02 The Moon And The Tide - Marina's Tales (21 page)

“Um, yeah...”

“Well, congratulations! We sold five of your
paintings this week! People really dig them! If you can, come a
little early and bring more to put up. I have the cash for you
here.”

“OK,” I said, “Thanks.”

“Also, you girls need to stick together and
be careful about where you park. Last weekend a girl was attacked
just after you left– right in broad daylight! She’s still in the
hospital. I don’t know what the world’s coming to,” he added sadly.
A chill ran down my spine. I immediately thought about my
confrontation with the big bully at the surf shop.

“That’s terrible,” I said.

“Yeah, well, all the shop owners are talking
about installing surveillance cameras. It’s a real bummer to think
we need to do that around here.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said, wondering.

“Just be careful... and Marina,” he added,
“You might want to consider raising your prices!”

I hung up and told Cruz and Megan the good
and bad news.

I picked out more paintings and we loaded
them into the Jaguar.

“I’m getting attached to this car,” said
Cruz, “Do you think Evie would sell it to me?”

“I have no idea,” I said, “But she said you
can drive it as long as you like.” Cars were just not something I
spent much time thinking about. I still had to choose one for
myself, and I made a mental note to start looking next week.

We got to the coffee shop early, and it was
surprising to see so many of the paintings missing. The place
looked bare again, like a toothless smile. Cruz and Megan took a
table while Bill helped me hang up the replacement paintings. He
handed me an envelope stuffed with cash.

“Shouldn’t you be charging me a commission?”
I asked.

Bill smiled at me, “How about fifteen percent
from now on... alright?”

“Deal!” I said with a grin, shaking his
hand.

Megan set up on stage, and as more and more
people arrived she delivered one brilliant performance after
another. She mixed her original songs with covers of old favorites
and the crowd loved her. I could see she was going to become
increasingly popular and it made me happy. Cruz caught my eye and
smiled.

“I don’t think she could have done it without
that night at the party,” he said, “Evie’s like magic or
something.”

“Hey there.”

I looked up to find Ethan sliding into a
chair next to me. I wasn’t expecting to see him until the next
morning and was pleasantly surprised, taking his hand in mine with
a smile.

He nodded at Cruz and looked at Megan
singing, leaning over to ask in my ear, “How’s she doing?” He
smelled like he’d been outdoors all day, like freshly turned earth
and newly mown grass. It was intoxicating, and I had to suppress
the urge to grab his face and plant a violent kiss on him then and
there.

“Fantastic,” I replied, brushing my lips
across his cheek.

He scooted his chair closer to mine, looking
around the room. “Whoa! Your paintings look great in here!”

“Thanks,” I said.

“Five of them have sold already!” Cruz
pointed out under his breath.

Megan finished her song and the room filled
with applause. She stepped down from the stage and joined us at the
table, glowing with excitement. I stood to embrace her.

“You were amazing!” I said. She sat down with
a sigh of relief. Ethan congratulated her and Cruz started telling
her all the positive comments he had overheard from the crowd.
Megan looked pleased, blushing at all the attention.

“Try and recall this moment when you get
completely jaded by success,” Cruz said with a wry smile.

“Will you still remember all of us little
people when you’re famous?” I teased her.

“Very funny,” she said dryly. She turned to
Ethan, “Did you hear about all the paintings she sold?”

“I’m not surprised,” he squeezed my hand
under the table, “I’ve always known she was
extremely
talented,” he leaned over to kiss my cheek.

“Are you finished for the night?” Cruz asked
Megan.

“Yep,” she said, “I’ll go tell Bill I’m
taking off.”

“Come outside with me,” Ethan whispered in my
ear, making me shiver.

“I’ll meet you guys at the car,” I said. Cruz
rolled his eyes at me as Ethan and I went out hand in hand. We
walked down the darkened street a little ways and stopped to
embrace. I took his face in my hands and kissed him properly,
giving in to my earlier impulse.

“I’m glad you came by,” I said as I looked up
at him.

“Me too,” he chuckled, “I wanted to come
sooner, but there was a lot of work in the greenhouses.” We kissed
again, and when I opened my eyes I noticed we were standing by the
darkened window of the surf shop.

“Have you ever been in here?” I asked as I
drew closer to the window to peer in.

“Yeah,” he said, eyeing a surfboard in the
window with interest.

“Is that a good one?” I asked.

“It’s a
very
good one,” he said.

“Why?” I asked. He explained a little about
how boards were made, what the different shapes did in the water
and how some board shapers were famous among surfers.

“The pros get theirs custom made,” he
said.

“Like
haute
’
couture?” I asked.

“Like what?”

I laughed, “Professional dressers like Evie
have their clothes custom made.”

He bent down to kiss me again; I could hear
Cruz calling impatiently in the background.

“Gotta go,” I sighed.

“I’ll see you first thing tomorrow.”

“I can’t wait,” I said as I turned to go.
Megan and Cruz were sitting in the running car when I slipped into
the back seat of the Jaguar.

“Home, driver,” I said officiously.

“Anything else ma’am?” he asked
sarcastically.

“As a matter of fact, I do have a favor to
ask...”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Birthdays

I looked out across the sea from the
passenger side as Ethan drove us down the coast. Farmland that
ended in cliffs dropped off to meet a wild rocky shoreline, and the
ocean stretched out across the infinite horizon. We passed Lue
Khang’s farmland, driving alongside the plot that Ethan was working
to buy. It was a truly beautiful spot, and I smiled to myself,
remembering the morning I’d found Ethan there after a night spent
under the sea.

As we continued heading south I recognized a
place that Lorelei had taken me surfing and sat up expectantly,
“Where are we going?” I asked. Ethan had been secretive about his
plans for our birthday, and I was eager to get out into the
water.

“I thought we’d check out a place down south.
I hear there’s some pretty big surf there... but I’m taking you
somewhere else first.”

“Where?”

“The aquarium in Monterey. They have a lot of
really great stuff there... I think you might like to see it.”

“Alright,” I smiled, “sounds like fun.”

I sat back and enjoyed the ride, watching the
coastline get more rugged and rocky, punctuated by stretches of
sandy beach and dunes. We drove through the picturesque city of
Monterey, winding our way down to the waterfront. There was a
harbor with fishing boats, and several long piers lined with
restaurants and hotels. We pulled up at the large aquarium
compound.

The first thing I noticed as we entered were
scale models of a blue whale and a pod of dolphins suspended from
the rafters. I looked up as we walked underneath them, a little
startled that the view from below seemed completely familiar.

Further into the building we came upon a huge
wall sized tank housing a giant kelp forest. Looking at the seaweed
swaying seductively made my mouth dry. I wanted to be in the sea.
The gently waving kelp beckoned me; I could feel the ocean swells
in my bones. Large slowly moving rockfish hovered at eye level,
watching us watching them.

We held hands as we walked around the
exhibits, pointing out different things to each other. There was a
dimly lit room with another even more enormous tank that spanned
from the floor to the high ceiling. It contained all kinds of huge
deep water fish swimming urgently around in giant circles. There
were several kinds of sharks, massive torpedo shaped tuna and a
strange looking giant sunfish.

“Check out that hammerhead,” Ethan said as we
walked over to get a closer look. The big shark turned away from
us. Every time we came close it swam to the opposite side of the
tank. We approached a large reef shark that surprised us by darting
away as though it had been jolted by an electric shock. We circled
around trying to get a better look, to no avail. Other people could
get near them, but they were clearly avoiding us.

Ethan looked at me thoughtfully. “Wait here,”
he said, and walked around towards the hammerhead. He was able to
approach the shark without it moving away. He motioned for me to
join him and once again the big fish shrank back, moving as far
away from us as it could go.

“I don’t think it likes me,” I joked.

“I think you’re right,” said Ethan.

We repeated the experiment a few more times
until it became apparent that it was definitely me the sharks were
repelled by. Other people at the exhibit were starting to stare
when Ethan took my hand and led me out of the room.

“That was amazing,” he said, “Come over
here.” We walked back to the kelp forest tank and noticed that even
the small sand sharks and leopard sharks went completely out of
their way to avoid me.

“Wow,” I said quietly, taken aback.

“Remind me to always bring you surfing,” said
Ethan, looking at me with a wry smile.

I didn’t know what to say; it was a little
unsettling. It seemed like every time I turned around there was
something else to remind me of my abnormal origins. Ethan must have
sensed my mood, for he took me in his arms and kissed my forehead
softly.

We walked into a darkened hallway lined with
tanks that pulsated with colorful jellyfish. We stood there for a
long time watching them, entranced. Their constantly shifting
shapes reminded me of alien flowers blooming; they were bewitching.
I leaned back on Ethan as we paused at each tank, watching them
undulating hypnotically, glowing in vivid hues of red and pink,
blue and purple.

“They’re beautiful,” I said, mesmerized.

“They’re pretty,” he murmured in my ear,
“You’re beautiful.”

As we wound our way past the different
jellyfish tanks we read the information posted next to them. The
signs said they were from a class of animals that included sea
anemones and corals. I was surprised to discover that they could
constantly renew their tissue and simply did not age; they were
believed to be immortal. I thought about the mermaids when I read
it and I know Ethan did too, for he gripped my hand a little
tighter reflexively.

We wandered through the rest of the building,
looking at seahorses and turtles, penguins and shorebirds. There
was a ring shaped aquarium filled with thousands of swimming
anchovies. Standing under the tank watching them swirl above our
heads made me dizzy.

When we got to the otter exhibit we paused to
watch them swimming underwater, diving for food to bring up and eat
floating on their backs.

“Let’s go see them from the top,” Ethan said,
and I followed him up the stairs to the viewing platform. We leaned
on the railing and looked down at the otters bobbing on the
surface, gnawing on crab legs and breaking open mussels with little
rocks. It was impossible not to smile watching them; I could see
why they were Lorelei’s favorites.

Ethan draped his arm around me, “You had a
bunch of these guys on your surfboard?” he asked, bemused.

“They’re pretty cute, aren’t they?”

“Say something to them,” he said with a
grin.

I crouched down to look below the rail and
addressed them as Lorelei had, “
Hello little ones.
”

The response was instantaneous. They launched
themselves out of the water towards me, chirping cheerfully. They
easily slipped through the rails of the fence and jostled to try
climb on my lap, nearly knocking me over. I laughed and petted
them, looking up at Ethan’s surprised face.

An aquarium staffer came running over,
“Miss!” he looked horrified, “Do not touch the animals!”

“Uh– they’re kinda touching
her
!”
Ethan blurted out.

I stood up and the otters melted back into
their enclosure. My jeans and shirt were totally soaked from the
wet animals and I brushed myself off futilely. When I looked up
into Ethan’s eyes we burst into laughter simultaneously. He took me
by the hand and we hurried away from the shocked stares of all the
witnesses, stumbling out the front door into the bright
sunlight.

“
Now
can we go surfing?” I asked
theatrically.

Ethan picked me up and spun me around, taking
my breath away.

“Man!” he put me down, “You’re a trip!”

We got into the truck and he turned to face
me, “Happy birthday,” he said.

“Happy birthday,” I replied as he leaned over
to kiss me.

When we arrived at the shore there were a few
surfers in the water and Ethan eyed them with concern. I was busy
looking at the beautifully formed waves; I could almost read them
from the truck. I was itching to get out, not having surfed since
my wild session with Lorelei a week before.

“Some of these guys can get really
territorial, so just hang back a little ’till we know how they’re
gonna be,” said Ethan.

We changed at the parking lot and picked our
way down a short rocky path. The coastline was breathtaking, with
sculptural cypresses clinging to rocky outcroppings. We could see a
manicured golf course that came right up to the ocean’s edge with
people playing on it. We had to work our way through some thick
kelp beds to get to the takeoff area, and the other surfers eyed us
with suspicion.