Deep End

With toes in the water, her low hum echoes though the silence. The dim light of the moon shines in through the large windows of the glimmering pool room, illuminating her skin, making it glow slightly as she takes off the soft, pink cardigan she has draped over her small shoulders. Her hands comb through her dark, wavy locks before tying them back into a high ponytail.

The humming continues while her finger makes little circles on the water’s surface. Suddenly, her body tenses and her attention averts toward the entrance where she just heard footsteps. She waits a few moments, but nobody emerges from the darkness, so she continues undressing.

As she stands, hands fumbling with the button of her jeans, she hears more noise, this time from the men’s restroom.

“Pool’s closed,” she informs in monotone just like she always does when doing her after-shift laps and horny couples or thrill-seeking teenagers try and sneak in after closing.

The shush of running water fills the quiet. Eliza exhales and tugs her cardigan back on before striding over to the root of the noise. "Seriously sir, you’re not supposed to be here,” she explains once more. Upon reaching the door of the men’s room, she sees what she's dealing with.

He's about twenty-years-old with raven hair that is pushed back and slightly damp. Little wisps of his hair trail into his chocolate eyes that stare right into Eliza's, and for some reason, she cannot look away.

“What about you?” his eyes size her up. “Pool’s closed,” he mocks, his voice soaked with a challenge.

“I work here,” she explains after a scoff. “One of the few perks of being a swing shift hotel desk clerk, after hour pool access,” she puts her hands on her hips. “And last time I checked, the Jonas Brothers were not employed here,” her eyes squint at him. His demeanor repulses her.

His eyebrows raise, surprised, but not really. “You’re right,” he says before brushing past her and towards the water.

“Actually-” she calls after him; the boy stops and turns to her, waiting expectantly. “I was just about to some laps, so you can come back in an hour or so…” she trails off and begins taking off her clothes again, breaking eye contact with him while she walks towards a poolside chair.

After her white, strappy sandals are kicked off and Eliza begins to peel down her pants, a loud splash comes from the opposite end of the room.

“Are you kidding?” she talks loud, hoping his underwater ears hear. She pulls her jeans back up her hips and makes her way to the edge he's closest to wait for him to come back up.

His dripping body soon emerges. He grins at her sarcastically.

“What the hell are you doing?” she questions while trying to refrain from kicking his vulnerable head.

“Laps,” he says seriously and begins swimming on his back, returning to the deep end.

Eliza storms towards the other end with him, ready to complain when he is in earshot again, but he doesn't stop this time. He flips just under the surface and swims back on his stomach.

“Ew!” she screams softly to herself as she quickly strips her bottoms and dives into the water, speeding towards the raven-haired boy.

She opens her eyes a few strokes in and sees a blurry pair of legs a few feet in front of her. She kicks her feet on the pool’s floor and propels upwards to the surface.

“Nice free-style,” he compliments softly when her head is visible.

“What?” she snaps at him as if he‘d called her the most vulgar name in the English language.

He’s chuckling, that’s the first thing she notes. The next thing she comes to notice is his exposed body, his toned torso and muscular arms that rest on the sides of his athletic legs, that all resides just a few inches in front of her, but she makes her reluctant eyes crawl back up to his.

“Who do you think you are?”

He shrugs. “You already seem to know,” is his answer before he dips down so that everything below his nose in underwater.

Eliza knows he's right. “I just want you to leave," she tells him.

He eyes her intensely as he rises up from his crouched position. "Are you sure about that?" he asks, a devilish grin on his face as he takes a small step towards her. Eliza doesn't react. He takes another step.

Standing her ground, she says, "I'm absolutely positive."

Slinking toward her slowly, his lips are still stuck in a smirk. "Something tells me you wouldn't mind if I stayed..." his words grow quiet as he reaches his destination. Six inches from Eliza's body.

Although seemingly calm on the outside, her mind races. She had been in enough of these sort of situations to know what he was trying to do. It goes without saying that she wasn't surprised. One look at him and you'd know that's the kind of boy he is. And his fame can only add to it. It's obvious that there isn't a shortage of women who want him. At this very moment, at least thirty young women are outside waiting for him and his family to exit.

"This isn't going to happen, buddy," she says in a stern voice.

"What isn't?" his smooth voice wonders coolly.

Eliza knows that he knows what she's talking about and it angers her that he's playing oblivious. "I'm not going to have sex with you," she states blatantly, her frustration showing through.

His expression stays clam, but he decides to put a few more inches of distance between them. "Well," he starts, "you're very pretty, but sex wasn't exactly in my plan either."

Her eyebrows furrow. He must be joking. "Sure," is her only word before she swims off.

The boy watches her as she goes to the other side of the pool before making sure he is in the way of her return path. She bumps into his hard stomach and stands.

"I knew you weren't going to make tonight easy," she admits as she crosses her arms. He laughs. "I don't see what's funny," her voice is cold, his smile becomes smaller.

“I just want to talk to you," he tries to reassure her, his friendly smile makes another appearance. "It's lonely upstairs, my family is sleeping." Her lack of a reply makes him add say more. “I’m not a bad guy and-“

Her eyes roll and she cuts him off before he can finish. "I'm sure you could find someone, anyone else."

He makes a face that reads as confusion and then it calms to an unreadable expression. "Alright, I’m sorry for bothering you."

As he begins his exit Eliza starts to feel a pang of guilt instead of the relief she had anticipated. Maybe she was being a little rude. After all, she hadn't even given him a chance.

"Wait!" she hears herself gasp before she can stop it. He turns his head. She freezes momentarily. "Um, I- I guess I can talk to you for a while."

He smiles again, but it’s weaker than before. Another pang of guilt. “Thank you, but you’re right, I can find someone else,” a brief cause. “But you have been very kind.”

“Hey!” she frowns. “I’m actually not a bad person... I can be nice.”

“Sure,” he says and begins leaving again. She watches him go, fuming. Who is he to judge her? Where does he get off thinking he can just assume whether she’s nice or not?

After a few minutes of thinking, she realizes she had done the exact same thing and immediately wants to apologize, but he’s already gone. She hears herself sigh. Why was she so rude to him anyway? The more she thinks the more she sees how wrong she was in treating him badly. Like he said, he just wanted to talk…

She rushes out of the pool, dries off with the nearest towel, and yanks her clothes on, running out of the pool room to the front desk. “Josh- Josh!” she exhales once she gets there. She sees his reaction to her chaotic look and suddenly feels foolish for trying to get here with such speed.

“Can I help you with something?” he’s holding back a laugh, Eliza blushes with embarrassment.

“Oh…” she trails off and tries to come up with another topic. “Nothing in particular… just… you know, wanted to see you. It’s been awhile.”

He lets a laugh out. “Oh yeah?”

She admits that she came with a legitimate request. “I need to call the room that Joe Jonas is staying in tonight.”

Another laugh escapes his lungs. “I didn’t ever picture you as a Jonas Brother fan, Eliza.”

Her eyes roll. “Please Josh; you can make fun of me later.”

“Someone's in a hurry,” he comments with another chuckle as he picks up the phones, dials, and then hands it to her.

She takes the phone and stretches the cord it’s attached to as it rings, putting space between her and Josh, although he can still hear everything she says, it still feels more private.

“Hello?” he answers, his voice makes her jump. She didn’t think of what she would say.

“Um, hello. It’s the front desk,” is all she says. He waits. She still doesn’t know what to say. The silence still carries on.

“I’m sorry Miss, is there a problem?”

“Well, no. I was just… wondering if this is the right room,” she squeezes her eyes shut, ashamed that Josh can hear this pathetic conversation.

“Who are you looking for?” his voice is starting to sound impatient.

She waits a second, not wanting to have to say it out loud, to him. “Joe Jonas?”

He confirms it’s him, as if she didn’t already know by his smooth voice. Her cheeks are the color of rubies at this point. The phone call has not gone as planned. She knows she has to make up for it.

“Hey,” for some reason her voice becomes a bit higher. “It’s the girl from the pool.”

He laughs. “Is it really?”

“Don’t laugh,” she says defensively. “I wanted to apologize for the way I acted.”

She can almost hear his smile through the phone. “Apology accepted, girl from the pool,” he pauses. “Is that all you wanted?”

Did she sense a hint of hope in his tone? “Well…” she considers it for only a moment before speaking. “No.”

“And what else might I be able to help you with, Miss?”

Was his voice this cute earlier? “Come back downstairs,” her voice is quiet and inviting. She hangs up and turns to Josh. His smile is wide. “Oh shut up,” she tells him, heading back to the pool, trying not to make it seem as though she is eager to return.