Stay close to the gazebo

He can’t exactly go walking around in the buff, so Alex steps a little closer to the gazebo, hoping its sharp will keep him hidden from the approaching voices.

“Hey.... What are you doing here?”

Alex jumps. The voice came from behind him, and not from where he expected. Alex turns and sees a man in business clothes, carrying a clipboard. He again asks, “What are you doing here?”

Alex steps out of the shadows, self-consciously holding his hands over his crotch. “Um...” He is at a loss about what to say, when he sees the source of the voices he originally heard. It is Jeff — his co-worker and roommate, and a female party guest. Jeff is dressed in a loincloth like the one Alex just lost. They are headed in the direction of the Jungle Book party. The woman cannot seem to keep her hands off Jeff and keeps touching his chest, arms, and shoulders.

As they pass, Jeff sees Alex, smiles and waves. “Hey, Alex. Looks like it didn’t take long for you to figure out the job!” He laughs as the couple continues on their way.

Alex thinks fast. “I was just going back to the house to get a new costume. I was entertaining a guest, and she wanted to keep my loincloth as a souvenir.”

The man looks at Alex appraisingly, but less suspiciously. “Looks like she took more than your costume. You may want to get some of those cuts treated — Mrs. Scanlan won’t want you to miss work because of an infection.”

He walks away, apparently satisfied, and Alex looks down to see the scratches he was talking about. In his haste to get free of the branches, he did succeed in getting some pretty nasty cuts.

He is still naked, and Juarez is still in the guesthouse.