Lisa and the children had left their house, fifty miles north of Atlanta, Georgia at a little after one in the morning. They planned to be at the resort a day early to enjoy some of the many activities that Bill had told them about before the grand opening on Saturday. Bill, accompanied by Kevin Backlin would be arriving from Chicago after a two weeklong seminar on worldwide environmental destruction. They would take an airport limo from Tampa International Airport over to the resort. Sue and her children would be driving in from southern South Carolina and would be arriving at approximately the same time. Their reunion, always pleasant, would be another delightful experience to add to their already filled photo albums and home video libraries, but as always, they expected this one to be more exciting than the one before.
Tyrone Washington looked up at the camera and watched as it rotated slowly back and forth. He looked at the molding at the edge of the ceiling where the wires disappeared from view and made a checkmark on the sheet of paper on his clipboard. Tyrone gave a thumbs up sign into the camera lens and started walking toward the check-in desk. Tyrone loved his new job, he didn’t really have to do much of anything and they paid him quite handsomely. Some life! His wife Lucy also was really proud. Trying a lot of jobs in the past, nothing really suited the man inside of Tyrone. This job was entirely different. It was aces.
Tyrone approached the front desk, nodded to the blonde haired desk clerk, and stared up at the ceiling mounted camera. After watching it revolve back and forth twice he looked at the wiring where it ran behind the desk and made another check on his paper. With a thumbs up sign again to the camera he walked across the lobby to the two main doors.
Tyrone’s stint in the army had taught him discipline and how important a good appearance was. With spit polished leather shoes, freshly ironed khaki shirt and trousers, Tyrone cut a fine figure as a security guard. Looking good, was probably what landed him this job. Tyrone had dressed to kill on the interview, making sure his nails were clean and nicely manicured. A friendly smile also helped. Nobody wants to hire a somber puss, even though the manager Dilford Bailey was. Yes, being proud and doing an excellent job for the corporation, was what mattered.
Checking the three remaining cameras Tyrone headed out to the pool to see how the twin brothers that the company had recently hired were doing. Mark and Mike Summers were identical twins, six foot tall, dark, and ruggedly handsome. Mark, older by seven minutes, seemed to obtain a grasp on situations slightly faster than his younger brother Mike but, both were obviously quick learners and were not afraid to tackle any job, large or small. Both of the twins were leaning over the main pool pump, looking at the motor with a perplexed look on their faces. “Hey, what’s happening guys? You break the pump or what?”
“Hey Tyrone.” Mike answered. “No, we’re just checking everything over to make sure everything’s okay for the big grand opening tomorrow. What’ve you been up to?”
“Not much. I just finished checking all the security cameras with Chief Morgan monitoring me on the monitor. No privacy huh?”
“You know he’s a big teddy bear Tyrone. I bet you could really screw up and he’d just nod his head and say that you’ll do better next time. Chief Morgan is a neat guy to work for.
“You’re absolutely right. He is the nicest boss I ever had. He is a real pleasure to work for. This whole resort is that way. Everyone seems really happy.”
“Yeah, except that old sourpuss Bailey. Nobody likes him. I’m glad he’s only in charge of the inside of the resort and that the corporation runs the rest. I don’t think I could work for him.”
“Me neither.” Replied Tyrone in a whispery voice. “Me neither.”
Tyrone Washington waved goodbye to the two boys and headed toward the manmade mountain. He was almost at the front of the mountain and he looked up at the majestic waterfall. Man that’s beautiful he thought. This place is paradise. Nothing could ever disturb it.
The crystal clear water cascading down the side of the manmade mountain sparkled like expensive jewels in the midday sun. The roar, as the water hit the churned up surface of the lagoon was quite audible even in the velvet green meadow where Paul Zangalio chewed on a blade of grass as his head laid quite comfortably in Becky’s denim clad lap.
“You know Beck, when we get married we could build a house right in the middle of this meadow, raise kids, and live happily ever after.”
“Paul, let’s be serious for a change. You don’t make enough money to support yourself, more less raise a family and besides the corporation that owns the resort would never sell a beautiful place like this.”
Rebecca McClelland, though only seventeen, was a lot more mature than most of her friends and especially a lot more than her nineteen-year boyfriend, fiancé, Paul. Her practical nature allowed her to build a substantial nest egg toward her future marriage even though she had been working only three summers for the corporation. Her father, as an executive for the company since its beginning, brought her into the office at fourteen years of age to do miscellaneous filing and acting as a gopher. Her early maturity and quick thinking impressed the president of the company so much, he rewarded her with a sizable salary and a promise of full time employment upon graduation from high school. She already had her own desk and was the assistant to his personal secretary, who adored her to no end. Becky could operate any of the computer equipment and already was acting as part-time purchasing agent for most of the corporation. With her bubbling personality and cute looks, everyone who came in contact with her, always wanted to go out of their way to help her, enabling her to handle just about any task set before her.
Paul Zangalio, hired thirty days before the grand opening of the resort, was working as the main lifeguard at the Olympic size swimming pool in case a clumsy or drunken guest got into trouble while enjoying the water pleasures at the resort. The resort opened two months previous to the grand opening and after thirty days, due to the influx of more than the expected number of guests, decided to implement as many safety precautions as they could. They equipped the pool and the lake with lifesaving stations, a pole with a life preserver and safety rope and call phone in case any emergency arose but, they felt the presence of human safety people would enhance their credibility to be a modern fully equipped resort.
Paul, the youngest of three brothers, had been an outstanding athlete in school and had gotten chosen to represent the state in the baseball playoffs. His precise pitching ability had been fully documented in the local paper and with his muscular build and former first aid training, the resort picked him out of his graduating class to be the top safety person to represent the resort. There were three other lifeguards employed by the resort and he was the lead person who arranged the schedules and time offs allotted to the guards. His pay was high for the field but, was not quite enough to raise a family. He hoped his baseball ability would allow him a chance to prove that he could be a good family provider.
“I have dreams Becky, big dreams.” Paul replied in a faraway type voice. “You know I’ll be picked up by one of the major league teams and before you know it, Ill be a starting shortstop and my name will be a household word. Everyone will want my autograph and you can come and pick me up at the ballpark or the airport in our new Mercedes SUV after I clench the winning home run in the last playoff game before the World Series. I’ll be great! Just think of all the fame and fortune and the way you will be running around with the other star player’s wives going on shopping sprees and eating in fancy restaurants and stuff.”