Welcome To Crete Chapter 17

The pool competition

When Fay got back to her apartment she found Sal asleep on the sofa.
"Wake up! We've got a pool contest to win," Fay shouted.
"What?" Sal sat up with a dazed expression.
"Come on," Fay said, grabbing her arm and dragging her up, "if we get in there early we can get some practice in."
Sal stretched and then focused on Fay. "It's all right for you, you're brilliant at it but I can barely pot a ball."
"It's just a bit of fun, so what we going to wear then?" she said, trying to encourage her enthusiasm.
"You're actually asking me! You are keen. So how did your lunch with Adam go then?" Sal digressed.
"It went fine," Fay answered vaguely.
Sal studied her smiling face however and read between the lines. "You seem in a good mood. Would he be going tonight as well then?"
"Yes," she admitted, "but only because Ruth saw us by the lake," Fay replied defensively. Sal threw her a knowing look. "Hey, I can't help who Ruth invites to the bar."
"Come on then," Sal said suddenly, racing into the bedroom.

"I think you should wear this, with this," Sal said, lying out the clothes on the bed.
"What are those?"
"They are my clothes, you can borrow them. They're perfect for a pool night."
Fay picked up the pair of jeans. "They have holes in them."
Sal grinned. "Designer holes, strategically placed," she added.
"Hmm." Fay looked unconvinced. "How close to the top of the leg could this one get?" Fay said, poking her fingers through a slit at the back.
Sal dismissed her comment. "It's not that bad, and anyway he's seen more of your legs today in those shorts."
"Yes, but I didn't purposely put those on to be seen."
"Look, he told me to dress you so you're getting no choice."
Fay sighed, glancing down at the jeans again. "Okay, I'll try them on after I've had a shower."
Sal smiled. "Good girl."

Half an hour later Fay turned by the mirror to take a look at the jeans from the back.
"Sal I'm going to be playing pool remember, there'll be bending over which makes me considerably concerned about this slit in the back of these jeans."
"It's not that bad, the slit is no higher than a pair of shorts anyway."
Fay turned around to inspect her front. "This shirt isn't much better either; you'll be able to see my bra, especially when I'm bending over!"
"Oops, I forgot. There's a bra to go with that." Sal ran into the other room and came back with a matching coloured bra. "See, it'll be disguised now."
"Hmm, you'll still be able to see it underneath."
"Oh Fay, stop being an old woman! It's part of the outfit. Look, I've got a similar outfit too. I'll put it on if it'll stop you from moaning." Sal disappeared into the other room to change.
"An old woman did you call me? How extremely rude!" Fay shouted out of the bedroom door.
"You will be if you don't chill out!" came the reply. "Wait two secs, I've got to do the finishing touches."
"Oh hell, what else?"

Sal appeared in her bedroom again. "Here, put on this belt; and I think you should wear your hair up." Fay tied it up with a band. "Hold on Fay, let me do it. Sal took the band out and put Fay's hair up again, letting a few strands and curls fall loose. "You shouldn't scrape it back so much." Sal grinned as she played with the curls by Fay's ear. "Tease him with it...I saw him playing with your hair last night." She winked at Fay. "Come on, you're ready to go."

'The Wheelhouse' was all but empty when they arrived and Ruth was busy laying out food at the back end of the bar, near to the pool table.
"Need any help Ruth?" Fay offered.
"No I'm pretty much done. You two are early," she said, glancing up as they sat down on the bar stools.
"Yes, thought we could get in some practice before it all gets competitive in here," Fay replied.
"You shouldn't need any practice Fay; I hope you haven't lost your touch."
"Nah, she'll murder them," Sal added.
"I'm getting us two a drink Ruth, I'll write it on the pad," Fay said as she made her way around the bar and pulled out two beers from one of the fridges.
"No problem," Ruth shouted back.

They took their beers over to the back of the bar to take a look at the food that Ruth had laid out.
Ruth stood back, admiring her efforts. "Better than those meager sandwiches they serve at 'Charlie's' don't you think?"
"Much better Ruth." Fay and Ruth grinned at each other. "Right come on Sal, pool practice."
Fay laid out the balls and picked up a pool cue. "I'll break."
"Hey, give me a chance!" Sal exclaimed.
"It's just a practice. I'll make sure you pot some, don't worry," Fay assured her. She took a shot and potted three balls. "Oops. Here you'd better have a go." Sal picked up a cue and glared at Fay. "Just make sure you get your eye level down the cue and take your time." Sal went to take the shot. "Wait!" Fay shouted suddenly. Sal jumped and looked up at Fay with a frown. Fay gave her a sheepish look and redirected the end of the cue. "Sorry, you were off line."
"Hmm." Sal turned her attention back to the table and took the shot, potting the ball.
"There you go, told you you'd do it," Fay said triumphantly.
Sal put her hands on her hips. "Well that'll be just great...if they let you line up all the shots for me!"
Fay shrugged. "I just gave you a teeny bit of help." Sal looked deflated. "Okay, I'll go get more to drink and leave you in peace for a bit," Fay said, moving away.

Fay went back to the bar and found that a group of girls who worked at a huge hotel complex had entered and were sat chatting together. They turned when they saw her.
"Hi you lot, has Ruth got you lined up for pool as well then?"
A blonde girl with glasses answered. "She certainly has. We're going to do our best, aren't we girls?" The murmurs and shouts of general confirmation could be heard coming from the group.
"So is this going to be a regular thing then? I haven't seen you in here for ages Susie," Fay commented.
"I don't see why not, for as long as I can keep this lot interested. Until the summer starts getting busy anyway." Susie looked down at Fay's empty bottle and shouted across to Ruth. "Hey Ruth, can you get Fay a beer and put it on my tab please?"
Fay smiled. "Thanks Susie." She passed her the bottle and Fay held it up to hers to clink. "Here's to slaughtering 'Charlie's' tonight then."
Susie burst into laughter. "Yes but let's hope without too many fights breaking out!"
"Hmm, I'd better monitor Ruth's drinks then."
Susie grinned. "Well that's okay but who's going to monitor yours?"
"That's right Fay, you weren't too successful the last time you were supposed to keep me sober," another girl chipped in.
"Talk about an impossible task though Jo!" Fay came back.
"Well at least I made it home that night, where did you spend the night then Fay?"
"Where did you spend the night eh Fay?" She felt a pair of hands on her waist and turned her head to see two familiar, inquisitive, brown eyes staring down at her.
"Oh hello."
A smile played around Adam's mouth. "So?"
She tried to act casual. "At a friend's house of course."
"A likely story." Susie said, glancing at Adam with interest. Adam looked at Fay with a raised eyebrow and moved to the bar to order a drink.

Susie moved to speak into Fay's ear. "Who's he?"
"Oh he's just my new boss."
Susie's eyes widened. "Is he single then?"
Fay thought for a minute. "I think so."
"What you mean you don't know?" she replied incredulously.
"Well put it this way, I haven't seen any woman following him around."
"I shouldn't think it would take him long, he's gorgeous!"
Fay looked over at him then and a slight frown crossed her face. Then she gave a small laugh. "No, I don't think it will take him long, he's a bit of a flirt when it comes to women."
"Oh lord, how am I going to keep this lot under control?" Susie said looking at the group of girls.

"So, is this the other team then?" Adam asked Fay under his breath when he returned from the bar.
"No, believe it or not these are part of our team. Seems that Ruth has been busy since we last saw her."
"Hey Fay, aren't you going to introduce us?" one of the girls shouted out.

Oh, she might have known Jen would pipe up!

Fay smiled at her. "Yes, everyone this is Adam, Adam...well everyone."
"I'm Jen," she said reaching past Fay and holding out her hand for him to shake. Fay watched as they shook hands and Adam turned to see a host of female eyes on him all at once.
He grinned. "So girls, who's good with a pool cue?" Fay watched him with suspicion as the girls flirted with him. His eyes flicked to her then and he winked. She held his gaze.

Why did that make her feel good? And why was she looking at him, looking at them, looking at him? Did that even make any sense? Fay was losing it, she had to get a grip!

She turned away abruptly then and decided to find Sal but Adam halted her with a touch on her arm.
"Where you running away to?"
She shrugged. "Just going to find Sal."
He frowned at the cold tone in her voice and followed her, grabbing her by the waist. "What's up partner?" She looked over her shoulder at him. "Pool partner, we're pool partners tonight," he explained.
"We are?"
"Of course." He moved to the side of her, putting his arm around her shoulder.

What was going through that head of hers now? She was so hot and cold; he couldn't work her out.

They found Sal still practicing pool and she turned to Fay when she saw them approaching. "I think I'm ready for a bit of a game now."
"Okay," Fay said simply, picking up a pool cue.
Adam leant across to speak to her. "Sure you remember the rules?"
"Just about."
"I could give you some guidance," he said, sliding his hand to her waist with a grin.
"No thanks, I'll manage."

Sal went first and dispersed the balls. Fay gave her an encouraging look and then leant over to take a shot, glaring back away from the table at Adam. He looked at her quizzically. She held his gaze as took the shot, potting the ball. His eyebrows rose in a look of surprise and she gave him a smug smile, moving around the table to take another shot. She potted the second ball and Sal called out, "No fair!"
Fay laughed then and handed Adam the cue. "Perhaps you should play with Sal for a bit, would give her more of a chance."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "You've been holding out on me." She grinned and shrugged her shoulders.

Before long Ruth had organized the teams and the competition began. 'The Wheelhouse' put Fay on first to encourage the rest of the people in her group. She won the game easily, receiving some hostile looks from the competing team. Then Susie played and their group began shouting out and cheering her on. There was great applause every time she potted a ball and the game came to a tense finish as they chased the black ball around the table for a couple of shots. Susie eventually potted it and the crowd jumped up and down with excitement.

As the games continued the opposing team began to look more and more annoyed, particularly at the ease in which Fay could win a game. One of their team members approached Ruth, who was standing in the middle of a group in 'The wheelhouse' team.
"We think you have an unfair advantage."
Ruth looked up with a frown. "Why?"
"Come on, she can obviously beat anyone here," the woman said, pointing to Fay who grimaced.
"What do you want us to do about that?" Ruth replied.
"We think she should play with a disadvantage to give everyone else a fair go."
Ruth looked taken aback and Fay interrupted, "It's okay Ruth, I'll play at a disadvantage."
She became nervous at the sudden hostile atmosphere and the look on Ruth's face. Fay touched her arm and reassured her quietly. "It's okay."
Ruth turned suddenly then to the woman. "Fine but we use Fay on the deciding game then."
"Fine," the woman said, moving away.

The last game was set up and Fay took the pool cue with a deep breath. Adam was standing beside her and he squeezed her arm, leaning over to whisper into her ear, "Go get 'em champ." She took the first shot but potted no balls, which was unusual for her.

Why was she so nervous? She had to calm down.

Her opponent followed and potted a ball.

He was good, damn!

He potted a further three balls and left the white ball behind a red, blocking her way. She looked over at the team nervously but they cheered her on and Adam gave her a smile, winking at her. She took the shot and managed to avoid the red ball, doing the best she could to put the white in an awkward position. Her opponent continued, to her dismay, potting the rest of his balls and leaving only the black. He went to shoot and she held her breath. He missed! The crowd cheered and got fiery looks from the opposition.

Right, she could do this now; she just had to stay calm.

She potted the first ball easily and lined up the white for her next shot.

She could get this one.

She potted it and began to relax a little, potting the next, and then the next ball. Finally there were no more yellow balls left on the table and she only needed to pot the black to win them the competition. She suddenly had a huge attack of nerves though as the pressure got to her. She surveyed the table and looked over at Sal and Adam, biting her lip. He smiled at her encouragingly and mouthed, "Go on." She leant down and took the shot, not daring to look at its path.

Suddenly the whole room seemed to explode into action as people cheered and jumped out of their seats. Adam ran over and flung his arms around her, lifting her off the floor and laughing. Ruth reached up and gave her a high five as she clung onto Adam's arms while they were jostled and jolted by the frenzied crowds. She eventually slid down him but her smile slowly faded away then as she felt every contour of his body move against hers. She stood motionless, staring straight ahead at his shirt collar, not daring to look at his face. He glanced down to see her cheeks flooding with colour and his pulse raced. Look at me. Look at me Fay... Come on look at me... Damn, look at me! Damn! He put his mouth to her ear.

"Look at me Fay."

Her eyes slowly moved up to his and her face burned then at the expression she saw. She suddenly couldn't breath properly. He bent his head again to her ear.

"I want to kiss you right now, right here." She looked down, gasping for breath. He could feel her nails digging into his arms as she fought for control. Ah, god he wanted her! The crowd pushed them closer together and she put her forehead on his chest, closing her eyes as the feelings got even more intense. He slid his hand down her back and onto her behind, pulling their hips together and she let out a small moan into his shirt. He missed nothing of her reaction and he throbbed with need for her. His head fell on top of hers.

"Fay, oh god Fay."

She turned her head on his shirt; she wanted to be inside it. She had to stop this now. She put her hands on his chest and clenched them, willing herself to pull away. With immense effort she pushed herself slowly backwards and he watched with utter frustration as she moved away and darted through the crowds.