Sleeping on the Terrace Ch. 02

"Last night was a total bust," said the first voice that Rachel recognized as Bill.

"Totally, those girls in the bar were just looking for somebody to pick up the tab," said the other voice who sounded like Rob.

"It's too bad those two we saw in the restaurant were gay," said Bill. "Rachel looked totally hot. I would have enjoyed going down on that."

My god, do you ever listen to yourself? Rachel sat there shaking her head. Those two clowns didn't even try to make their conversation private.

"I just wanted into Jessie's panties," Rob ruminated. "I wonder if she was wearing a thong."

"You and thongs, man, you're twisted," Bill replied as he slapped Rob on the back.

"Hey, I just think they make their butts look sexy," Rob said as both men walked off down the corridor away from Rachel's office. "No panty line you know..." His voice faded as they walked away.

I wonder if I should share this with Jason? She thought with an impish smile. Nah, I'll wait until I see Jessie again.

The phone rang and she was pulled back into the real world of 'fixing their little boo-boos'.

At home, over the next week, Rachel and Jason fell into a regular routine, alternating back and forth between who cooked and who washed the dishes. Most of their evenings were spent in front of the television although recently Jason started writing again.

"What are you working on?" She asked as she finished up the last of the dishes.

Jason sat on a stool at the island counter with his laptop propped up on a small stand.

"A fantasy young audience story," he mumbled his reply.

"What's it about?"

"It's a high adventure, sword and sorcery tale about a young girl who lost her parents in a car crash and ends up living with her aunt in Arizona," he said looking up at her from across the counter. "She's your typical inquisitive teenager who finds out that her aunt collects these curious magical antiques and keeps them hidden away in her attic. She ends up on this journey to a far off land in search of a powerful crystal to save an ancient village from evil."

"What's it called?"

"Right now it's called Amanda."

"That's it? Not much of a title."

"I haven't finished it yet," he said nonchalantly. "The book usually tells me what it wants to be called while I'm creating it. It just hasn't spoken to me yet."

"You're just a little crazy aren't you?"

"A little but that's what's so appealing about my character," he said with a smirk.

"Yeah, character, that's a good description for you," she replied turning back to the sink and wiping the last bowl.

"I never asked, do you have a hobby or a passion?"

"I do actually but I haven't paid much attention to it for years," she replied putting the plates back into the cupboard.

"Perhaps you should," he said earnestly. "What is it?"

"I like to make fused glass jewelry," she said as she turned around and leaned on the counter next to him.

"Wow, really?"

"Yeah, when I was in college I took a couple of art classes to clear my head from all the computer code I'd been cramming in there. When I was a kid my uncle was a glass artist. He used to have a kiln in his garage that he fused glass in every so often. He let me play one year and I was totally hooked. So I took a couple of art classes when I got to college. One of them was a glass blowing class. That was totally awesome. We learned how to gather the glass on pipes and open up the molten glass into a bottle form. Then we'd transfer the glass from one pipe to another. It was so cool. Wait," she said jumping up, "I'll show you a couple of pieces I did."

She ran back to her apartment and a couple of minutes later the terrace door slid open and she walked back into his living room with a bowl and a vase.

"They're kind of heavy and clunky because I only took the class for one semester but it was a total blast, pun intended."

"These are really nice," he said holding the vase and admiring the pattern in the glass. "I love the pattern, how did you do that?"

"There's trick to it, of course. You set ground glass in a pattern on the forming table and roll the hot glass into it before you begin to blow the form. As it expands it melts the ground colored glass and begins to make the pattern. It's very irregular, each bottle is unique when you don't use a mold."

"Beautiful."

"Thank you," she said taking the vase and setting it on the counter.

"But I thought you said you liked fusing glass?" he asked.

"That was the other class, we took sheets of fusible glass and layered them up in bits and pieces. Then we put them in a kiln and fired them until they melted and fused together. Here," she said pointing to a pin she wore on her jacket and a necklace around her neck. "Both of these are fused pieces that I made."

"Earrings too?" he asked.

"Uh-huh, earrings too," she replied.

"It almost makes me almost want to get my ears pierced," he said with a grin.

"Get them pierced and I'll make something especially for you," she responded with a tempting smile.

"Hmmm."

=THREE=

Thursday finally arrived for Rachel's first big adventure. They sat in the plane as it taxied to the end of the runway. It was her first time in a plane and the first time she'd ever been out of the country. Rachel looked at Jason with a 'deer in the headlights' sort of look. She was experiencing the classic 'white-knuckle-flight' syndrome and Jason tried hard not to show how amused he was for fear that Rachel would just punch him.

"Thank you for doing this but at the same time if something happens I'll never forgive you," she muttered through clenched teeth.

He held her hands and smiled sympathetically.

"It'll be all right," he said trying to reassure her.

"Right," she said still looking tense.

"You're safer here than driving a car."

"You can't drive a car to the Bahamas."

The engines throttled up and the plane began to vibrate as it started to roll down the runway. Rachel's eyes were squeezed shut; it was nerve-wracking and exhilarating all at the same time. A moment later the plane lifted off the ground and the landing gear locked away with a loud thump.

"Open your eyes," he said over the roar of the engines. "You're missing everything!"

She held her hands over her face and then she peeked out between her fingers at the ground as it rapidly receded from the plane. Suddenly all her fears were gone and she was glued to the window, taking snapshot after snapshot with her pocket camera. Rachel turned to Jason with a gleam in her eyes.

"That is fantastic!" she shouted with glee.

"I told you didn't I?"

"We're flying! We're going so high," she said excitedly.

"We'll be much higher before we get there," he said nonchalantly.

"How much higher?"

"Probably around thirty thousand feet, that's usually where they fly commercial flights.

"Thirty thousand?"

"That way if we loose a wing we have longer to figure out what to do before we hit the water," he said teasing her.

She smacked him on the arm.

"That was not even funny, Jason," she retorted smacking him again.

Several hours later the plane began its descent through the light puffy clouds that hovered over Nassau. Rachel gripped Jason's arm with a near death grip. She started to squeeze her eyes tightly shut but Jason shouted at her. "You'll miss it if you keep your eyes shut," he chided her with a grin.

She gathered her courage and looked out the window. It was frightening and exhilarating all at the same time.

The plane touched down with a little bounce and then the brakes slowed it down. Eventually the plane moved onto the taxiway and rolled to a stop at their gate.

"I want to learn how to fly!" shouted Rachel as she left the boarding area in the Nassau airport.

"What?"

"I do Jason! I want to learn how to fly! That was magnificent!" she shouted with glee.

"My god, I've unleashed a monster," Jason chuckled.

"I really do! Let's find a place where I can learn to fly when we get back home," she repeated as she hugged his arm and kissed his cheek. "We'll both take lessons, okay?"

"Okay, okay, we'll look into it as soon as we get back," he said laughing at her enthusiasm.

Rachel nearly skipped down the walkway towards baggage claim.

A cab ride and a short hike brought them to their hotel. The check in went on without a hitch. They climbed the three flights of stairs to their rooms with a familiar grin on their faces.

A moment later both Rachel and Jason stood at the door of their room that led to a terrace overlooking the ocean several blocks away. A low block wall just like the one at home separated the terrace between the two adjoining rooms. Jason looked across at Rachel with a huge grin on his face and Rachel turned to him with a smile that seemed to hang off her ears.

"It's just like home!" they exclaimed in unison then laughed.

"Come on, let's check out the local cuisine, I'm famished," he said taking her hand in his.

"I talked to the clerk at the desk and she recommended a place just a block away," she replied. "Their specialty is conch."

"Everybody's specialty is conch down here but let's try it anyway," he said locking his room.

After dinner they took a cab over to the tourist strip on Paradise Island. They went club hoping for most of the night finishing up at a hotel pool bar where you could swim and drink until you were drunk or drowned, whichever came first.

They ended the evening standing, well more like swaying from the alcohol, in the hallway at the doors to their rooms. Jason was smiling like a drunken sailor and Rachel giggled like a schoolgirl. Jason leaned over to give Rachel a goodnight kiss and nearly fell on his face.

"I think we should just leave it like this, sweetie," she said watching him stand up slowly trying to stead himself against the wall.

"You're probably right," he slurred. "Damn I'm plastered. This is probably why I don't drink," he gushed as he leaned back towards the door to his room. "G'Night beautiful," he slurred more than said as he fumbled with his room key.

Rachel continued to giggle as she watched Jason try to figure out which end was up on his room key.

Once inside Jason flopped down on the bed and passed out. He didn't move a muscle until nature demanded that he get up to pee around three in the morning, and even then he tripped several times walking, or actually stumbling from the toilet back to his bed.

The next day the sun streamed through the terrace door and woke him up earlier than he wanted. He stumbled out onto the terrace and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. It felt like his head was nearly the size of the doorway he just walked through. He walked slowly back into his room and picked up the phone to call room service.

A few minutes later a tray was delivered with a much-needed carafe of coffee, some toast, and the morning paper. Jason tapped on the connecting door that led from his room to hers.

"Breakfast on the terrace," he said softly, "if you're up."

He placed the tray on the table on the terrace and poured a cup of coffee when he heard Rachel's terrace door slide open.

"Coffee?"

"God yes, my head is much larger than it should be at this hour of the morning," she mumbled as she stepped over the dividing wall and slumped down in the chair near the table.

"Remind me not to drink like that again," he said rubbing his forehead.

"Remind me not to drink like that too," she replied rubbing her forehead as well. "But it was fun," she added with a sheepish grin.

"Yeah it was."

Later that morning, they decided to check out the local shopping district.

"I've heard of the gold standard to support an economy, I think the Bahamas is on the t-shirt standard. I've never seen so many t-shirts in my whole life!" he exclaimed.

"Look at this," she said holding up a little statue shaped like a monkey and made out of coconut shells. "This is insane."

"I love the fact that they sell snow globes in the Bahamas," he said chuckling.

They bought a few t-shirts and a couple of other typical tourist items then Rachel suggested they head over to Paradise Island and see what kinds of shops were available over there.

She pulled him into several dress shops before they landed in a shoe shop.

"You are so mean," Jason grumbled, "pulling me in here instead of Jessie," he said almost pouting.

"Jessie said she didn't want to be a third wheel," she said with a smirk, "but that doesn't mean I can't find the perfect sandal without her."

"I suppose," he said sulking, "as long as I get to borrow them when we get back."

She smiled an enigmatic smile and gave him an air kiss then turned her attention to the array of sandals on display.

He shrugged and bit his lip then he wandered off to look at the selection of flip-flops.

The next shop over was a costume jewelry store with a huge selection of earrings. She pulled him over to the sales counter and pointed to the sign that said 'free ear piercing with a pair of earrings'.

"You said you'd get them done, why not now?" she asked.

He stood there a moment and looked at her with a grimace then as if finally coming to a decision, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Okay, but on one condition."

"What's that?"

"You have to wear that bikini I bought for you in Northport on the beach today," he said with a mischievous grin.

"Agreed as long as I get to pick the beach."

"Deal."

While he was sitting in the chair getting his ears jabbed with a sharp needle Rachel bought a pair of simple crystal stud earrings for him as a starter.

"These are cute and they'll look good on you," she said holding them close to his ears. "Remember to keep the piercings clean and you have to keep the posts in your ears until they heal."

That afternoon they talked to one of the hotel concierges. Rachel was hoping to find a secluded beach away from the crowds. The concierge nodded, called a cab driver up from the queue, and asked him to take them to a coral beach. It was on the far side of the island and almost private.

Rachel smiled and thanked the concierge then she climbed into the back seat of the cab beside Jason.

Twenty-five minutes later they were both standing on a small rock outcropping near a narrow strip of sand that wove its way around that part of the island. The sun was bright and the breezes light. It was nearly perfect.

Jason grabbed the bag full of snorkel gear, towels, and clothing from the cab. He picked his way through the rocks towards the beach while Rachel paid the cab driver. She tipped him well enough to encourage him to come back for them in a couple of hours. She waved goodbye to the taxi and turned to follow Jason onto the sand.

"Where are we going to change clothes?" she asked looking around and seeing nothing in the way of an obvious shelter.

"Over there," he pointed towards a stand of palm trees and some bushes. "See if that place will work."

Rachel grabbed the clothing bag and walked briskly across the sand towards the tiny shelter. A moment or two later she emerged wearing her bikini.

Jason stood totally in awe of her in the suit she chose. It was skimpy and seductive all at the same time. It hid little and enhanced a lot. His pants were getting very tight as he watched her walk towards him across the sand. He glanced down at her crotch and wondered how she kept it hidden but he decided not to ask. She blushed enough without having to answer something like that.

"Wow, you look fabulous," he said blushing at his schoolboy bluster. "You have no reason to be shy on any beach sweetie, you are gorgeous and that suit is stunning.

"Thank you," she said blushing bright crimson. "But if it's all the same to you, I still like my privacy."

He had laid out several towels and pulled the bag with their snorkeling gear over to anchor the towels. He opened a sand umbrella they bought earlier in the day and he pitched it to give them a little seclusion from the road.

She sat down beneath the umbrella and waited until Jason changed into his swimming trunks. A moment later Jason flopped down next to her under the umbrella.

"So, have you ever been snorkeling before?" he asked sorting through the gear in the bag.

"Nope, I'm a newbie," she said grinning.

Jason glanced down at her perfectly formed breasts and blushed when he glanced up to see her watching him. He grabbed a spare towel and laid it over his crotch.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude but that swim suit is just...well, it's totally doing a number on my libido," he stammered blushing a deeper shade of crimson.

It was her turn to blush as she leaned forward and kissed him tenderly on the cheek. "Thank you Jason, that's very sweet."

Taking in a big breath and blowing it out quickly he set about removing all the packaging from their swim fins, masks, and snorkels.

"It's a good thing we bought these before we left," he said tugging at a label, "the prices down here are astronomical. Here, take this mask and fit it to your face then adjust the straps until it's held snuggly against you face but not too tight."

"When we get in the water I want you to spit in the mask and rub it all around the inside then rinse it out with sea water."

"Why?" she asked.

"So that it doesn't fog up when you're underwater," he replied.

"Here," he said handing her the snorkel tube. "Slip this through that rubber loop. It will hold the tube in position when you're floating on the surface."

Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she watched him set up the equipment.

"You do know how to swim don't you?" he asked.

"Of course," she replied. "I always wanted to be a life guard when I was in high school but, well...it just didn't work out. But I took the courses privately anyway."

"Great, that will all come in handy now. If this works out well maybe we an go scuba diving tomorrow," he suggested.

"I've always wanted to try that!"

He managed to subdue his baser desires while he concentrated on finishing the adjustments to their gear. Finally, with masks, snorkels, and fins, they duck walked down to the water's edge and waddled out into the surf. A minute later they were in water that was deep enough to swim and they were off heading for their first aquatic adventure, a coral head just fifty yards away in crystal clear water.

"It's like swimming in a fish tank," she exclaimed as she came up for air.

"Yeah, isn't it marvelous!"

They spent the afternoon bobbing around several coral heads looking at fish and searching for seashells until they were exhausted. Eventually they walked hand in hand back to the road and waited for Richard their cab driver to take them back to their hotel.

After dinner they strolled on the beach walking barefoot in the surf. Jason pulled her round into his arms and kissed her passionately on the lips. They lingered like that for a moment longer then he leaned back to gaze into her beautiful eyes. Her eyes were beginning to glisten. Tiny teardrops fell across her cheeks like pearls that twinkled in the moonlight.

"What's wrong Rachel?" he asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, never. I'm just a little scared."

"Why? Of what?" he asked apprehensively.

"Everything, you, me, us, this moment, it all makes me nervous Jason," she said shaking a little bit.

"Nothing has to happen that you don't want to happen Rachel," he said trying to reassure her. "Remember we said let's take it slow and easy. We're going to enjoy the moment and not worry about tomorrow, right?"

"But I'm afraid that if we go too slow you'll get tired of me and want to run away."

"Oh Rachel," he said shaking his head with a sweet smile. "I'm not running anywhere, sweetheart," he said holding her in his arms. "I'm standing right here. And I'm just as scared as you are. If you'll remember I haven't had much luck in the romance department either. I thought that girl in Cleveland was the one for me but she's nothing compared to how I feel about you."