Welcome to Paradise (I)

"Lai! Over here!" Zhenya exclaimed, waving at her.

She was told to meet the Sales Department at Ebony Café. It was time for them to spend the weekend at the Cerulean Luxury Hotel and Spa - their reward for winning the athletic meet.

"Hi," Lai said as she sat down next to Na.

Zhou came to their table to take their order.

"Let's have something to drink before we go," Zhenya said, "Jingyi is our driver for this trip. Isn't he so sweet?"

Na and Lingxin laughed. Lai looked at Zhou and greeted him.

"How's Little Teng?" she asked him.

He smiled as he wrote down their orders.

"He's doing okay," Zhou replied, "He has exams soon so he's been busy studying. I'll get your orders ready."

Zhou walked away and Na nudged her side.

"I always see this cutie when I come for my iced Americano," she told Lai, " He's your friend, right? Is he single?"

Lai smiled and shrugged.

"He's single, but I think he already has his eyes on someone," she nodded.

"Bummer," Zhenya mumbled, crossing her arms.

"Anyway," Lingxin said, cutting their conversation short, "Thanks again, Lai. Thanks to you, we can go rejuvenate at this expensive hotel."

"Yeah," Jingyi agreed, "Even if I saved money for three months, my salary could only afford me one meal there."

"Is it that expensive?" Lai asked, raising her eyebrows, "I mean, I heard that famous celebrities love it, but I had no idea it was so expensive."

Na and Zhenya giggled.

"It's super expensive, Lai," Na sighed, "That's why we're super grateful that you're our saviour."

"We'll get to busk in the same sun as celebrities!" Zhenya cheered.

Zhou arrived with their drinks and placed them on the table.

"Thank you, Zhou," Lai smiled at him.

He nodded and left.

"Okay, children," Na teased, grabbing her drink and standing up, "Let's grab our drinks and go to paradise!"

Lai and the rest laughed as they stood up. They walked out the door and Lai stayed behind, wanting to greet Wen who ran to her, giving her a warm hug.

"Lai!" Wen crowed, "My favourite human being, how are you?"

Lai giggled.

"I'm great," she said, "I just wanted to see you before I head out. I haven't had a chance to talk to you because work has been rather busy."

"Don't worry about it," Wen assured her, softly pinching her arm, "You have fun at that hotel. It's to die for. Honestly, if I could, I'd spend my entire life there."

They both chuckled and hugged one last time before Lai left. She saw Lingxin and Zhenya sit at the backseat of the car, while Na and Jingyi sat in the front.

The car was an SUV. She sat at the back and buckled her seatbelt. Jingyi was their driver.

"Let's go!" Zhenya chorused, raising her hand in the air. They reached the hotel after thirty minutes.

"That was a long drive," Na said as she jumped out of the car in the parking lot.

Lingxin nodded as he held the door open for Zhenya and her.

"Such a gentleman," Zhenya told him, patting his shoulder as she walked out of the car and stood next to Na.

"Thanks," Lai told him with a nod.

Jingyi was taking out the bags and suitcases in the boot. Na rushed to help him, Zhenya doing the same.

Lai and Lingxin gathered their bags and suitcases in one place. Jingyi then closed the boot, locking the car.

"Let's go and check-in," he told them as he began to walk to the hotel's entrance, clutching the handle of his suitcase.

They followed close behind. Lai's eyes darted everywhere as she took a glimpse of the hotel's exterior and the area surrounding the hotel.

People were out and about, some in their casual clothes, others in their swimwear, and others in their formal wear.

"Good day, sir," the receptionist greeted Jingyi with a professional smile, "Welcome to Cerulean Hotel and Spa. Do you have a reservation?"

Jingyi nodded.

"It should be under Nero Inc. Sales Department," he told her.

The receptionist nodded and began to type out the company name. She found it on the system and bent down to grab the room keys.

"Here are your room keys," she gave Jingyi five plastic cards keys with room numbers on them, "Your room numbers are 520 and 521. They are ensuites. Room 521 is for the ladies and Room 520 is for the men."

Jingyi nodded and handed out the room card keys to everyone.

"Here are brochures with information on what we offer," the receptionist gave him the brochures which he passed out to everyone.

"If you have any questions or need anything, please call the number at the bottom of the brochure."

Lai and everyone nodded.

"Enjoy your stay," the receptionist added with a bow.

They smiled and bowed back, grabbing their luggage as they headed to the elevator.

"I just want to go to the spa already," Zhenya excitedly stated.

Na agreed.

"Let's go leave our luggage," Na said as they stepped inside the elevator, "and head there. Are you okay with that Lai?"

Zhenya looked at Lai who nodded with a smile.

"Great!" Zhenya grinned.

Now, there were two women who were also in the elevator. They wore miniskirts and cropped shirts.

"What do you wanna do?" Lingxin asked Jingyi.

The two women had been secretly stealing glances at the two men.

"You ask them," the one woman softly whispered as she nudged her friend on the side.

"Argh! Why me?" the friend replied, suddenly blushing.

"Just do it!" the friend whisper-yelled.

The woman internally groaned and sighed.

"Um, excuse me," the woman spoke, softly poking Jingyi's arm.

Jingyi turned to her, surprised.

She was a beautiful woman with short wavy brown hair. Her friend had long, black, straight hair that reached just above her butt.

"Sorry," the brown-haired woman said, clasping her hands together, "I couldn't help but hear your conversation. Would you guys like to hang out with us?"

Lai and Na exchanged a knowing look.

'They are flirting,' Lai thought.

"Us?" Lingxin pointed at Jingyi and him in bewilderment.

The brown-haired woman nodded and tugged some loose strands of hair behind her ears in a rather flirty and suggestive manner.

"That's if you guys don't mind," she told the men.

Lingxin and Jingyi exchanged perplexed looks. Zhenya nudged Lingxin.

"Come on," she whispered to him, "There's no harm in hanging out with them. Plus, they are real beauties."

Lingxin internally sighed in defeat. It was true that they were both very attractive women.

"Well," Lingxin finally spoke up, looking at Jingyi, "If my friend is okay with it then sure."

Jingyi nodded.

"I'm down for it."

The brown and black-haired women smiled in satisfaction.

"Great," the brown-haired woman replied, "We're just going to our room to change. Seeing that you both just arrived, we will meet downstairs in let's say fifteen minutes."

Jingyi and Lingxin nodded.

"This is our stop," the woman added as the elevator stopped on the fourth floor, "See you guys later."

With that, both women stepped out and waved at the men. They waved back as the elevator doors began to close.

When they closed, Na laughed out loud.

"Wow," Na said, "You guys got asked out by two beauties already? Well, have fun! Though I don't get what they see in you guys."

Na shrugged and crossed her arms. Lai let out a soft chuckle.