Well, I have to admit that this chapter isn't much longer than the previous one. Hopefully you won't all send me hate mail! Please enjoy!

33. Lester's Date

Carlos and I were up and on the go very early the following morning. We had a quick swim before breakfast, and as soon as the shops opened, we were off to buy the food needed for the weekend. Carlos got a call from Tom to inform us that only Lester would be bringing a date. Tom's current love interest was working and Bobby was between girls at the moment. Tom gave us a head's up that this girl was a little less than conventional.

I had no idea what that meant, but Carlos said it was guaranteed to be entertaining. I guess Tom's tone of voice meant something to Carlos, so I decided to wait and see. I'm sure this girl couldn't be that bad or Lester would want to have anything to do with her. Then again, I don't really know Lester all that well. Maybe he likes annoying girls.

We carried the food into the apartment and put everything away. I wanted to be well prepared, so anything that could be done ahead of time was done. We chopped salad vegetables, cooked rice and boiled potatoes and pasta for salads. We even made homemade burger patties.

By the time we had all the prep work done, it was almost lunch time. I made us a couple of sandwiches and carried them up to the deck, where Carlos was waiting with a pitcher of ice water that was filled with lemons and oranges. Carlos poured our drinks and then I handed him a plate with a ham and cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread. Carlos took the plate gratefully and took a huge bite of the dill pickle that was beside the sandwich. Carlos closed his eyes and this was the first time I had witnessed Carlos actually enjoying something he ate. I tucked that knowledge away and sat down beside him and ate my own sandwich.

We both cleaned up and were pretty much ready when the buzzer went to indicate that the first of the guests had arrived. I wasn't too surprised that the first to arrive were Molly, Christie, Vince and Jimmy. I hadn't seen much of my girlfriends recently so I'm sure they pushed the guysfor an early arrival.

Tom and Bobby arrived shortly afterward and Lester and his date arrived last. As soon as Lester's date walked into my apartment, I fully understood two things. First, why Carlos thought it would be entertaining and second, what Lester saw in this girl. She was absolutely stunning. She had a body to die for and she was gorgeous as well. The reason the guys thought she'd be entertaining is because she had a voice that could cut glass and a personality that made me want to find the nearest pistol to put myself out of my misery.

She introduced herself as Lexie, which was short for Alexander. I tried to introduce myself to 'Lexie' but she didn't seem interested in anyone except Lester. She went wherever he went and she would only talk or reply to Lester. It was like the rest of us weren't there. We decided to let the two of them get on with what they were doing and focussed on having fun with the rest of our friends. I noticed Carlos frown a few times at Lexie's and Lester's behaviour, but he didn't focus on them too much. Instead, he talked with the rest of us and seemed to be having a really good time.

When Tom suggested a dip in the pool, I was almost excited to see what sort of swimsuit Lexie had brought with her. I was only partly surprised when she peeled off her crop top and very short shorts to reveal her bikini underneath. She was wearing the skimpiest bikini I think I've ever seen. The fabric on the top barely covered her nipples and the bottoms made it clear that she was bare all over. It left nothing to the imagination. It was all on display and based on the expression Lester's face, he liked what he saw.

The rest of us ignored them and went to get changed ourselves. The others used the bedrooms to change while Carlos used the bathroom and I changed in the bedroom. We both chose to wear our less skimpy options. I wore my more modest bikini and Carlos wore his board shorts. We walked back up to the deck hand-in-hand and met back up with the rest of the gang who had also changed. Lester and Lexie were over in the far corner and we pretty much ignored them. They were making out pretty heavily and we didn't really want to witness that.

Bobby and Tom were the first ones in the pool. They splashed around and laughed as if they were having a great time. Carlos and I joined them next, followed by Molly and Jimmy. Christie and Vince decided to sunbathe for a little while before getting in the pool. That was probably a good idea because the pool would be pretty crowded with all 10 of us in there. It wasn't a small pool, but the guys weren't small either.

I got a bit waterlogged after a little while and climbed out to sit beside Christie and Vince. Molly joined us a little while later and left the guys in the pool. They decided to play water polo or something like that and Vince went to join them. Lexie didn't even seem to notice the noise that was going on around her. It was like she blocked everything but Lester and herself out.

That is until the polo ball came awfully close to hitting her and she laid eyes on Carlos. He volunteered to fetch the ball since he was the one who threw it in the first place. Suddenly, Lester was forgotten and Lexie spent the next hour fawning all over Carlos. After about an hour of flirting with him, Carlos got annoyed. He grabbed me and pulled me onto his lap in an attempt to put Lexie off. Instead of discouraging her, she saw this as a challenge.

After the fourth time that Carlos told her that he was not interested and shooed her away, he got annoyed and told Lester to take her home. Lester was just as annoyed that his date was ignoring him so he pulled her aside. He explained that the party was over and that he'd take her home. She had a bit of a hissy fit and ended up running out of the apartment in tears. I think she hoped that Carlos would run after her but she was sadly mistaken.

Johnny called about 15 minutes later to find out what to do with the woman waiting in the lobby. She had told him that she was waiting for her boyfriend, Carlos to drive her home. Johnny knew that this was a lie and called her on her lie. She then insisted that he call up and ask why Carlos was taking so long. I laughed and then told Johnny to call her a cab and to get rid of her. He must have done so because Lester's phone rang 20 minutes later. He looked at the CallerID and groaned. He answered anyway, and after a few moments of audible screaming from her end, Lester said, "I'm sorry you feel that way. Lose my number and never call me again."

Lester looked around the room and started to apologise for Lexie's behaviour. Most of us laughed it off, except Carlos. He glared at Lester and said, "I'm surprised you even dated that psycho. Didn't you recognise her?"

Lester shook his head and Carlos continued. "She was the girl that started that fight at the Pixie Dust Grinders concert we went to last year. She was practically stalking the lead singer and his wife took offence. They started yelling at each other and somehow, a full on brawl erupted."

Lester stared at Carlos like he was mad. "That was her? I had no idea. If I'd have known, I'd never have brought her here. I might have had a little bit of fun with her on my own time, but I'd never have knowingly ruined this weekend`;."

I could see that Lester was really sorry and felt bad that he was feeling so guilty. I looked at Lester and said, "Don't worry about it Les. Everyone makes mistakes and this was one of your more amusing ones. Let's just move on and have a good time and forget that crazy psycho date you brought to my apartment."

Lester turned a little red and nodded. He then ran over to the edge of the pool and did a cannonball into the water, splashing anyone within 10 feet of the pool edge. That included Molly, Jimmy and Tom. Molly squealed and ran towards the loungers but both Jimmy and Tom joined Lester in the pool. The two guys spent the next 15 minutes making Lester regret splashing them.

Carlos lit the BBQ and everyone helped to assemble the food. Somehow, we ended up with more food than we could ever possibly eat. That's saying a lot considering the amount of food that the guys ate. We sat around talking late into the evening. They guys told stories from their childhoods and their college years. Lester's stories were usually about his conquests, but he was never flippant about any of the girls he dated. He was just honest up front about what he wanted and what he didn't' want. Most girls were OK with his one-night-stand approach to life. Some were not, even though they claimed to be fine with things. Lester had his fair share of bunny boiler ex-girlfriends as a result. Lexie was the least of his worries when it came to his history of dating psychos.

Tom and Carlos talked about what they expected when they joined the army. Bobby talked about medical school and Vince talked about working for his father. He explained that it really wasn't what he wanted to do, but he wasn't sure what he wanted to do yet. All he knew for sure was that College wasn't for him. Vince told us that he wasn't going to go back to Rutgers for his third year. He'd probably end up working for his father until he figured out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

Christie seemed to be concerned by Vince's statement, but it wasn't obvious to me why she might be concerned. Christie wasn't the type of girl who would dump a man just because he was an underpaid apprentice mechanic. She wouldn't care what Vince did for a living. She only cared how he treated her and that he loved her. Something else was bothering her but I decided to wait and question her about it some other time.

I returned my focus to the conversation. Lester was telling us about a girl who he once said hello to in the campus bookstore. She ended up stalking him and breaking into his dorm room, lying in wait for him to return. Unfortunately for her, when Lester eventually returned, he was not alone. He brought his date home. When he walked in, a naked girl was lying on his bed. His date slapped Lester and ran out while the girl on the bed looked offended that Lester wasn't alone. In the end, Lester went without that night.

I wondered if there was ever going to be an end to Lester's exploits with the opposite sex. Luckily I didn't have to find out because Bobby changed the subject and asked me how my job was going. Carlos and I spent the next little while explaining my pet project and expressing how excited we were to hear about the project in action next year. Neither of us would be there to see it with our own eyes, but Ricardo promised to keep us informed.

After the sun was well and truly set, I started to gather the plates and dishes. I was grateful when Molly and Christie stood and helped. We cleared things, put the left-over food away and were heading back up when I overheard Lester apologising to Carlos. "I'm really sorry Carlos. I hope Lexie didn't cause any problems between you and Steph. She's really great and you're really great together."

I heard Carlos laugh and say, "You're right, Steph is amazing. Lexie was a pain in the ass but she could never cause problems between Steph and me. I barely even noticed Lexie with Steph around. Nobody compares and nobody ever will compare. She's it for me."

Lester laughed and said, "Aren't you a bit young to say something like that?"

I hung back and hid in the stairway leading up to the deck. I wanted to hear Carlos' reply, but I also felt a little guilty for eavesdropping. After a moment, Carlos said, "I may be young, but Steph is the other half of me. I feel complete around her. She supports my decision to join the army and she is willing to see where things lead, even after I am gone. She's the best thing that ever happened to me and I'm not going to throw that away."

I didn't hear Lester's reply because Molly came up behind me and walked out onto the deck. She joined Jimmy and the conversation changed to another topic. I walked up a few minutes later and sat on the same lounge chair as Carlos and let him pull my back to his front. I sat there and tried to follow the discussions going on around me as Carlos rubbed his hands up and down my arms. I failed miserably. I was completely and utterly unable to focus on anything other than Carlos. He must have sensed my mood because he stilled his hands immediately and whispered an apology.

After that, I was able to follow and even join in with the conversation. Carlos told the guys about my first foray into self defence and Tom burst out laughing because he knew the woman in question. "I saw her at the gym yesterday and asked her what happened. She told me that she was hit by a messenger on a bicycle. Now that I know the truth, I can make sure some of the others at the gym know the truth as well. She rubs so many people the wrong way that it's a wonder she doesn't have a constant black eye.

Wet talked and joked late into the night. I was having a hard time staying awake and I looked over and saw that Molly had actually fallen asleep on Jimmy's lap. I smiled at the guys and said, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for bed. I'm going to head down and get ready."

The guys nodded and Carlos walked with me to the stairs. "I'll be down in a little while. I'll try not to wake you if you're already asleep."

I nodded and kissed Carlos gently on the lips. Jimmy was carrying Molly behind me and Vince was helping Christie. They were all heading to bed. Tom, Bobby, Lester and Carlos were going to stay up a little while longer. I wished everyone a good night and got ready for bed. I knew that Carlos would join me eventually, but I wasn't going to try and stay awake until he did. I was far too tired for that. Instead, I crawled into bed and fell asleep a few minutes later.