Part 1

"Ready to have some fun?" Maryse asked her friend Claudia with a smile.

"Of course, I am. I am the one that had to drag you out here after all," Claudia reminded her friend. "How long has it been since you've had a vacation? I'll tell you how long nearly 6 years! Every time I ask you to come with me for even a weekend you always say you're busy. You're working yourself to the bone. You're denying yourself a life! And for what may I ask you? All because that louse dumped you after you were engaged. I could've told you that that relationship wouldn't end well, but would you listen to me!" Claudia ranted.

"Alright, alright, you're right," Maryse tried to stop her friend. This was a subject that she had heard her friend rant about many times before and she wasn't interested in hearing how she had led her louse of a fiancé affect her so much that she hadn't dated ever since he had broken off the engagement six years before. Maryse admitted that she had been taken in by his charm. She had sworn off men after her fiancé had so rudely dumped her for a younger prettier woman and one with the brains of a cabbage. She hadn't wanted to admit at the time but the bastard had damaged her self-confidence in a big way. Claudia was the only one that had seen through his guise. She had just been taken in by his suave charm and sophistication. He had also been rich, that she knew that he could provide a good life for her and any children they had.

She really should have known better then to fall for someone like him. Her heart though hadn't known any better. It beat triple time every time he smiled at her and pulse just raced.

She realized now that she had gone into a kind of mourning and hadn't dated at all ever since their breakup. She had allowed him to have far too much hold over her while the bastard had moved on and probably hadn't thought about her at all. She had given him her heart; her soul and he had been unworthy of such gifts.

"Just drop it, you got me here," Maryse told her best friend. "Let's just have some fun and not bring up that bastard again."

Claudia nodded and dropped the subject as they entered the hotel. "Sandy beaches here we come!" Claudia exclaimed as the two young woman headed towards the front desk.

"Yes, we are going to vegetate on the beach, sip drinks with little umbrellas in them and shop until we drop.

"Perhaps they'll also be a little romance," Claudia suggested.

Maryse didn't answer, but she had no intention of getting involved with any man. She intended to leave any flirting to her friend. She knew Claudia would be disappointed, but she didn't believe she was ready to get back into the game and didn't know if she ever would be. Leo had just killed something in her and it didn't matter that it hadn't been his intention. Her days of flirting with men were over and she was only 32.

The two women checked in at the front desk. They were sharing a suite with two bedrooms.

"This way ladies," the bellhop said as he led them to the elevator. "Your room is on the 10th floor with a fantastic view of the ocean."

The bellhop handled their luggage, which was just one suitcase apiece and a carry-on. Unlike some females they didn't need three suitcases each for a month's vacation. Both of them had certainly earned their time off and were going to enjoy every minute of it

It had been hard enough to get Maryse here and Claudia wasn't about to let her be a hermit for the rest of her life. They had come here to enjoy themselves and not just to stick to their hotel room and Claudia was going to make sure her friend didn't forget it. They were going to eat out, roast on the beach and shop until they dropped and she at least intended to do a little flirting. She was hoping that her friend would relax enough that she would feel comfortable enough to flirt as well, but somehow Claudia doubted it. She believed that her friend was mourning more what could have been instead of looking for another man with better ethics and morals. On the other hand, they had dated for a couple years and so her friend had been very emotionally invested. Leo on the other hand, apparently had not, as he had cheated with at least one other woman, probably soon after he met Maryse, if not before.

"Enjoy your stay, ladies," The bellhop said smiling, as he left so they could unpack.

"I suppose we should unpack, before we do anything else," Maryse said looking reluctant, as she stared out the window at the beautiful beach.

"To hell with unpacking! I say we go for walk along the beach and then have an early dinner. We can unpack after we get back or even tomorrow. It was a long flight after all," Claudia exclaimed, as she too looked out at the beautiful beach. "We're on vacation why in the hell should we deny ourselves? Why should we be responsible? I intend to sleep in every day, not make my bed and leave clothes on the floor, which is not something I'd ever do at home."

"Sounds good," Maryse said immediately cheering up. "Let's go!"

"Well, it's nice to see you so enthusiastic," Claudia said with a smile. "I certainly had enough trouble getting you to agree to take a vacation in the first place. You have a work ethic that would put most people to shame."

"You just caught up in life, you know?" Maryse told her friend still gazing out the window. "Just looking out the window and seeing all the people enjoying themselves on the beach is making me feel so much more alive."

"Good," Claudia said pleased. "That's exactly what I was hoping would happened. I just knew you needed to get away for a while. People can do without your expertise for a month, just as my boss can do without me."

Maryse nodded and the two best friends left the hotel.

~~~Dave and Maryse~~~

"This is great!" Maryse sighed, as she sat in a rented beach chair. She tilted her face up towards the sun, which was bright and warm. She took a sip of her drink, a Mai Tai with a colorful little umbrella and a load of shaved ice.

"And you were so against coming here," Claudia teased her friend.

"Alright, so you were right. I needed a change of scene. Now can we drop the damn subject!" Maryse said, in an annoyed tone.

Claudia held up her hands placatingly. It was clear that Maryse was tired of her teasing on that subject. She would likely never admit that she had been...well, not a hermit precisely, as she was one of the best facilitators in New York, but still, she had no personal social life other than helping her clients dreams come true.

Maryse was so beautiful that even Claudia was a little jealous. She was tall and athletically slim; her skin was the color of good mocha and she had beautiful green eyes that reminded you of a jungle cat's. Her hair was a dark brown nearly black, with a natural curl to it that some men would just love to run their fingers through. She was also tall for a woman at nearly 6 feet, 5 11 1/2 if you wanted to get technical. She was also very smart and very good at her profession. She had created quite a reputation for herself in providing the unique. If someone wanted to have a wedding in Central Park at midnight then she would arrange everything.

"Alright," Claudia agreed. "I won't bring the subject up again, unless I need to, to convince you to date some guy if he asks you."

Maryse started to protest and Claudia glared at her.

"There is nothing wrong with having a little romance while you're on vacation, no matter what you believe," Claudia chided, gently, beyond irritated at her friend for not getting over that bastard. "Yes, I know that cad Leo hurt you, but you need to get back out there or you're going to become a lonely old maid. Not everyone has the ethics or morals of slime. You've been alone six years Maryse without even a boyfriend. You have given that slimeball too much of your life as it is. Do you think if he knew he would care what he had done to you? That you had basically left the dating scene because of his actions? That scum has probably had 50 girlfriends since, unless he strung them along long term like he did you."

Maryse sighed and gave in, knowing deep down that her best friend was right. She had given that bastard Leo to much of her life already.

"I'll try that's all I can promise," Maryse said. "I know you're right about Leo being a snake, though that's an insult to snakes."

"Then what about a cockroach?" Claudia said with glee.

Claudia hated cockroaches or any crawling bug, but cockroaches especially. Her first apartment had been crawling with them, so she had saved money as fast so she could so she could move. One had actually gotten into her hair when she was asleep and she had woken up to an itching sensation. When she had discovered what it was she had screamed bloody murder and thrown the disgusting bug on the floor stomping on it before it could get away. Luckily, she been wearing socks, as her feet tended to get cold without something on them, even under the covers.

Maryse knew that her friend had laundered her socks at least three times before she would wear them again. Her fear of roaches in particular, was nearly pathological, though to be truthful most women weren't fond of creepy crawly things, such as bugs, snakes, rats or mice.

"That's exactly what Leo should come back as," Maryse said with a gleeful grin that was just a little wicked, taking a sip of her drink. "After that, he can come back as slime as that's organic. Then maybe he can be reincarnated as a vulture. If he had to eat the flesh of dead bodies for the rest of his life that would be proper payment for his actions."

Vultures were ugly birds as both women had seen pictures. Considering how arrogant Leo used to be because of his handsomeness that would indeed be proper payback for his dumping of Maryse or at least for the way he had done it.

Claudia chuckled but couldn't really blame her friend. If anybody deserved to comeback as those three things that most people hated it was Leo Vertis. Claudia was well aware he wasn't the worst person out in the world, but still, he was bad enough. He had broken Maryse's self confidence in herself when it came to men. He had certainly fooled her for two years, which had made her doubt her own judgment.

Maryse finally broke down and chuckled right along with her friend, which had leached a lot of the poison Leo had left behind from her soul. The change of scenery of a beautiful beach instead of the New York skyline had helped as well, Claudia knew. New York, after all, was where she had met Leo the rat, but it was also her home, so she just avoided the places that Leo and her, had been including her once favorite restaurant. As far as Claudia knew her friend hadn't been anywhere near Silver's Cafe ever since Leo the rat had decided just to dump her, just a few weeks after they had gotten engaged.

Why the bastard hadn't just broken it off and had proposed in the first place was beyond Claudia's understanding. She admitted she had never liked him, not at all, Maryse had never seen him for what he truly was a cad, not until the end anyway. Claudia wasn't sure why Leo, he had dumped her friend in such a mean, spiteful, rude and nasty way, but he had and no matter his reasons Maryse was the one they had to live with it.

Claudia felt a sudden determination come over her. She wasn't about to let her friend become a lonely old maid. She was somehow going to end this funk that Maryse had been in ever since the breakup from Leo. Even if it was the last thing she did.

~~~Dave and Maryse~~~

"So, what are our plans for today?" Maryse asked.

"Well, we have been meaning to go shopping and buy some souvenirs for the people back home," Claudia suggested. "We've been here a week now and we've been spending most of that time on the beach or at least on the balcony watching all the people who go by. To tell you the truth I'm ready for a change of scene, though I admit it has been kind of that nice that some of those guys were the flirting with us."

"With you," Maryse corrected.

"With both of us," Claudia said firmly. "Just because you didn't flirt back doesn't mean that they weren't doing so. You hid behind that book you bought."

Maryse sighed and said nothing. She knew very well her friend was right, but she was still rather leery of getting involved with any man. She had promised Claudia that she would try though so she would flirt back a little, instead of pretending to read a romance that she had brought with her to the beach. A book she had bought at the gift shop that was part of the hotel lobby.

It was clear that her friend wasn't about to let her get away without at least trying to flirt back with some of the guys. She knew that Claudia always had her best interest in mind, but still, it was so hard to let go of Leo's betrayal. She had thought they really had something special but now knew that Leo wasn't the type of man to be loyal if he did get married. She had no doubt that he would cheat on his wife within a year or so and she wouldn't be surprised if it were sooner. He'd probably marry for appearances since he was fairly wealthy and maybe his wife would have affairs as well. It wasn't the way she wanted to live though, so she was sure she would have divorced Leo sooner or later if they had actually married.

While that was the likely scenario it was also sad. Her parents had been so happy together for many years. Surely it wasn't too much to ask for the same thing. A man who would always be loyal to her and who would make her happy, just as she made him. Someone she could have at least three or four children by. She'd hoped to find Mr. Right in Leo Vertis and he'd been totally been Mister Wrong from the very beginning, even if she hadn't seen it. Of course, to be fair, Claudia had never liked him, so she knew she should have listened to her friend, but she had ben to stubborn too do so. Claudia was the one that had seen through the ass and tried to warn her, but her just knowing that Leo was the one for her had made her ignore her friend's warning. She finally agreed with her friend's idea of a shopping day. A day away from the beach sounded like a good idea to her.

~~~Dave and Maryse~~~

Claudia and Maryse returned from their shopping foray giggling madly and got onto the elevator, Claudia pushing the button for the 10th floor.

"We are more than a half lit," Maryse giggled.

"Yeah, we are," Claudia admitted grinning like a loon. "We shouldn't have drunk that whole bottle of wine with lunch. It was just stronger than we're used to even though we shared it."

"We're both probably going to be hung over tomorrow," Maryse said.

"So, it'll be a good day to stay in and watch movies or something," Claudia shrugged. "We'll see how it goes. We don't have any concrete plans anyway. It's not like we have a schedule."

"That's true," Maryse giggled again.

The two young women made it down the hall without falling carrying all their bags and Claudia managed to unlock the door without dropping anything. They deposited their purchases on the table in front of the couch and then sat down on it feeling exhilarated as well as exhausted. How they could be both those things at the same time was weird.

"You were right," Maryse finally said. "This is exactly what I needed. I needed to get out of New York and we should've done this years ago. Not right after Leo dumped me, as I remember exactly how I felt when he did so, all sick and devastated, but maybe a year or so later."

"Isn't that what I told you at the time?" Claudia pointed out. "Didn't I tell you that we needed to take a vacation? To get out of New York for a few weeks. Yes, I realize that we both work and that you have your own business to run. Yes, I know you're popular with the people who use you, but that doesn't preclude you taking some time for yourself. Your clients will either understand or not and those that don't are idiots in my opinion."

"So, you've said," Maryse said her lips twitching. "I should've listened to you," Maryse added more seriously.

"Yes, you should have, but I do understand," Claudia said, as she put an arm around her friend's shoulder. "What Leo did was rude, spiteful and demeaning. He probably intended it to also be malicious. Also, you had no idea it was coming because there were no signs. He probably had no idea that it would make you doubt yourself when it came to men and even if he had he likely wouldn't have cared."

"I know," Maryse agreed with a sigh. "Let's just forget it, maybe watch a movie and then have dinner early."

"Sounds good to me," Claudia agreed. "I would suggest we lay off the alcohol though. At least until tomorrow."

"Probably a good idea," Maryse decided. "We're likely already going to be hung over tomorrow as it is. Why make it worse?"

"A sensible suggestion, which just tells me that maybe the alcohol is wearing off," Claudia agreed.

"Or maybe we're not as drunk as we think we are," Maryse said.

"That's possible to," Claudia said consideringly, before grinning.

The two chose a movie to watch on 'On Demand' and sat back to enjoy the show, both wishing that they had thought to buy some popcorn, but it had never crossed either of their minds. Oh well they would do better in the future, make sure they had a big bowl of popcorn ready, as well as sodas and other snacks nuts and chocolates for a start.

Finally, a couple of hours later, the movie was over and both women woke up from their naps. Apparently, they had been more tired than they'd thought.

"Well, apparently, we fell asleep before the movie was half over," Maryse said ruefully.

"That's okay we probably needed the sleep and it also made us feel more rested and less like we are half lit," Claudia said blinking a few times. "I don't feel as drunk as I did when we first came back to our room."

"That's true," Maryse agreed. "I'm starving though, so I think it's time we either ordered room service or go out to dinner."

"Why don't we go to the bar? I think they also have a dinner menu," Claudia suggested. "I'm starving too now that you mention it."

"Well then, let's get made go," Maryse said. "We haven't been to the bar yet, so we might as well go just to say we did."

Claudia nodded in agreement and the two women went to their separate rooms in order to get ready to go to dinner, which included using the restroom, freshening up their makeup, washing their faces and changing their outfits.

It was only 20 minutes later both were ready to go and they left the hotel room after they made sure they had their purses and wallets.~~~Dave and Maryse~~~