Burgundy Button - Act 04

ACT 4: INTRODUCTIONS OF A SORT

I stepped out onto the patio and into the warm air, as the afternoon sun began its waning decent into the western sky. Cracking open a cold beer, with a grimace, I watched Kat walk down into the clear blue water of the pool, her steps slow and deliberate. She glanced down and tapped her crotch, pressing the soft plastic piece into place, her face drawn. Drink in hand, and head tilted down, she slipped into the water. Nothing happened. No shock.

Wading over to the side of the pool and placing her drink on the edge, she began swimming her laps. Her long thin body moved effortlessly through the water, each arm splitting the surface without so much as a ripple. She was a great swimmer, better than me and I was on the swim team in college. Each time she reached the end of the pool, she would do a flip, pushing off under the water only to resurface and continue her slow, smooth strokes.

The click of the door lock on the adjacent patio broke the silence as the glass door slid open. A young man stepped out, short and stocky. His thick arms and broad shoulders sank down into a thin waist and skinny legs. Holding a beer in both hands, he set one down on the table and took a long swallow of the other. The board shorts he was wearing hung well below his knees making him look even shorter than he was, and the sandy brown hair with blond streaks, gave him the appearance of a surfer.

"Howdy." I announced, raising my beer in his direction and nodding.

"Hello." He responded "My name is Daryl." His voice was low and raspy, like he had been a cigarette smoker for twenty years, but he couldn't be older than twenty-five, I mused. I held my hand out to him.

"Colins." I replied. "Glad to meet you." I held his strong hand, shaking it.

"You must have just arrived." He said, before taking another long drink.

"Yes, this morning. How long have you been here?" My voice deeper than normal, as guys usually do when they meet.

"We have been here a few day." The deep raspy voice still seemed off for his stature. "Have you been out to the ocean?" He asked, continuing the small talk.

"Not yet, maybe this evening. The water looks nice." Now, I was wondering who he meant when he said, 'We.'

"It does look nice." He turned his head, looking at the pool.

I wasn't referring to the pool, but almost immediately realized that he was talking about the woman swimming in the pool.

"Yes," I agreed with him. "It does look very nice." I shook my head in agreement, while watching Kat swim.

"That's your wife, isn't it?" Daryl bowed with a sheepish grin. "Sorry."

"Yes" I laughed. "It's ok."

Holy shit, I thought. Kat and I had just discussed, moments ago, how we were going to be friends, or even not know each other for our little game and in a matter of seconds while talking to this guy, I blew it. My mind frantically began trying to figure a way out of this, when two more guys walked out onto the patio. The short one with dark skin, long black curly hair and a thin pointy nose rushed right to the back edge of the patio, looking directly out onto the pool. His small body leaned over the edge of the concrete wall, skinny arms motioning for the other guy to follow.

"Hey Daryl, do you see the hottie in the pool?" His voice high and shrill, pierced the air around us.

The other guy, robust and tall, ambled up behind him to get a view. He had to have been at least six foot six. Thick and burly with short curly hairs scattered about his chest and back and a small belly that hung over his tight cargo shorts, he towered over his friend.

"Nice." The big guy bellowed in a deep voice. "Bout time we got some action round here."

"Hey guys." Daryl yelled, then both young men briefly turned to look at us, before snapping back to Kat. "Why don't you come over here and meet our new neighbor, Colins."

The two reluctantly pulled their eyes away from Kat swimming and came over to greet me. The short one looked like a computer guy, someone who might work for a software company and the big dude looked like he might be a lineman in the NFL.

"This is Sam," Daryl motioned to the little guy. "and Daryl." He looked up at the one towering over us.

"Your name is Daryl also?" I asked, both surprised and amused. "Is he your brother?" I looked at the shorter Daryl, almost laughing.

"That would be stupid." Sam said seriously. "Why would they have the same name if they were brothers?"

"Never mind." I replied, then we all took an awkward drink of our beers.

"And that is Colin's wife." The smaller Daryl said, pointing at the pool.

"Sorry." Sam returned with a similar sheepish grin.

"Well, she is hot." Big Daryl pointed out, not budging or sounding sorry.

"Thank you." I responded to the big guy, not budging either. "She is hot."

Now everyone I had met here, knew we were married. This probably wouldn't bother Kat at all, but It was ruining my plans right from the get-go.

"She's a great swimmer, huh." I continued, trying to take my mind off the blunder.

All three of my new neighbors turned to watch Kat in the pool, as she did a turn off the far wall and continued her laps. I reached down into my pocket, fidgeting with the remote, my finger sliding across the round burgundy button. I should test it now, I reasoned to myself. Just a quick press to see if it works in the water. Kat was just about at the middle of the pool when I tensed my finger over the burgundy button and gave it a quick press, releasing it immediately.

Arms and legs flailed in the water and the smooth, effortless strokes turned into what looked like someone having a seizure. Kat jumped up, standing in the four foot pool, wiping her hair back away from her face and the water from her eyes.

"It works." She belted out as she walked to the shallow end of the pool.

Her submerged breasts emerged from the pool, water dripping in long strings off of them; all three guys gasp. Her olive toned abdomen was sparkling wet in the intense sun . She ran her hands over the top of her head, through her long black hair, pulling it tight, and letting it fall down her muscular back, elbows out and shoulder blades pinched together.

"Not funny." She yelled mockingly, then raised her glass to take a drink. Only after lowering her glass and pivoting around, did she realize that there was four of us standing on the patio.

"What happened?" Sam's high voice squeaked out and all three returned their gaze to me.

"I dunno." I shrugged my shoulders, but couldn't contain my smile.

"What are you guys doing tonight?" I asked, changing the subject.

Daryl, the small Daryl, who wasn't really small, and seemed to be the leader of the three, spoke up.

"We are going into the city. It's about a twenty minute cab ride. What about you two?"

"I don't know yet." I answered honestly. "Probably just get dinner and check out the town."

"Yea, there's a local girl that Daryl met." Sam pointed up to big Daryl. "and we are going back to meet her."

"Sounds fun." I said as Kat walked up with her empty glass in hand and towel wrapped around her waist.

"You must be our neighbors." She announced, "I'm Kat."

"Yes," Little Daryl said, "We have already met your husband."

"Oh, I suppose you have" Kat gave me a quick glance, tilting her head. It was my turn to grin sheepishly.

"You guys seem kind of young to come here?" She questioned, staring at the three of them. "I mean, this really isn't a spring break destination." She put a hand on her hip and lowered her eyebrows.

"We're twenty-two" both Daryl's said in unison.

"And I'm twenty one." Sam finished. "Besides, there is good hiking and ruins to see... and great food."

"And lots of hot locals." Big Daryl finished.

"Of course there is." Kat answered sarcastically, now twisting the water from her hair. "Now, what are your names?"

"This is Sam." I jumped in. "His brother Daryl and his other brother Daryl." I pointed at them respectively.

"Are you serious?" She burst out with a laugh.

"I told you" Sam argued. "We are not brothers."

"Well, it was nice meeting you guys." Kat picked up her glass from the wall. "Can you get me a drink honey? Your WIFE is going to go rinse off and get ready for tonight. "

We all watched as she disappeared through the curtains into the cottage. I wasn't greatly concerned that I had spoiled our little game with these three, they really were not the type that Kat liked to flirt with. She preferred older men, or at least men our age.

"Hold on" I said, breaking the silence and distracting them from what I knew they were thinking about. "Did you say that you take a cab into the city?" All three shook their heads. "Come on inside for a moment." They hopped over the cement wall and followed me into the apartment.

The air was starting to cool down which made it more bearable, and the cool breeze blowing through the drapes actually made it nice. I opened the refrigerator and pulled out a beer.

"Would you guys like a drink?" I proposed. "Maybe some whiskey?" Once again, all three heads shook their approval.

Cracking open a bottle, I poured four glasses of whiskey, with about two shots in each glass. I could hear the shower turn on in the bathroom, the door was open, but you couldn't see anything from where we were standing.

"Could I get you guys to tell me a little bit about this town, give me a little heads up, so I know where to go." I asked, eyeing all three.

Daryl's raspy voice chimed in, followed by the other two as they told me where to go for food, drinks and dancing. For only being here a few days, they already had the lay of the land. There were only two main bars, besides the one at the resort, a mile or so south of us. That one, they said, was only full of old people. Most of the restaurants, the best ones anyway, were in homes that locals ran as businesses. The food was great, along with the prices, another benefit of being in a small village and not a tourist destination. Big Daryl was into the local scene, mostly it was the girls he fancied, while Sam was more into the historical aspect of the area, both of which you needed a cab ride into the city to explore. The other Daryl, was a little harder to put a finger on. While being the de-facto leader of the group, he seemed content to just be here, with no real agenda. We laughed and talked, each of us consuming a few glasses of whisky in the process and almost finishing the first bottle I opened, when I remembered why I had brought them in.

"Ok, Ok." I said, interrupting one of small Daryl's stories. "You guys need a cab right?"

They all shook their heads at me.

"I know this guy." I handed small Daryl the notepad on the kitchen island we were standing around. "His name is Lupe, and he is amazing." I pointed my finger toward him, shaking it. "We used him once and he already has saved me so much money. He won't do you wrong, I swear." I made an alcohol promise I couldn't keep.

"We'll call him." Sam piped in.

"Yea." Big Daryl confirmed.

"Oh shit." I blurted out. "I need to make Kat her drink." I noticed that the water had stopped running in the shower.

Thankfully she had made a whole pitcher and all I had to do was add a little Ice. I turned around and started filling her glass, while the other three continued their conversation. After breaking the ice and pouring the margarita into an empty glass, my keen drunken senses noticed that the apartment had become silent...Something was amiss.

"Hey honey, is my drink ready." Kat said, her hair swept over her face and down her chest, as she ran her fingertips through it swiftly, trying to dry out her scalp.

I stood in a state of shock as my wife flipped her hair about in the living room, naked from the waist up. The long black strands covered her breasts, but teased as they danced around, showing off quick glimpses of her considerable nipples.

She stopped, sensing something was not quite right, head hung down, eyes closed and bluetooth earbuds twisted in each ear. All at once, she flipped her head back, throwing her hair behind her and exposing her plump rounds breasts, glistening with droplets of water, the pink nipples slightly erect and pointing out at us. There was a fleeting glimmer of shock on her face, that disappeared so swiftly, I barely caught it.

"You have my drink baby?" She said, voice slightly raised and with a casual smile.

I reached out and handed her the drink, trying to act as nonchalant as she was. Taking the cold glass from me, she spun around on her bare feet and walked into the bedroom, thin black hair bouncing side to side, shutting the door behind her.

Sam, Daryl and Daryl, stood frozen like statues, mouths hung open and eyes wide.

"Well, I guess we should go now." Little Daryl's high raspy voice rose an octave, as he broke the silence.

"Yes, we should go." Sam's voice cracked as he talked.

The three scurried out the back door, all walking a little more uncomfortably.

"Thanks for the number." Small Daryl yelled back as they left, holding up the piece of paper he had written the cab drivers phone number on.