The Vacation: A Red Lace Romance

Jenn left her London flat at 5.30am in a black cab headed for Heathrow Airport. She was dressed comfortably but still stylishly, her toned figure accentuated with her favourite pair of black skinny jeans, and a loose fitting denim blouse, her long brunette hair tied back in a ponytail and her bangs swept to the side, a pair of comfortable wedges to give her otherwise shortish 5’4 statute a bit more height, and an oversized black leather bag. 

She wasn’t happy about waking up so early, but she was looking forward to her destination.  Singapore!  She had accumulated some six weeks in unused vacation time and her boss made her take two weeks off. 

“Do whatever you want, I don’t care.  Sit at home or go away, just don’t set foot in this office for two weeks.  Got it?!” His anger was feigned; he just wanted Jenn to take a break for a while.  Mitchell was a great boss, and he was a great mentor to Jenn, but he could see how her workaholic lifestyle was getting to her.

Jenn
was a successful publicist with a central London firm, for five years now.  After she graduated with her MBA in Marketing from the University of Sussex, she started as an assistant with Mitchell Montcalm Corporations.  Mitchell saw her potential and took it on himself to show her the ropes.  Within five years and as her 30
th
birthday present she was given the office next to Mitchell’s and was made Director of Public Relations.

She loved every bit of her job and spent most of her time in the office.  Even Saturday was a work day for
Jenn.  As a result she hadn’t been in a relationship since she started at MMC. The only ‘dates’ she went on were blind dates set up by her now married or engaged friends who so desperately wanted to see her with someone.  But Jenn was married to her work.

Underneath it all,
Jenn knew the truth; she just didn’t want to admit it.  She was deeply afraid of getting hurt, and she never allowed anyone to get close enough to know her.  She was afraid of the emotions a relationship could draw out of her, and the pain someone could put her through.  In an effort to guard herself she just didn’t let anyone in.

She got to the airport at 6.30, her flight would start boarding at 10.00, so she had plenty of time to check in and grab
some breakfast in the lounge.  Jenn checked in her luggage and made way to the airlines’ lounge.  She hadn’t flown with Singapore Airlines before but their reputation preceded them and she was looking forward to it. 

She dropped off her bags and sat down by the window to watch the planes as she enjoyed her ‘Full English-Healthy Alternative’ breakfast with a customary pre-trip mimosa.  She enjoyed another mimosa in lieu of a traditional aperitif.  She checked her emails one last time; there was nothing urgent she had to reply to but she sent off a couple of
emails while she had the time.

She got a text from Mitchell
Stop working! Enjoy your trip Jenn!!- Mitchell

It made her
smile; he had become like a father to her and the only reliable man in her life.

Jenn
sent off a few last farewell texts to her friends, posted an update on facebook and headed off to board the flight.

She was going to stay with an old friend from Sussex
.  Simon had an apartment out in Singapore, and had business that he needed to attend to in Malaysia, in a few days.  So Jenn was looking forward to having the place to herself for next week and a half. 

Jenn
and Simon had a bit of a history.  They went out on a few dates, figured that they weren’t meant for each other and ended things amicably.  They remained good friends, and had a good relationship between them.  So when Jenn told Simon she was going to Singapore, she asked if she could stay at his place, she didn’t want to stay at a hotel for two weeks- it would quickly lose its charm.  It just so happened that he was going to be away during that time, so he agreed.

It was a 12 hour flight, and
Jenn could never sleep on planes, so she welcomed the complimentary bar service.  After a few glasses of champagne and a couple of shots of whiskey, Jenn was asleep before they even flew out of England.

The flight attendant woke
Jenn up.  They were to be landing soon and she needed to put her seat up. 

‘I can’
t believe I slept through the whole flight.  That was amazing!’ Jenn thought.

She tidied
up her space, put her shoes back on, spread on some lip gloss, and ran a brush through her hair.  She filled out her landing card and checked that she had all her things in order.

Jenn
didn’t even feel the plane land, it was the perfect landing.  ‘By far the best flight I’ve ever had’ Jenn thought to herself.

As she stepped out of the plane thanking the beautiful and gracious hostess she was met by the thick humid air of the tropical climate as she made her way through the causeway
.  The airport was perfectly air conditioned, and stunningly beautiful.  Everywhere she looked she was surrounded by tropical plants and orchids.  It was a breath of fresh air from dark grey London.

Jenn
made her way over to passport control, picked up her luggage all in 20 minutes.  Everything was so efficient and speedy, people were friendly and things moved at a casual but efficient pace. 

She was greeted at the arrivals terminal by Simon.  She hadn’t seen him in five years and he hadn’t changed much. 
He was a bit more tanned, blonde hair,
parted at the side, he was still muscular, but it was obvious he hadn’t been to gym in a couple of months.  He was a good looking guy, but Jenn was just never attracted to him like that despite her best efforts.

They hugged like
friends and he took her bag and walked her to the taxi. 

“Well then, Welcome to Singapore!”

“Thank you.  Wow Simon, you really picked a beautiful place to live.” The sun was setting but Jenn could still see how beautiful it all looked as they made their way through the evening traffic to Simon’s apartment.

“So, what have you got planned for yourself
Jenn?”

“Nothing.
  I didn’t plan anything.” She honestly hadn’t even though about what she wanted to see or do, she really just needed to relax and not worry about anything for a while. “I know I want to spend time at the beach, go to a spa, wander through the city, maybe do some shopping.  But I honestly haven’t even thought about it.”

“There’s plenty to keep you entertained here,
you’ll find something to do.”

Jenn
was captured by the beauty of the city, it was so manicured and pristine, like a live outdoor museum, every leaf, flower and blade grass was in its place. 

“Oh.  I completely forgot to tell you something. I have a friend staying with me for a bit. 
I don’t know if you remember him, he was at Sussex with us, Gerard, but did his Masters in Commerce, I don’t think you had any classes with him.” Jenn shook her head, she didn’t remember a Gerard.

“
Anyways, he’s starting with a new company next month, so I said it would be okay for him to stay with me until he found a place.  I hope you don’t mind.  I have a two bedroom apartment, so Gerard’s going to stay in the spare one.”

“Yeah, sure, no problem.
  Thanks again for letting me stay at your place though.  Two weeks at a hotel isn’t my kind of thing.  I owe you one Simon.”

They pulled up to Simon’s apartment
.  It was a new build of three high rise apartment blocks with a common garden in the middle and surrounded by a pool, tennis courts, and a full gym.  It could have easily been mistaken for a resort.

Simon paid the taxi driver and the doorman came to help
Jenn with her bags.

“
Don’t worry about it, Mo will bring them up for us.  Thanks Mo.” And Simon handed the doorman a tip for his efforts.

Simon walked
Jenn to the concierge desk. 

“Mr. Simon, Good Evening” Vincent was from one of the neighbouring countries Malaysia or Indonesia, Jenn couldn’t quite decipher his accent.

“Vincent, let me introduce you to Jennifer
.  She’s an old friend from back in London, she’s going to be staying in the apartment while I’m away for a couple of weeks. Gerard knows she’s visiting.”

“Nice to meet you Ms. Jennifer.
  You can call me for anything you need, and I will arrange to have it done for you.”

“Thank you Vincent, I’ll try not to bother you too much.”
Jenn was already having a wonderful time. ‘So this is what it feels like to be taken care of,’ she thought to herself. She had always taken care of herself.  Even when she was young; her parents worked hard to make ends meet, and Jenn took it upon herself to study hard and then put herself through college and university.  Even the few boyfriends she had, she never let them do things for her- she was so used to taking care of herself.

They took the elev
ator to Simon’s floor.

“Did you say you’ll be gone for a couple of weeks? I though
t you were just going for a week?” asked Jenn, she was secretly hoping that she would have the apartment to herself.

“Yeah, I just found out this morning that I’ll have to be in Malaysia for tomorrow afternoon.  The purchaser wants a thorough briefing so I’m going to leave here early tomorrow morning.  I hope that’s okay.”

“Of course, yeah, that’s fine.” Jenn was happy, she was glad to see Simon, but was lost for ideas of what to do with him even for a few days.  She really just wanted some time alone to sleep and not have to think about anything.

“Besides, Gerard will be here so if you get bored you can take him along.”

They stepped out of the elevator. Jenn’s luggage was already outside the door.

Simon opened
the door.  His apartment was beautiful, it had floor to ceiling windows that looked out over the harbour.  Jenn could see the ship lights against the dark blue hue of the water.  The floors were stained with dark mahogany, the walls a dark grey; it was styled as a bachelor pad, with books about vintage cars, a plush black leather sofa, and old black and white movie posters.  But it suited Jenn’s tastes just fine.

“Your place is stunning Simon! You’ve done well for yourself,” exclaimed
Jenn.

“Look’s who’s talking, Ms. Chelsea Flat!”
Jenn had worked hard to get her Victorian flat in Chelsea.  It was the typical London flat she always wanted. It was welcoming and comfortable, the kind of place where Jenn could walk through the door kick off her shoes, pour herself a glass of wine and snuggle up on the couch under a warm blanket.

Jenn’s
attention was distracted by Gerard emerging from the kitchen.  He was 6’2 muscular and toned, his skin was tanned, almost like burnt sugar before it becomes caramel, he had thick black curly hair that had been cut short and it looked like he hadn’t shaved in a couple of days. He had dark brown eyes and wrinkles at the corners of them formed from smiling a lot.  He was wearing grey sweatpants hung low at his waist a white vest, his six-pack abs bulging through the tiny top.  He looked quite grungy, but in a sexy kind of way.

He walked out of the kitchen
with a bag of cookies in his hand, and a whole one in his mouth. 

“There’s
nothing to eat here mate.”  Despite his disheveled appearance his accent was clean cut, not like a posh academic Oxford type British, but a refined kind of grammar school accent.

“If you took a break between meals, there would be some food left.”
  Simon moved Jenn’s luggage to the master suite.

Jenn
could feel Gerard eyeing her, not in a sleezy way, but she was a beautiful woman, and Gerard was quick to notice.

“You must be Jennifer, Nice to meet you. Gerard.
  I’ll be your roommate for the next little while.” He greeted her with a kiss on each check. Jenn’s knees suddenly got weak and she felt a little flustered.