"Hey," Alina said. "I'm sorry, I could have worded that better. I wasn't thinking."
"What?" I laughed awkwardly. "I'm fine. It's fine." I shook my head. A good night's sleep would make me feel better. I just needed to clear my head and focus on having Kristen's kind of fun.
"We'll all have to take a shot for Em tonight then," Kristen said and grabbed Alina's arm.
"Wait, aren't we just going to call it a night?" I was exhausted.
"It's only 8 o'clock! This place is known for their awesome clubs. Let's get checked in and get this party started!"
Everyone else looked excited as they followed Kristen into the hotel. I slowly followed them with my arms crossed. We were going to be here for a week. If I didn't get enough sleep I'd just be a grumpy Gus the whole time.
"Welcome to the Blue Parrot Resort," said the man at the front desk. "My name is Javier. How may I help you?" He was several years older than us and wearing a black tuxedo. I had never seen a concierge dressed so fancy.
"Hi, we have a reservation for four under Kristen Dwyer," Kristen said.
"One moment please, Ms. Dwyer." Javier typed a few things into his computer and scanned the screen. "Ah, there you are. It says here that you'll be staying with us for seven nights in two queen beds. Is that correct?"
"Yes."
"Excellent. Have any of you ladies ever been here before?"
"No."
"T
hen let me give you a quick overview of what we have to offer." Javier grabbed a pamphlet and slid it across the counter towards us. "We have three onsite restaurants that are open every day from 6 a.m. to 2 in the morning. Or if you'd just like a quick snack, there's a mini bar in your room and we also have a snack bar here at the front desk to my left." He gestured with his hand to the left.
I glanced over and saw that the snack bar was fully stocked with everything from potato chips to ice cream to bottles of wine. I suddenly realized how hungry I was. My stomach actually growled while I was examining the choices.
"We also have four pools, including an infinity pool on the roof that provides spectacular views of the rainforest, especially during the sunset. And then we have activities every day. You can sign up on that board over there, but just to whet your appetite, we have tours of the rainforest, zip lining through the canopy, ropes courses, and more." Javier pointed to impressive pictures in the pamphlet of happy people zip lining through the trees.
"Wow, that looks awesome," Alina said.
"Yes, the zip lining is one of our most popular activities. Just make sure you sign up for it soon so that you don't miss out. The spots go very quickly."
"We'll definitely do that," Kristen said and leaned against the counter. "Is there dancing in the restaurants in the evening?"
Javier pointed down a hallway to our left. "The Jaguar's Den is right down there. They have excellent steak and even better dance music."
"Perfect."
"I don't want to keep you much longer, but the last thing I have to tell you about is our bracelet game. Are you familiar with it?"
The four of us looked at each other and we all shook our heads.
"No problem," said Javier as he pulled out four beautiful gold bracelets and fastened one to each of our wrists. "These will be yours for the week."
It made the other bracelet on my wrist look a little dingy. I tried to unhook the bracelet Javier had just given me, but there didn't seem to be any visible clasp. Maybe it was broken. I didn't need a new bracelet. The one I had was the only one I wanted. "Do we have to wear them?" I asked. "I think mine might be broken."
Javier laughed and pulled out some sort of credit card. "Every woman who stays with us gets one of these bracelets that they must put on each morning. And every man gets one of these cards. While you're wearing the bracelet, any guy can come up to you and ask you to follow the directions on his card. Once you've done so, he can wave his card over your bracelet to activate the RFID chip and allow you to take the bracelet off."
"What sorts of directions do the cards have on them?" I asked.
"A wide variety of things." Javier flipped the card over he was holding. "Give a massage."
Alina laughed. "That's not too bad. For a second, I thought they were going to be sexual things."
Javier didn't laugh. He simply shrugged his shoulders. His reaction gave me an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach.