It'll be Fun!

Chapter One

Valentina Carvajal gave her assistant a puzzled look. "A vacation? Alone? To a lesbian hot spot?" She shook her head. "Don't be ridiculous."

"How long are you going to continue to sulk over her?"

"Sulk? I'm certainly not sulking. It's been eight months since... sinc..." She threw her hands in the air. "It was my best friend, for God's sake. Have I said that?"

"Only about a hundred times," Renata murmured.

"She was sleeping with my best friend," Valentina continued. "Right under my nose. Did I tell you that?"

Renata gave her an amused smile. "A hundred times. And as I said before, she wasn't really your best friend."

Valentina lowered her head to her desk and closed her eyes, still able to see them in her bed; Mayela with a stunned expression on her face and Claudia trying to lay the blame on her, as if she had been the one in bed with her best friend.

"Oh, God, I am still sulking, aren't I?" She opened her eyes to peek at Renata. "I kinda miss her."

"Oh, no you don't. She was a conniving bitch. I never liked her. I told you that from the very beginning."

Valentina lifted her head and smiled. "I was talking about Mayela, not Claudia."

"Well, I did like Mayela, I guess, but I wasn't around her all that much. And you've got to stop thinking of her as your best friend."

"I know." Valentina sat back in her chair and let out a heavy sigh. "God, I hate women."

"Well, you could always join my team," Renata said with a laugh. "I could get Stephen to set you up."

"I don't hate them that much!" She turned to her and smiled. "So, you think I need a vacation, huh?"

Renata nodded. "Yes. Tax season is finally over. I know you're exhausted."

Valentina nodded. Yes, she was exhausted. January through April was always hectic in an accounting firm. But this year she had no reason to go home each evening and instead had spent an obscene number of hours working. She told herself it was her firm and she needed to lead by example, but even she knew she had taken it to the extreme.

It was the house. She should have sold it after Claudia moved out, but it was in the hills of West Austin and close to her office. Even though they'd only lived together for five years... five years, three months and a handful of days... Claudia had put her stamp on it. Claudia was the one with the green thumb who kept the flower beds filled with seasonal plants. Claudia was a chef, and the kitchen was stocked with every cooking gadget imaginable. She had supplied them with delicious meals and frequent dinner parties. That part, she did miss.

Now she hired a landscaping crew to plant her flowers and maintain the lawn. And meals? Well, she cooked sometimes. But cooking for one was depressing. She usually grabbed something on her way home or, less frequently, had dinner out with friends.

Those were the times she missed Mayela the most. They'd known each other for several years before Claudia came into her life. They had always made time for dinner at least once a week. And even though, deep down, she knew it was Claudia's fault, she couldn't bring herself to forgive Mayela. They hadn't spoken since the night she'd caught them in her bed, although Mayela had tried to reach out, at least in the beginning. Now, eight months had passed, and she doubted they could ever get their friendship back. Claudia had moved on too, already living with someone else, an attorney who Valentina had once dated herself.

She shook her head slowly, hating her life at that moment. She would be thirty-five years old by the end of summer and her personal life was as unsettled now as it had been in her twenties. She looked at Renata and gave her a weak smile.

Renata had been working for her since she bought the firm from Mr Diaz, eight years now. She knew that Renata was an excellent judge of character and she should have trusted her when it came to Claudia. Renata had told her once she thought Claudia was devious. That, of course, turned out to be true. And now that Claudia was living with someone else, it was brought to her attention that Claudia's past lovers were all professional women, all with nice homes and equally nice incomes. And Valentina had succumbed to her charm as easily as the others apparently.

"So, tell me about this beach vacation," she prompted.

Renata reached for Valentina's laptop. "It's on Mustang Island. Port Aransas," she said as she pulled up a browser.

"How do you know about it? You're not gay," Valentina said.

"I heard about it from Emmy."

"And who is Emmy?"

"My cousin. She and a group of her friends went there in March." She spun the laptop toward her, showing her a picture of a brightly coloured umbrella stabbed in the sand with two very attractive women lying under it. "It's right on the beach. It was an old three-story hotel but was recently bought over and renovated, they added these cute little cabanas and put in two swimming pools," she said, bringing up another picture. "In one of them, clothing is optional. I'm sure that's the one you will hang out at the most," she said with a laugh.

"Right," Valentina said dryly, arching her eyebrow. The photos did look inviting, though, beautiful, tanned women lounged by the pool drinking cocktails.

"And it's marketed to lesbians?"

"Yes. Emmy said they had a great time there. I think you should try it."

Valentina hesitated. "I'm not sure going there alone sounds all that exciting. It will probably be full of couples." She pointed to the advertisement. "Romantic getaway. My getaway would be anything but romantic," she said.

"I wasn't suggesting this to you because it would be romantic. I was thinking it would be a great place for you to go and recharge and get away from Austin for a week."

Valentina was still hesitant. While it looked fun and all the women in the pictures were smiling and happy, it wasn't really her scene. She'd never been a beach lover and she had her own pool at her house. It would seem like a waste to go the whole way down to Port Aransas just to sit by a pool. Of course, the cabanas looked inviting and the palm trees made it all appear as if it were a tropical paradise. She supposed sitting in the sun relaxing with a fruity drink would be refreshing.

"Well?" Valentina stared at the scene, trying to picture herself there.

"What the hell. I guess I do need to get away."