As Mike put down his plate, he noticed a wide eyed Jessica looking at a note about the size of an envelope, she looked up to notice mike, before giving him a small smile while folding the note in half and putting in down on the table.

 

Mike waited patiently for uncle Ross and Jessica to include him into the conversation - not wanting to interrupt whatever they were doing. However only awkward silence followed for a few seconds, thus Mike just started eating.

 

"So... Jessica tells me you're quite the big shot at your company, how's that working out for you?" Ross broke the silence after what seemed to be eternity, while Mike was busy with a bite.

 

Mike swallowed the food before answering "Eh... I wouldn't really say a big shot, but lately I feel like I've been noticed by the higher ups, even got a decent salary bump a few months ago!" the pride was oozing from his voice as he put on a smile.

 

"Is that so... What is it exactly you do at work?" Ross continued, using one hand to grab the wine and fill up the glasses around the table. First Jessica's and then as he was filling up Mike's glass he toppled over the glass, causing the wine to splash all over the table.

 

"Woah..." Mike reacted quickly, slid his chair away from the table and stood up. Then quickly grabbed his napkin and started dabbing the liquid on the table.

 

"Aah... Whoops, my bad" Ross played the part of a perfect gentleman, also standing up and grabbing a napkin to also start dabbing the liquid, before making a hand motion to call for Erika to grab some new napkins for them.

 

---

 

"Tsk..." While all of this was happening, Jessica's eyes were glued to the bottle, whose contents were slowly getting drained. "(Of course he would use a lousy trick like spilling the wine on purpose, just to pressure me for time)".

 

After a brief hesitation she also stood up and helped remove the liquid. After making sure no more red liquid was present, she looked up only to make a quick eye contact with Ross, who proceeded to give her a sinister smile.

 

"(That... Bastard... How did it end up like this..."), she could only glare back however, not wanting to give away any details of her previous lewd activities with Ross. It wouldn't do her any good to have to explain this to Mike, not yet at least, not in this situation.

 

Her being taken advantage of earlier at the pool could be excused, she believed Mike would understand and maybe even encourage her slightly in teasing Ross. She could feel her stomach flutter slightly at the thought of Ross' lecherous touch, the previous heavy knot was somehow getting lighter to bear.

 

She uncounsously grabbed her wineglas and downed half of it in one big gulp. While deep in thought, she slumped back into the chair, not noticing the raised eyebrows of both Ross and Mike who looked between each other and her as they again also sat down.

 

"(It all started when I lost the rock lifting bet, I still have to call him uncle, I haven't lived up to that promise yet. I can't really do that in front of mike either)".

 

"(I can't believe he would write it up as a contract, that seems too excessive. He's trying to drive me into a corner with this. He'll... Regret this... He'll regret trying to trick me... I've... got nothing to lose at this point, if I want to keep Mike... I have to keep him in the dark, at least for now)".

 

Jessica made a fist under the table and resolved herself to win the bet. With fire in her eyes and a newfound resolve she looked up, only just now seeing both Ross and Mike looking at her.

 

Ross grabbed the wine bottle again, however this time carefully poured Mike another glass, the bottle content was now below one third. Noticing this, Jessica proceeded to unfold the contract on the table, and started to read through the contract again.

 

"What that?" Mike asked and continued eating.

"Ah it's a contract for miss Jessica" Ross answered like it was the most natural thing in the world. "You see.. while you were gone, Jessica and I explored some part of the resort together... And it has come to my attention that she has a certain skill set that I would like to employ."

 

"Employment? But we're here on vacation uncle Ross!" Mike couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Yes Mike, nothing too demanding, it'll only be half an hour a day or so".

"But..." Mike looked toward Jessica, who still seemed very interested in reading the contract. "I... see, what'll she be doing then?".

"She'll help me develop our business strategy, I'm looking to expand the resort, and I'm sure with her assets, she can make a big difference... to me personally". Ross answered while giving a chilling business smile. He then proceeded to lean forward, and motioned for mike to lean closer before continuing in almost a whisper.

 

"And if she's doing a better job than expected, I'll even pay all the expenses related to your vacation."

"(Hmm, I wonder what skill set he's talking about, I guess even after six months, I don't know everything)" Mike looked towards Jessica with more than a slight appreciation for having a girlfriend not only with a perfect body, but supposedly with an even brighter mind than he would've guessed.

 

Between mulling over the contract and listening to Ross fill Mike with one lie after the other, Jessica couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed a pen and hastily scribbled her signature on the dotted signature line, folded the letter and was about to hand the letter back when suddenly the letter was snatched from her fingers.

 

Looking up, Jessica could see an already walking away Erika.

 

"Damn... She's effective huh?" Was all Mike could say, as his eyes followed Erikas backside in the signature black skirt, before panicking slightly and looking towards Jessica, who was luckily also just looking toward Erika walking away, seemingly in deep thought.

 

--

 

As Erika crossed a corner, she held out and unfolded the paper in front of her, quickly skimming it through.

 

"Seems like we're having a new employee sooner than expected".