Bare essentials, p.5
Bare Essentials, page 5
Chastity didn’t like it, but was too nervous to object. “Alright.”
Matt moved to the left hand side of the shaft and slowly inched toward the door.
He removed a knife from its waistband holster and tapped on the metal obstruction.
“It’s solid,” he reported.
Matt retraced his steps until he is outside again.
“I’ll have to do some research to see if anyone knows anything about this. Could be an old bomb shelter from the 50s.”
Optimistic, Chastity asked, “Or maybe pirate treasure?”
Matt laughed.
“I doubt pirates had the technology to build a 20th century blast door, darlin’… Come on. Let’s see what other secrets this little cove might holds.”
~~~
Chapter 28
The next morning found Nina sitting naked on the Chastity’s bed as Chastity sorted and hung her laundry from a basket on the bed.
Nina teased, “So. You wanna tell me where you and Matt have been spending your afternoons?”
Chastity giggled, “No.”
“Ah… Come on… Or have the two of you been making hot, passionate jungle love?”
Chastity was horrified by the thought that anyone would think that of her, “NO!”
Nina laughed.
“No rendezvous in the jungle, huh?”
Chastity was emphatic with her denial, “NO! He’s never even…”
“He’s not into young boys, is he?” Nina asked.
Chastity, distressed at the thought, answered, “NO! Oh, God! I hope not!”
Nina chuckled. “Don’t you think it’s about time you flashed him a little skin? Invite him over for dinner, au naturel. Maybe you’ll get a rise out of him.
Chastity slammed the wardrobe shut. She tossed the basket into the bathroom. She turned to Nina with tears in her eyes.
“What’s wrong, girl?”
Chastity sobbed, “I… can’t.”
Nina stood and took Chastity into her arms.
“Of course you can. All it takes is a little courage on your part. In the meantime…”
Nina stepped away, picked up the hot pink bikini from the bed and handed it to Chastity.
“Here. Don’t you think it’s about time you loosened up just a little bit?’
Chastity was petrified. “I couldn’t…”
“Why ever not?”
“It’s just not done. I mean…”
Nina’s belly laugh echoed off the walls.
“You have to, sooner or later. You’ve seen everything Matt has to offer. Why not show him what you have?”
Chastity blushed and turned away.
“Look, kid. Put this on and meet me at my place in five minutes. Okay? Five minutes. No longer or I’ll be back here and drag you out of your shell.
Chastity nodded, then whispered, “Okay.”
~~~
Chapter 29
Chastity did her best to hide her exposed skin, but as she was dressed in her bikini and a transparent flower print skirt that dragged the ground, she wasn’t very successful.
Nina strolled with her wearing nothing but a large straw hat and sun glasses.
They wander toward a mixed volleyball game at the beach.
“Ever play volleyball?,” Nina asked?
“No. We didn’t have time at the…”
“Then I guess it’s about time you learned.”
“But…” Chastity stuttered.
“Got room for two more?” Nina called to the players.
“Sure. Join us,” one of the players answered.
Chastity stopped in her tracks. “I can’t. I’ve never…” she whispered.
“Sure you can. Just drop your skirt here with my hat.”
Nina returned her attention to the players.
“What’s the score?”
Another player answered, “Who knows? We’re having too much fun to keep score.”
Reluctantly, Chastity removed her skirt, folded it neatly and placed it on top of Nina’s hat.
“Go over there on that side.” Nina directed Chastity.
To the others she yelled, “She’s a virgin, so go easy on her.”
Chastity, deeply embarrassed, shrieked, “NINA!”
~~~
Rhonda watched the weekly flight touch down on the tarmac and waited for the pilot to taxi back to the terminal.
As the passengers milled around waiting for their baggage, Rhonda climbed into the plane to hand the pilot a sealed envelope addressed to Ken Walters, B.E.R. HR Department.
When she emerged she found newly arrived guests waiting patiently in the tram to be run back to the resort and the departing guests exiting the terminal.
“Hurry back,” she called to those leaving.
~~~
Chapter 30
It was early evening when Nina walked into the cantina on the arm of Kris Knott, a middle aged man with dark graying hair. He appeared fit except for a slight beer belly. They meandered toward Chastity and Matt. Both who were wearing shorts and t-shirts against the prospect of night attacks by mousquitos.
“May we join you?” Nina inquired.
Matt stood and grabbed a fourth chair from a neighboring table.
“Sure. Sit. What are you having?” he asked.
“A couple beers will do,” she answered.
When Matt returned with the drafts, Nina said, “I want you to meet Kris. He just arrived today. Kris, this is Chastity and Matt.”
Everyone shook hands.
“Nice to meet you both.”
“I see you got him before anyone else could.”
Chastity’s stage whisper to Nina didn’t go unnoticed.
Nina and Kris laughed.
Kris and I have known each other for years. We met just after his divorce.”
“So, Kris. What do you do?”
Kris chuckled, then answered, “Actually, Matt, I’m an ordained minister.”
Chastity was startled by his response. “WHAT!”
Kris’ laugh bellowed throughout the cantina.
“Yep. I have a small congregation in Maine. Only about 200 families.”
“Do they know you come here?” Chastity asked in disbelief.
Kris asked, “Should they?”
“I mean… You know…”
Kris looked directly into Chastity’s eyes, “You mean, how do I reconcile being a naturist with being a man of God.”
Chastity blushed as she nodded her head.
“I don’t know about you, but I find absolutely no correlation between nudity and a lack of morals.”
He paused, his eyes still boring into hers.
“I think you will find that there are very few dyed-in-the-wool radical hedonists among the guests here.”
Oh, Kris. No need to pontificate. Ease up on her.”
Kris chuckled as he put his hand over Nina’s. “Was I? I didn’t mean to.”
He returned to Chastity. “I hope I haven’t offended you. But if you came here for sex, drugs, and rock and roll… well, you might find the rock and roll, but little or none of the first two.”
Chastity looked quickly at Matt who just smiled at her.
~~~
Chapter 31
Later in the evening a roar of laughter erupted from the three people sitting on Chastity’s porch.
Matt stepped out of Chastity’s bungalow with four beers gripped by his fingers. He holds them out and three disappear into other people’s hands.
Matt sits down in the rocker nearest to Chastity.
“So, what’d I miss?”
Kris answered with a smile, “I was just telling Chastity about the first time my ex-wife and I came to Bare Essentials. It was just after we were married.”
“I would’ve killed you,” Nina interjected.
Kris nodded his head, “She nearly did.”
“Okay, so spit it out,” Matt demanded.
“Alright. I’ll give you the edited version.”
“No,” Chastity pleaded. “Start from the beginning.”
“Alright. But don’t blame me if your sides split.”
Knott looked at Matt. “Remember, we were on our honeymoon and Jackie was a prude. May still be, for all I know.”
He took a swig of his beer.
“I didn’t tell her about this place so you can imagine how big her eyes were that first day.”
Kris paused.
“And?”
“And she couldn’t look anyone in the eye. In fact, I think she started to identify people by their toenails. But I had a plan to fix that.”
Nina groaned, “You’re gonna love this, Matt.”
Kris continued, “So Jackie and I snuck off to a waterfall on the far side of the island. We weren’t supposed to be there, see. But I convinced her it was the most beautiful spot on the island.”
Kris surveyed his audience.
“It’s truly magical. The moment she saw it, Jackie peeled off her clothes and dove in naked. And I wasn’t far behind.”
Chastity pleaded, “You’ll have to take me, Matt.”
“We’ll see.”
Then to Kris, “So what happened?”
Kris laughed.
“One of my golf buddies followed us and took everything except our shoes.”
“And how much did you pay him?” Nina asked.
“One hundred to follow us and another hundred if he could do it without Jackie seeing him.”
Matt laughed. “This is your ex. Right?”
“Yeah, but that’s not why we got divorced.”
He wet his whistle again.
“So, here we are stark naked miles away from the resort in an area we don’t belong… So what does Jackie do?… Take a guess.”
“Knocked you over the head with a rock and told God you died?” Matt asked.
Kris shook his head. “Nope. She smeared mud all over her body. Everywhere she could reach and, by the time we got back to the resort, a few places she wished she couldn’t reach.”
“Here’s the good part,” Nina added.
“Yeah. The afternoon rain had washed most of the mud off and she was so embarrassed she didn’t come out of the bungalow the entire two weeks we were here.”
Matt chuckles. “And that isn’t the reason you got divorced?”
“Nope. She divorced me because she thought I wasn’t adventurous enough.”
Everyone roared with laughter.
~~~
Chapter 32
Rhonda eased between two buildings across the street from Chastity’s bungalow. Furious was the only way to describe her emotions as she watched Kris stand.
“Well, it’s been fun and I can see the little lady needs her rest.
Chastity was sound asleep in her rocker.
“Nina, want me to walk you home?”
“Not tonight, Kris. Tennis? Tomorrow morning?”
“Sure. Why not. Say, tenish?”
Nina winked her agreement.
Rhonda watched in disbelief as Matt picked Chastity up and carried her into the bungalow.
~~~
Chapter 33
As Matt carried Chastity into the bedroom, Nina scooted around him to pull the covers down.
“Thanks. Think we should undress her?”
“Not unless you want to be a eunuch tomorrow.”
Matt chucked a wry laugh.
“Not really.”
He gently lay Chastity into the bed. Before he straightened up he brushed her bangs aside.
Matt whispered, “Sleep tight.”
Nina snorted.
Matt covered Chastity and closed the netting.
Nina motioned for him to follow her into the front room.
Nina turned as Matt eased the door to the bedroom shut.
“Sleep tight? Pun intended?”
Matt shook his head in surprise.
“No. Why?”
“She’s not used to alcohol and I was just wondering if you considered joining her.”
“Almost.”
“What stopped you?”
“Ethics, I suppose. Can’t see imposing myself where I’m might not be wanted.”
“Oh, you’re wanted, Matt. Believe me. You’re wanted.
Matt looked hard at Nina.
“May be. But I didn’t have an invitation tonight.”
Nina took his arm and pulled him toward the front door.
“Come on, big boy. Time to get you to bed.”
Matt smiled. “I’m glad she has you as a friend.”
“Me too.”
~~~
Chapter 34
It was a few minutes before four in the morning when Chastity started awake. She was dehydrated and her head throbbed.
She carefully eased out of bed and dumped her clothing at her feet. She debated between the idea of a quick shower or grabbing a couple pieces of fruit to quench her thirst.
She chose the latter, but never made it to the fruit basket.
Instead Chastity walked from the bedroom and turned off the light behind the couch. She crept to the front door and turned off the motion sensitive porch light.
She quivered nervously as her hand settled on the door handle.
It turned as if it has a mind of its own.
Chastity took deep breath and shivered again before she slowly opened the door a crack. She listened.
No crunch of people walked along the shell covered roadway.
No music from the cantina disrupted the quiet.
Chastity opened the door slightly wider. Then wider still.
One foot easeed past the threshold onto the screened porch.
And, with unexpected suddenness, Chastity stood naked – exposed to the world. She hurriedly squatted down to hide her nakedness from the night.
She whispered to herself, “What the hell do you think you are doing?”
Chastity slowly looked to her right and panned to her left as she searched for anyone who might be out this late at night.
Nothing. She saw no one. She heard no one. She felt absolutely alone with only the night sounds of the jungle to befriend her.
Chastity smiled shyly.
She stood, with more confidence in her solitude, she walked silently to one of the wicker rockers and sat.
Slowly she began to rock.
She reveled in the gentle cool zephyr that caressed her skin, a tremor of delight ran along her backbone.
A tiny smile creased her face.
Quietly, she asked herself, “I wonder what Matt would think?”
Instantly, Chastity felt vulnerable.
She immediately stood and ran back into the house and slammed the door.
She hurried to the bedroom and savagely pulled on the dress she wore at the commune.
She threw herself on the bed and beat it with her right hand.
Chastity, in a fit of rhythmic self-ridicule, cried into her pillow, “Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!” and began to sob.
~~~
Chapter 35
The weather was beginning to change. The heat and humidity were on the rise and Rhonda sat impatiently in her tram as the weekly plane load of new guests deplaned. She directed them to the tram as their minimal luggage is loaded onto the trailer behind her tram.
She approached the pilot as he stepped down from the plane. He was holding a clipboard with the passenger manifest in his hand.
“Here’s the the paperwork and I’ve got a letter for you from Corporate.”
“Great. Thanks. I’ve been waiting for that.”
She directed his attention toward the new arrivals, she sighs.
“Anyone interesting?”
“Nah, just the usual. Honeymooners and seasonal returnees.”
“Give me two hours. I’ll get these people settled in and bring back those leaving.”
“Sounds good. Give us a chance to clean out the plane and delouse the plane.”
“Right, then.”
Rhonda walked to the tram and headed back to the resort.
~~~
Chapter 36
It had been a busy day, what with all the new arrivals being parceled out to awaiting bungalows and the tours of the facilities for the newbies.
Rhonda flopped into her desk chair and sighed. She pulled out her rapier shaped letter opener andslipped it behind the envelope flap and ripped the envelope open.
She could taste a sweetness in the air as her anticipation of victory over the impudent bastard Matt Kirkpatrick as she extracted the letter on B.E.R. letterhead. She snapped the paper in the air to unfold it.
To: Rhonda Lightner, Resort Administrator
Re: Matthew Kirkpatrick
Mr. Kirkpatrick is not a Bare Essential Resorts employee.
He is an independent contractor employed by the executor of the estate of the former owner.
His actions unrelated to B.E.R. maintenance are not your concern.
Signed,
Kenneth Walters, HR Director
Rhonda screamed as she tore the letter in half.
Jim poked his head around the doorjamb.
“Are you alright?”
Rhonda yelled, “Get out!”
And Jim retreated. He knew better than to get between Rhonda and the object of her anger.
~~~
Chapter 37
Later that afternoon Chastity found herself walking down the firing line at the gun range. She was searching for Matt. She found him cleaning a weapon.
“Where is everybody?”
Matt turned. He laid down pieces of the pistol he was stripping.
“Gone.”
Chastity was disappointed and oddly delighted.
“Oh. Does that mean…?”
“No. Do you want to shoot?”
“If you will teach me how.”
Matt quickly reassembled the gun he had been working on.
“Alright. Rule number one. A gun is always loaded. Never assume a gun is empty.”
“Rule number two. Always keep the muzzle pointed down range. Like this.”
Matt illustrated.
“And rule number three: Never point a gun at anyone unless you intend to kill them. Any questions?
“No.”
Matt held the butt of the gun toward Chastity.
