Hanging Out With Friends

By E51Writer

“Really, Gage, you’ll love it!” Chet was trying very hard not to laugh. “My cousin says this is the best travel bargain going. You know you need a break and we’ve got that 4-day next week. I think you should go and…rediscover yourself.”

“Gee, Johnny, it sounds great. I’ll go with you if Chet can get me a deal too!”

‘UH…no Marco, I think Johnny needs to have a break away from everyone. He was just complaining about too much togetherness, wasn’t he?” Chet was trying very hard not to freak out. Maybe this wasn’t as funny as he thought.

“Yeah, Chet, count me in too.”

“Cap – really – why don’t you guys just let John have some time to himself? You don’t want to waste your 4-day with him…do you?”

Roy walked back into the room. “I’ve cleared it with Joanne. Make it a foursome!”

“A fivesome. I haven’t been to the beach in ages!” Mike had gone away with Marco a time or two but hadn’t traveled with any of the others. This was really out of character.

“Hey, Chet, why don’t you join us?” asked Marco.

“NO! I mean..I planned this for Johnny. I wanted this to be a time away for him. You guys don’t want to go with him. You might not like it. You know you don’t share a lot of Johnny’s interests. I was thinking of HIM not YOU when I suggested this!” Chet was pleading without trying to be too obvious.

“Too late. It’s done.” Johnny was hanging up the phone. “Just talked to your cousin, Chet. She was really surprised to hear that we all wanted to go. I told her to book you a room too but she said that she knew you were busy. Too bad. You’d have had fun hanging out with us!”

Chet laughed at the last comment. What else could he do? At least he’d have a week to figure out how to greet his friends upon their return.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Welcome, gentlemen.”

Gage smiled at the pretty young woman at the welcome desk. He already knew he liked this place. For once, maybe Chet had given them some good advice.

“Here are your bags. They’ll hold all you need. Don’t worry about lotion. It’s free of charge around the pool and along the beach. Everything is cloth – don’t worry about staining it with the lotion. Feel free to move about and sit wherever you want.”

“And, is there someone around to apply the lotion?” Gage winked.

“Of course! It’s all part of the experience. Now, here are the keys to the lockers.” She looked at the bags the men were carrying and what they were wearing. “Standard size should do for all of you. Follow me.”

The men were all smiling as they walked around the partition and into the main lobby. Their eyes about fell out of their heads as they looked around. As they eventually looked at each other, it appeared that only Johnny was still smiling.

“Wow, man! Clothing optional, huh? Chet didn’t mention that.”

“No, sir. Clothing NOT ALLOWED. Now drop trou’…all of you. We’ll lock up your clothes. You can get to them if you leave the premises. Of course, upon your return, you’ll have to store everything in your assigned lockers.” Several moments of silence passed. “Gentlemen, is there a problem?”

“I’m gonna kill him. I’M GONNA KILL HIM!” This was obviously not a relaxing experience for Cap!

“No violence allowed, sir. Are you dropping trou? Or, are you leaving?”

Cap just looked around.

“Well, we said we were gonna spend the weekend hanging out together. I’m in.” Gage said as he began to disrobe. He couldn’t control the laugh he’d been trying to stifle. He – they all – should have known Chet was up to something.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They had discussed it during the four days at the resort. And, they talked about it all the way back to L.A. They would get the last laugh on the Phantom!

All 5 men arrived early for the shift. They sat around the kitchen table perusing the photo album. From the pictures, it looked like Chris DeSoto had had a lot of fun on his trip to Disneyworld. They heard the door open and the show began.

“Oh, man, that’s a beauty. I didn’t even know that pic was being taken.”

“Great piece of art there, John.” Cap followed the comment with a whistle.

As if upon cue, all men looked up at Chet. Chet didn’t know what to do. He thought he had the whole thing worked out but he wasn’t prepared for what he saw. He thought they’d be yelling. He thought they’d be furious. Instead, there they sat with smiles on their faces looking at pictures for God’s sake!

“Chet, just in time.” Johnny started to get up with the photo album in his hand. “Come look at these great vacation pictures.”

Chet covered his ears and closed his eyes. “NO!!!!!” he screamed as he went running from the room – visions of his friends naked were running through his mind.

The 5 men laughed as Johnny yelled, “C’mon, Chet, we’re just hanging out having some fun!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The end ( l )