Reborn in 1994: Internet Empire

49 Paradise

       “Alright, I’m jumping in!” Trae shouted as he stripped down to his board shorts, as he sprinted into the refreshing ocean.

       Given that they were in a tropical paradise, it didn’t matter that it was their Christmas break. The sun was still intense, and the weather was perfect for either a cold dip in the water or a relaxing time for sunbathing.

       Jules removed her clothes as well, revealing a beautifully intense, bright red bikini.

       “Like what you see, Max?” she said playfully.

       Max couldn’t reply as he was stunned by how beautiful she looked in that bathing suit. With a giggle, she led him out to the water as well. Lina changed into her bathing suit as well, which was a vibrant white two-piece. It was a bikini top matched with a nice skirt. Charlie was caught staring as well, however, he immediately turned away so he didn’t look like a creep. Lina took notice of this and blushed slightly.

       “Y-you want to join them, Charlie?” she said as she meekly reached her hand to him.

       Charlie gulped before taking it.

       “S-sure… Let’s go,” he said, trying to sound as cool as possible before jogging with her to the ocean with the others.

       It was truly paradise. The group played and splashed in the water, which was so refreshing with the sun beating down on them. They all put on goggles and enjoyed looking into the water, as they swam with the small fish that filled the ocean. The girls had the idea of having a cockfight, which was when the girls would sit on the shoulders of the boys, and try to topple the other team. Trae took his sweet time just floating on the surface of the water, as he took in both the cool from the ocean, as well as the warmth coming from the heat of the sun. After the competition, they proceeded to explore the beach on their own. Max and Trae made it a competition to see who could reach the boundary of the ocean limits and return to the beach first. And they did this for quite some time. Lina decided to go rappelling down the side of the rock face with Jules, who gladly went with her. Surprisingly, Lina was quite the adventurous soul as she relished in the activity, while Jules was barely able to keep up with her. Charlie decided to lay on the beach and just take everything in. The heat. The sound of the waves. The sand. And the cool fresh orange shake provided to him by the mini-bar. Everything was perfect and it just seemed to continue for as long as it could.

       After a few hours, the sun started to set. At this point, every single one of them was tired. And incredibly hungry. As if it were like clockwork, Evan appeared out of nowhere and escorted them back to the house for their dinner. It was just as they expected it to be. A wonderful three-course meal of french onion soup, lamb chops, and cake. The french onion soup was decadent and rich, and laced with a strong truffle flavor that complimented the soup and cheese well. The lamb was rich, tender, and cooked to a perfect medium-rare. The softness of the meat contrasted with the crunch of the herbs was the perfect combination. And the additional freshness of the chimichurri sauce was a nice addition to cut all of the richness of the dish. Overall it was a splendid second course. Finally, the cakes were arranged in front of them in an elegant fashion. The 24 karat gold spoons were filled with a perfectly portioned mouthful of each cake that they had available in the pantry. This totaled up to exactly eleven cakes. The flavors started with lemon, to vanilla, to berries and cream, to coffee, to cookies and cream, to mocha, to chocolate, to dark chocolate, to rum cake, to choco lava cake, to a wonderful gold cake that was laced with edible gold and dessert caviar. By the end of their meal, they were all so full and just basking in the euphoria of having such delicious food.

       “Young sirs and young misses, please direct your attention to the bar floor,” he said as he gestured his hand to the floor.

       Behind his back, he had a remote control. With a click, immediately the lights dimmed and were replaced with purple and blue flashing lights. And as soon as the flashing lights came up, music began to play. It was the kind of music that one would hear in night clubs and such.

       “Evan, you outdid yourself again!” Jules said in excitement.

       “You flatter me, Miss Julia. Anyway, you all enjoy yourselves. I will be behind the bar if you need me,” he said as he stepped over to the bar.

       “Max! Dance with me!” she said as she pulled him by the arm.

       “B-but I don’t… I don’t dance!” he said in protest.

       But it was too late. She already had him on the dance floor, and she was already grooving to the beat. Max decided that he might as well go for it. So he did his best to keep up with her, however awkwardly it was. It wasn’t long before he found himself enjoying the night as well.

       “I’m gonna go join them before I end up being the only one without a dance partner!” he said, fully realizing that if the other two went first, he would be a lonely fifth wheel.

       Trae ran over and crashed into the other two as they began to tear up the dance floor. Lina looked over them and calmly clapped along to the beat with a smile. Charlie, on the inside, was working up the courage to ask her to dance. Finally, he turned to her and looked her right in the eyes.

       “Would you like to-”

       “Yes!” she interrupted. “Y-yes let’s dance.”

       He nodded awkwardly and took her hand, as they made their way to the dance floor. Before long the entire group was dancing to their hearts’ content. It was after a long while of dancing that Evan gestured for them to all have a drink.

       “Might I offer you all some drinks! You look like you are all parched,” he said as he calmly waved for them to come over.

       The group walked over and each took a seat at the bar, as Evan handed them laminated menus to choose their drinks from.

       “I think I will have a Cuba Libre,” Jules said as she leaned on the bar table.

       “The usual, I see. Good to see some things never change, Miss Julia,” he said with a smile.

       “I’ll have one of those as well,” Max said.

       “I’ll have a Painkiller,” said Lina, as she meekly pointed to the item on the menu.

       “I think I'll have a Negroni,” Charlie added.

       “And I’ll take a Zombie, please,” Trae added last.

       Evan nodded in acknowledgment to all of their orders and repeated it to them one by one.

       “So that will be two Cuba Libres, one Painkiller, one Negroni, and one Zombie. Coming right up!”

       Evan moved so quickly that it was not long before all of their drinks were prepared in front of them. With a cheer, they all downed their drinks with ease. It was then that Trae had a really fun idea.

       “Hey, uh, Evan. Can you come here for a second?” he said as he gestured for Evan to lean in.

       “What is it, sir?”

       Trae whispered into his ear. Immediately, a grin spread across the face of the normally calm and cool looking butler.

       “I think I know the drink. I will have it ready in a jiffy,” he said as he turned to face the bar again.

       Trae turned toward the rest of them and smiled at them excitedly.

       “Alright, you guys. I just asked if Evan could make us a drink. It is, hands down, the most delicious drink I’ve ever had in my life!”

       “Oh really? What drink is it?” Max asked excitedly.

       “Just wait, it’ll be great.”

       Just as Trae finished his sentence, Evan placed two shot glasses in front of each of the members.

       “Ok young sirs, and young misses. This drink, recommended by Trae, needs to be consumed as such. First, shoot one shot glass. And then the other, without swallowing the first liquid. Then down it all at once,” he said, winking at Trae subtly. The latter nodded back at him.

       “Well let’s see if this is as good as you say it is, Trae,” Charlie said.

       The group did it all at the same time, except for Trae who at this point was throwing a fit laughing. They didn’t understand what was so funny until they realized what was happening in their mouths. The liquids curdled into something like the texture of cottage cheese. Max tried to hold himself back from gagging, but ended up running to the nearest trash can just at the end of the bar. Lina and Jules followed after, as the texture began to become more like scrambled eggs in their mouths. And Charlie, forced himself to swallow so as to not endure the wicked texture any longer. They all turned to both Evan and Trae, who were both laughing and exchanging a high five.

       “What the hell was that, Trae?!” Max said, trying to get the feeling of the drink out of his system.

       Trae turned back to Evan.

       “Evan, if you would?”

       “Of course. The first shot was bailey’s cream. The second was lime juice. I believe the cocktail is called… The Cement Mixer,” he said while trying to keep himself from laughing.

       Eventually, he realized the prank and began to laugh along with Trae.

       “Well, Trae… you do realize that you haven’t drunk your drink. In solidarity, you have to take the shot with us,” Max said as he walked over to Trae.

       Charlie walked over as well and at the same time, they grabbed Trae and forced his arms behind his back. Trae realized what was going on and began to struggle, only to see that both of the girls already had the shot glasses in their hands. Trae looked pleadingly at Evan.

       “Evan, come on, help out a guy here.”

       Evan smiled wickedly at Trae.

       “I’m sorry sir, but… Solidarity is solidarity.”

       With a large swig, the group got back at the prank pulled by their trickster companion, and the night went on with even more fun and even more drinks. It was only a matter of time before everyone was completely drunk.