Talking to the Enemy
You resist the urge to back away. But you also feel a buzz of excitement under your skin.
This is a collaborative choose your own adventure story. Click here for the chapter guide. Go back to chapter 1 by Linden Schneider here. Return to the previous chapter here.
Sandra is too close to you on the bed for comfort.
You resist the urge to back away. But you also feel a buzz of excitement under your skin.
“So, tell me what brought you here,” she says. “Is there anything you need to talk about?”
Clearing your throat, you utter, “Nothing, really. I just wanted to see you and chat.”
A flicker of amusement lights up her eyes. Her slim smile widens. “Well, what a lovely social call.”
She casually brushes her glorious hair, still drenched from the shower. And she leans even closer to you until your knees are touching.
Your heart races. In fear or arousal, you don’t know. Once again, you remind yourself about the unknown texter’s warning.
Sandra could be a killer. So why are you alone with her in her hotel suite? You must have been nuts to come up here!
But you breathe deeply, trying to calm yourself. You give her your most charming smile. “Yeah, I’m sorry if I’m bothering you. You must be busy.”
Sandra gazes at you with an expression you can’t name. “Sure, I’m busy.” A laugh. “But I’m always open to making friends.”
Right. Making friends. You swallow your dread. With the friendliest tone you can muster, you say, “Tell me more about Vacation Roulette. We didn’t get much information on the ad, aside from that it’s a tropical holiday in a beautiful setting.”
Sandra rubs circles on her bare knee, while touching your leg at the same time. After a moment, she answers, “We kept the ad vague so you can have a pleasant surprise. You’ve probably seen traditional vacations where they give you a long, packed itinerary, right? Yet, so many travelers find that restrictive and even boring. But not everyone has the courage to travel alone, which I can understand.
“So I decided to create something with the best of both worlds. You get the mystery and spontaneity, but you also have us as your tour guides, so you don’t have to figure out everything by yourselves.”
Everything she says seems to make sense. Yet…“How does the itinerary, or rather, the lack thereof work?” You lean a little away from her, and thankfully she doesn’t try to close the gap again, at least for now.
The gorgeous woman rests her chin on her palm, and she looks out the window in a dreamy expression. “We invite you to trips that we organize. But if you’re not interested, you can always stay at the hotel until we come back.” She winks. “We’re all about consent here.”
You gulp, feeling an increased awareness when she used the word “consent”…
But before you can respond, you hear a loud knock on her door.
