"Come on! Are you really not going to swim?" You whined as your friend rejected your plea to accompany you to swim earlier.
"Sorry.. I think my period is coming, my stomach cramps badly," she rubbed her lower belly and you understood.
"Oh well, take a rest. I hope you'll be better soon."
It was a waste that she couldn't swim, but it would be even worse if her cramp made her lose the chance to enjoy the vacation as well, so you hoped she would feel better and could enjoy the rest of your vacation instead of forcing her to accompany you to swim and then got sick for the rest of the trip. You had no choice but to swim by yourself. You slather a lot of sunscreen before grabbing your slippers and making sure you have everything in your small purse. Room key, your phone, sunglasses and of course a bottle of sunscreen to reapply later.
Once you arrived at the pool area, you felt sorry for your friend. The hotel you picked had so many pools to choose from. They even had this small area for kids' pool, equipped with slides and splashes and even some sand? You saw kids running around, screaming happily as they rode down the slides and splashed into the pool. You saw the main pool was full of people as well. There were a lot of people enjoying sunbathing on the sides, some lazily reading a book while sunbathing. Some opted to put a towel over their face, shielding their eyes from the sunlight and dozed off. Those who didn't come from a tropical country clearly took the chance to get tanned.
At first you decided to make use of the pool for your full benefit. Since you let your gym membership expire, you couldn't swim as frequently as before. However, after you passed a few laps, you decided to just enjoy the time being. Enjoy the feeling of the breeze on your face. Enjoy the cold and the warmth of the water on your skin. Enjoy the feeling of the water splashes on your back. You looked up, squinting as you did so since you didn't expect the sunlight to be that harsh. Blinding to your eyes. You regretted not wearing your sunglasses so you decided to grab it. You got out of the pool and took it out of your purse. As you were about to step down to the pool, you saw that one of the pools was connected to the bar so you changed your plan and dipped into that pool instead.
You sat on the stool that was completely immersed in the water. You were about to wave for the waiter when someone occupied the stool next to yours. You paid no attention, but when the waiter passed by, he completely ignored you and decided to greet the man next to you.
"Good afternoon, sir. What can I get you? This is happy hour time, so if you purchase one drink, you will get another one for free," he happily said as he pointed to the 'happy hour' banner.
You lazily turned your head, trying to figure out why the waiter was more excited to greet him instead of you when you noticed who was sitting there. Jackson. As he kept silent, the waiter brought another paper and laid it on the bar counter in front of him.
"Here are our mocktails," the waiter flipped the 'happy hour' banner and there was a picture of all mocktails on the backside, "But if you'd like alcoholic beverages, here is the list of our collections." he pushed the paper and from your seat, it looked like a menu.
"Um," Jackson rubbed his jaw. "I don't know... Can I take a look at the menu?"
"Yes, sure. Just give me a call if you've decided," the waiter conceited and finally gave you his attention.
"Good afternoon, miss," he plastered another smile on his face, "What can I get you?"
"What's the most favorite mocktail here?" you asked, trying hard not to spare a glance toward Jackson's direction, even though you were curious why he could wander around without his bodyguard or his manager nearby.
"This one is the most favorite here," the waiter pointed to the first picture. "Would you like to try it?"
You looked at the vibrant orange-red liquid in the glass in the picture that the waiter pointed out.
"It is sweet and a bit sour, very refreshing," the waiter went on, probably trying to sell something since he failed to get something out of Jackson.
"Ok, I'll take it," you decided. "Can you bill it to my room?"
"Of course, miss. Let me get your room number," he wrote down your room number and mumbled about your order, two mocktails.
"Oh no, just one is enough for me," you answered as you signed the bill.
"But it's the happy hour.. It's a waste not to use the chance..," the waiter persisted.
You were about to open your mouth when you felt Jackson shift in his seat.
"Can you give us a minute?" Jackson said to the waiter. "We'll take your offer into consideration." Jackson asked the waiter to leave you two alone and he agreed. When there was no one else but you two at the bar counter, Jackson turned his body to face you.
"How about we share? The happy hour promotion, I mean," he quickly added so you wouldn't misunderstand.
"Can we? I think the waiter had seen us come here alone. Both of us," you doubted.
"We can say we're friends and they can't possibly ask for evidence that we're friends. After all, they can see that we're talking. We won't be talking if we don't know each other, right?"
"Errr.. maybe?"
"Good. Now, what would you like to order? I'd be happy to share it. We can bill it to my room and you can pay me. Or vice versa. Whatever you decide," he continued.
"Um, okay.. I'll stick to my choice earlier. Are you okay with non-alcoholic drinks?" you wondered as he seemed to always choose alcoholic beverages lately.
"Yeah sure. It's too early to drink, isn't it?" he smiled as he waved for the waiter.
The waiter seemed happy to spot you both, hoping to get 2 orders, but his face soon fell when he heard Jackson ordering for both of you. Jackson clearly said two orders of your choice of mocktail, for him and you. Yep right. The waiter realized that you decided to share the happy hour promotion and he really couldn't say anything about it. Jackson put the order under his room and the waiter went to prepare the order once Jackson signed the bill.
"He certainly doesn't look happy about that decision," you spoke and Jackson chuckled.
"Yeah, but he can't do anything about it. It's our decision. Now," Jackson miraculously put his mobile phone on the bar counter and pushed it toward you. "To make it more believable, I should have your number, right? After all, friends do contact each other. It will be more believable if I have your number. You also need to pay me. How can I demand you to pay for your debt if I don't have your phone?" he asked cheekily.
You blushed as you couldn't decide, whether he was really trying to make sure you paid your debt or it was his trick into getting your number.
You reached for his phone when the waiter came back with two glasses of vibrant orange red liquid in them, interrupting your action.
"Here you go, sir, miss," he placed one glass in front of Jackson, and another one in front of you. "Enjoy your drink," he said with a fake smile. Well, he did smile, but you doubted that it was a genuine one as he failed. He only managed to sell two drinks, instead of four. Luckily, he quickly excused himself, probably finding someone else so he could fulfill his target.
"Go on," Jackson reminded you, jutting his jaw forward to your hand, still holding his phone, as he sipped the mocktails.
"Oh, right," you remembered that you were supposed to put in your numbers but were interrupted by the waiter. You quickly typed them and handed the phone back.
Jackson made a big slurping sound as he checked his phone. You were about to walk away with your drink when he called out, "Hey, wait a minute!"
"What?" you stopped on your track.
"You forgot to put down your name," he turned his phone and smiled cheekily.
Oh well, now that he said it out loud, you had no choice but to take the phone back and put down your name. Jackson took his phone back with a satisfied smile on his face.
"Alright. Now I can hunt you down if you don't pay your debt."
Now, you were not sure. Whether you should be happy or worry now that Jackson knew your name and had your number.
