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And welcome you to wonderland –
The official introduction of the new employees takes place the next morning. Too early even for Jared’s taste. Sandy’s awake and bouncing next to him when they make it into the staff assembly hall, which isn’t anything more than a roof on several wooden columns behind the staff quarters.
Jensen isn’t back yet, so Steve takes over the speeches part and the welcoming toast. Jared feels oddly disappointed, probably because everyone has been talking about Jensen so much that he wanted to meet the other man. He tries to ignore Sandy’s knowing smirk and curses, for the thousandth time, her ability to read him so easily.
Sandy has been trying to set him up with someone new since the disastrous end of his previous relationship with Rafael a few months back. Her insistence that the man of his dreams might be waiting on this exact island isn’t helping him be less annoyed about her playing matchmaker. Especially not since this island has such a long history for him. Finding the man of his dreams here really would be a miracle. He just doesn’t think it works that way, though. At least not twice.
Sandy's always telling him that there's a chance and that since he already found his dream boy here once, why not a second time. Jared just wishes he could believe it. He's sick of broken hearts and failed relationships that are all the result of his screwed up idea of the perfect man.
His version of perfect is, after all, ten years old and stems from a teenage romance he had on this island, in this very resort. He used to come here with his parents, brother and sister. They vacationed here until it wasn’t possible for his family any more.
He remembers three summers, three summers that he just can’t forget. The last one of those summers had shown him so many things that he was still holding on to.
“Hey, dreaming again?”
“Maybe?”
“Oh, Jay. We're here now. Trust me, there will be so much for you to see and discover.”
“I know, Sands. I know. It’s just … I'm kind of stuck. Stuck ten years ago. It’s like I'm 15 again. So many things have changed around here, but I feel like I'm still the same.”
Sandy flicks her hair back and Jared has to smile. It's such a habit of hers now that he's sure no one would be able to break her of it. She leans against his side, which forces him even closer to the column he's leaning against. She takes his hand and squeezes.
“No, Jared. Don’t think that. You aren’t that boy any more. And please stop blaming yourself for everything that's happened since then.”
“But …”
“No. It’s not your fault. You got sick; your parents cared and still care for you. Don’t you think they gladly sacrificed their vacation for the life of their son?”
“I know.. I just… I don’t know. I feel like it’s my fault that they couldn’t come back here. And now it's so expensive that they refuse to even consider it.”
Sandy hugs him then. Hugs him hard and he knows that without her, he would be in a very dark place. Bless her for accepting an internship in the hospital he was in back then. Almost nine years of friendship has carved him into the man he is now. He knows Sandy has a lot to do with his development, with growing up.
“I love you.”
“Yes, of course you do. Who else would keep up with you anyway? You are worse more then a toddler some days.”
“Hey …” His indignation falls short when a new voice joins them.
“I didn't know they employed toddlers these days. I hope he is easy to care for, because some of the guests are hard to crack and we don’t need more things to worry about.”
When he turns around, Jared momentarily forgets the biting words on the tip of his tongue because the sight that greets him creates a good chance that he'll agreeing with Sandy. Maybe there is a God and he will find the man of his dreams on this island … again.
Even if this man comes across as rather arrogant and snotty right at the moment. But damn, if those aren't the greenest eyes and prettiest features he's ever seen. Maybe he shouldn't call them pretty, though, because they are more gorgeous than anything else he's ever seen.
The smile he sees spites the words and Jared finds himself frowning instead of scowling, which seems to amuse his counterpart even more. The smirk-smile grows into a real one and Jared is caught. He doesn’t seem to be the only one. He's barely aware that he's returning the smile.
Sandy coughs next to him and the spell is broken. Jared even hates her for a nanosecond.
“Hey, Sandy. Good to see you here again.”
“Hi, Jensen. Couldn’t wait to come back here. And I promised to bring someone along. So here he is. Jensen meet Jared. Jay this is Jensen. Our boss for the next three months.”
“Uhm ... Hi. I am not a toddler.”
Jared thinks he might know now how Baby felt when meeting Johnny in Dirty Dancing, because hello watermelons. He has the urge to bang his head against the wooden column next to him and Jensen looks like he knows what Jared is thinking. If possible, the smile grows even more and Jensen looks suspiciously like he is trying not to laugh. Sandy, though, is less successful.
Jared tries to ignore her snickers and tries not to stare at Jensen, because that would be rude and inappropriate, considering that the man is his new boss. It really isn’t fair that the hottest man he has seen in ages has to be the one he works for, and therefore totally off limits.
“Good to know.”
With that Jensen is gone and Jared staring at the spot where he was just a second before, wondering if he just imagined the gleam in the deep green eyes or if it was really there. It’s Sandy’s cough again that brings him back.
“Not a word.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“But you wanted to and I know you. I won’t live that down for year, will I?”
“Nope, that was just too good. A classic Padalecki.”
She pats him on the back and skips over to where Kristen and Mike are discussing the opening menu for the monthly fireworks day. Mike, it turns out -- which Jared discovered during the part of the introduction he's still been listening to -- is the other gourmet chef and it's his mission to make Kristen’s life miserable. Cooking wise, anyway.
The day kind of flies by after that. He sees Jensen once, when he and Chris try to get one of the speed boats back running. Jared briefly thinks that Kristen must have gotten something wrong, because Jared can’t really believe that Jensen would have been so eager and excited to have him on the team. Jensen's been ignoring him ever since the little episode that morning.
But then Jared gets so busy that he doesn’t even have the time to get a proper meal. Being head of the entertainment and spa department is harder than he thought it would be, different from anything else he'd done before.
He doesn’t see his room until late that night and he doesn’t even see Sandy all that much, because Sandy works in the spa and Jared only gets to check on those parts of the resort after he is finished with checking everything else. Which means checking every single piece of entertainment equipment in every single guest room or house in the confines of the resort.
Exhausted is an understatement when it comes to describing how he feels after almost a week of this routine. He's happy to have one of the most awesome beds he's ever been in. And he tells Steve this repeatedly, because Steve is the one responsible for outfitting everything in the resort. Steve just smiles and lets him ramble and praise the awesomeness of the bed.
He actually finds the time to go onto the island hoping tour Chris had talked him into that first day. It’s exciting and Jared learns a lot more than he thought he would. He learns that Jensen can actually be nice, like really nice and that he's got this way of making people feel comfortable after only knowing them for a short while. The sad thing about this though is that it’s directed toward their guests and most often not toward Jared.
Jared also learns that Jensen might be one of the busiest people he's ever known. Jensen's running the resort with help from his uncle and yet he still tries to help with the development of environment preserving projects all over the islands. So, Jared thinks, there might be a reason why Jensen mostly ignores him, he simply is too unimportant right now.
During the tour, Chris gets him set up with a lot of dates for spa and entertainment stuff. Jared is quite happy to talk to the guests about their wishes, because setting up dates and organizing things for them is about the only real contact he has with them.
When they come back to the resort that evening, Jared’s to-do-list and time planner are full. He's exhausted, but has ideas and already knows what he wants to do for some of the guests. A pair stays behind to talk to him about their 25th wedding anniversary and Jared is so engrossed in plotting and planning that when they finally leave with satisfied smiles on their faces, Chris is already gone, and so is Jensen.
Steve just smiles, tells him to go and relax a little. Jared wonders if he's imagining the knowing looks Steve sends him, he is, after all, pretty tired and hallucinations aren’t that uncommon in his state of mind.
Sometimes, Jared thinks being on this island is life's way of telling him there are good things waiting for him, despite being exhausted and wishing he had more time to explore. Jared doesn’t mind so much when he sees the sun set or rising, when he see the blue of the water up close and has a chance to revel in being in a true paradise.
Despite all the work he suddenly has to do, Jared tries to keep his daily routines. One of them is his jog along the beach before breakfast. It's during times like this that he misses his dogs, who are back in Texas at his parents' house.
He misses them so much that sometimes he thinks about looking for another job. He knows he isn’t made for a steady 9 to 5 office job, but maybe something closer to home and something that would allow him to settle somewhere and have his dogs with him.
He's been traveling around the world for the better part of the last six years. Sometimes he thinks it’s all due to being in a hospital for so long. Maybe he wants to make up the time he lost and to see everything he can before it's too late. He lives his life as much as he can, but lately he wonders if that’s really all there is or if perhaps there's something more.
He jogs along the beach that is furthest from the guest houses -- this way he won't disturb any of the guests. Privacy is one of the most important features of the resort. He knew that already, from when he was here on vacation and had always respected other guests' private spheres. He tries his best to keep it that way.
The sand is cool under his bare feet and the sun, a shimmering half circle above the horizon. It's early and he enjoys the quiet, enjoys the opportunity to let his thoughts wander. He's learned that he needs these early hours of the day to prepare for whatever may come, and that if he doesn’t have them, he’s more likely to be cranky and may even get sick.
The lone figure sitting close to the water startles him a little. It’s the first time he's noticed anyone here this early. When he gets closer, he sees that it’s Jensen and suddenly feels like he's intruding. The other man sits still, impossibly still even. There isn’t a single movement detectable in his body, other than the rise and fall of his chest. So, Jared thinks, at least he's still breathing.
It looks so peaceful that Jared is kind of entranced. He just stands there watching, not realising when he lets out a sigh of contentment. At that moment, Jensen slowly looks up, eyebrows raised and face blank. They look at each other for a moment until Jensen smiles and points at a spot on the sand, right next to where he is sitting.
“Join me. You seem like you need some quiet time.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just that you had a lot to do lately and that I don’t want my employees wearing themselves out. Sit and be quiet.”
Jared sits. He’s not sure why he does it, instead of just walking away. He has no idea how to read Jensen, what to think of him. He’s also aware that he just followed orders like a good dog and he swears that if Jensen should say something along the lines of “good boy,” he’ll punch him.
They sit, Jared mimicking Jensen – legs crossed, arms placed loosely in his lap. From time to time, Jared glances at Jensen, but the other man has his eyes closed and Jared doesn’t dare to say a word. It is nice, he realises after a while.
He loses himself in the quietness that surrounds them. It’s not actually quiet at all, but Jared feels like this is the quietest it's been for him recently. He stares at the water, transfixed by the rising sun reflected in broken lines and blinking spots. He thinks he needs more of this, needs to have time to settle and come back to himself. He curses Sandy for being right all along.
Jensen’s voice startles him, enough to make him jump a little.
“Did you settle in alright?”
“Huh?”
Jensen smiles at him and Jared again feels like the biggest idiot ever born. It seems like Jensen reduces him to a stuttering 15-year-old and Jared can’t do anything to stop it. He has to blink until Jensen frowns and Jared realises he’s been silent for too long – long enough to come across as either idiotic or arrogant.
“Yes. Yeah I did… I mean I settled alright. I.. Yes.”
So much for being articulate and not stuttering. The urge to bang his head against something hard returns with a vengeance, but Jensen is chuckling softly and Jared doesn’t dare to open his mouth again. At least not when it had to do with having to talk, Jared wouldn’t mind doing something else with his mouth when Jensen was close.
Jared has to hold back a snort because right now he sounds like Chad, and that’s never good. Thinking about wanting Jensen and sounding like Chad in the same context kind of makes Jared want to run from his own thoughts. He isn’t even sure why he’s thinking it anyway. After the past few months he’s had, he’d decided to ignore any kind of desires his body had that didn’t have to do with food.
“Good.”
Jared snaps out of his own head again, only to be greeted with another one of Jensen’s lazy smirks.
“I need you up to your best, because from tomorrow on, we’re completely booked.”
Jared groans at the thought of even more work and stress, but Jensen just pats him on the head, ruffles his hair and winks at him.
“Be ready to drop dead at the end of day.”
With that, Jensen’s gone and Jared is left to wonder if he just imagined the mischief in Jensen’s eyes or if the sun was playing tricks on him. He’s also still reeling from the fact that Jensen actually talked to him instead of delivering his usual ‘ignore Jared’ treatment. Jared wonders what he did to earn that.
Turning around to jog back to his room, Jared kind of wishes he knew how to read Jensen. The other man is some kind of an enigma to Jared. And, he thinks, it might have something to do with the fact that they didn’t really have much contact during the last couple of days. Jared wonders why he always starts to crush in the mysterious ones. It always gets him and it never turns out well. He should probably try to stomp on the growing crush on his boss. Stomp on it really hard and maybe even bury it more than six feet under.
As he walks back, he notices Chris and Tom working on new decorations for one of the resort’s restaurants. He sees Mike pulling huge containers of packed goods, and it reminds him of Jensen’s words on the beach. It sets Jared in the right mood for work and within minutes, he’s showered, changed, and on his way to the spa section to start stocking up.
He has the feeling that Jensen wasn’t joking when he warned Jared about the next several days. Even if Jared secretly wishes he was.
Part 3
