Two Halves Try Making a Whole

The food arrived quickly. Cassie tipped the bellman and put the tray down on the table. "C'mon, Josh, your stomach will feel better if you put something in it," she said. "You at least need to hydrate, you know that."

"Fuck you," Josh said.

She sighed. "You know you don't mean that." In any possible sense, she thought.

Her boyfriend groaned again and rolled out of bed. "Shit. I should know better than to get drunk on cheap-ass tequila. That's why I feel like this."

"Maybe it would be better to avoid tequila altogether," Cassie suggested.

"Nah, the good stuff would be fine," Josh said. He stumbled over, fell into the other chair. "What is this shit?"

"Dry white toast, it will settle your stomach. But drink some water first, you need it."

Josh muttered something barely audible, though Cassie suspected it was "Bitch, bitch, bitch." He drank some of the cold water she'd poured him. "Tastes awful," he said.

"Did you brush your teeth?"

He grunted in reply. Spying the other glass with the orange juice he asked, "Is that a mimosa?"

Cassie rolled her eyes skyward, she just couldn't help it. "No, just juice."

"I know what it needs, then," he said. Pushing himself out of the chair he moved to the mini-bar in the room, took out an airline bottle of vodka.

"Josh!" she said.

"Hey, it's hair of the dog, best kind of hangover cure," he said. He spilled out half the OJ into a potted plant and refilled the glass with the vodka. "Ahhh!" he said, taking a swallow.

Cassie pushed aside her breakfast. She'd only eaten half, but she had no more appetite.

"I'm going to the beach," she said. "Come find me when you're done."

[]

The sun grew hot, the sand hotter. All around Cassie people tanned or swam or played volleyball, while kids built sand castles and ran screaming playing made-up games.

Cassie had walked along the beach for several hours more or less aimlessly. She'd bought sunscreen to apply (they hadn't packed any) and was wearing her hat and sunglasses, and despite the heat she felt fine.

Fine physically, anyway. She still didn't know what she wanted to do about Josh.

It just seemed so wrong. Josh hadn't been like this before. Sure, he'd always been a party kind of guy, always up for a good time, and she'd known he had a roving eye. But at first he'd also been attentive and loving, and contrite when she caught him ogling other women. He sometimes said by way of excuse that he couldn't help "window shopping" despite knowing he already had all he needed in Cassie.

Instead of getting better with time though his behavior had gotten worse. From merely eyeing larger-breasted girls he started flirting with them in front of Cassie, especially when he was drunk. He'd apologize when he was sober, but not only did that not stop him from getting drunk and doing the same thing again, he was getting drunk more and more often despite her pleas and efforts to stop him. Cassie had started to think Josh cared more about the booze than he did about her. She'd tried suggesting to Josh that he look into getting help, but even hinting that he might have a drinking problem enraged him.

Cassie didn't want to give up on their relationship. If nothing else she felt she owed Josh her loyalty. Her memories of the good times they'd shared and the time they'd been together had to mean something, she thought. If he wouldn't listen to her, maybe he'd listen to their friends? Previously Cassie had thought that "staging an intervention" would be overkill, that Josh just needed to exhibit a little more self-control. But clearly that wasn't going to happen.

The more she thought about this, the more the idea of bringing other people into the mix seemed like a good idea. She'd been fighting a losing battle, maybe the problem was that she needed allies.

Cassie nodded to herself. That was what she would do. She'd go back to the hotel right now and find Josh, and she'd stick with him the rest of the trip. She'd support him the way a girlfriend should, even if it was hard this week, even when he got drunk. She'd try to help him any way she could. And when they got back home she'd start talking to his friends, see what they thought about an intervention, and go on from there.

With this new plan in place Cassie headed walked toward the hotel. By this time Josh's hangover would probably be better, they could go have a nice lunch together.

Cassie was going past the main pool area when she heard Josh's laugh. "He must be feeling better if he decided to go for a swim," she thought, and headed that direction.

She was beside one of the curving water slides when she heard Josh again. He seemed to be right on the other side, though she couldn't see him and due to the slide the only way to get to him was to walk all the way around.

"Sure I know CPR," Josh was saying. "All firefighters do."

Cassie paused. Josh worked at Home Depot, why was he claiming to be a firefighter?

"Have you rescued a lot of people?" a female voice asked.

"Sure have," Josh said. "Smoke inhalation, very dangerous. Requires strenuous mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Want me to show you how it's done?"

A giggle. "I didn't inhale any smoke."

"I know where I could score some weed. Maybe we could go back to my room and inhale some smoke, then I'll demonstrate."

Another giggle. "Keep talking, I'll think about it."

Ears burning, Cassie hurried around the slide to the other side. Sure enough, Josh was standing there in baggies and a T-shirt, his back to her, a mostly-empty beer bottle in hand. The girl he was talking to was maybe college age but her tiny bikini top was straining to keep her massive pair contained, clearly the reason Josh was attracted to her.

"Why are you here at the hotel all alone?" teen bimbo was saying.

"Oh, I came down to help train the Mexican National Fire Department," Josh said.

"Is that so?" Cassie spat.

He whirled, saw her. "Uhhh... Hi, sweetie?"

"Don't let me interrupt, I wouldn't want to stop a great firefighter like you from giving lessons," she hissed. "And by the way, I'm glad to hear that you're alone, I'd hate to be stuck with an asshole like you!"

"No, Cassie, hold on, I was just joking, no, wait!"

The useless words didn't stop her. She rushed back to their room, threw all her belongings back in her suitcase, stormed to the front desk.

Apparently the staff had seen this kind of thing before. They were very kind, handing Cassie a box of tissues when she started to sob. They carefully explained that the very reasonable all-inclusive package she and Josh had bought was not refundable and did not permit an earlier flight back to the States without buying a new airline ticket at full fare. However it being the off-season they had some vacancies and for a small additional fee (much less than a new flight) they would be happy to move her into another room, smaller than the one she'd been in before but still quite nice. And on the flight back, they'd change her seat so she wasn't sitting next to Josh.

What could she do? She took the deal.

[]

Cassie ordered an early room service dinner. She didn't want to go to the restaurant and risk seeing Josh. Next she called the friend back in Fort Worth who she'd left a key to her apartment and told her to go in and box up anything that obviously belonged to Josh. Tomorrow Cassie was going to text Josh and let him know that once they were back he was not going to be living with her any longer, he could pick up his stuff any time but he needed to start looking for a place to crash, now.

After that she watched television for awhile, but her mind wasn't on it. She kept looking at the clock, willing it to get to ten, but time just crept by.

Finally at nine she couldn't wait any longer. Cassie put on her swimsuit and wrapped herself in a towel. Locking the door behind her, she headed for the jacuzzi.

Her steps grew faster as the fake boulders hiding the spa came into view. But when she got close she slowed, there were voices coming from the hidden pool. A man's, and a woman's. For a sickening instant she imagined that Keith and his wife had made up and decided to go to the jacuzzi together.

Then she saw him. Keith was dressed in slacks and an aloha shirt, sitting alone on the side of a chaise lounge he'd dragged outside the opening in the rocks. His hands were folded together and his head hung down, but something made him look up as she got close and he spotted her. A smile quirked his lips, though it grew very wry as she walked up to him.

"Hello again, Cassie. I decided to wait here just in case you came, now I'm glad I did." he said.

"No swimsuit, though."

He shook his head. "Just didn't want you to think I stood you up if you did show. Can't really get wet tonight, don't have a place to change after."

"Why? What happened?"

"Had another big set-to with Joanne this morning. She didn't like that I came back so late, despite the fact she'd announced she wasn't talking to me when I left. One thing led to another, I said some things maybe I shouldn't have. So she threw me out of our room, told me I better dang well find me another place to sleep tonight."

"That's terrible!"

A shrug. "It wasn't going to get any better if I stuck around. I left my suitcase at the front desk, it's warm enough I figure I can sleep out on a chaise lounge. Joanne says she's going to change her seat on the airplane tomorrow, make sure we don't sit next to each other."

He sighed. "She also told me I can start looking for a new place to live once we get home. Seems she had a divorce lawyer all picked out even before we left."

"I'm sorry," Cassie said.

"Not your fault, darlin'." He barked out a short laugh. "Hell, I was all worried she'd find the mess I made in my swim trunks last night and that would be the last straw. Guess there weren't no last straw needed."

He got up off the chaise, straightened his slacks. "Well, like I said I just came so you wouldn't think it I left you in the lurch. You have a good night, all right?"

Cassie hesitated, but only briefly. "Um, you don't have to spend the night outside. You could sleep in my room."

"Huh? But you said you were here with your boyfriend."

"Yeah, I was," Cassie said, and explained the situation.

"Now it's my turn to say I'm sorry about happened, and you don't have to tell me it's not my fault," Keith said. "They should have kicked him out of the room, not you."

"Nobody got kicked out, I left. I guess I just got tired of having to put up with the bullshit," Cassie said.

"Woman like you shouldn't have to, that's for true." Keith looked at her. "I don't want to be a bother. You sure about this?"

Cassie swallowed. "Um, it's just an invitation to sleep, right? I'm not saying we're going to hook up or anything."

"I'm going to be indebted to you, amigo, and I have no plans to take advantage of your kindness."

"It's settled, then," Cassie said. "Plus you can get a shower before you have to leave for the airport tomorrow morning.

Keith chuckled. "Well, shoot. We could have used the jacuzzi after all, but I didn't bring a swimsuit. You want me to wait here while you get in? I won't mind."

Cassie looked in that direction. The woman in the pool was laughing softly at something the man had whispered to her. "No," she said. "I think we should leave them some privacy."

[]

Cassie opened the door to the room and was surprised to find that room service had been there once again, this time leaving an ice bucket with a bottle in it and a pair of champagne glasses. The bottle was an inexpensive cava with a note attached.

"It's the celebratory bottle of sparkling wine that comes with our package," she said, reading the note. "It says they forgot to put it in the room when we arrived. I guess since I used my credit card to pay for our stay originally they brought it to my new room."

She dropped into a chair and laughed briefly. "Josh would have loved this, even more free booze delivered right to his door." Then she started to weep.

The popping of the cork cut off her quiet sobs. "Here," Keith said, handing her a glass. Bubbles rose in the pale yellow wine. "It's not bad stuff, they gave us a bottle of the same thing."

He poured himself a glass as well. "Here's a toast. To all the people who try to make unworkable relationships work, may we stop beating ourselves up over things we can't control."

Keith held out his glass until Cassie did as well, then tapped it to hers. "Salud."

"Cheers." She drank a swallow of the cava. He was right, it wasn't bad.

Keith settled into the other chair in the room, looked around. "Dang, I didn't reckon they had rooms this small in such a nice place."

Cassie chuckled. "I told them to give me the cheapest one they had. I'm already going to have to put in some overtime to pay for this vacation."

"Well, I do believe they followed your instructions to the letter." He looked at the bed, which was a double. "Uh, I suppose I can sleep in a chair."

Cassie took another gulp of wine. "Don't be silly, there's enough room for both of us in bed. I'm not going to cry rape if you accidentally touch me."

"It's not the accidental part I'm worried about."

She looked at him over her wineglass. Keith's eyes were intent on hers. She swallowed.

"You're a beautiful young woman, Cassie," he said. "And I'm just an old used-up soon-to-be divorced guy."

"You're not that old," she said.

"And here I was hoping you'd deny I'm used up," he said, then grew serious. "Anyhow, last night was a gift in my mind, a gift I don't know that I deserved. I can't promise anything, I don't know what's going to happen in this divorce. I just want to make sure you understand that, because if you give me a sign that you're willing I know that I won't have the willpower to hold off."

Cassie took another gulp of wine. Some ended up on her lips and she licked them. Like last night this drew Keith's eyes, and it gave her a sudden thrill and a sense of her own sexual power.

"You're not the only one who's lonely and in need, Keith," she said.

Cassie stood up from the chair and let the towel she was wearing drop, revealing her bikini. She heard Keith's sudden intake of breath and it pleased her. Shrugging her shoulders she slipped off the straps and let them fall, pulled out her arms and then doffed the whole top letting her small breasts fall free.

"I was right, you surely are a beauty," Keith murmured.

She smiled and got onto the bed. The thong snugged down between her cheeks as she crawled on hands and knees to the head, giving her audience of one a good view of her bottom. Cassie lowered herself onto the bed and flipped over on her back.

"I think we ought to turn in early," she said.

"Yes ma'am." Keith stood up and undressed quickly, still taking care to fold his clothes over the chair though. His heavy cock came into view, already swollen and mostly erect. It was a bit smaller than Cassie had thought from feeling it, but still a nice size.

He got into bed next to Cassie and took her in his arms. They kissed, hands roving over each other's backs and sides. Keith had a nice, slow touch.

When she shifted closer, Keith's erection pressed against her thigh. "Hold on, I just remembered something," Cassie said. "No, you stay in bed, I'll join you in a second."

She got up and went into the bathroom, opened her cosmetics back and rummaged through it briefly until she found the package she wanted. Shucking her bikini bottom down her legs she returned to the bedroom nude.

"I'm kind of guessing you didn't bring one of these," she said, handing Keith the condom. Cassie always carried them herself when on a trip, knowing that Josh would more than likely forget to bring any along.

A big grin broke out over Keith's face. "No, I did not. I was willing to settle for another, uh, sensual massage, but this makes the invitation even more promising."

Cassie got back into bed. "Going to put it on?"

"Not yet, there's some things that need doing first."

Keith didn't leave her guessing what those things might be for long, as he lowered his head to Cassie's breasts and began to kiss and suck them both, switching from side to side. Cassie laid her head back on the pillow and murmured her appreciation.

There was an odd rattling noise. Cassie looked over to see that Keith had reached over to the ice bucket and had a hand fishing around in it. He came up with one of the larger pieces of ice in his fingers, and brought it to her breast.

Cassie gasped as her partner drew a chill circle around her nipple with the piece of ice. Her nipple peaked even higher than before. The ice was withdrawn to be replaced by the contrast of warm lips and tongue. After suckling her for a bit Keith did the same with the other side, making that nipple stiffen hard as well.

Once he was satisfied with the attention given to her breasts, Keith kissed his way down her belly to her pubes. Working his way through her spare hair he reached her clit, gave it a few licks, then continued down into her slit.

Keith turned out to be a very accomplished pussy-eater. Cassie was soon moaning and heaving her hips up at his searching mouth. Then she heard the rattle of the ice bucket again and realized what was coming.

"Oh god," she whimpered as the ice lightly touched her clit. It too stiffened and swelled. Keith alternated the ice and his lips and tongue until Cassie began to writhe in the bed. Her hands pulled his hair, though whether it was to get him to stop or to mash his face harder against her pussy she wasn't quite sure.

Keith disposed of the ice but continued working with his mouth. One and then two fingers were added, toying with and then inserted into her wet opening. With a squeal and a shudder Cassie climaxed, her juices flowing freely around the intruding digits.

Cassie panted and lolled on the bed as Keith withdrew. He knelt, tore open the condom package and rolled the rubber over his dick. Positioning himself between her spread legs he lowered himself so that they were belly to belly. His lips sought hers, while his hand fit the head of his cock to her slick, willing slit.

Cassie gasped as the thick pole slid into her. He'd looked smaller than she'd expected from holding him in her hands, now he felt bigger than he'd looked. A few thrusts and he was fully embedded in her kitty, though, telling her that his cock was fat but not that long.

Once he'd let Cassie adjust to his width Keith began to screw her with long, slow strokes. She sighed, enjoying the sensation of being filled.

Cassie expected her partner to pick up the pace and drive himself to orgasm, but that clearly wasn't Keith's plan. He continued to methodically plunge his dick in and out, varying his angles from time to time. Realizing he was trying to find the places which pleased her the most, Cassie nearly laughed aloud. This was so different than the sex she was used to having with Josh that it was almost funny.

"This is wonderful, but, uh, I don't normally get orgasms from being screwed," she whispered in his ear. "I still like what you're doing but you can go ahead and cum if you want, don't wait for me."

Keith pushed himself up on his arms and looked down on her. "Oh honey, that's just not right. Here, let's try something else."

He pulled out and moved to her left side. Keith turned onto his left side facing her, but when she tried to turn onto her right to face him he stopped her, letting her know he wanted her to say on her back. Lifting up Cassie's right leg he shifted his hips so that his crotch fit into hers. His thighs scissored her left thigh, while he placed her right leg over his hip.

Keith reached and fit his cock back into her pussy once more. To Cassie's surprise he had no trouble thrusting into her in this position. Not nearly as forcefully as he could from on top, but that clearly wasn't the point. What mattered was that the arrangement left her legs spread wide and her whole front from neck to groin freely available to Keith's right hand. This went to work caressing and fondling and stroking her breasts, nipples, and slit, with occasional side trips over her belly and flanks.