Howie stood in his hotel room he'd be staying in for the summer. A free room in the staff section of the resort wasn't so bad, except for the fact that he had no idea who his roommate was. At least the other guy's side of the room seemed neat and tidy. If he had to stay with a stranger for an entire summer, at least the guy wasn't a slob.
He glanced at his schedule, which said he should report to the grand ballroom along with the other new trainees. If only he knew where that was. Pulling out his phone, he sent Ben a text to ask, grabbing his room key and heading out.
.
"Howie, over here!" Stephanie Addison called over to him, waving her arm high above her head. A bright smile played on her lips. She was wearing her "Adventure Girl" mascot outfit, and Ben had been correct about the spandex for sure. Her costume left hardly anything to the imagination, but she wore it well.
He headed over to her. "Look at you, Adventure Girl! Can I get your autograph?" Howie winked a green eye at her as she rolled her eyes and swatted at his shoulder. "Okay, okay, I'll stop." His mouth quirked up into a smirk. "For now."
His attention was instantly stolen by Austin passing by, pushing his rust-colored bangs out of his brown eyes. Austin turned his head to him and smiled, winking at him, sending the brightest red of hues into Howie's face. Howie watched him walk until Ben put him in a headlock, bringing him back to the present.
"Are you excited for today?" Ben asked him, grinning from ear to ear. His shirt was a different color from Howie's, a bright red in contrast to the sky blue of his friend's. "Smile, Howie, you're at Adventure Realm! This is the resort of dreams and opportunity!"
"You sound like you're being forced to say that," Howie stated, pushing Ben's arm off of him. "Did they script you or something?"
"Oh, shut the fuck up, Howie. I was trying to be a good friend and check in on you guys before your training. See how good of a friend I am? Honestly, Howie, you should be more grateful to me."
"That all depends on if I come to realize by the end of the day that it's worth spending three months here that I'll never get back," the other replied with a cocky grin. "We'll just have to see, won't we, Ben?"
.
The training and orientation went on for three hours, leaving Howie and Steph to sit down at a table in the resort cafe to wait for their friends to finish their parts of the orientation. Two hours from then, they would have to report to their stations.
Howie attempted to discreetly wipe the layer of sweat from his brow. "It's hot out, isn't it?" he sighed. "And I can't even imagine how you feel in that spandex all day."
Steph played with the straw in her iced coffee. "You know, with the amount they pay me, I'd wear a winter coat if they asked." She took a casual sip and looked up at Howie. "How's your smoothie? You hardly touched it. That bad?"
He blinked back to reality. "What? No. It's good. Try it." Howie pushed the smoothie toward her and smiled as she instantly latched on to the straw, taking a long sip. His lips spread into a smile as he saw the look of delight on her face. "Told you."
Ben walked up behind Steph and began to rub her shoulders. "How was orientation? Did you die in the suit yet?"
She rolled her eyes before closing them. "It'll take a lot more than a hot day and spandex to kill me, you know. Now be a good boy and keep rubbing my shoulders, Benny."
Howie made a whipping motion at Ben, who flipped him off. Though he knew damn well that his friends were definitely not in that type of relationship, he couldn't help but give them shit for it. Ben and Steph behaved like an old married couple at times, and Howie had never been afraid to point that out, despite facing their wrath every time.
A shock of rusty hair suddenly caught Howie's attention as Austin entered the cafe with their friends, Josh and Molly. Austin smoothly slipped into the seat next to Howie, placing a discreet hand on his mid-thigh beneath the table. Howie did everything he could to fight back the blush rising into his face. His heart pounded as the other man gave him a teasing grin. Oh, how badly Howie wanted him right then and there, but he knew he had to restrain himself. After all, none of his friends even knew he was gay, let alone had an intimate relationship with Ben's cousin's friend.
A waitress walked over to take the drink orders of those who had just arrived, the group laughing merrily and joking about things that had happened during their orientation. They almost didn't notice the short waiter who brought over their drinks. He was even shorter than the girls with dusty curls that seemed to stick up in many directions. His soft brown eyes had a sort of friendliness to them, even if the look of annoyance on his face said otherwise.
"Who ordered what?" he ground out, raising his voice over them. "Seriously, I've been standing here for awhile now. Either claim your drinks, or I'll take them back."
Howie nearly jumped out of his skin, the powerful voice coming from behind his shoulder on the side opposite of Austin. "Uh, here, let's put them on the table," he said, carefully taking the tray from the boy. "Sorry about that, kid."
The boy rolled his eyes. "All I'm saying is that y'all better be more attentive when you're actually working, or you won't last here." He then turned on his heel and headed back to the register.
"Who the hell does that kid think he is? Also, is he even legally working here? He looks like he's in middle school," Steph grumbled, aggressively sipping her iced coffee.
"He's not exactly a kid," Ben stated. "He's only a year younger than us. My uncle has been hiring him every summer since he got his work permit at fourteen. I can't remember his name, though, but he's a supervisor like me. Guess he's just in here to cover for someone's shift until he has to do some training. God, I hope none of you get stuck with him."
"Someone that small and adorable is a supervisor?" Molly squeaked out, looking to Steph in confusion.
"Don't worry, he's harmless. Just make sure you don't call him short or do anything to piss him off. It's easy." Ben smiled at them. "Who knows? Maybe I just made all that up to make you uneasy. That part is for you to figure out. Later!"
The mood changed once Ben left the table to prepare to train the new hires, and Howie made sure to make a mental note to kill him the next time he saw him.