The Touch Series: Initiation (9 page)

              “Oh, yeah! I've never seen him like this before around a girl. And I've know him for a while.” She looked at me again, this time more alarmed.

              “Well... I'm not interested. And it will make this whole thing more uncomfortable.” She sounded angry. I didn't press into the matter any further.

              Despite the anger I had for him at the moment, I definitely felt bad for Artie. This was the second friend of mine who Artie liked and the feeling wasn't going to be reciprocated.

              As I was processing in my head if and how I should tell Artie,  Gwen started talking to the group. She looked perfect like always. Perfect bun, perfect skin, and a wrinkle-free dress suit. And her composure as cold and stern as ever. “We will be boarding soon. Do not fight over seats like little children. Just be on your best behavior.”

              After a while of waiting, we finally boarded the plane. I wasn't surprised to find the inside to be glamorous. It was all white with plush ivory seats with very good looking stewards. The next few hours were going to be very pleasant indeed.

              I sat next to Janel who allowed me to take the window seat which made me feel even more excited. It was only two seats per row which allowed us some privacy. Gwen took a seat all the way at the front while Josef, Jacob and Artie sat in an area behind us. Their seats were facing each other. It looked like they were going to have a business meeting.

              When we were finally in the air, I looked out the window and was amazed at what I saw. I couldn't look away. The views were breathtaking. Just a few weeks ago, I only dreamed of being able to fly away from Richmond and see what the rest of the world had to offer.

              A stewardess came up to us and handed us our martinis that we ordered. I turned to Janel and we clinked our glasses together. I looked around to see what the others were doing. Most of the girls were either fixing their makeup or filing their nails. Very stereotypical girl stuff. I slowly turned around to see what the men were up to. I sneakily looked at them between mine and Janel's seats. They were indeed having a meeting. Although I couldn't hear everything well, I picked up business-like terms.

              Artie caught me staring, “What's up, Quinn?” Both Jacob and Josef looked over to see me.

              I turned completely red. “Nothing. It's just that...um...”

              Janel quickly got up and sat on her knees on the seat, facing them. “We're bored. We wanted to know what you guys were up to.”

              I looked at her and knew immediately that I owed her big time for saving me.

              Artie sat up and ran a hand through his hair. “Nothing. Just working,” He sounded breathless. He actually sounded like a male-version of me. He really did have it bad. Unfortunately, it seemed quite certain that she wasn't interested in him in any way.

              Josef looked annoyed at Artie and shook his head. Artie shook him off and turned back to Janel, “Ever been to Hawaii before?”

              She shook her head. “No.” She pointed to the empty seats next to Jacob and Josef. “Can we join you?”

              I tugged at her dress to make her look down at me. When she did I gave her a death stare as I shook my head. I wasn't going to spend five to six hours sitting next to them, especially with Artie beginning to give me a hard time over Josef.

              Artie got up from his seat and started to clear up the table in the middle which made Josef even more annoyed. When he was done cleaning, he looked at Janel and smiled, “Now you can.”

              I lost the fight as Janel grabbed my arm to follow her. Of course, she took the seat between Jacob and Artie, as I was left to the one between Jacob and Josef. I took my seat without looking once at Josef.

Jacob ordered for more alcohol to be brought to our table. Artie looked really happy, too happy. 

              We all sat there in an awkward silence for quite a while. It got more awkward by the minute. Janel was making a face at me to say something. But I didn't know what. I then turned to face Josef for the first time since we joined them. He was leaning towards my side with his head in his hand. He looked amused over the silence. “Thank you for the trip, Mr. Constane. We're looking forward to it.” He lifted his head to look at me. He gave me a warm smile that melted my insides as he said, “you're welcome.” I smiled back at him, not taking my gaze off him for a while. Artie cleared his throat very loudly. I turned to look at him and he gave me a warnful look. Janel picked up on what happened. She quickly started asking Artie about law school which got him to fully pay attention to her. Jacob started flirting with a stewardess that was sitting nearby. Which left me and Josef to ourselves. I slowly looked over to him, “Hi,” I said sheepishly.

              He got up and looked down at me, “Come.” He started walking towards the back end of the plane. I waited a few seconds so that Artie didn't notice me following Josef. When I did get up, I felt nervous. I wondered where he was taking me. We passed the rows where the other girls were sitting. One of the girls, Cassie, stood up and looked at me in disbelief as I followed Josef. He opened a door to a small room. He allowed me to go in first. There was a long couch with a plasma television on the opposite wall. Against the windows, was a table with food and drinks. He closed the door behind me. I tried to read his face but I couldn't. “Sit.” I quickly sat which made him laugh.

              He shook his head as he headed towards a shelf in the wall and grabbed what looked like a remote control. “What do you like to watch?” He came and sat next to me but not very close. He kept a good distance between us which left me disappointed.

              “The Office?” I looked at him to see if he was going to make a disapproving look. Instead he looked pleasantly surprised. He went on Netflix and put an episode on. But I didn't really feel like watching.

              I got up to pour myself some champagne. As I did, I looked at him and asked, “would you like some, Josef?”

              He looked at me and gave me the wolfish grin that touched me in certain places. “Excuse me?”

              I tried to control my voice as I repeated, “would you like some?”

              He slowly stood up and walked up to me and took the champagne bottle from my hand. He was really close and I had a hard time controlling my breathing. “You missed a word there.”

              When I realized what he meant, I was even more nervous. “Oh, I see. I did, didn't I?” He nodded in a devilish way which made me giggle like a school girl. I bit on my finger as I whispered his name. “Josef”.

              He immediately touched my hand and slowly pulled so I wasn't biting my finger. For the first time since we shook hands at our initial meeting, he was touching me. I quickly looked at his hand on mine in shock. I was still whispering, “you're breaking the touching rule. Not me.”

              He came closer. “Oh, I can touch you. You just can't make the first move without my permission.”

              “Okay, then. Can I touch you?” I was serious, not just teasing this time. “Josef?”

              He put the champagne bottle down and touched my other arm. He slowly pulled me towards the couch without taking his eyes off me. He kneeled on top of the couch and moved me to stand in front of him. His mouth was tense but his eyes gave off a look of hunger. He moved close to my right ear and whispered, “Go ahead”.

              I couldn't believe what I had heard. I was beyond shocked. But I wasn't opposed to what was happening. I wanted to touch him but I wasn't sure where. But without another thought, I lifted a finger to touch his bottom lip. As I did so, he closed his eyes for a good long second. I started to lean in closer when I heard a knock on the door. I jumped at the sound and quickly sat at the end of the couch. Josef quickly got up and opened the door. It was Artie who looked at me suspiciously.

              “What?” Josef snapped at him. I hadn't seen Josef angry with Artie before. But judging by Artie's indifference, I guessed that wasn't the first time Josef snapped at him.

              Artie gave Josef a hard stare and addressed him coldly. “What's going on here?”

              I quickly got up to attempt to calm him down. “We were just watching a show.”

              Artie then snapped at me, “Yeah, right. Quinn, I warned you to have boundaries.”

              Josef got even angrier, “Don't talk to her like that. And she can do what she wants.”

              I crossed my arms over my chest and stood up tall, “I agree.”

              Artie groaned and quickly closed the door. He pointed at me and he yelled, “You, my friend, can not hook up with my best friend. It will ruin everything.”

              He had a point. I could imagine it making things awkward between all three of us. And I remembered what Josef said would happen after the Club ended. We wouldn't be friends. I calmed my voice down and looked straight into Artie's eyes. “I promise you that nothing happened.”

              Artie took a deep breathe in and exhaled. Then he walked over to the couch and sat down. “Let's watch then.”

              I sat down next to him and looked up at Josef who was leaning against the wall looking really pissed. He eventually sat down on the other side next to Artie. I knew Artie had a point in all of this but I was still annoyed. I grabbed the remote control and went to the Netflix homepage. “Not feeling the show now. And since I'm the lady and the guest, I choose what we watch next.” I turned on
Bridget Jones's Dairy
.

              Artie grunted again, “Shit.”

              I heard Josef laugh silently which made me smile. Artie turned quickly to him, still angry, “Shut it. I love this movie!” And from then on, it was silent among the three of us.

                                                                      CHAPTER seven

              Once we landed and headed towards the resort, I stayed with Janel the whole time. I was too angry and irritated with Artie to even stand next to him. But I didn't feel like being near Josef either. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I knew Artie knew more about Josef than I ever would. He knows something about him that would be bad for me to know. That would eventually hurt me. And it had nothing to do with the fact that he surrounds himself with stunning girls all the time. No. It was more than that. I had a deep feeling that something was up.             

              But I decided to take advantage of the fact that I was in Hawaii and staying in a beautiful five-star resort. I wasn't going to let my anger or my confused feelings for Josef get in the way. I was determined to have a great time.

              I ended up sharing a two Queen bed room with Janel which was great. And what made it even better was the fact that the men were far at the top of the hotel in the penthouse. There was six floors separating us. So no damage or awkwardness was going to occur whatsoever. Well, hopefully not.

              After settling into our rooms, me and Janel decided to take a tour of the resort and check out the gift shops. I was hoping to get something great for Nicholas.

              We changed since the weather was a complete change from that of the Midwest. Though I still stuck with the tropical theme by wearing a red crop top with a blue flower print along with matching high-waist shorts. Janel snorted when she saw my outfit.

              “All you're missing is a lei.”

              “Ooohh, we need to get some!” I wasn't even joking. You can't be in Hawaii without wearing a lei. It felt wrong on so many levels.

              We arrived at the main floor and walked towards the main gift shop near the reception desk when we spotted Josef, Jacob, and Artie in their golf attire at the front doors.  I had hoped we could have walked past them without them noticing us. I tugged at Janel's arm and walked faster towards the gift shop with my head hanging low.

              “Hey!” shouted Artie. Janel and I exchanged looks. She wasn't happy that we were spotted either.  But when we turned around, we both flashed fake smiles and surprised eyes.

              Artie looked at Janel the whole time which was good because I was tempted to give him my signature death stare for the duration of this trip. “What are you up to for the afternoon?”

              Janel ignored Artie's look as she addressed all three of them. “We were just heading to the gift shop. And then later... who knows?”