Rand McTiernan: Cozy Country Club

"Yours?"

"Yes, dear, there's no reason we can't get together again," she said.

The idea didn't seem bad to Alan and anyway he was tired as hell. The last thing he remembered was Grace telling him not to worry about guarding the pool for a few hours, she'd get one of the other guys to watch. He needed his rest and should take a nap.

Like a well-fed Cheshire cat, Alan went to sleep.

All of a sudden everything was cool. Teresa didn't know what to make of it. Alan wasn't smiling, barely talked to her and hadn't asked her out all week. Worst of all, she couldn't get a reason out of him.

Teresa finished her last lap across the pool and rested at the edge. She looked up at Alan in his chair. He had his attention focused at the other end of the pool. Teresa shrugged; it was over, she knew that. And it didn't bother her that much either… except for not knowing the reason why.

Alan was fun, great, terrific in bed, but he could be replaced, she figured. Teresa decided the last thing she would do would show him any signs of hurt. After all, she had her pride. Who did he think he was anyway?

She pulled herself from the water with a full, quick movement to make sure the top of her bikini was pulled enticingly low. The patches of fabric hung loosely down to reveal the upper ovals of her pink nipples. She let the suit stay where it was while slowly toweling off.

"You'd be better off without that suit."

Teresa looked up. It wasn't Alan who spoke; he was still looking away. She turned and faced Johnny Carvel.

Teresa grinned and winked. "Hello, Johnny. I might be better off without the suit but I'd be thrown out of the club real fast."

A smile came across the deeply tanned face of Johnny as he replied, "You bet and I'd be the first guy to carry you out."

"Sure," said Teresa. "And as soon as my mother found out you'd be out of a job and we'd be looking for a new bartender."

Johnny Carvel's face went serious and Teresa felt a surge of tingling excitement in her stomach. "I don't think you'd tell her," he said.

Her face matched his expression. "No, I don't think I would."

Alan watched as Johnny sauntered by the pool and disappeared into the poolside clubhouse. Johnny was the swarthy, handsome bartender at Terra-Mar Country Club, someone Alan had never met officially but on occasion exchanged nods of recognition with. He wasn't sure if he liked the guy or not, he was just there, mixing drinks for those who wanted them and never attracting much attention.

Alan looked down. Teresa was gone. Her wet footsteps left a path toward the bathhouse where the sauna and steam rooms were located. He saw Teresa's girlfriend, Eileen, get up from her lounge and follow the prints.

"Did you see where Teresa went?" Eileen asked Alan.

"I guess she's in the bathhouse," he answered.

Eileen smiled and batted her eyes before leaving. Alan watched the tight roll of her rounded rump as she walked away. She was a thin girl with small, high breasts and an amazingly slim waist. Her long legs and statuesque facial features were sure to get her into a career as a high-fashion model, Alan figured.

Alan relaxed and basked in the hot sun while thinking about his present situation. He and Grace Cunningham had met again yesterday afternoon. In her office. That was much better than paying for a motel room. She ravished his body like a starving lioness, exhausted him, drained every last ounce of energy and power from his limbs.

"You're the best I've ever had," she said when it was over and they rested.

Alan was proud. After all, Grace wasn't any teenager who didn't know what she was talking about. She was married and had obviously had several affairs prior to Alan. It was a much better deal with Grace than with Teresa. The only part he didn't like was having to snub Teresa.

But Grace insisted on it. No talking, no nothing. Just turn off and pretend her daughter didn't exist. Alan wanted to end it with Teresa before Grace made her pleasant offer of flesh for flesh but he didn't want to make an enemy of her. He knew he could have somehow stopped the relationship with Teresa in a much nicer way.

Teresa was fuming mad as she went into the bathhouse. He hadn't even looked at her! The dirty bastard was acting like she didn't even exist! With no explanation why! She stomped in her bare feet to the sauna and jerked open the door. It was a board-lined cubbyhole with a wooden bench on one end. She stepped inside, locked the door and turned the heat up to the maximum.

She plopped down on the bench and started to cry. Why won't he say anything? she asked herself. What did I do to him? One day we're as close as any two people can get and the next day I'm not even alive! She slammed her hand down on the bench and sniffed back the tears.

There was a knock on the door. "Teresa? Are you in there?" came a voice.

Teresa wiped her eyes. It was Eileen. She opened the door and said, "Hi."

"Can I join you?" asked Eileen.

Teresa stepped back. "Sure, come on in, but lock the door so on one else comes in."

"Sure." Eileen locked the door and sat on the bench next to Teresa. "I wondered where you went. You just took off out at the pool."

Teresa nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I was upset and just wanted to get away."

"Alan?" Eileen asked.

Teresa drew her lips together. Yeah."

"Is he still giving you the cold shoulder?"

"More than ever. I just don't understand why!" Teresa let her fist pound down on the bench.

After a pause Eileen pushed her red hair away from her forehead and said, "I think I do."

"You do?"

She nodded. "But I don't know how to tell you. It's just something I heard Johnny say. It might not mean anything… "

"What?" asked Teresa.

"I didn't think it was anything, didn't think it was possible… But yesterday I kept my eyes open and now I think it could be true… "

"For God's sake, Eileen, will you tell me what you're talking about?"

Eileen paused, inhaled, then said, "Your mom."

"My mom? What's she got to do with this?"

"Well… you know how we sort of suspected she and Johnny had a thing going?"

"An affair? Yes, I remember that."

Suddenly Eileen was talking a mile a minute as the momentum of gossip took over. "Well, the day before yesterday I was in the room near the bar and I heard him talking with some guy. The guy was asking him how things were going with Grace. Johnny didn't really answer directly, he said, just said your mom was a nice lady."

"So?" asked Teresa.

Eileen held her hand up. "But the guy kept asking-you know how guys talk-until Johnny said Grace was her own woman and could do what she wanted. The guy at the bar laughed and accused Johnny of trying to hide the fact that she dumped him cold."

"Really?" asked Teresa.

Eileen nodded. "She must have because he didn't say anything else except…"

"Except what?"

Eileen was serious. "I don't know if you're going to like this or not but I'm just telling you because you're my good friend and I think you ought to know."

"Will you tell me?"

"He said your mom lost her interest in the bartender and was now interested in the pool-tender."

"Pool-tender?"

"I wondered what he meant," continued Eileen. "So yesterday I kept one eye open and saw Alan go to your mom's office in the afternoon. He was in there for two and a half hours!"

Teresa sat up straight until her back pressed against the hot boards of the sauna. The heat was stifling, cooking. She held her lips together tightly in an effort to keep from yelling out with fury. But the anger overpowered her lips and she shouted, "That bitch!"

"I'm not sure now" added Eileen quickly. "I'm just telling you what I saw…"

"That bitch!" screeched Teresa. She jumped to her feet and took the five paces to the door before collapsing against it and cursing again. "Of course… That explains everything. She kept asking me what I saw in Alan, kept trying to tell me I could do so much better… The bitch!"