A Week at the Beach (15 page)

            “What year are your sisters in college?” he bent down and picked up a shell as he talked.  He handed me the shell and smiled.

            I held my hand out for the shell and smiled back at him.  It amazed me how much he heard when I spoke.  I don’t think there was a thing I said to him that he didn’t remember.  I put the shell in my pocket and answered his question.

            “Tori just started her sophomore year and Allison is getting her Graduate degree.”

            He laughed, “So how is it that everyone in your family ended up at Virginia, but you went to Columbia?  I thought Allison was supposed to be the stubborn independent one.”

            “She is!” I said with a laugh.  “I applied and got accepted to UVA, but when it came time to make the decision I knew there was no other choice for me but Columbia.”

            “Why?  Didn’t you like UVA?”

            “I love it there, actually.  My dad’s parents live around Charlottesville, we go down there all the time, but I just couldn’t see myself there.  Honestly,” I shrugged embarrassedly, “I couldn’t see myself anywhere but New York.”

            “Why not?” he asked and watched me intently as we walked.

            “I guess it just didn’t seem worth the hassle to go all that way just to end up back home in the city.”

            “Why do you love New York so much?”

            I smiled and shook my head.  “I don’t know that I can explain it.”

            He smiled back at me, “Can you try?”

            I nodded and walked silently trying to collect my thoughts.  “You know how when you grow up with someone and they know everything about you, good things and bad things, but you don’t care because you know they’ll always be there for you?  You know that no matter how much things change in your life, or between you, that you’ll always have those memories and times together.  Your interests and hobbies might change, but you always have the same moments to fall back on.  I guess New York is like that friend for me.”

            Nick grinned, “New York is your best friend?”

            I laughed, “Yes, I guess so.  No matter what I go through, it’s always there for me.  When I was little, nothing made me more excited than getting to go into the city with my mom on a trip, or go to work with my dad.  Seeing all the people, the buildings, the billboards, it was all magical to me.  When I was fourteen, my parents let me go into the city by myself for the first time, and even though I only went to the library, it was the biggest adventure of my life!  The city was there for me and it was a living, breathing being sharing that moment with me.”

            “You really do love that city, don’t you?” he smiled, but there was a hint of sadness in his voice that I couldn’t quite understand.

            “Men might come and go, my family might move on and move out, but for me, New York City will always be where my heart is.”  I shrugged and smiled sweetly at him.

            “Your family doesn’t live in the city?”

            “My parents raised us in a three-bedroom apartment about fifteen minutes outside of the city.  It only took one short train ride to get us to the best city in the world, but” I sighed dramatically, “last year when my grandfather died and left them some money, they sold the apartment and bought a little house an hour or so out of the city.”

            “What about your sisters?  Don’t they want to live in the city?”

            “Allison will probably end up living somewhere in Europe.  She’s got her heart set on a fellowship in Spain or something, and knowing her, she’ll get it.  Tori, on the other hand, is the all-American girl.”

            “What does that mean?” Nick asked with a laugh.

            “That means, that by the time she graduates with her degree she’ll also have a ring on her finger.  She and her perfect husband will settle somewhere in Virginia, move into a perfect house, and raise their perfect children.”  I rolled my eyes, but smiled despite myself.  Things always had a way of working out for Tori. I had learned just to accept it without any bitterness.

            “Sounds like the life you thought you’d have by now,” Nick flashed me a wry grin.

            I laughed, “I never thought my life would be perfect.”

            “Why should your sister get the perfect life if you don’t get it?”

            I grinned at him, “If you met Tori, you’d get it.  She’s perfect, always has been.”  I laughed, “It’s not her fault and she’s not arrogant about it or anything.  For her, perfection is like my clumsiness.  She can’t help it any more than I can.”

            “Who says your clumsiness is an imperfection?” Nick said with a laugh and nudged me as we walked.

            “You’d think someone whose crotch was on the receiving end of one of my accidents would classify it as an imperfection.” 

            “You mean my crotch is not your first victim?” he continued with a disappointed voice.  “I was really hoping that we had something special in that moment.”

            I laughed, “Don’t worry.  We still have two days together.  Perhaps I’ll accidently stab you or break a bone then we’ll have that memory to bond us for life.”

            He laughed, “That would make for a great story.”

            “If either of those things happened, I would totally drive you to the hospital.  Of course, with my luck, I’d take a wrong turn and end up driving us straight into the ocean killing us both.”

            He laughed at me and I joined in.  We’d made our way back towards the house and were headed up towards the back of it.

            “Do you think the coast is clear?” I asked hesitantly.

            “Probably, it sounded like they were almost done when we left.” Nick grinned.

            “Well, it sounded like he was almost done,” I said with an eye roll.

            Nick chuckled and led the way up to the house.  The lights were off in the house, so that seemed like a good sign.  We headed for the doors by the pool, but before we could get there, Nick put his hand out to stop me.

            “Did you hear that?” he whispered in alarm.

            “No, what did it sound like?”

            He didn’t get the chance to answer because the noise happened again.  At first, it was just the sound of someone making waves in the pool, but then it was joined with a soft moan.

            I made a disgusted face at Nick, “I’m glad that pool is chlorinated.  Gross!”

            Nick put his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing aloud. 

            “Yes! Todd!” a female voice moaned from the direction of the pool.

            Nick and I looked at each other in confusion. 

            “Todd?” I mouthed the name in question to Nick, who in return shrugged.

            “You like that, Chrissy?” a male voice called out.

            “Are we the only ones in the house not having sex?” I whispered and stood up to try to get a glimpse of the action in the pool.

            “Hey, I offered,” Nick put his hands up and grinned.

            I caught a glimpse of Chrissy’s back as she sat atop her partner, Todd, on the steps in the shallow end of the pool.  That little scene was enough for me. 

            “Let’s go in the front door.  I don’t need to see that.”  I grabbed his hand and pulled him back down towards the bottom of the house.  He laughed and followed behind me.

            “Are you sure you don’t want to just sleep in the hammock again?” Nick asked as we reached the bottom of the stairs leading up to the house. 

            “If we get upstairs and the sexcapades are still going on, you can bet I’ll be back down here for the night!”

            We were halfway up the stairs before I realized that we were still holding hands.  “Sorry!” I said and dropped his hand from mine.

            “No problem.”

            When we entered the house, it was dark and silent.  The intimate noises from earlier were gone and the French doors managed to muffle the noises coming from the pool.  Just to be on the safe side, though, I wanted to get to the safety of my bedroom. 

            “I think the action has subsided, if you’re interested in finishing that movie,” Nick whispered in the dark foyer. 

            I’d already made it up the first few steps, but turned around to answer him.  “I think it’s probably best if we just go to bed.”

            Even in the dark, I could see the grin on Nick’s face as he spoke, “I thought you’d never ask.”

            I rolled my eyes at him, “You know what I mean!  I don’t think either of us is likely to encounter any more sex fiends if we head to our bedrooms.”

            “Speak for yourself!” he chuckled in response.

            I turned back and headed up the stairs.  “What?  Do you have a big breasted blonde packed away for emergencies?” I whispered back to him as I walked.

            “No!” he said and leaned closer to me, “She’s a brunette.”

            I laughed at him.

            At the top of the stairs, I turned to say goodnight to him and ran right into his chest.  I hadn’t expected him to be so close, but he was.  To try to play it off, I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a hug. 

            “Thanks for a fun day,” I said nervously against his chest. 

            I must have caught him off guard because he hesitated before wrapping his arms around me.  “It was fun.  Thanks for hanging out with me.”

            We stood in the hall holding each other for a few more seconds.  It felt good to make physical contact with him.  He felt warm and smelled amazing.  I could have stayed like that for a few more minutes, but it was starting to feel a little too intimate, so I pulled away.  He released me from his arms and took a step back.

            “Have a good night,” I whispered awkwardly and tried to walk backwards away from him.

            “Cami,” his voice sounded hoarse and strained.

            When he said my name, I instinctively took a step towards him.  “Yes?”

            “Don’t walk backwards that close to a staircase.  Knowing you, you’ll trip and end up rolling all the way down to the bottom of the stairs.” He grinned at me and added, “Save some excitement for tomorrow.”

            I laughed at him, “Good night, Nick.”

            “Good night, Cami.”

9.

When I woke up the next morning, the sunny, breezy summer day had been taken over by a heavy downpour and grey skies.  I could hear the rain hitting the roof of the house and against my window.  I always moved a little slower on rainy days, so I took my time pulling myself out of bed.  By the time I made it downstairs, the whole house seemed deserted.  I made myself some toast and stood in the kitchen as I ate it. 

            With no one else around, I had first choice in how I wanted to spend the rainy day.  I thought about curling up on the couch and watching some television or a movie, but the sound might draw people out from wherever they were hiding.  I considered going back up to my room and lying in bed with my book, but that didn’t suit me either.  I watched from the kitchen as the rain poured down from the sky and hit the deck floor.  The silence of the house amplified the beat of the rain.  Listening to it gave me an idea.