Lucas pulled a t-shirt from his suitcase and threw it across the room to Melvin who was clad only in his cargo shorts.

“Didn’t you get the memo about vacation wear?” he asked as Melvin tugged the shit over his head

“I thought you meant button down vacation wear.” Melvin replied, “how was I supposed to know you meant beach vacation wear.”

Lucas shook his head and walked over to the kitchen where he had been making himself a sandwich.

“So that girl I saw you with last night,” Melvin said,

“Yeah what about her?” Lucas asked

“What’s the deal man?” Melvin asked, “I know you’ve been hiding something from me.”

“There’s no deal. We’re old acquaintances.” He replied

“Hey, I have old acquaintances too” Melvin replied, “but I don’t look at them the way you look at her.”

“It’s more complicated than anonymous sex” he replied in criticism of Melvin’s preferred method of dating. He would never give the impression to anyone that Scarlet was a booty call.

“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it” Melvin joked, “now come on, what’s going on between you and this girl. I saw when you kissed her you sly dog.”

Lucas was hoping that the impromptu kiss would have gone unseen, but he could always count on his friend to bring up the things he so desperately wanted to forget.

“It was nothing,” he replied, “just an impulsive action.”

“You two have some dark history huh” Melvin replied, “hey I have situations like that too. Things get crazy and a guy got to pull out you know.”

Lucas laughed, he didn’t know, and he was very sure that he did not want to know.

“So, what was she, like the one who took your virginity?” Melvin asked, “she looks the type, she’s foxy. I bet you can’t control a woman like that in bed.”

Lucas felt the vein in his neck twitch. This was something Melvin did, he told himself, the man was a pig.

“She’s not an object Melvin.” He replied, “she’s a beautiful woman who I had the misfortune of abandoning when we were children.”

“Yikes, that must have pissed her off.” His friend said, “so you haven’t seen her all these years?”

“No, I had no idea she had moved to the city. I didn’t think she would ever leave our hometown.” He said thinking about the way she had loved the little town where they both grew up. He knew she had envisioned settling down and raising a family there.

“She’s beautiful man if you don’t plan to you know, I wouldn’t mind taking my chances with her,” Melvin said,

“She’s far too good for you.” Lucas said giving his friend a warning look, “besides I’m going to try to make it right with her.”

Lucas meant it too. He wanted her business, but he needed to make up for the man he had been when they were younger. She deserved much better than he could ever be but at least he could fix that mistake before he decided to move on in life. She could choose to forgive him, or she could let him bear his shame for the rest of his life. He only needed to know that he had done right by her.

“You think that will win you the company?” Melvin asked bringing up the part of his father’s will that he would rather forget.

For the moment, he owned the company but if he didn’t live up to his father’s request, he would be fired as the CEO. He shook off the voice in the back of his head that wanted him to believe that he couldn’t do it. He had planned to do it and no matter what it took, he would get it done.

“I think that if we do this right and follow procedure there’s no reason we shouldn’t get it.” He replied

“Do you think your father knew she owned the company.”

Lucas was suddenly struck by the question. Did his father know that she owned the company? His request had been so strange and unnerving, but Lucas hadn’t given it much thought. He didn’t consider it before because he had been shocked to see her himself. If his father had known she owned the company, he would never have insisted that he try to buy it. His father would have never approved of him going anywhere near her.

“I don’t think so,” he replied, “maybe he just wanted to give me a challenge. It was a popular company in his circle and he might have just wanted to expand it for himself.”

Melvin shrugged.

“He’s dead now so what can we do?” his friend said nonchalantly, “all I can say is that you need to figure out what’s going on between you and this girl before you lose it complexly.”

“That’s tree.” He replied, “The only way to get this company from her is to get on her good side.”

“You know what a woman’s best side is right?”

Lucas cringed. He would have to invest more on sensitivity classes for his friend and most of the other men who worked for him. They all saw women as objects, he had never seen them in the light. He could only attribute it to the friendship he had built with his best childhood friend. It was for that reason he was trying to hard to rebuild the company he had been given. The policies that currently existed were too archaic and didn’t leave space for modernization.

“I don’t think sex will solve anything,” Lucas replied,

“It may not, but it might help you to loosen up a bit.” Melvin replied, “and who’s to say she doesn’t want it just as much as you?”

Lucas’ mind flashed back to earlier when she had opened her door when the messenger came to his door. He hadn’t been dressed but he didn’t expect anyone to burst open their door. She had looked at him the way he envisioned a predator eyed their prey and it was the most amusing thing. It was so out of character and yet she had been shamelessly lusting after him.

“If it’s what she wants I have no objections.” He said, in fact he would make every effort to satisfy her if she would let him.

“Oh, it’s what she wants,” Melvin said slapping him on the shoulder, “you two are like two charged up bunnies waiting to go at it.”

Lucas scoffed.

“I would love to argue with you Melvin, but we have a cruise on the harbor that we can’t miss.”

“Excellent vacation you planned by the way.” Melvin said drowning the drink he had fixed for himself, “your father would have never thought of something like this.”

Lucas smiled, Melvin didn’t know how much that meant to him. His father had once been a great man and a great boss but as he got older, or maybe as Lucas got wiser, he had become more of a tyrant who many of his employees despised.

“Thanks man,” Lucas replied,

“We should get going if we want to catch the shuttle to the coast,” Melvin said

Lucas needed and pulled out his phone to check the time. They were due to begin their cruise in fifteen minutes which left them five minutes to gather in the lobby. He sent out a message to all those who had signed up for the excursion and made his way to the door. As he opened it, he noticed Scarlet standing at her door. She was wearing a pair of shorts that clung to her hips and revealed miles of long tanned legs. Her hair fanned out over her shoulder creating a beautiful halo which was further illuminated by the sun rays peeking through the window at the end of the hallway. He swallowed hard and cleared his throat.

“Ready?” she asked with a glint of something unfamiliar in her eyes.

“As ready as I will ever be.” He managed to blurt out.”