Aagh! Why was everyone so damn cheerful this early in the morning. Most of the men who had partied with me last night, including Drew, looked like they'd gone to bed early evening, not early morning.
“Are you alright buddy?” Drew asked me while patting me on the shoulder.
“How the hell are you not as hung over as me?” I pulled off my sunglasses as the manager took us through to the men’s locker room.
“Carla’s drinking remedy and hangover cure,” Drew grinned, “it works like magic.” He emphasized with his hand and laughed at my grimace. “Maybe if you hadn’t set that lizard on her she’d offer you some.”
“That wasn’t entirely my fault!” I defended myself. “I had no idea how sneaky the iguana was.”
“Carla doesn’t like reptiles, dude,” Ken Moore stepped into the locker rooms and all heads turned toward him.
“Ken,” Drew immediately went over to greet the obnoxiously handsome giant. “Everyone, this is Ken.” He introduced Ken to the guys. “Thanks for joining us.”
“I wouldn’t miss a game of golf with my old rival for the world,” Ken slapped Drew on the shoulder. “I hope you’ve managed to fix that slice of yours.” They laughed together.
“How do you know about the iguana?” I asked Ken when he came over to greet me.
“Drew told me,” Ken grinned. “I bet she was spitting mad. I once pushed Carla into a swimming pool with tadpoles in it.” He made a comical face. “Took her a year before she’d talk to me again.”
“He also had a black eye,” Drew laughed, “and that was just for helping her out of the pool.”
“That’s not even what hurt the most,” Ken’s eyes opened wide, “it was the tongue lashing she gave me that still burns my ears.”
That was just great but it still did not tell me how to appease her.
***
When we walked out of the locker rooms and teamed up as we got outside, we were greeted by all the ladies.
What the hell were they doing here? I thought and that’s when I saw her walking toward me wheeling her bag of golf clubs. She was dressed in golf attire with her sleeveless shirt showing off her tanned arms while her neat blue shorts showed off her amazing legs. I cleared my throat and gave myself a mental shake to force my eyes away from her legs.
“You’re late,” Carla greeted Drew with a smile. “You said you’d be here twenty minutes ago.”
“Yes,” Hayley looked at Drew, annoyed. “Luckily, Carla knew some people are irresponsible,” she looked at me when she said that, “and not very good at keeping time. So, she booked the greens for longer.” Her eyes moved to Drew. “You’re going to have to thank Uncle Brian and maybe get him some of that rare whiskey he likes for helping us out.” She turned and stormed off.
“Wow,” Ken dropped his golf back from his shoulder. “I think you’ve got some sucking up to do, buddy.” He laughed.
“Choose your partners,” Carla told us before walking off toward the caddy’s and golf carts.
“Wait a minute,” I called after Carla and chased her down. “Why are you here?” I stopped and frowned. “And who is Uncle Brian?”
“He’s the manager and owner of this club,” Drew whispered to me as I saw Carla’s eyes narrow at me. “He’s also Carla’s mother’s cousin.”
“Of course he is,” I sigh. The Reynolds knew everyone in America it seemed.
“Didn’t you read the amended itinerary?” Carla gave me a wide-eyed innocent look. “Yesterday, for reasons I’d rather not remember,” she gave me a snotty look, “I failed to confirm today’s booking for the ladies’ day out and so we lost the venue.”
“So, you decided to crash our golf day?” I asked her, getting irritated with her hoity look and posture. I know I should hold it but she always had a knack for rubbing me the wrong way.
“Actually,” Carla looked at me even more smugly, “Drew thought my golf day woman versus the men tournament was a great idea.”
Traitor! was all I could think as I glared at Drew.
“What does the winner get?” I asked her with a challenging look, knowing Prissy Missy Carla couldn’t resist a challenge.
“The pleasure of knowing they won?” She raised her eyebrows and looked down her nose at me, “While I’ll know that both the ladies and men had one of the best days so far.” She grinned before prancing off.
The little bitch! She stole my day from me and I feared she was right about everyone having fun. I looked at the first teams going to tee-off. There was already a jovial atmosphere in the air and the men had looked genuinely happy to see the women at the golf club.
Shit! So, she’d thrown down the gauntlet, and boy was I ready for the challenge. Two could play her game of sabotage. Drew called me as we were up. I walked over and a plan started to formulate in my mind. I knew exactly what the ladies’ next activity was and because both parties were seemingly having more fun together… I could not help but smile as I lined up my shot.