Katie and Svea had worked side by side for seven months. Over that time, despite their physical dissimilarities, they'd found commonalities in that they were both single, both enjoyed a wind-down drink after work at the bar around the corner, and that they both hated their boss, a woman who was five years their junior and who was a favorite with the company president. Katie was planning a trip to go zip-lining in Costa Rica and invited Svea to come along.
They spent their breaks, and occasionally non-break time - although they knew how dangerous that was since every keystroke, even the backspaces, were monitored and recorded by the company - nailing down their vacation dates, times, and side trips. Although Svea had agreed to try zip-lining, she was more interested in some beach time. She spent hours online at home determining the pros and cons of the different options and finally narrowed down her choices to one.
At last the day of departure arrived, Katie and Svea reclined in their seats on the airplane, glasses of wines cocked toward their lips while a romance movie played on the miniature screens in front of them. The trip to the hotel was uneventful, and Svea couldn't wait until the next morning when she'd be laying on the sandy beach, book in hand, coconut drink next to her side.
The day dawned bright and Svea woke smiling. Katie was still sleeping but Svea quickly scribbled a note and then slipped out the door wearing her bathing suit under a coverup. She easily snagged a cab at the hotel entrance and was driven out to a nearby deserted beach. Katie smoothed out her towel on the sand, slicked on he sunscreen, sipped some water and relaxed into a prime book reading position. As the day began to heat up, her stomach began to at last wake up so eventually she stood up, rolled her belongings into a ball, and then began scouring the beach border for a vendor. Svea picked up some fried fruit and meat dish along with a slushy fruity drink. Next she found a shady spot and slowly ate watching the waves crash against the shore, timelessly beating a rhythm that her pulse soon matched.
Sated, Svea returned to the beach, once again laying out her towel and setting up her personal beach station, this time lying on her side to aid with digestion. Fleetingly she thought of returning to the hotel, but there was no hurry. They had purposefully left this day unplanned to just relax. When Svea felt too warm she flipped to her other side. She gazed beyond her book and saw that the beach had grown more crowded. Two people in bikinis were walking toward her, holding hands. A little odd, she thought, but then she lived in San Francisco and had seen it all. The longer she watched the couple, the closer they came and the more they began to come into focus. Svea tilted her hand. Surely that woman on the left had on the exact same suit as Katie. And, fancy that, the other woman had flaming red hair. Just like their boss. Svea stared a little longer, disbelieving. The two women continued to hold hands, and about 50 feet away from Svea, they stopped and enjoyed a lingering kiss. Svea pulled down her hat and buried her face in her towel.
D - Svea runs back to the hotel and takes the first flight back to San Francisco. She is deeply confused. Katie and her boss!?! How did Katie expect to hide her relationship from Svea? Her cell phone is rapidly accumulating messages and texts from Katie which Svea tries to ignore. Without reading and listening to the messages, she sends a text to Katie explaining that she saw Katie with their boss on the beach, that she is back in SF, and not to contact her again!
ReplyDelete