The Beach Party

— The Beach Party —

Emi jumped out of her bed, naked, and quickly pulled a robe on. “Just a minute!” she said, scrambling for the door.

“No rush!” someone on the other side shouted. It sounded like Su-Ning.

Looking in the dresser mirror for a second to fix her funny sleep-hair. Emi opened the door. “Hi… Su-Ning…” she said, with a smile. “The party?”

Su-Ning smiled back. “May I come in for a moment?” she said, holding a big manilla envelope.

“Yes, of course!” Emi said, stepping back and opening the door wide.

Su-Ning came in and sat on the bed. “Is everything alright with Becca and your team?”

Emi shook her head. She didn’t know. “I didn’t speak with Becca or Sam yet…”

“Okay, well let me know when you find out,” Su-Ning said. “All I know is that I got a text saying that she won’t be able to come to the party.”

Emi took in the news. This was not good.

“Are you wearing that for the party?” Su-Ning asked.

“This?” Suddenly Emi realized that she was dressed, and quickly pulled off the robe. “Oh sorry… I was wet and dried off and then fell asleep like this.” She said as she struggled to look like it was no big deal to suddenly be completely naked in front of Su-Ning.

“That’s fine… what you do in the privacy of your own room is your business,” Su-Ning said. “Why I’m here now… is… um… that I am worried about you. I mean, Becca won’t be supporting you tonight as an Ambassador,” she said, sounding concerned.

“Yeah, I don’t know…” Emi said, realizing that Becca would be letting them both down if she did not come. Emi needed her for support as well. She definitely didn’t want to be the only one completely nude at the party.

Su-Ning looked down at her feet. “Well, I guess I have no choice then,” she said. Without looking at Emi she began to undress.

Emi tried to look away but caught Su-Ning in the mirror as the resort owner pulled off all of her clothing, and then her underwear. This was wonderful, she thought. Su-Ning was going to support her and replace Becca for the party! However, a moment later Emi’s jubilance weakened when she saw Su-Ning pulling on a loincloth. Oh, she’s just going to be topless.

“How do I look?” Su-Ning smiled, her hands on her hips and her small breasts and tight little nipples pointing at Emi.

“Uh, great…  This will help encourage staff a lot, I think,” Emi answered.

“I hope so,” Su-Ning flushed. “May I leave my clothes in your room?”

“Yes, of course!” Emi said, “Thanks for doing this. It helps me too. Being like this is all still new to me…” she said, indicating her naked body.

“Yes, I know…” Su-Ning said. “I wasn’t just thinking of the staff. I also was thinking of you and really hoped Becca was going to help make this easier for both of us. So here I am, helping out with my embarrassingly little tits!”  She stuck out her chest to emphasize what she was talking about.

“You look utterly fabulous,” Emi said seriously.

“Thanks! And sorry, I know this probably isn’t easy on you. Plus tomorrow you will be mentoring Liz and Ben, right?”

“Ahh… yes…” Emi said, not wanting to be reminded of that right then. She needed to be gathering strength for the party.

“Don’t worry… just be professional and soon all this will probably feel completely natural. Plus I’ll stop in to check on you sometime tomorrow. I want to make sure that you are adjusting and still able to mentor while you are looking… well, completely fabulous!”

“Ohh… thanks…” Emi filed that away as she placed her goggle sunglasses up high on her head. Su-Ning would check on her the next day while she was with Ben and Liz. Yikes. She wouldn’t be able to be overly modest and casual around her friends on her first day of mentoring while nude. Too bad, it would have been nice to ease into this role a little slower. Su-Ning just wants to help, but without saying when she will show up Emi realized that she will have to be professional at every moment. Tomorrow was going to be difficult.

Su-Ning held out her elbow, indicating for Emi to take her arm. “Let’s go Superbum,” she said, giggling and grabbing her big manilla envelope next to her pile of clothes on the chair.

Emi laughed but inwardly winced. How did she know Sam called her that? That was NOT the nickname she wanted spreading around, she thought, as they exited the room. Thankfully, the hallway was empty. Emi took a deep breath and prayed to the gods for courage.

Su-Ning also looked worried as they walked down the long hallway. Finally, she stopped and turned to Emi. “We can do this!” 

Emi appreciated the sincere look. It was helping her so much that Su-Ning had some real skin in the game. Su-Ning was a true friend.

A minute later they were skipping along, arm in arm, giggling like school-kids.

Outside they saw that they were early to the party. Bo and Roland were moving a stack of chairs towards Janet, who had a flagpole planted in the sand.

“I think we should be closer to the water,” Janet yelled as she pulled the flag out of the sand and replanted it closer to the ocean.

“Not again, Janet!” Bo shouted. “We are running out of time. Can you stop changing your mind?” He said. He was carrying an impressive amount of folded chairs with Roland.

“Oh… hi Emi!”, Lucy called out. She was standing beside a table of party food making adjustments. She had her bright pink shoes on and the ribbons in her ponytails were blowing in the soft warm wind. She did a double-take when she saw Su-Ning, wearing only a loincloth. “Su-Ning?”

“Owww! Roland!” Bo yelled as the young boy dropped his folding chairs upon seeing Emi and Su-Ning. “You’re going to have to grow up and get used to…  Su-Ning?” he said, surprise evident in his voice.

Janet smiled, acknowledging the two girls as she picked up a fairly large boulder from a ring of boulders and walked frog-legged after the two boys, towards the planted flag. “Hurry up guys, we also need to move the fire pit boulders!” she yelled.

Emi noticed that both girls had robes on. The gentle wind teased at her bare skin; a never-ending reminder of her lack of clothes.

The boys were putting down the chairs and about to turn and come back, Emi assumed. She didn’t really want to just stand there and be gawked at while they did all the work.

They turned and started back. Gawking as they ran. Janet was still walking towards them awkwardly with the big boulder hugged to her robe covered chest. They ran right past her.

Emi saw that there were another dozen boulders left to move and looked at her watch. Time was running out. Su-Ning veered off, checking out the table of food. Emi decided to help with the boulders. They needed to finish the fire-pit before other staff started arriving.

She went to the ring of boulders and tried to lift one. It required both hands and she had to squat down to pick it up. She found that holding it against her belly, was the easiest way to carry it. The rocks were fairly clean, never used before in a fire.

Bo and Rolland stopped beside Emi. “Need a hand?” Bo asked.

Emi snorted. They could have helped Janet. But because she was naked they wanted to help her. “I’m good, guys.”

They ran to get boulders of their own.

When Emi arrived, Janet was just leaving. “I’m done with this boulder carrying, this is too hard on my back,” Janet remarked as she passed.

Emi realized that she needed to be careful. Using her legs, she placed the heavy boulder down. The positioning wasn’t quite right so she squatted down and shoved it closer to the others.

“Jeezus…” Roland muttered.

This made Emi jump as the guys were suddenly much closer than she had expected.

“Yeah… these boulders are heavy!” Bo quickly added.

Emi stood up quickly, blushing. She quickly ran back to get the next boulder, hoping to put some distance between herself and the guys.

Inspired by Emi’s gung-ho initiative, after placing their rocks, they also ran.

Emi turned sideways this time, in terms of where the boys were, before squatting to pick up another boulder. The boys arrived. Bo quickly moved in front of her and Rolland behind her. But they were a second too late as she rose from the squatted position.

“Damn…” Rolland muttered.

Emi had outmaneuvered them with their little game, but she continued to flush. She hoped that her flush looked like she was just physically asserting herself. Could they really be this immature? Amazingly, Emi found herself smirking.

She ran back for the last boulder, fast, putting some distance between herself and the boys. Up ahead she saw that the first two staff members had arrived. They were standing near where Emi was headed. A woman, likely the topless woman from the intake area, was wearing a loincloth, next to a man also in a loincloth. Emi recognized him as the server from the kitchen. He was the one that Sam called to embarrass Becca while she was being painted on the beach. She stopped just before them, looking down at the last boulder.

“Do you need a hand?” he offered while the tall woman smiled politely.

“That’s okay… I got it,” Emi said but regretting it when she realized the final boulder was the biggest one yet. Powered by sheer determination and pride, she slowly stood, her muscles straining. She didn’t particularly like the show she was presenting to these two, as she slowly stood. She crab-walked away from the ring just as Bo and Rolland suddenly caught up.

Bo skidded to a stop in front of her. “That looks way too heavy! Here, I can take it from here,” he said, putting his hands on the big rock that was pressed against Emi’s belly.

“Yeah, let us take the last one,” Roland added, keeping a respectful distance.

Emi was irritated that Bo made her stop. Plus he was way too close. Plus Rolland’s logic was incorrect. Only one person can carry the boulder, his mention of ‘US’ was just wrong. She looked Bo in the face. They were both breathing hard, sweating. He was a good looking man. They stood there for a moment in awkward silence, both holding the boulder.

“Let go and stand back,” she said, looking down.

He did so immediately, looking worried that he had offended her.

Emi dropped the boulder into the sand in front of her. She took a step back, nodding for him to take it.

Smiling again, Bo made a show of picking up the boulder as if it were heavier than it was. His loincloth didn’t cover much as he showed pretty much every muscle he had, including his flexing buttocks as he rose from a squatted position. Emi couldn’t help but smile as he walked away.

Rolland reluctantly followed Bo. His own buttocks didn’t compare and he knew it, as he stiffly walked away with Emi watching. Finally, Emi turned and looked at the food table. She was hungry and it looked like a delicious feast. She saw a few more staff arriving. Most of the women were wearing robes. The idea of socializing like this was unimaginable, so she awkwardly kept her distance.

An upbeat classical tune was playing in the background and it was an hour to sunset. Emi looked again at the table and saw Su-Ning signaling for her to come over. She took a deep breath and started towards the table.

Su-Ning was nibbling on a bite-sized hamburger with a toothpick through the center. In her other hand was a glass of wine. “Get a good workout? Oh… I think you need to clean up a bit,” she said, looking at Emi’s dirty hands and stomach. She wasn’t that bad, as the boulders were relatively clean and this was the first company fire. Su-Ning put down her food and drink and handed her a stack of napkins and a paper cup with some water.

Emi proceeded to wet some napkins and clean herself while the guests mingled around the food, sometimes glancing her way. She didn’t like drawing attention to herself like this. The newest arrivals didn’t have context as to why she was cleaning her body. Maybe they thought she had spilled food on herself. Looking around she caught sight of a co-worker, Hannah!  Unfortunately, Hannah was wearing shorts and a shirt.

“Hey Emi,” Hannah said, smiling. “You look fantastic!” she said with a mouthful of food. She took another bite of her assorted cheese and meat stack followed by a sip of wine.

Emi felt so exposed as Hannah continued to examine her body. She shifted, feeling even more awkward if that was possible.

“Sorry, you have such a nice shape. I’m studying your form,” she said, licking her lips.

Seeing that look, Emi wondered if there was more to Hannah than met the eye.

“Glad you could make it,” Su-Ning said, patting Hannah’s bare shoulder. “I loved your designs for the apps!”

“Well… you have good taste!” Hannah said, smiling.

Emi watched the two of them, casually chatting, wearing clothes. Being the only one completely naked, she stood out like a lighthouse. Thankfully there was a low turnout for the party. Around twenty people had come but it seemed like that was going to be it. She felt like a traitor for being glad about the low turnout.

“Damn, not many showed up,” Su-Ning lamented. “Oh well, I guess it’s time…” She stepped away from the food table where most people were. “Can I have everyone’s attention? I have some announcements that I would like to share and I have some gifts.”

Emi thought Su-Ning looked cute. The young resort owner blushed a bit as everyone turned to look at her.

Su-Ning continued to speak. “Let’s do this by those chairs near the water,” she said, turning and leading the group towards the fire-pit by the water.

Emi followed, glancing occasionally at Su-Ning’s cute little butt that was completely exposed by the loincloth. Everyone followed them, likely all eyes were on herself, she realized. It is very hard to walk confidently in the sand while naked. Especially with a gaggle of people behind you; a group that included men! She took a deep breath and tried to distract her mind by watching the waves crash into the sand.

When they arrived everyone sat down, except for Emi and Su-Ning. The group was near the water but facing away from the sun. Only Emi and Su-Ning had to face the bright sun, which was getting low in the sky.

“I wanted to thank you all for coming,” Su-Ning began, as if she were speaking to a hundred people. She used a hand to cover her eyes from the sun as she spoke. “Unfortunately not many could make it, which is my fault really, I really didn’t give enough warning for this… after work beach party.”

Unable to take the glare, Emi pulled down her goggle sunglasses. Then she casually crossed her hands in front of herself,  covering her runway, which both looked normal and casual, but was also infinitely more comfortable.

“When I started this project, my father was sick and everything was left up to me. I have to tell you, that such a big responsibility for someone as young as me, is quite scary. This whole resort is a risk for my family, and I want you all to know that I am counting on each and every one of you. Every single job here is critical. From cleaning up, to food, to serving guests and maintaining the building; it’s all very important. We all depend upon each other for our survival here.”

Su-Ning proceeded to say wonderful things about each of the various teams at the resort and Emi could tell when someone was on a team that Su-Ning was talking about as they seemed touched by her words.

“I rushed today’s party because I wanted to align with some big news for the resort. The dev team has been firing on all cylinders and managed to complete the guest services watch app and the various staff apps all in time for opening day next week. I can’t tell you how relieved I am about that. The apps are all beautiful and work great! If we had opened without those initial apps, then all of our marketing would have been off and it would have been disastrous for ALL of us. The previous dev team told me the timeline was impossible!”

Hannah was smiling widely, giving Emi a thumbs up. “Wooohooo!” she hooted. Bo whistled. Others applauded politely.

“I want to give a special thanks to… my Director of Software,” Su-Ning said, indicating Emi with her hand. “She is perhaps the strongest mobile developer in the entire pacific. I kid you not. After hiring her, I was finally able to sleep at night. Emi is an intense person who always goes all in. She is unstoppable. She knows that we get stronger when we shed our clothes at a resort like this. We become the pure essence of what it is to be human. Emi has gone ‘all in’ and has also gone above and beyond the call of duty and has additionally committed to leading both the ‘purpose and spirit’ of this resort,” Su-Ning, paused as if she was choking up. “Emi is more than just my friend, she is my hero. I will always look up to her…” Su-Ning paused, she couldn’t speak from emotion for a moment and then wiped her eyes.

Emi was shocked to hear Su-Ning’s words. She shifted uncomfortably, moving her hands behind her back. This drew too many eyes to her, away from Su-Ning, and so she put her hands back in front again.

After composing herself, Su-Ning turned and shook Emi’s hand. “Thank you so much…” She said quietly so that only Emi could hear. “Your impact here at the resort with leading your team, finishing those critical apps early, mentoring another team, and now stepping up as an Ambassador… well… you saved me, my family and everyone in the resort,” she said.

Su-Ning’s deep expression of thanks caused Emi to feel overwhelmed with emotion, but she held it in check. Su-Ning was over-emotional and the resort wasn’t a success yet. Everything depended upon opening-day, and a lot was riding on many variables that were out of Emi’s hands. Emi wondered if this was all too much for Su-Ning, and maybe the young resort owner just needed someone to lean on. It should be Ruth Banks, her marketing lead. Not the Director of Software. Still, Emi was deeply touched, regardless of the flawed logic. She lifted her goggle glasses and let Su-Ning see her eyes. They hugged, carefully, avoiding frontal contact.

Smiling, and wiping her eyes again. Su-Ning turned to face the audience again. “Elina Greamer, please come up for your prize,” she said, handing Emi two slips of paper.

Su-Ning continued while the woman in only a loincloth came forward.

“You embraced our home here like a champion. I have decided to give anyone wearing a loincloth, a 10 percent raise. This blue paper signifies that your next paycheque, after opening day, will have the increase.”

Elina shook Su-Ning’s and Emi’s hand and Emi handed her the blue slip.

“This pink slip here is a special bonus just for the women since we are more exposed than the men it’s only fair we get a one time bonus of 500 dollars! Right girls! It will also show up on your first check after opening day. But it’s only for early adopters, so today and Monday, and then that’s it.”

Everyone cheered, even the guys.

Elina, the tall greeter who worked in the intake area of the resort took the pink paper and shook Emi’s hand again. Then she went back to her seat.

One by one, Su-Ning awarded those in loincloths in a similar manner. It was mostly guys, and the odd girl, but there were around 20 people here. Emi shook a few hands before it was all over. Roland looked like a kid-in-the-candy-store when he shook her hand. Bo, however, shook her hand somewhat vigorously.

When they finished, Emi put her sunglasses on again.

“Please spread the news to your co-workers that didn’t show up today. Also if anyone wants to REALLY have a good time tonight, we have a bunch of loincloths in that little changing booth that we set up near the water. It would mean the world to me if anyone wearing a robe, decided to just go for it, right now. Trust me, it’s a blast to be liberated, right Emi?”

Emi nodded, lifting a hand to the assembled crowd, showing that she had many more slips of papers to hand out.

Hannah whooped and ran to the curtain. Soon after, three of the robed women followed after her. Four more women stayed on their seats, looking torn with indecision. A slightly overweight man in a white robe also followed behind the three women.

Emi relieved that the presentation part was over and seemed to have been a success. She signaled Bo and Roland for the next part. They knew exactly what to do and ran off. They returned pulling two rickshaws across the sand, a one-seater, and a three-seater. The undercarriage of the bigger rickshaw had firewood and the smaller one had bottles of alcohol.

Bo pulled the large rickshaw, showing off his speed as he ran. “It’s not easy to pull those things on the sand,” he bragged out loud to no one in particular.

Roland was much slower, muttering something about needing to take it easy so as to not break the bottles.

Hannah, was now topless, wearing only a loincloth. She signaled Emi to come sit with her. Emi sat down while Su-Ning wandered away with Ho, the building manager. They seemed to be headed for the food table, away from everyone, deep in conversation.

“Look it’s Becca and Sam,” Hannah said, surprised. “Oh no… I hope Sam isn’t getting bawled out…”

Emi looked to where she was pointing. Far away, down on the beach, she could see them sitting on a log near the ocean. They seemed to be having a conversation. Sam was nodding. They were both wearing shorts and shirts. Emi hoped that Becca was mending things and not being hard on Sam. No, she felt confident that Becca was likely doing the right thing. “I think Becca is just fixing things,” Emi finally said, giving Hannah a reassuring look.

“I hope so… oh well, let’s party!” Hannah said excitedly, tossing Emi a bottle of peach cider.

Never was Emi so glad to have alcohol and she nodded in agreement. She saw another woman head towards the changing curtain. Emi was glad to see that.

“I hope Becca doesn’t mind me joining in like this,” Hannah said, indicating her half-naked state.

Emi smiled, thinking she had more to worry about than Hannah. Regardless, Emi was glad that Hannah was here with her, supporting the cause. And it felt good that most of the women were also in loincloths. Gradually the party started to feel somewhat normal to Emi as small groups gathered to chat. The fire felt comforting on her bare skin and the sun was getting low in the sky. She and Hannah talked about the Jacuzzi drama and Sam almost leaving. They laughed when they recalled Sam mooning the group. Curiously, Hannah didn’t ask Emi about her sudden choice to become a Resort Ambassador.

Gradually, the groups stopped talking and looked at the fire. It was a brief moment of just the sound of the crackling fire. Once in a while, an ember shot out, like a shooting star.

“Is it scary?” A robed woman asked Emi. “I mean, I saw you before and you didn’t seem like one to volunteer for… this,” she said, indicating Emi’s body.

Emi hesitated, while Hannah looked at her to see what she was going to say. Everyone turned and looked at Emi.

Suddenly Emi felt naked again, pressing her legs together but then she relaxed. “Yes… it’s scary at first, but then it’s very liberating,” she said, surprised that she didn’t have to lie. It was indeed liberating, to say the least.

Emi recalled something that she had read online recently. “It’s a profound feeling to not be defined by what you wear,” she said.

Emi noticed that some of them were hanging on her every word. “I ahh… I read that online, but I’m gradually finding it to be true,” she said, wanting to be completely honest.

One woman suddenly got up and headed towards the curtain.

That broke the ice and suddenly people were asking her all sorts of questions about what it’s like to be a Resort Ambassador. Emi tried to tell them that she didn’t quite know yet, as the resort hasn’t opened and this was her first day, but that didn’t stop the barrage of questions.

There were a lot of questions. Like ‘What if a group of new guests, a bunch of guys, take advantage of you pretending to need your help?’ Or ‘what if someone smacks your butt?’ Do they get thrown out of the resort? What if a teenager gropes you, do you toss out the whole family? What if he denies it? 

Emi started struggling to find answers as the questions got harder and harder.

The group continued: is the staff allowed to look at you? I mean, what if we are caught accidentally gawking?

Hannah jumped in to answer that last one. “Of course you can all look at Emi. You already are. She is here for everyone’s visual pleasure. Every part of her body is public now,” she said, indicating for Emi to stand up.

Emi wasn’t so sure about what Hannah was saying. She didn’t like where this was going but hesitantly stood up.

“Put your hands behind your head,” Hannah said.

Confused, Emi didn’t like this at all. It was embarrassing. She tried to think of how she could get out of this without…

“Just trust me Emi,” Hannah said, batting her eyes.

Emi reluctantly put her hands behind her head.

“Now slowly turn so everyone can see every inch of your naked body,” Hannah commanded.

Flushing, Emi complied. Wanting to hurry up and get this over with.

“Okay, you can stop now,” Hannah commanded, taking another drink of her cider.

Relieved, Emi started to sit down.

“I didn’t say to sit down. Back into position,” she said, gently. “I’m not finished with my demonstration.”

Emi hesitantly complied, not liking any of it.

“Now any time you want to gawk, just ask Emi to assume the position and slowly turn,” Hannah said, laughing. “It’s as easy as that!”

Everyone laughed, while Emi smacked her in the back of the head and sat down.

“No shit, really?” Roland said, smiling in wonderment.

Hannah nodded, but Emi pushed her so that she almost fell out of her chair. “Cut that out, Hannah. She’s JOKING Roland,” Emi corrected, hoping he could hear over all the laughter.

Hannah pretended to secretly signal Roland, nodding with an exaggerated wink, indicating that it was indeed true!

Everyone laughed. The ice broken had been broken. The questioning resumed.

How do you keep someone from seeing your, you know, when you bend over? Is it true that you will train the marketing team like that?  What about Yoga?

This was becoming too much for Emi. She didn’t know what to say.

“Take it easy guys! This is her first day. You’re going to freak her out,” Hannah said, protectively shielding Emi’s ears. Emi was looking shell-shocked and took a big swing of her second cider. She was thankful for Hannah’s intervention.

Bo got up and walked away from the chairs. A few of the ladies watched him go. He started showboating cartwheels in the sand, getting attention as his topless groupies cheered him on. Emi was glad for the distraction. Then he started pulling around the empty rickshaw in the sand wildly as if pulling it was a sporting event. He dared a few of the guys to beat him in a race, he would pull the big one and they could pull the light one. There were no takers.

“Emi could beat your ass without breaking a sweat!” Hannah yelled, causing Bo to stop comically as he considered the challenge by bringing his hand up to his chin in mock thought.

Emi laughed, shaking her hand ‘no thanks’ to the challenge. But Hannah wouldn’t relent and started chanting. “Race! Race! Race!”  Soon everyone joined in.

Emi saw that Su-Ning and Ho were headed back towards the fire-pit. Each had a bottle in their hand and they were watching with interest. They looked as if they didn’t know what was going on, but Emi was glad to see Su-Ning smiling.

“Here are the rules,” Hannah proclaimed. Since you are a muscle-stud there has to be an endurance aspect to this race to make it fair. So through the sand, near the water where it’s easier to run, you are both to race all the way to the gated fence… and back!”

Emi didn’t agree with any of this. But laughing and not wanting to be a poor sport, she bowed, finally accepting the challenge. Everyone cheered wildly; obviously, alcohol was playing a part.

Hannah pulled the two rickshaws side by side near the water. Then she leaned into Emi’s ear like a boxing manager, giving a pep talk. “You can take him. I know his type. His muscle is all for show. I highly doubt he is as serious about cardio as you.”

Emi moved into position and pulled down her sunglasses and picked up the rickshaw handles.

“So you really want to do this?” Bo said to Emi, starting to look uncertain, holding his own rickshaw at the ready. “It’s a long-distance to the gate and back.”

Emi turned and looked at him, giving him a cool, sun-glassed smile of utter confidence.

“Alright then! You can eat my dust!” He said, playing loudly to his topless fan club. They were bouncing and cheering for him.

Roland, Hannah and a couple of the guys were cheering for Emi.

“Goooo Emiiii!” Su-Ning yelled.

Emi spit on her hands and gripped the handles in mock exaggeration, Hannah bent down and scraped her hip with something. Looking down on horror Emi saw a large number nine on her hip. “Jesus Hannah, not here!” Emi panicked for a moment, then she realized nobody knew what it meant. Hopefully, people would think it was a horse racing number.

Hannah leaned close, so close that her lips touched Emi’s ear. “Listen to me Nine, I only have one command,” her drunken breath hot.

Emi rolled her eyes. But that was lost behind her goggle sunglasses. She probably didn’t need the sunglasses at that point, but she liked the additional coverage.

“Winnn…” Hannah said, dramatically. Then Hannah suddenly spun around and ran in front of them, like a streetcar racer girl, ready to signal the start. She suddenly pulled off her loincloth and waved it wildly in front of the two racers. Everyone cheered at the fully naked Hannah. The party was pumped.

“Ready…! Set…! GOoooo…!!!” Hannah threw the loincloth high into the air.

Bo took off like a bat out of hell. Emi was right behind him, hot on his pumping ass. Hannah bounced and screeched like there was no tomorrow as Emi quickly blew past her.

It was hard to pull a rickshaw in the sand, but being near the water helped. There was no way she could do this if someone was sitting in the rickshaw. Soon Emi found herself breathing quite hard. This was harder than just running. Bo was still moving faster than her, he was widening his lead. But Emi knew that his pace was unrealistic, or at least she hoped so.

After a few minutes, Emi saw that he was slowing down. His lead was diminishing. Emi was gradually making ground on him. This was a relief to Emi as she wanted the race to be close, at least. When she finally caught up to him she sensed that he didn’t know she was there. So she decided to surprise him, bypassing him.

It was harder to run further from the water, but Emi was able to move up and beside him. She saw that he was struggling to keep up this pace. They were neck and neck and Bo suddenly noticed her and boom he kicked it into high gear and pulled away again. This excited Emi, as she suspected that he had a lot less in the tank than she did but for the moment he seemed like he was going to win. Why did he want to win so terribly, she wondered as her breathing became labored and she picked up her pace. She didn’t want him to think he could leave her ‘in the dust’ so easily this second time.

After a while, with her again right on his tail, Emi heard him yell. “Oh yeah, baby!”

He surprised her by going into overdrive. He literally left her in the dust, and Emi began to wonder if she had underestimated Bo. He pulled ahead to an even greater extent than the last time. Emi really didn’t mind that so much. She was simply glad to have a break from being the only one nude at the party. She was also thankful that Su-Ning was so kind to her in her speech, but she felt a lot of weight in those words. She also thought that Hannah was funny when she drank, remembering her hot breath and her lips on her ear.

Lost in thought, Emi didn’t realize that Bo had nearly disappeared. She must be way behind now. She kept pounding along the sand, pulling the rickshaw for some more minutes until finally, the fence was in sight.  Bo seemed to have stopped. He was leaning against his rickshaw, gasping for air.

As Emi approached the gate he stood up as if this whole thing was ‘no sweat’ and started stretching a bit. Finally, Emi pulled up to the fence and touched it. Then she turned around, gasping for air herself. Bo looked at her, grabbing the handles he turned his rickshaw around.

“I see that you had a good rest,” Emi said, smiling but breathing hard. Her hands on her hips. She really needed a rest.

Bo returned her smile, looking up and down her body. “Looking good, Emi”

Emi pressed her lips together in a tight smile, hiding her embarrassment under his gaze. She wanted to show the same confidence back, but somehow his gaze threw her off. The soft wind on her sweaty skin reminded her of her nudity and she couldn’t quite meet his eyes. Her embarrassment was building, it was getting hard to think.

“Have a good rest,” he said, grabbing his rickshaw and then running away suddenly while laughing.

Emi realized that Bo wasn’t quite as unwise as he seemed. But she also wasn’t quite as tired as she’d let on. She wasn’t going to have the rest that he had, but then she didn’t really need it. Emi turned her rickshaw around and tried to match pace with Bo.

There was some back and forth on the way back and at one point Emi pulled ahead for a while but then they settled into being neck and neck as they approached the party. Bo looked like he was ready to die but somehow kept pulling out ahead of her. She matched him and decided to go all out at the end, but she felt sorry for him because he really wanted to win. Maybe to impress the girls?  It was almost comically how he seemed to be fighting for his life as he was trying entirely too hard.

In the distance, Emi could see two of the topless girls jumping down, cheering Bo on. Bo was trying to burst ahead but Emi could see that he was running out of gas. She knew that this race was hers as she began to pull ahead.

But then Bo pulled something out of his tank and Emi was starting to worry that he was going to injure himself or have a heart attack. Did he really want to win that bad? He was acting like his life depended upon it or this was more serious than the Olympics.

Emi couldn’t help herself and began to slow a little, allowing him to become neck and neck again. Suddenly, she no longer felt a strong need to win. She should probably let him win. It would make him and his fans happy. Why not, Emi didn’t care about this silly race that much.

The finish line comprised of two groups of people cheering wildly, wearing only loincloths.

They were neck and neck, and without making it seem obvious, Emi allowed him to move slightly forward. He passed the finish line a step ahead. The small crowd went wild.

Bo let go of his rickshaw which almost flipped as the handles suddenly hit the ground. He collapsed in the sand gasping for air, looking ridiculous as he rolled over on his back. Sand stuck to his sweating body almost covering him completely. Two women, his groupies, were near him and bouncing in glee with bottles in their hands.

Emi stopped her rickshaw and walked near the sea, gasping with her hands on her hips. She pretended to look out to sea, as she glanced down at her wet glistening body.

“That was an awesome race Emi,” Hannah said supportively. She was again dressed in just a loincloth. Emi was once again the only one completely nude.

Emi turned and looked at everyone. There were around 20 people on the beach. “Oh, everyone is in a loincloth.”

“Not everyone,” Hannah said, gesturing towards a woman in a white robe. She was sitting on the other side of the fire.

Bo was merrily chatting with some people, enjoying his glory. “I need a shower!” he said, laughing. Suddenly he got up and walked over to Emi and leaned close to her ear.

Emi smiled, expecting some gloating.

“You look really HOT… and sweaty,” he said.

Taken aback, Emi wondered what he was talking about. Yes, she was really hot, but did he mean that? His unclear ambiguity was confusing. She looked at him trying to figure him out.

He chuckled at her response and leaned in again. “Thank you,” he said with a knowing smile.

Emi’s eyes widened. He knew?

“Let’s go take a dip before we gross everyone out,” he said, changing the subject and walking towards the water. With his back to everyone, he reached down and pulled off his loincloth. Tossing it over his shoulder onto the beach before running and diving into the ocean.

Emi, being so close to the water and Bo, caught a glimpse of his junk as he dived. Emi laughed, shaking her head at the cocky fellow.

He had a good idea, a quick dip in the water would be quite refreshing. She decided to join him and soon found the idea of being covered by the ocean both refreshing and also comfortable as she was no longer exposed to everyone’s eyes.

He swam over to her. “Why did you let me win,” he asked, shaking his head of water and wiping his face.

Emi wasn’t sure if she wanted to admit it or not. She decided to play coy with this playboy. “Your a fantastic athlete, don’t sell yourself short,” she said, smiling.

He snorted a laugh. “At least you should pay for your deception by awarding the technical winner a hug,” he said, holding his arms out.

Emi knew that he was pushing her buttons. They were both naked and she didn’t like the idea of him intimidating her and so she seriously considered hugging him. It would certainly surprise him. “Alright,” she quipped. “That sounds fair.”  Emi looked at him expectantly, not moving a muscle, waiting for his hug.

“Really?” he hesitated, surprised at this turn of events. He looked at the shore party where a couple of people were watching them, and then back to Emi. He took a step forward in the water towards her.

It was Emi’s turn to snort, shaking her head. “Such a COSTLY hesitation Bo,” she said, turning and diving suddenly towards the shore. For the first time in her life, Emi laughed out loud under the water.

Emi emerged from the water. Hannah was waiting for her on the shore with a towel. Emi was grateful but decided to just dry her hair and her body and not cover up as she saw many eyes looking at her. She was a Resort Ambassador and she needed to project confidence no matter what she felt inside. It wasn’t easy, to say the least, but it helped that everyone was showing more skin than people usually do on a beach.

Bo suddenly emerged as well, covering his junk with a hand as he picked up his sandy loincloth. Turning to face away from everyone, he shook out the garment and pulled it on. There were lots of eyes on him, but his eyes were on Emi, catching her looking.

Emi smiled, resisting the urge to look away.

“No hesitation,” he said, pointing at her dramatically. “Got it!”  Roland came up to him passing him a drink. A couple of girls were nearby, watching him with interest.

Emi groaned. What did I get myself into, she thought, also turning away. It’s dangerous bantering with a playboy on even terms. She walked with Hannah, towards the fire, while continuing to dry herself. There were only three people there. An older male staff member, Lucy who was wearing only a loincloth and the final robed woman. The robed woman was in good shape, as far as Emi could tell, maybe almost 30 years old.

“Damn hard race,” Bo said, appearing behind Emi with Roland and a couple of girls. They also grabbed some drinks and sat around the fire. “It was a HELL of a race,” he saluted Emi, holding up his bottle.

Emi fumbled with her loosely held towel as she grabbed for a bottle to salute him back.

“I’ll take that,” Hannah offered, taking Emi’s towel from Emi’s hands.

Emi snatched it back. She didn’t want to lose her towel so soon. “I…” she said, looking into Hannah’s eyes. “I need it to sit on,” she said, folding it up and promptly sitting on it.

Hannah looked at Emi as if something was going on that she didn’t know about, but then sat down and grabbed a drink.

“Looks like the party is a big success,” Hannah said, indicating all the loincloths.

Emi saw the comment had made the last robed woman look uncomfortable. She shifted in her seat and was probably feeling like the odd man out.

“Yes, a hell of a race,” Emi said to Bo, holding her bottle up in cheers. She wanted to change the subject. “Those rickshaws are fun to pull!”

“I’ve never had a ride in one before,” the robed woman said.

“I’ll take you for a ride,” Bo said, getting up suddenly.

“Noo… you finally got back to the party,” one of his groupies pouted. The girl beside her was nodding in agreement.

“I’ll take her,” Emi said, smiling at the woman. “What’s your name?”

“Annie,” she said, suddenly looking excited. “Really? I can have a little ride?”

Emi nodded, liking the idea of leaving the many eyes of the party once again. Her cold bottle on her runway was a constant reminder that she was the only one completely naked here. “I just need to grab my running shoes. I keep a pair for easy access in a gym locker by the exit. I’ll only be a minute,” she said, standing and giving everyone the full monty. Looking down at her towel on the seat, she paused.

“Don’t worry. I’ll dry it out for you,” Hannah said, taking the towel, hanging it on the back of the chair.

“Thanks, Hannah,” Emi said, keeping the sarcasm out of her voice. She turned and ran for her running shoes.

Up ahead was Su-Ning and Ho, the building manager. They were talking with a couple of staff members by the food table.

Emi ran by, waving with a friendly smile. While it felt better having everyone around her topless with their asses on display, Emi realized that nobody was running and making a show of themselves.

They all watched Emi as she bounced along, waving back.

It didn’t take long for Emi to get her running gear. It was just her running shoes after all. Outside she didn’t have to go all the way back to the fire as Hannah was with Annie and a rickshaw up on the trail above the beach. Emi wondered if Annie wanted some time away from the party as well. After all, she was the only one robed. That probably felt awkward for her. They were kindred spirits, in a way.

“Looks like Sam and Becca have left,” Hannah said, holding up the handles of the rickshaw for Emi.

Emi took the handles and glanced to where Hannah was indicating. They were gone.

“Sorry for the trouble,” Annie said. “Just a little way is fine… we don’t have to go far.”

“Nonsense,” Hannah piped in. “Let’s go to the gate Emi.”

“Let’s?” Emi looked back over her shoulder, twisting her body.

“This is why we call her Superbum,” Hannah explained, indicating Emi’s ass while trying to climb in next to Annie without spilling her drink. “Let’s go Nine, get a move on!”

Emi winced at her friends’ drunken comments, which also reminded her of the big nine on her hip. She decided to take the order literally before Hannah was fully ready and took off running.

“Woah…. let me get seated, Superbum!”

The comment again annoyed Emi as she picked up speed, ignoring the topless blonde. After a while, Emi wondered if Annie was also glad to be away from the party.

“Quite the view, eh?” Hannah said to Annie.

Emi hoped they were talking about the sun low in the sky, but they probably were not as Emi heard a little giggle.

“So…” Hannah said, “What is holding you back from joining the loincloth revolution?” 

Emi heard silence, wincing at Hannah’s drunken bluntness. This was not the way to coerce the girl into taking off her robe.

“This is really fun you know,” Hannah continued. “Right Emi?”

Emi laughed. Fun? This was not as bad as back at the party, except that her ass was on display. But in general, this whole nude thing still felt like a surreal publicly naked nightmare. She knew she needed to get control of those feelings. She needed to wake up. But unfortunately those feelings were deeply rooted and a part of who she was. Her suppressed feelings of naked embarrassment are just too strong, although she was gradually learning to hide it and show a brave face. “Absolutely!” she finally said, cheerfully agreeing with Hannah as best as she could, for Annie’s sake.

“I ahh…” Annie began. “I am not that much of a prude,” she said. “It’s just that I have this big embarrassing tattoo on my back.”

“No way!  I LOVE tattoos,” Hannah said. “Can I see?”

“No way, it is like um… kind of kinky,” she said.

“Look, I’m an artist and I LOVE kinky… seriously!  Right Nine?”

Emi snorted in agreement.

“Yeah, right. You will laugh and tell everyone,” Annie said.

Emi felt some shifting in the seats.

“Oh my god, this is fantastic,” Hannah gushed. “Emi… stop. I have an idea.”

Emi stopped, and then twisted to see what they were doing.

Hannah turned Annie’s back towards Emi so that she could see her exposed back. 

Emi gasped as she saw a big tattoo of a woman’s face with a ball in her mouth, blindfolded and a leash on her collared neck.

“You’re going to LOVE this, Annie.”

Emi watched Hannah closely as the blonde dug through her hip bag and pulled out a leash and collar.

“No Hannah, absolutely not,” Emi said. Putting down the handles and stepping back.

Hannah leaned in towards Emi and used her eyes to indicate Annie. “Trust me… Lead Resort Ambassador… I’m just trying to help.”

Emi didn’t like the idea, not one bit, but she decided to trust Hannah and see if she could get anywhere with Annie. They were just the three of them far away from anyone else. It would be embarrassing, but it would be nice if they could have 100% success with the party and allow Annie to feel comfortable about her tattoos and thus join the staff for opening day. This was about Annie and her future employment.

Emi noticed that Annie looked mesmerized as Hannah clicked the collar on her neck and then attached the leash. Hannah noticed as well and gave Emi a little slap on her ass. The hit startled Emi and she glared at Hannah as the blonde picked up the handles and gave them to her. Emi took the handles, still glaring at her.

“Eyes down nine,” Hannah ordered.

Emi looked at her defiantly.

“Eyes down nine,” Hannah requested, a little more nicely.

Emi decided to play along. She could teach Hannah a lesson later. Reluctantly, she looked down, playing the part of a submissive.

Hannah climbed in and took her seat. “Let’s go Nine, forward strut!”

Strut? No way, Emi decided to just slowly jog as per usual.

Emi ran for a few minutes in silence. It was bad enough that she had to be naked, but wearing a leash and collar in front of a regular staff member really amped up the embarrassment. Emi was glad that it was just one staff member seeing her like this.

“Would you like to hold the leash?”

“I… ahh… yes.”

“Trade you for that robe?”

“What?… no, I can’t do that.”

“It’s just us girls out here, don’t worry.”

“Alright then… thank you.”

“My pleasure!”

Emi felt the leash changing hands. Hannah was making progress but it was hard to imagine Annie staying like this.

Up ahead of them was the gate.

“Alright, you will have to gently pull your pony to a stop.”

“Like this?”

Emi felt the leash being tugged so she slowed to a stop before the gate. She would have stopped automatically, but Emi imagined they liked to feel like they were in control. The whole thing was so silly.

“Now let’s go back,” Hannah said. “Tell nine to turn around.”

“Turn around? So that we can see her front?”

“No turn around so we can go back. I mean, unless you want to keep going forward? Here I’ll unlock the gate. The three of them heard the gate click.

There was no way in hell Emi was going to go through the gate naked. She snorted at Hannah’s antics and lowered her goggle sunglasses onto her eyes for safety. Just in case someone was near the gate and tried to come in.

“No! That’s crazy. We can’t go outside the gate naked!” Annie yelled.

Emi smiled. Annie was a girl with some sense.

“Sure we can. Sometimes Resort Ambassadors are supposed to make sure the beach around the gate is clean,” Hannah explained.

Emi knew that she was technically correct, but outside gate cleanup was just a task that Su-Ning and her had made up to keep Becca interested. It wasn’t really an ‘official duty’ even though it was added to the handbook in the main office.

“I… ahh… let’s just go back,” Annie said.

“Don’t tell me. Tell nine,” Hannah said, as she reactivated the lock on the gate with a loud click.

“Nine?”

Emi winced upon hearing someone else call her that.

“Can you turn around and head back?” Annie asked.

Emi quietly snorted, suppressing a laugh as she turned the rickshaw around and started back along the beach-side trail.

After a few minutes, it seemed like things were too quiet back there. She tried to take a peek at her passengers but her sunglass-goggles reduced her peripheral vision. So she lifted them up and took another look back over her shoulder and saw the two topless girls snuggling together.

Emi stopped and put the rickshaw handles on the ground. The girls seemed oblivious to the world around them. They were sporting contented little smiles.

“Hannah?  What are you doing?!”

“What? I was just comforting her! It’s not easy for her. Get your mind out of the gutter you randy little pony.”

Annie sat up, looking unhappy about the interruption and conflict. She gently pulled on the leash. “Nine… giddyup please?”

Emi rolled her eyes. Hannah had created a monster.

A minute later Emi’s watch rang, it was Evan. She commanded the phone to answer via voice. “Look Evan, I’m busy now. Can I call you later?”

“Emi… I really need your help with a time-critical client. Can’t we talk for a minute?” he said through the watch speaker. Everyone could hear him.

“Look, I’m in the middle of a run with a couple of co-workers…”

“It won’t take a moment. I’m sure you can answer while running. Please Emi!”

“What is it?” Emi said, hoping to hang up as soon as possible. She stopped briefly with a serious look to her passengers with her finger over her lips, singling them to be quiet. Then she resumed running talking out loud with Evan. Helping him through his technical issue.

A few minutes later. “Thanks Emi, you’re a lifesaver!”

“No problem, take care Evan…”

“Emi!!…”  “Yo Emi!” “Hi Emi…”

It was her old team. Plus Mathew was there too.

“Whatcha up to right now?” Doug asked.

“She’s running,” Evan answered for her. “She’s on a run with some co-workers.”

“That’s so unfair!” Doug said. “She never let us run with her! I wish we could be there with you now, Emi!”

Hannah gasped, sounding like she was suppressing the funniest thing that she had ever heard in her entire life. She was having trouble breathing. Annie also giggled.

Flushing, Emi couldn’t help but smile as well. Here she was, outside, running along naked with a leash and collar. Doug would have a heart attack and Evan would be in 7th heaven if they could see her now. Who knows how the rest of the team would react.

“That was nice of you to say. Maybe one day we can run together…”

“I’ve got some vacation time coming up.”  “Me too,” someone else piped in.

“Yeah,” Emi laughed nervously. This was starting to freak her out. “It’s like super rare for me to have spare time on this particular contract. Let’s shoot for next year when I’m closer to home.”

“But you are running right now…”

“She’s always running!” Hannah blurted out, before succumbing to another round of suppressed laughter, gasping for air as this was WAY too funny.

“I knew it!” Evan said, “We can be on a flight in a couple weeks if you want,” he added.

“Look guys! I’m serious. Don’t come. I’m way too busy. I won’t be able to hang out. I’m not even going to tell you where I work or what specific island I’m on!”

“Fine, whatever… did you want any more stories?”

Hannah laughed. “The island that we are on.. is called…”

Emi hung up, almost dropping the girls as she held just one of the handles, using the free hand to slap her watch. Then she turned and gave Hannah a deadly look.

“What? I was just kidding!  I wasn’t going to actually tell them.”

Emi kept looking at her. Then she felt her leash move a bit.

“Giddyup?” Annie said, shaking the leash gently.

“That’s the last voice call I ever do near you, Hannah,” Emi said, as she picked up the handles and continued her casual jog.

“Honestly, I was just kidding…  Emi…”

Emi ignored her.

A few minutes later they were approaching the party. The ride was almost over.

“Nine, stop please… I need to put on my robe.”

“Annie, why don’t you just enjoy the party. You have already done the hardest part,” Hannah said.

“No… I can’t. It will be too embarrassing.”

Emi watched the two of them as she reached around her collar to find the release.

“We will support you; don’t worry. I’m sure it will all be fine. We can talk with Su-Ning to make sure it’s okay if you like. Plus Emi will ‘keep her leash and collar on’ and help draw attention away from you.

The hell with that, Emi thought as she finally found the release as Hannah pulled on the collar making Emi lose the release clip’s position. “Hey!” Emi said.

“Just a little longer Emi, please,” Hannah said, looking at her pleadingly. “I’m practically doing your job here. The least you can do is help me, right?”

Emi growled in frustration. She had no intention of considering Hannah’s words.

“Look people have already seen our team play acting, it’s no big deal.”

Emi looked at her with annoyance, shaking her head. “I need to be a clean symbol in my new position, not a representative of kinky crap.”

“Look, it won’t be kinky. We will just be pretending that you are giving us a horsey ride. Like this is a stagecoach. That’s not kinky, it’s just us girls having some fun. Besides, imagine how happy Su-Ning will be if Annie here begins to feel comfortable with her new outfit.”

Emi didn’t like any of this at all. “So you want me to trust you,” she said. “Like how you almost told my ex-coworkers where to find me?”

“I told youu… I was kidddinggg…”

“Why don’t you want them to know?” Annie asked. “I thought you really believe in this stuff? I thought you were proud to be a Resort Ambassador.”

“I am,” Emi said. “Very much so… but with my ex-coworkers… it’s complicated. They are very much into perverted stories where the girls are… like… well, like this,” she said, indicating her leashed and naked self.

“Hmm… they seem like interesting fellows,” Annie said, smiling. “But I guess I get your concern.”

“Yes, this would fry their little brains,” Emi said dramatically. “Plus who knows if I will ever work with them again.” If they saw me like this, all professionalism would be out the door. It’s hard for a girl to get respect in this industry. I don’t need problems in my future, so I’d rather keep this ambassador position to myself and for the sole benefit of the resort.”

“I can respect that,” Annie said.

“Me too,” said Hannah. “Besides, we don’t want to scare Emi away from this cool new side gig. It would be a tragic waste.”

“I totally agree,” Annie said.

Emi didn’t like how the two girls were looking at her.

“Giddyup horsey?” Annie said, wiggling the leash a little.

Emi sighed, picked up the handles and resumed her casual jog. The party was just up ahead.

Bo was alone, and the first to greet them. His eyes grew large as he caught sight of the leash.

“Don’t get the wrong idea,” Hannah said, “We are just getting a fun horsey ride.”

“That’s not fair,” Bo said out loud. “I totally deserve a horsey ride, after all… I WON! Come on Emi, waddaya say?” he got down on his knees with his hands in a prayer pose.

Emi groaned, but she was happy that for the most part, Annie was slipping into the party pretty much unnoticed. Hannah took Annie from the rickshaw. They were headed towards Su-Ning. Emi looked back at the moron on the ground.

“Come on, Emiii…”

“Whatever, dipstick. Hurry-up, I don’t have all day,” her leash was in her hand and she was keeping it that way.

Bo moved around to her front and looked deep into her eyes. “I would really appreciate it if I could hold that,” he said, indicating the leash that she had clamped tightly under her hand.

“Just be happy that you are getting a ride.”

Bo turned on his charm, going all out, emanating intimate confidence. “It would mean a lot to me, as a winner, if I got a fair reward,” he said, gently. His deep voice resonating and his lips moving in just the way that only a playboy could do. “I mean I was the victorious champion after all… right?” he said, with a grin that hinted at more than just a horsey ride.

Emi couldn’t believe this guy. Who did he think he was?

“You can do this…” he said, gently moving closer. “I mean, it’s not like you to…  ‘hesitate’,” he said, with a little smile.

Emi took a step back. “Alright, you got me there. Okay, you can have the leash,” she said, unclipping the leash from her collar and handing it to him.

“Hey, that’s not…”

Emi grabbed the rickshaw handles and started moving. She felt him desperately climbing in the moving rickshaw.

“Wait for meeee…!” Roland yelled, suddenly running up from the food table.

“Common, I got you buddy!”

Emi felt someone else climb in.

“Thanks, Bo!” Rolland said, breathing heavily.

Emi heard a high five. Just what she needed. The playboy and the virgin, both surely staring at her naked ass.

“I can’t believe this,” Rolland said. “Rickshaw rides are fantastic!”

“Calm down little buddy,” Bo said. “Don’t annoy our horsey. Don’t make me regret letting you come with us.”

“Right, sorry…”

The ride wasn’t as bad as Emi had imagined. She was sure they were boring holes through her ass with their eyes, but that was a given. Guys are such visual creatures. At least she was away from the party, and her front was hidden from view.”

“What’s that for?”

“It’s a leash.”

“You mean, for Emi?”

“Careful little buddy. She only allows herself to be leashed by people she trusts.”

“I’m trustworthy!”

“It doesn’t work that way.”

“That’s okay. I’m happy with our ride as is.”

Bo laughed. “You should be.”

They moved along in silence for a while. Not wanting to get back to the party too soon, Emi decided to go all the way back to the gate again. On the trail, pulling was as easy as a light jog. She could do this all day.

The ride back was uneventful but Emi was shocked to see that there appeared to be a lineup when she got back. People were yelling “Horsey ride!  Horsey ride!”

As Bo and Rolland dismounted, two others ran up and jumped in. It was a male and female both in loincloths. Emi hadn’t met them before. Everyone was cheering. The party was a huge success and Emi could see Su-Ning with Ho at the end of the lineup. Su-Ning whooped out loud and cheered Emi with her bottle. Obviously everyone was getting drunk. Hannah came up and snatched back Emi’s collar and leash from Bo.

“Hey,” Bo said to Hannah.

“You’re not worthy,” she replied, walking away without looking back.

Emi gave a few more couples a ride up to the gate and back. Not everyone wanted a ride. An hour later, Emi was glistening with sweat as she picked up her final two passengers, Su-Ning and Ho. The sunset was coming fast so she needed to finish this last ride quickly.

The run to the gate was uneventful. As usual, Su-Ning was mostly on her phone. When they arrived at the gate Emi started to turn around.

“Wait,” Ho said, jumping out. Ho’s breasts were like half-deflated balloons and moved quite a bit as she walked to the gate.

What was she doing? Emi put the rickshaw down and looked at Su-Ning, who was still on the phone but also watching Ho with curiosity.

“Su-Ning… please come,” Ho requested.

“Look, I’ll call you later,” Su-Ning said as she hung up and dismounted the rickshaw and walked tentatively over to the now open gate.

Emi didn’t move a muscle.

“Kids!” Ho said, disgustedly. “Always a mess! Look at that firepit!”

Su-Ning peaked around the open gate, hiding her topless state from the outside. Ho walked right out there a few feet, completely relaxed to be on the other side of the gate in just a loincloth.

Emi didn’t like where things seemed to be headed. Curious, she walked over to the open gate, flicking down her google glasses. She peaked carefully, hidden by the fence so that nobody could see her.

“Let’s pick up these bottles,” Ho said, with a thick Chinese accent.

“I ahh… maybe later, Becca…”

“Becca not Ambassador now,” Ho replied quickly.

“But…” Su-Ning started to say, looking at Emi. “I don’t think…”

“Bah! I’ll do it!” Ho said, storming over to the firepit.

Emi saw that there was nobody for as far as she could see up the beach. The sun was quickly setting. She and Su-Ning were cowardly hiding behind the thick fence while Ho did all the work.

The two girls watched as Ho loaded her arms up with more bottles than she could carry. One would drop as she would try to put another on the pile in her arms. Ho was struggling.

“Jesus,” Su-Ning said, to nobody in particular.

Emi could tell by Su-Ning’s shifting body language, that she was about to suggest that they go help Ho. Obviously, it would be much quicker if they all did this and then got the hell out of there. Nobody was nearby. Still, it was a scary thought.

“I think…” Su-Ning started.

“Yeah, I’ll bring the rickshaw. Let’s go help her,” Emi said, completing Su-Ning’s thought.

Su-Ning nodded while looking just as reluctant as Emi about the prospect of going past the gate in only a loincloth.

When Emi grabbed the rickshaw and brought it to the gate, Su-Ning was already running wildly out to Ho. Su-Ning yelped and hooted like the half-drunk young person that she was, thrilled to be doing something naughty.

Emi ran down the path a little and then across the sand dragging the rickshaw. It would have been preferable if Su-Ning wasn’t so loud, she thought. She didn’t like this at all. This was real public nudity, and only she was completely naked. This was so unfair!

Su-Ning quickly wobbled over to the rickshaw with an armload of bottles and cans, dropping some along the way. Ho did the same. Emi quickly bent down to pick up everything she could, frantically tossing them under the rickshaw. Looking down along the beach, she suddenly noticed a few people swimming in the water! They were pretty far but likely they could see that she was naked if they looked. Emi picked up her pace and soon the rickshaw was loaded.

Su-Ning and Emi quickly pulled the rickshaw up to the path. It wasn’t far from the gate and Su-Ning jumped in the back. Ho was coming, but she was taking her sweet time. Emi didn’t like standing around naked like this, out in public, where anyone could come and see her. So she decided to pull the rickshaw through the gate. They could wait for Ho on the other side.

“Wait!” Ho commanded.

Emi waited. Finally Ho got in, and they headed towards the closed gate. When they arrived, Ho jumped out and tapped her watch app to unlock it. She pushed on the gate but it didn’t open. Looking at the gate in confusion, she tapped the watch app once again. She turned and stared at Emi, “Your app is not working!”

Emi was shocked. She couldn’t believe this was happening.

Ho continued to tap the watch in frustration, finally turning to Emi. “Turn around. We go through the town to the side entrance.”

Su-Ning gasped and covered her breasts with her hands. “No way. Why isn’t it working?”

Panicking, Emi let go of the handles and ran up to Ho. “Let me see that,” she said, indicating Ho’s watch. “You see that little red icon?” That means that you are not signed in. Emi tapped her own watch and the gate unlocked. She opened the gate while breathing a huge sigh of relief.

Ho laughed, “Good,” she said, walking back to the rickshaw. She climbed in and looked at Emi expectantly.

Emi ran back to them, keeping a wary eye on the swimmers. She picked up the handles and pulled them through the gate.

The ride back was uneventful and most of the people had left the party. There were now just a couple of staff members and the party crew. Janet, Lucy, Roland, and Bo were cleaning up.

“We can clean up in the morning,” Su-Ning said, climbing down from the rickshaw. “Everyone go home now. This party was a great success!” she yelled, high-fiving Bo and crew.

“Yes, it was good. But there was less than a third of the company here today,” Emi said.

“No it was perfect,” Su-Ning corrected. “The seeds have been planted. This was perfect timing,” she said, holding up her hand.

Emi high-fived her as well. It was finally over.

Su-Ning and Emi walked back to Emi’s room together.

When they got to Emi’s room, Su-Ning quickly dressed. “You were awesome today, Emi,”

“You too. We are a good team,” Emi said, crawling onto her bed. “I’ll see you tomorrow. I need… sleep… .”