was too late for a nap now, thanks to my best friend. I wanted to be upset, but I had had too much fun.
Just before we got back to our cabins, I heard loud music. It sounded like it was coming from the beach. It was way too loud and I was afraid Eli would be upset. I had to get them to turn it down! I looked at Megan and she gave me a 'don't look at me' shrug. Dangit.
Taking the path to the beach, I saw her playing on her phone. If she didn't stop that she'd fall and just keep me out longer. So I snapped at her to watch where she was going. She looked up at me with a huge smile, then looked past me to the beach.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!"