Dessert

The story so far:  A group of travelers with seemingly no connection to each other arrive en masse at the beautiful Emerald Isle resort for an all-expense-paid vacation, compliments of an unknown benefactor. Curiosity and giddiness are the overriding feelings initially, but then, at the first dinner party, unease begins to settle in among the vacationers as they realize there is far more at stake here than a fun holiday on someone else’s dime.

        Eve Carlson decided she’d had more than enough of the squirming and angst that had befallen the first dinner together in this most glorious of vacation getaway spots. Uncertainty was not going to be the main course here if she had anything to say about it. She was plucky and irrepressible, and she was going to bring everyone in on the fun.

        Peach sorbet arrived in wide-mouth crystal stemware, replete with a dessert spoon standing upright in it, like a shovel in a mound of peach-colored snow.

        Eve removed her spoon at once and tapped it repeatedly against the bowl of her dessert goblet, filling the room with tinkling, ethereal tones.

        “There’s too much tension here,” she announced with a bright smile that brought forth deep, tantalizing dimples to each side of her face. “We can choose to be nervous and ill-at-ease and wary and uncomfortable…OR – and this is what I’m planning to do – we can live it up and make the most of our first meal together here.”

        All eyes were gaping in her direction.

        “So, okay, I know I’m dressed like a sexy librarian type here, but the truth is that I am actually a Vegas showgirl!” She smiled her gorgeous smile again and let that morsel sink in.

        “Max,” she went on, “I knew I recognized you from somewhere when you first entered the room, and now I know where: Five years ago, when I had just arrived at the bus station in Vegas and needed get to the casino for my audition, you offered me a ride in the biggest stretch limo I’d ever seen.”

        The entire slate of dinner guests now turned in their seats to take in Max who had begun smiling awkwardly and pulling at the collar of his shirt.

        “You looked so different then!” said Eve. “Huge sunglasses, a fur coat, full golden beard and mustache, long golden hair! You were QUITE the sight!”

        Nervous laughter peppered the room as Max kept his eyes down and fidgeted with his cuff links.

        “But I have a gift for faces and never forget any I’ve ever seen, even when one looks very different from the last time I saw it. In fact, Max, my specialty is recognizing people even after they’ve undergone plastic surgery.”

        Tension and angst now began to trickle back into the dining room.

        “But I’m getting off track here. I’m going to dedicate this song to you, Max. Hope you like it!”

        She unleashed her thick, waist-length hair from its bun, whipped it around in circles twice, then, with practiced ease, stepped out of her stodgy dress to reveal a perfect showgirl figure, enhanced by a lacy black corset, matching panties and thigh-high stockings.

        She proceeded to climb onto her chair, then onto the table, stabbed at the face of her phone and tossed off her glasses as the opening chords to “Hey Big Spender” filled up every corner of the room.

        All the discomfort that had halted everyone’s pleasure mere moments before now drained from the faces of Eve’s fellow vacationers.

        Shirley Bassey’s bawdy vocals lit up the room, and Eve Carlson’s high kicks and sultry hip and pelvic thrusts mesmerized every pair of eyes in the place.

        When she finished, the applause and wolf whistles were tumultuous. She smiled and blew kisses and took a huge, cleavage-baring bow as Max ambled over and extended a hand to help her step off the table, onto her chair and then back onto terra firma.

        “Wonderful diversion,” he said with a warm smile that belied his ice-cold eyes.

        He handed her the now-balled-up librarian dress and pointed her toward the exit sign.

        “Everyone, please finish up and retire to your rooms,” said Max. “Tomorrow is going to be a most interesting and eventful day.”

        And he was certainly right about that. It began with the announcement by Celeste that Eve Carlson was missing.

Characters -
Cassidy and Jake - pre-wedding honeymoon
Mark and Olivia Stanton - 25th Anniversary
Noah Reed - single
Eve Carlson - unhappy with a secret
Peter Langston - the oldest in the group
Lori and Lary Benson
Celeste - Concierge
Chef Moreau
Max – Handsome Master of Ceremonies

**************************************************************************************************************

Do you have the chops to add your talents into this multi-author mystery? Contact Carol (Begin Again) for a chapter number and join in the fun and intrigue.