The Convention—Networking in the sun

It was a fairly long drive to the convention. As fun as it would’ve been to carpool or even fly with him to a different city—it works out better that the host university campus is a 2 and a half hour drive away.

She had thought about the former—carpooling—but after thinking it over, if anything ‘fun’ happened this weekend while alone with Juan, travelling back together for such an extended period would do more harm than good for her efforts. He wouldn’t have the opportunity to ruminate and stir in his lust and attraction; rather, he would have to contend with the girl that he would definitely feel guilt over, and would likely push her away to overcompensate due to too much influence.

So instead, Vi drives at the early hour of 6:00 am, an expected arrival time of an easy 8:30 am, ready to check into her beachside hotel room (did I mention that the university campus is on the coast? Less than 10 minutes away from the nearest beach, much closer than the 35-minute drive one near her own campus?) The only rooms available were near the coast, with a small hotel-provided pool, a fact that ol’ Juan seemed displeased with. Hopefully, a factor she can yield in her seductive favour,

The convention events, since it’s the first day, are scheduled to start at 9:30 am and finish at 2:30 pm. She hopes that stays true, to give those travelling time to mingle and network rather than be stuck listening to lectures and courses.

…

“Ah! Juan!” She waves, dragging her small purple suitcase behind her, and walks up to the standing teacher, who waves back. Not giving him a chance to reject her advance, she wraps an arm around his neck and pulls him in for a hug. Her bra-clad breasts press through her smart linen, slightly cropped shirt, paired with a smart-casual black-and-white pinstripe dress bottom that hangs around her ankles, easily meeting the smart-casual dress code.

Juan is surprised by the hug, but quickly returns it before stepping back. “Oh, I didn’t know you were a hugger.”

Vi teasingly puts a finger on her chin. “Oh right, I guess I usually don’t do that in the stuffy confines of your office, huh?” She laughs flirtatiously. “I think we’re close enough to do that, though!”

Juan chuckles, bending to the idea to grab the handle of his duffel bag. “I suppose so. But maybe not in front of the other teachers; it’s still kind of a workplace.”

“Another dirty secret.” Vi says, nudging his arm with her shoulder. “I’m starting to think you’re ashamed of me.”

Juan blushes lightly, the colour a perfect compliment to his tanned skin. “I think a hug would be easier to explain than your framing of it.”

Vi giggles, following him to the reception desk.

…

Juan stammers, tapping on the desk nervously—struggling not to come off as impatient. “No, no. I booked two rooms; I told the reception when I called, two people.”

The host looks down at his laptop and back up, the eye bags under his green eyes telling a loud tale of exhaustion. “The notes here say that the guest indicated ‘two people, room.”

Juan shakes his head. “I said, two people, two rooms.”

The host looks down and nods understandingly. “Hmm. That makes more sense, to be fair.”

“Exactly! So I need another room. Please.”

The host shrugs apologetically. “I understand sir. But we still don’t have a spare room. I’m sorry, the convention has booked us completely out. My sincerest apologies for the inconvenience.”

“You don’t understand! This is my-“

“Juan!” Vi says, turning her head, using her hair to cover her face from the host. “It’s fine; there are two beds. We are colleagues, right? What’s the harm?” She asks, with a subtle emphasis on the ‘right’.

His jaw clenches, his thoughts running a million miles an hour before he sighs. He holds out his hand. “Yep. Fine. Thank you.”

…

“See!” Vi says, grinning, stepping inside the shared hotel room. “Two beds! I trust you! And, obviously, I’ll keep this to myself! I wouldn’t want you getting in trouble!”

Juan rubs his forehead, closing the door behind him. “This is so inappropriate.”

She laughs, waving a hand and setting her small suitcase at the foot of the bed by the window. “Probably. But we’ll pretend I’m a young teacher; no one here will know, and we won’t tell anyone, obviously. The host thinks you’re my teaching mentor, not my actual teacher. It’ll be fine! We’ll be busy most of the time anyway with the convention!” She leans forward as she sits on the edge of the bed. “This is literally just a place to shower and sleep.”

Juan sighs again, tossing his bag onto his bed, closer to the door. “God damnit. Sorry about this.”

She shrugs. “It’s fine. I behave.” She points at him. “You behave.” She shrugs reassuringly. “It’ll be fine!”

A bit boring, here and there. Especially the intro sessions and the content geared more toward the professors, of course. But Vi was here for legitimate reasons. She enjoyed the discussion on AI and its impact on future businesses, and how it will intersect with professors. Listening to the teachers debate, those in favour of AI strongly advocating for its advancement and those against it, pointing out the detrimental effects it's having on education, amongst older generations and especially the younger generation.

Despite being on the younger side of professors, it was almost surprising to see Juan err more on the side of the luddites; she hadn’t noticed, but he barely mentioned generative AI in his material, save to warn that anyone caught using it would fail without a second thought.

Vi looks out the window and grins, looking over her shoulder at Juan, sitting on the bed, laptop open, going through his notes taken throughout the day. “Hey, I’m going to go into the bathroom. I’m heading down to the pool; it looks really nice, and I can see some people from the convention there!”

Juan looks up and nods. “Good idea.”

“You coming?” She asks, opening her suitcase and grabbing the one-piece swimsuit.

“Mmmm. I don’t think so.” Vi notes the blush that crawls up his nape. “I think I’ll go down to the food hall.”

She shrugs. “Fair enough. Divide and conquer. I rate it.”

She steps into the bathroom, stripping down and grinning as she pulls the swimsuit on around herself.

‘This is such a ridiculous slutty swimsuit. I hope he changes his mind after seeing me in this.’

She opens the door and grabs her bag from the floor, Juan too invested in his laptop to look up just yet, which works for her.

“Alright, I’ll see you later.” She says, getting his attention.

His reaction is exactly what she hoped for. His eyes almost bug out of his head, his eyes first landing on her chest, then slinking down her body, then up to her face, and then back down to her chest, unable to resist the long settlement on the generous amount of cleavage.

“You okay?” She asks sweetly, switching her weight onto her other foot, her breasts jiggling just slightly.

He blinks hard and looks down at his laptop, his hands pulling the laptop just a little bit more into his lap. “I’m all good…”

She knows that he won’t say anything about the swimsuit. He’s too much of a gentleman.

“Okay!” She says in the most bubbly tone she can. “I’ll head down now. Hope you change your mind!”

She really does hope he does, but as she walks down the hallway, she pulls out a long, matching green blouse, shrugs her cowl off, and pulls it on in the stairwell, buttoning it up before continuing her venture down to the pool. That fit is for teasing Juan only; she did have a real goal of networking, at least for a little bit, and then some poolside time if if works out.

And networks she does, claiming a lounge chair, she makes some rounds, introducing herself, dodging any questions on whether she’s a professor or a student, some of the more pervy male professors still sneaking looks at her legs. Which she supposes is fine; she wasn’t going to do a complete outfit change, after all.

Eventually, she grew tired and retired to the lounge chair, most of the crowd heading inside for cooler networking. Still, it had been productive; now it was just her and a few guests. She strips down again, grateful for the air on her breasts and midriff, and lies down, pulling her novel out. She settles in, confident that Juan will come and ‘check in on her’.

Her confidence is rewarded, of course; she felt his eyes when she left the hotel room. She grins up at Juan as his shadow projects onto her body, the late afternoon sun sitting behind him. “Your version of networking?” He says with a small flushed chuckle .

Vi is delighted that his eyes are on her breasts, quickly snapping up as he realises that she’s caught him. He sits down on the lounge chair next to her. “How’d you go?”

She sits up, turning towards him slightly, dragging her bare foot up on the lounge to lean her chin on her knee. “Pretty good! You missed out; I got the number of one of the professors! I’m going out for a drink with them tomorrow night; don’t you worry, I got you. You can be my plus one!” She winks playfully.

Juan chuckles. “Unfortunately, I know that you’re a student, so I won’t be going out to drink with you.”

Vi gives him a teasing look, leaning forward, her breasts falling forward slightly; his eyes snap down- how could he resist? “We’ve already drank together befoooore.” She sings playfully.

Juan chuckles, shaking his head and turning his head. “That was in my office.”

“This is arguably less scandalous .” She grins.

The teasing and flirting is a lot less subtle than her usual, and it’s incredibly encouraging that he’s not shying away.

He rolls his eyes, leaning back on the lounge chair. “Maybe you should consider doing law; you’re very good at finding holes in arguments.”

“Master debater.” She grins, intentionally saying ‘de’ a little quieter than the rest of the word.

…

Nothing much happens: some light talking, catching up on their networking efforts, and Juan enthusiastically asking her for her opinion on the content of the introductory day. His passion and nerdiness are a bit cute; she’s surprised that he’s still single.

But Vi knows better; she knows she needs to pace herself with him. She could flirt harder; she could get naked in front of him by accident, but it’s only day one — undressing feels like s day two or three activity. She’s reminded him now of her body and how delicious it can be. Now they’re in the same room; she has two whole days left to test his boundaries and tempt him.

An unexpected but welcome addition to the teasing, one that she didn't orchestrate, was when she was changing for bed, Juan changing in the bathroom; she doesn’t know for sure if he intentionally took a peek, or thought he had given her enough time, but she heard the bathroom door click, and heard a small intake of breath creep through the emptiness of the room. She grins out the window, her bare breasts swinging as she moves her hair over her shoulder, her bare back, muscles more visible than usual because of her raised arms, on display, her short pink shorts riding up her ass cheeks slightly. She’s almost sure he watched the whole time, judging by the fact that when she turned around after slipping her shirt on, keeping her breasts to herself for now—she spotted a slight movement through the crack of the bedroom door.

“Okay! I’m in bed!” She calls out for him.

He steps out, wearing loose shorts and a simple white tee. She watches him as he climbs into the bed; she also notices that he’s separated the beds a bit more, either pushing hers further to the window or his closer to the door.

“Well… Good night.” He chuckles. “Sorry about this room mix-up again.”

“It’s okay… I don’t mind at all. Good night.”

She turns her back to him, shuddering with excitement, reaching up to squeeze her breast with anticipation.