Chapter 6: A good time

Mark does visit his favorite restaurant to eat anytime he wasn't in his cooking mood. And this very evening, he wasn't in the mood to purchase foodstuffs from the food store, his cooking mood was zero percent. His boss made his cooking mood zero percent by not agreeing to his proposal and the crazy words he vomited out. He arrived at the restaurant and sat on one of his favorite seat and spot, the restaurant was a bit crowded with people. This restaurant had been his favorite for the past two years, they always made sure to serve him his favorite dish anytime he visited. One of the female waiters in the restaurant sighted him and quickly approached him to get his food orders, most of the waiters in the restaurant knew him well and were fully acquainted with him.

"Our regular customer Mark is here once again, what do you want to eat today"? She asked with an enlightened face.

"Serve me my favorite, as usual, rice balls mixed with a bit of Gumbo stew, then match it up with some boiled shrimps and a glass of juice". Mark said placing his orders.

The waiter dismissed immediately to get his food orders, within about a minute and some seconds, his foods were placed on his table.

"Eat well". The waiter stated as she left to engage herself in other chores.

Mark ate slowly as he enjoyed the delicious meal, rice balls, and gumbo stew had always been his favorite dish since his childhood days. His mum does cheer him up back then with rice balls and gumbo stew anytime he wasn't feeling too happy. He finished up his meal and drank his juice to mellow down the whole meal. He footed his bill and walked out of the restaurant.

He was supposed to head straight to his apartment, but he wasn't in the mood to stay indoors, he felt like going places.

"I should visit 'Ortega park pool, I need to dive into some cool water and swim, it's been long". Mark said to himself.

The 'Ortega park pool happens to be one of the most popular pools in the city of Chicago where people come to swim and have a good time. He got to the pool with so much excitement, he felt like swimming. He wanted to have a good time and let go of some things in his heart. He gained entrance into the pool after he paid the necessary bills, he sighted some beautiful ladies in their bikini swimming and having fun. The guys too were not left out, they were having fun and enjoying themselves to the fullest.

Mark dived into the water after undressing, the water was so cool and chilly. He was such a good swimmer that he got the attention of some ladies with his swimming skills, he swam like a fish. He rolled his body multiple times while diving deep down into the depth of the water. Fascinated faces filled the whole place as they watched him swim, his swimming skills was the best there as of the moment. He swam and enjoyed the chillness of the water before coming out of it to purchase a bottle of wine at a small store located at the side of the pool.

Relaxing his body on one of the long chairs, he poured his wine in the little blue cup he had on his hand as he sipped slowly. He was really enjoying himself out here,

"I should try doing this some more, chilling and flexing out like this, not wasting most of my time in the studio recording songs, songs that won't turn out to be hit songs". Mark said to himself in his thoughts.

The breeze circulating the pool was so chilly and relaxing, it could make a person fall asleep. While Marks relaxing mood was completely a hundred percent, his mind still found a way of roving in thoughts,

"Should I use this opportunity to promote my songs and promote myself as an artiste now that I have gotten the attention of most of them with my swimming skills? No, that would look stupid, some people might take me for a fool, or should i"?

His mind was still in thoughts when two pretty girls approached him, one was in red-colored bikini swimwear while the other was in blue-colored bikini swimwear. With smiles on their faces, they uttered to him,

"Hi"

"Xup pretty ladies, how are you girls doing?". Mark inquired of them with a welcoming smile.

"We cool, you?" One of the girls asked him.

"Am good, feeling so relaxed". Mark responded.

"Do you mind if we join you"? The girl in the red bikini asked.

"Sure, no probs, don't mind my manners, I kept you girls standing all this while". Mark said.

They both sat on empty chairs next to him, one on his right and the other on his left. Mark wasn't sure of the reason why these two girls just suddenly wanted to sit next to him, so he decided to ask them.

"If I may ask, why do you girls just feel like sitting next to me, what's so special about me"?

"Your swimming skills are so special, you swam like a fish, it was so fascinating". The girl in a blue bikini answered him.

The girl in the red bikini added with her speech,

"And you are so cool and handsome, that's also one of the reasons why we were attracted to you".

"Wow! thanks so much, should I get for you girls a bottle of wine each"? Mark asked them.

"No, thanks". They both answered him.

"I insist, I am gonna purchase it for you girls even though you refuse". Mark stated.

He stood up from his chair and went over to the store, he purchased two wines, one for each. They were so glad to receive the wine from him,

"Thanks for the wine, we appreciate it". They said to him with a glittering smile.

"You welcome, just a little gesture". Mark said trying not to feel too big.

The girls opened and sipped their wines slowly, Mark had almost finished his bottle of wine. He wanted to converse with the girls to know more about them, so he waited for them to sip some more of their wine before he threw a question at them.

"Are you girls sisters or friends"?

"We are very close friends to each other, we ain't sisters, but we are so close to each other like sisters, we just came here to relax a bit after the week's work stress". The girl in the red bikini answered him.

"Wow! that's nice, I also came here to relax a little, my name is Mark, what are your names". He asked.

"My name is Theresa". The girl in the red bikini stated.

"My name is Isabel". The girl in the blue bikini said".

"Wow! beautiful names for beautiful girls". Mark uttered complimenting them.

"Thanks". They both said smiling.

Mark wasn't sure if he should tell them he was an artiste. He was having double feelings about it, for the fact that they didn't recognize him as an artiste shows that his music hasn't gotten to them. He didn't want a situation where they would tell him they had never heard his songs before or they had never seen any of his music videos when he introduces himself as an artiste. He wanted to stay clear of embarrassment, so he kept his career to himself. Knowing more details about them was his major priority right now, so he furthered his conversation with them.

"I am 26 years, is it possible for me to get to know the age of you girls"? Mark asked politely.

"Sure, I am 24 years old". Theresa uttered.

"And I am 23 years years old". Isabel stated.

"Cool". Mark said.

Mark wasn't sure, but it seemed like he was developing feelings for Isabel. Throughout his conversation with both of them, Isabel seemed calmer and more reserved than Theresa. Not that Theresa was much of a talkative, but he liked how Isabel composed herself and how she always replies to a question secondly giving chance for Theresa to answer first anytime he throws a question at them. He didn't have plans of collecting their phone numbers, but he wanted to get in touch with Isabel later on without Theresa knowing, so they exchanged phone numbers. They finished up their bottle of wine, and it seemed Theresa and Isabel were ready to leave the pool,

"Mark, we gonna be leaving the pool right now, it's already late, it was nice knowing you, at least, we got each other's phone number, we can call each other when the need arises". Theresa said as she and Isabel stood up to take their leave from his presence.

"Ok, bye". He uttered waving his hands at them.

"Byeeee". Both of them said as they waved back at him.

He spent a few more minutes at the pool before deciding to take his leave. He stood up from his chair and puts on his designer shirt, he checked his pocket to make sure all his stuff was intact before going out of the pool. The time was 9:07 pm, darkness had already taken charge of daylight completely. He boarded a taxi that would take him straight to his apartment, he couldn't trek, it was already late.