"I think I'll go and visit that store," Linira said after turning her back on the yelling, frenetic horde. "It just came to me that my swimsuit is kind of old, so maybe I'll treat myself to a new one. Would you like to come along, Casi?"
"Sure," Casi agreed with a shrug. "I'm enjoying your company, Linira, and it isn't as if there are dozens of things to do in this place. I'm definitely going to have a few words to say to my friend once I'm home again, mostly centering on her definition of the word 'great.'"
Linira agreed with a sad smile, and then the two of them headed for the store. There were a lot of things to look at, so Casi joined Linira in browsing. After looking at just about everything, Linira found a swimsuit she liked, along with a shirt that read, 'Casual observer of life'. Casi bought a couple of souvenirs to take home and remember her trip. Though she hadn't been the least bit impressed with the resort, yet.
Casi left Linira when they reached their rooms, and she spent some time sitting and reading before getting ready for dinner. She had no interest in dressing up for the meal, and Linira, when they'd discussed the point, had agreed. Linira was ready to go to the dining room when Casi called for her, so they strolled over to the main building and entered the dining room, then chose a table.
The food was very tasty and the meal was pleasant—until the annoying group of girls showed up. She knew coming here would mean young rowdy girls who were wealthy with too much time and money on their hands. It was no secret that the resort catered to this type of clientele, but she'd expected them to be sectioned off, much like the men apparently were.
It seemed management needed a lesson in separating the wild girls from the ones who wanted a calming vacation. Had they not realized that the two types of retreats would clash?
Sighing, Casi decided she wasn't in the mood to tell staff how to run their business. It wasn't their fault these girls had no manners.
This time there was no music player, but the members of the pack had taken to shouting at each other rather than talking. The shouting had no anger to it, very much the opposite in fact, so Casi ignored it in favor of paying attention to her food. The brats were trying to get back at Casi for what she'd done at lunchtime, but refusing to rise to the bait was more annoying to the girls than commenting would have been. The shouting kept up for a while, but eventually the girls got tired of doing something that was being ignored.
"I wonder what they'll try next," Linira commented in the relative silence. "They obviously expected you to get on them again, and I don't think they're very happy that you didn't."
"They were trying for an excuse to jump me, an excuse that would let them claim they were just defending themselves," Casi answered without looking in the direction of the horde. She knew their game. She wasn't an idiot. They were bored, wealthy girls who were looking for trouble. Their parents had probably sent them to the resort to get rid of them. She suspected they were trouble back at home as well. "Since that isn't going to happen, I think we ought to take our coffee back to the rooms if we want to drink it in peace and quiet." She could really use the quiet after dealing with those brats. Had they no respect for anyone? It was one reason she didn't want children. What if they ended up like that? Yuck!
"Or have any kind of conversation," Linira added in a louder voice as the girls began to shout again. Some of them also began to sing, their deliberately shrill and strident voices telling Casi that she preferred the shouting. But they were just about all finished eating, so they signaled to the waitress that they wanted their cups refilled. Once that was done they left the dining room and carried the heavy ceramic mugs back to Linira's room. The hallway was much too silent after the echoing of the girls' voices in the dining hall. It was a welcome change.
"Blessed silence," Linira said when Casi had closed the door behind them. "Back in the dining room I wanted to suggest that we look around for something to do other than just sit around, but I've changed my mind. Even if the resort has a dozen nighttime activities planned, I doubt if those girls will let anyone enjoy it."
"Anyone else, you mean," Casi agreed sourly as she joined Linira at the room's eating table. "Those girls seem to be having a ball, but the other guests have to suffer their wildness. It'd be great if the staff handed out Tasers." She knew it was a bad joke, but she was partly serious. If she could shut those girls up, at least the rest of the vacation would be enjoyable. "And I meant to ask this earlier: if you're here for a meeting, when are the other people attending the meeting supposed to get here?"
"I assumed they would get here today the way I did, but I didn't see anyone I recognize," Linira answered as they both sat down. "At first I was surprised, but it came to me that there's a good chance they had trouble making the right traveling connections, or maybe they're in a different section of the resort? If no one has shown up by tomorrow, I'll get in touch with my mother and ask her to have her people do some checking."
That made sense, so Casi asked Linira what kind of thing her company did. Linira talked about the diversity of holdings her mother's company ran, and then Casi was asked the same question. Casi replied that she was a security specialist for the company that had hired her, and for that reason couldn't go into details. But by now most of the coffee in their cups was gone, which made the knock on the door a welcome sound. Linira had called room service and asked for a fresh pot to be brought, and now it looked like the delivery had arrived.
"At least the service here is better than good," Linira said over her shoulder as she walked toward the door. "As soon as that meeting is over, though, I'm heading home. This place is just too boring…"
Linira had been about to open the door, but when it opened without her help her words broke off as she jumped back with a gasp. Casi got to her feet as Linira stumbled all the way back to the table, one hand over her mouth. Casi expected to see some if not all of the rude girls pushing inside, but what came inside had nothing at all to do with the brats.
Two large men now blocked the doorway, men with very long hair wearing nothing but what looked like G-strings and belts, holding sheaths for large knives. Both men were grinning as they looked at Linira and Casi, and then the one with lighter brown hair spoke.
"Good evening, lovely chickens," he said, the words sounding accented in some way. "My brother and I mean to take you to a place where you will find protection against those who would offer you harm. Come with us now without a fuss, and all will be delightfully well between us."
Chapter 2
Linira was so shocked she just stood still next to the table, but apparently Casi didn't feel the same. Linira heard Casi make a sound of ridicule, and then the other woman spoke.
"Chickens my ass," Casi stated, taking one definite step toward the two men. She didn't seem the least bit scared of them.
"Turn around and go back wherever you came from, or a fuss is the least you'll have to worry about. In case you were wondering, that means we two can protect ourselves," Casi said. She folded her arms across her chest, her eyes squinting tight and sharp.
"It appears we must prove that that contention is not so," the same man said, both of them still grinning. "We will take care to do you no true harm, little chicken, yet shall we take you with us."
And then the first man headed for Casi as the second began to move in Linira's direction. There had been times in her life when Linira had hesitated before acting, unsure whether or not she was doing right, but just like the last time this kind of thing had happened there was no hesitation inside her at all. Almost without thinking she picked up her nearly-empty mug and threw it, hitting the man coming toward her right in the temple. He dropped like a stone, of course, letting Linira look around to see Casi use two kicks on the other man, both of which sent him down to the floor to lie unconscious like his friend.
"Not bad for a couple of chickens," Casi said with a small laugh as she turned toward Linira. "I'm tempted to claim that that throw of yours was an accident, but something tells me it wasn't."
Linira felt so terrible that she groped her way to the chair she'd been using and dropped into it. She'd done it again, just as she had the last time, and that brought back everything Ricord had said.