Theme Perks

Emily squinted into the sun and then let her eyes rest on the beautiful landscaping along the edge of her resort hotel. Each plant appeared to have been chosen specifically for the look of the hotel itself. The same had been true about the restaurant there where she had grabbed a bite to eat the night before. It all fit together.

Her ex Paul certainly hadn't skimped when he had planned this trip seven months ago. That's two things he'd always been pretty good at: planning vacations - - and spending money. Emily had never wanted a whole lot, but when she fell for a guy who appeared to be doing pretty well for himself she had to admit that she had allowed him to spoil her a little bit. Emily was always the one hedging against making big purchases or going to lavish dinners, but Paul usually insisted, and she quickly got used to it, assuming that he knew what they could and couldn't afford. After all, he was the one working in finance and she was just an elementary school teacher. She had been wrong to trust him, and she could only be thankful that they hadn't had children yet.

Now here she was, on a theme park vacation all by herself. It had sounded fun when they planned it, but she kind of didn't want to be here now. So many families with little kids and young couples populating her hotel had already made her a little self-conscious to be on her own. Was this really the kind of place for a single person to vacation? But she had been left feeling like she had no choice. Although the vacation package hadn't been cheap, it had been discounted through some third party source Paul had gotten hooked into and they couldn't get a refund when their marriage fell apart. He insisted the trip was for her and even though it was scheduled while school was in session, her principal, Mr Dantoni, had practically threatened to fire her if she didn't go ahead and take this time for herself.

Did he think her work was suffering anyway? As far as Emily was concerned, her time with her third grade class was all that had succeeded in keeping her mind off her troubles and kept her getting up every morning. Her friends and family had mostly been sweet to her since the separation, but the recent Christmas break surrounded by their spouses and children wasn't really her idea of a good time anymore. Another week off was coming up in just a couple of months, and she currently had no idea how she was going to fill that time. She was dreading it.

Emily was so deeply lost in her thoughts that she hadn't even heard the resort bus pull up.

"Ma'am?" called the voice of the woman driving the bus, "are you getting on?"

She started to, pushed her curly brown hair away from her eyes and stepped up onto the bus as a couple of families filed in behind her. She had been told that this was one of the least busy times of the year at the resort, but she didn't feel like she could tell. Most of the seats on the bus were already full. Emily walked to an elevated area in the back of the bus where she found a spot that was comparatively solitary, which really only meant that nobody was seated next to her. It was what she had chosen, but anytime something like this happened she couldn't help but muse on the empty seat being the one that would have been filled by her husband in the past. The cheater. Not only had he been cheating on her with random waitresses and women at professional conferences (well, at least one of each), but he had been cheating on their taxes and had defrauded a couple of his clients. His high-roller image was just that. He'd been putting them into debt since she met him and was working every angle to maintain the high-end life he coveted but Emily had never wanted.

This trip was just another example of how his desperate need to show off would constantly backfire. Emily hadn't been here since she was in middle school more than fifteen years ago. She had mentioned how she'd liked it then, and Paul had shown up two days later with the package paid for (kind of) and in hand. It was sort of sweet, but in retrospect it was pretty clear he was just trying to make up for the affairs she didn't know about yet...and the tax evasion...and the fraud. The parks had been lots of fun for a 12 year-old girl with her family, but with her 30th birthday looming in April, Emily wasn't sure she hadn't outgrown what she'd heard some people call "forced frivolity." With that in mind she had decided to ease into the trip by going to the park she remembered as the one her parents had liked the most. It was more sophisticated, with better food, and alcohol was on the docket this time...plenty of alcohol.

Emily was traveling light, so the bag check at the front of the park was pretty painless and she was able to make her way to the main gate rather quickly. One difference from the last time she'd been here was the entry process. Not only did she have her ticket loaded on a key card, but she could see that the people in front of her were also being asked to scan their fingerprints. It looked like a simple enough 2-step process, but some of the guests were having a little trouble with it, and she couldn't quite figure out why.

It wasn't until she stepped up to try it herself that she kind of froze up. The first step was easy, as she slid her key card out of her wallet and swiped it efficiently. With both hands now occupied with something she wasn't sure which one to free up so she could scan her finger - - and did it matter what finger she used? She stood there for a second and decided to put her key card away before dealing with the finger scan. Unfortunately, the scan of her card expired before she could get her finger back to the scanner. So, the whole process had to start over again, and this time she was sure to be a lot quicker...but she ended up missing the scanner just a little and it didn't get a full image of her print. The scanner flashed red and Emily's usually crystal pale features were starting to go red with embarrassment.

"Here, let me help!" came a voice from behind the scanner. Emily looked up and saw a blonde girl stepping toward her, and was only more off guard than before. This was a beautiful young girl. The kind of girl who had always intimidated Emily when she was in school. That was before she had grown into her feet and teeth.

The blonde girl's perfectly arched eyebrows lifted sympathetically at Emily.

"These things can be temperamental. I'll reset it." She pushed a button on the back of the scanner and it began to pulse yellow again.

"Just like this..." said the girl, and before Emily knew what had happened her hand was being held and guided back to the scanner. She felt a flash of energy burst through her. She told herself it was because this was the first time in more than five months that she had had physical contact with an adult who she wasn't related to and she just wasn't used to it anymore. The blonde girl placed Emily's finger squarely on the scanner and it made a pleasant 'bing!' and turned green.

It was probably less than a second after the light turned green that the blonde girl let go of Emily's hand, but it felt like a lot longer. Emily was sure the girl knew that the new shade of red creeping across her face was directly related to the very innocent hand holding that had happened only in the course of trying to do her job.

If the girl knew, she didn't let on. She just smiled an amazing white-toothed smile, motioned toward the park and said "There you go! Have a great day here with us!"

Emily managed to let "thanks" fall out of her mouth and made a definitive few strides toward the closest building in her line of sight. It wasn't until her third step that she looked up and realized she was headed straight for the Mens room. As she turned and moved in another direction, Emily couldn't help glancing back to see if the blonde girl had watched her going to the wrong bathroom. It appeared that the girl was too engaged with her job again to notice. She laughed at something one of her co-workers said and ran her fingers through her short flounce of hair and down her long pink neck.

Emily retreated into the park, wondering what had just happened. Why did this sort of girl always seem to throw her? She tried to put the whole embarrassing event at the gate behind her and headed directly to one of the park's bars. Nothing like a couple of glasses of wine to put her in the vacation mood. Then she could make an effort to actually tour the park and see what it had to offer. Maybe check out some of the things she had enjoyed as a girl.

She made the significant trek to the bar she'd targeted and it wasn't long until she'd thrown down glasses of two very drinkable Italian wines. Emily had been offered a few different appetizers, and one particular shrimp dish had been tempting. But with a lunch reservation in just a couple of hours she wanted to be hungry for, she had demurred. Meals aren't cheap here and it pays to actually want them.

Emily spent the next couple of hours just admiring the beauty and detail in the park. She even enjoyed her first ride. It was low impact, but charming, and she began to be a little less worried that she wouldn't enjoy the full week she had planned. Despite her previous misgivings about being there alone, it was pretty clear that nobody else was paying enough attention to notice.

Her late lunch was at a decent Mexican place on the water and she couldn't resist a couple of the more unique margaritas available there. Emily had been lucky enough to get a seat by the railing and she took her time lounging and looking across the water with her second drink in hand. The February weather in this southern location was pleasantly mild, but warm enough at lunchtime to result in a very mild sweat sticking Emily's short house dress to her. She lifted the material up away from her skin and dabbed along her collarbone with a napkin, letting the tequila work its glow through her.

Emily's mind wandered back to her encounter with the blonde girl at the front gate. She had always kind of resented effortlessly glamorous girls like that. They just automatically attract attention, and she could see why. Emily's own beauty was less obvious. She was trim, but not athletic or dramatically busty. Her style didn't go out of its way to call attention to itself, either. It wouldn't be hard to guess she was an elementary school teacher and she knew she only had herself to blame for that. She had always assumed that the right man would love her more subtle look and fall for who she really was instead of just what she looked like. Paul was supposed to be that guy, but he turned out to be a dud, and Emily cursed herself for not realizing it before she married him. In the end, who had he been cheating with? A couple of dramatic redheads. At least the girl at the front gate wasn't a redhead.

Emily shook these thoughts from her head and decided to take in some more of the park's attractions. Preferably something indoors for the time being. She remembered really enjoying one of the park's dark rides with huge robotic figures when she was younger so she determined to make her way in that direction, closer to the front of the park. When she got there, the show building was every bit as impressive as she had recalled so she walked in and committed to what she knew was one of the longer attractions in the whole resort.

There weren't a whole lot of other guests filing in, and once the introductory film started she understood why. This attraction didn't appear to have been updated since the last time she'd been there. In fact, it looked like the place maybe hadn't been vacuumed in a couple of months. She considered giving the whole thing a pass, but just as she turned her head back towards the main entrance, the banks of doors that led to the next stage of the attraction popped open. She did want to see those huge robots...so Emily went ahead and joined the small group of tourists piling into the long banks of moving bench sets.

Most of the other guests moved to the front rows, but Emily decided to hang back and sit on her own in the rear. Just as everyone seemed to get settled and the lights started to come down, Emily heard a heavy metal door bang closed somewhere behind her and to her left. She craned her neck over to see what had made the sound, but the lights were already almost completely at black.

The whole big room was still in total darkness as its soundtrack began with voice-over and a booming score. And then Emily felt someone slide onto the bench next to her just before the doors motored shut on the vehicles. She was initially a little annoyed at this. With so many seats available, why would someone insist on sitting right next to her? When the lights came up a little on the attraction she was shocked to see the blonde girl from the gate sitting there smiling at her.

"Hi" the girl whispered, "I'm Bonnie."

She didn't break eye contact with Emily, even as the brunette guest looked up in response to another surge in the attraction's soundtrack.

"hey..." uttered Emily, her mind already racing with a variety of questions. Who was this girl? Did she know her from somewhere else? How did she end up sitting here? Was she following her?

Bonnie whispered again, "I saw you come in here and thought I'd see how your day had been going."

"Oh" said Emily. That had only partially answered a couple of her questions.

Bonnie leaned over a bit, extended her elbow and gave Emily's shoulder a friendly nudge. "What's your name?"

Even this extremely mild and informal initiation of contact again sent a shock of excitement through Emily, and she had no idea how to interpret it. But she had been asked a question. She could answer that. That she could do. "Um, I'm...uh, Emily."

Well that was eloquent, she thought. Her eyes darted around at her surroundings. With the lights low and the other people fully engaged in this stone-aged attraction, they all seemed even further away than they had when Emily had selected her seat in the back. The vehicles were pivoting to one side now and the ride had barely started. Whatever was happening here, she was going to have to deal with it. With that in mind she turned to face the blonde girl on her right. What had she said her name was? Bonnie?

Bonnie was still putting all of her attention on Emily and if anything she was sitting a little bit closer than before. She had the kind of features that just popped out like a 3D billboard, with pronounced dimples in each cheek, eyes that twinkled over plump cheeks, and a small nose that was almost upturned a bit. Oh yeah, and the smile she was flashing was like something out of a toothpaste commercial. Her whole countenance seemed to insist upon itself...but somehow, Emily was finding herself becoming more comfortable with the thrill Bonnie's attentions were eliciting in her - at least to the point that she felt like she could actually talk to her in full sentences. But of course Bonnie then beat her to it.

"They've been letting this thing deteriorate for a little while now, but I still really like it. There are lots of rumors they're going to replace it with something new," she said, now turning to regard the big room around them as they moved. Bonnie was leaning in and pointing at something, but Emily couldn't tell what. Her attention was more focused on how Bonnie's hair was lightly brushing up against her cheek. And then the hand that had been doing the pointing dropped and found a home on Emily's knee. Strangely enough, this was the first moment Emily considered that Bonnie actually might be hitting on her. The hand just rested there in what seemed like a friendly fashion while Bonnie shared some other piece of trivia connected to the attraction.

"Have you been on it before?" Bonnie asked, her face registering concern that she might be interrupting Emily's only experience with the attraction. At the same time, her hand gave Emily's bare knee a quick squeeze, rightly guessing that she might not be fully taking in everything she was saying.

Emily responded with a nod, saying "Oh, yes..." as she turned to look at Bonnie's face. It was then that the blonde girl lurched forward and Emily found herself in her very first kiss with another woman. She'd seen a couple of friends in college do it to get attention and she was pretty sure one of the other female teachers at her school had a girlfriend, but she had never seriously imagined she'd find herself involved directly with such a thing...and maybe enjoying it!

She had always liked kissing her boyfriends as much as any of the other intimate activities she'd gotten up to, and Bonnie's attentions were at least as expert as any Emily had experienced. Her lips were soft and full and her motions were both firm and gentle. Emily's whole body was leaping to attention.

If Bonnie wasn't the picture of a certain kind of femininity, Emily would almost have guessed she was a boy, because she was putting on what Emily had heard called "the full-court press." She didn't know what this meant in sports, but she was well acquainted with the quick and confident approach some men preferred. The aggressive move had been partnered with Bonnie's hand creeping a bit up Emily's thigh, just a few inches above the hem of her knee-length cotton dress. She wasn't sure yet how far she was going to let this go, but for the time being, Emily noticed that she wasn't objecting to what Bonnie was doing.

She did recognize that she was fast reaching the point where she would be kissing her back rather than just being the unwitting target of a romantic move. That moment passed as Emily felt her own lips begin to work in tandem with Bonnie's and then heard the blonde's breath intensify a little. Bonnie's left hand was now stroking her long brown hair and Emily found her own right hand was now resting on Bonnie's lower back where she could recognize the cheap blend fabric of her park-issued uniform against the bumps of the girl's vertebrae.

Emily only mused on this for a second before she realized that the hand that had been on her knee was now caressing her left breast through the material of her dress and bra. Bonnie's thumb wandered to the triangle of skin pointing down at the row of buttons while her four fingers moved as a group in a light circle, centered on the steadily-hardening nipple there. Emily thought this had made it official, she was now definitely making out with another girl.

She realized her own left hand had been sitting inactive, so Emily lifted it and clasped Bonnie by her waist. Just enough to keep the action going, but without venturing into territory she had no idea what to do in.

Things intensified yet again when Emily felt Bonnie's tongue dart quickly between her lips and then back out again. This surprised Emily enough that she accidentally responded by opening her mouth a little wider. This paved the way for a much more confident excursion by Bonnie's tongue and before she knew it, Emily was not just allowing the intrusion, but meeting it with equal ardor. The girls wrestled mildly just like this for a few minutes.

But then the soundtrack of the attraction went mostly silent and the vehicle they were in started to move forward. It was back to being mostly dark. Emily looked around to see if their activities had been noticed by any of the other guests, but they were all at least six rows in front of them and as far as they knew, the most interesting stuff to look at was straight ahead.

Emily felt Bonnie unbuttoning her dress, and was honestly a little too shocked to stop her. She made quick work of it, too. Within what seemed like had to be less than ten seconds, the entire front of the modest but cute house dress was open. If she had wanted to object, she maybe couldn't have done so without drawing attention to her situation, but at this point Emily's excitement coursed through all of her extremities, just as surely as those margaritas were swimming in her head. She still wasn't ready to stop her unexpected partner.