02 The Moon And The Tide - Marina's Tales (25 page)

“I see why she had to come early now,” I
said.

“Another set of obnoxious lovebirds,” said
Cruz with feigned disgust.

Shayla laughed at every joke Cruz told. She
listened intently as he described to her how fashion collections
were shown and what the lives of the models were like.

“You know,” I said, “Evie has a lot of
connections with photographers and modeling agents.”

Cruz’s looked at Shayla thoughtfully, “We’re
going up to the city to see her tomorrow.”

“Do you want to meet my Aunt Evie?” I asked
her.

“Yeah,” she nodded with enthusiasm, but her
face clouded, “I don’t have anything to wear.”

Cruz laughed, “If you can manage to wear
those shoes we can come up with a million outfits! I have a few
things I’d like you to try on. I think you could really rock my
newest look.”

“Why don’t you stay over?” I asked Shayla,
“We can leave early.”

“Sure,” she shrugged, “If it’s okay with
Cruz’s mom.”

Megan came over to greet us.

“Are you going to introduce us to your
friend?” I asked with a sly smile.

“Later, okay? I’m going on now,” she made for
the stage.

I looked up to see Ethan approaching our
table and smiled. It was always good to see him, even if I
suspected he was just there to check up on me. He said hello to
Cruz and Shayla and pulled a chair close to mine. Megan took her
guitar and started to sing as he took my hand and murmured in my
ear.

“I see you’ve worked your magic on Shayla,
she looks like a totally different girl.”

I leaned over to his ear, “She’s going to be
a fashion model... I saw it.”

He turned to look into my eyes searchingly,
“Oh boy,” he said, worried.

Megan finished her song and the crowd
applauded loudly.

“Come outside with me,” he whispered in my
ear.

I sighed, unable to resist. I excused myself
as Ethan took my hand and led me out, pulling me into a darkened
doorway for an embrace.

“You look nice tonight,” he said as he kissed
my neck. His lips were soft and warm and I relaxed into him,
clutching his broad back. He inhaled my hair and stopped in his
tracks. “You went out today,” he said. I was really going to have
to start rinsing my hair out better.

I exhaled hard, technically it was today but
it felt more like last night. I didn’t want to lie but I really
didn’t want to tell the truth either.

“I ran into Shayla,” I said. He relaxed,
assuming I had been with her.

“How was it?” he asked.

“Fun,” I replied. So far I hadn’t broken my
promise, but I wondered if allowing him to mislead himself was
duplicitous enough to be considered lying. I decided to drop it,
and kissed him. He was easily distracted, and so was I as we
pressed into each other. He was radiating heat again and I was
tired from my sleepless night. Once again, being close to Ethan
centered me, rendering me completely calm.

“Are you still going to Evie’s tomorrow?” he
asked.

“Yeah, we’re taking Shayla along too.”

“That should be interesting. So you had
another, um, vision? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, it was a positive one… it actually
made me feel better.”

He was silent for a moment, and then he
asked, “Do you think they’ll stop when the time is up?”

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. I had never
really thought about it.

“There’s a full moon next week... only forty
eight more to go...”

I realized he was keeping track, and that it
probably seemed like forever to him. Maybe he was so focused on the
deadline because he didn’t trust me. Maybe I wasn’t trustworthy,
sneaking off to surf with Lorelei against his wishes, and letting
him think I’d been surfing with Shayla. How could I explain the
uncontrollable urge I had to surf when I couldn’t fully understand
it myself?

Ethan saw the full moon as one less in a long
string to wait out. All I could think of was the image I got of me
laughing, surfing under a full moon with Lorelei.

I couldn’t wait.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Evie’s

We were all in high spirits as we set out for
the morning drive to San Francisco. Shayla rode along with me while
Cruz followed us in the Mercedes. Every time I glanced over towards
her I was surprised, hardly able to believe she was the same girl I
knew from school. Cruz had engineered her into a form fitting dress
with a large floral print from his latest collection of work. It
was a ladylike dress, pristinely tailored, and she looked like a
million bucks in it. I had styled her long blonde hair into a loose
mass of curls and executed a flawless makeup job. She could easily
pass for a wealthy socialite.

We pulled into the parking garage and Boris
was at the car instantly.

“Allo darling,” he said, “How are you liking
your new ride?”

“I love it,” I smiled knowingly at him, “You
helped pick it, right?”

He just laughed with pleasure and leaned in
the window. When he saw Shayla his eyes flew open.

“Vell, a
llo zere
,” he said.

“Boris, this is my friend Shayla,” I
announced.

“Hey,” she said shyly with a little wave.

“Your friends are gettings better looking,”
he said with a goofy grin.

I just snickered and drove in to Evie’s
level, “Something tells me you’re going to have to get used to that
reaction.” Shayla blushed and smiled to herself. She was
transforming right before my eyes.

I parked and Cruz pulled up alongside us,
“That Boris sure doesn’t make you feel welcome,” he grumbled.
Shayla and I just looked at each other and giggled.

We went straight to Evie’s door and were
greeted with enthusiasm.

“Darlings!” she cried, hugging me and Cruz in
turn.

“Aunt Evie, this is our friend Shayla,” I
gestured to her.

“It’s lovely to meet you,” she took her hand
warmly. “Aren’t you just a gorgeous baby Jerry Hall?”

“What?” Shayla asked, looking alarmed.

“I knew it!” cried Cruz with a fist pump. He
turned to Shayla, “She was a famous model back in the day, trust
me– it’s a compliment.”

“Uhm, thanks,” Shayla said, looking stunned.
I saw her eyes dart around Evie’s opulent apartment. It was a lot
to take in all at once.

“We think Shayla should be a model,” said
Cruz.

“She already is,” said Evie, looking at
Shayla’s outfit. She led us in to a comfortable seating area and
rang a bell for tea, “Now Cruz, tell us all about about these new
designs you’ve been working on.”

We drank tea and talked for a while, first
about Cruz’s clothes and then about Megan’s debut as a performer.
Evie was enthusiastic about both of their budding careers and it
made me happily proud. When they succeeded I could feel their joy
envelope me, and it was a pleasant sensation. I caught Evie
watching me with a sense of recognition, as though she felt exactly
the same way.

“How should Shayla go about getting into the
modeling business?” I asked her.

Evie smiled at Shayla, “You obviously have
the figure and the looks, but I haven’t heard from you yet, my
dear. Is this something that you really want to do?”

Shayla swallowed hard, clearly intimidated by
Evie, “I... I never really thought I could do anything like that
until Cruz was so nice to me,” she looked at him gratefully. “But I
need to do something...” she looked desperate, “I want to get my
own place. I need to be able to support myself.”

“Of course you do,” said Evie
sympathetically. I had the oddest sensation that Evie knew
everything there was to know about Shayla right at that moment.

“I really wanna try,” said Shayla firmly.

“I’ll make a few phone calls,” beamed Evie,
“but now we simply
must
get moving or we’ll miss our
luncheon reservations.”

We piled into Evie’s Rolls Royce with Cruz at
the wheel and headed out into the city. Evie directed him to the
Japantown section of San Francisco where she had reserved a private
tatami room in an elegantly appointed Japanese restaurant. The
small room was elevated, and surrounded with sliding screens. The
table was low to the floor with a recessed area underneath, and
Cruz squirmed in his tight black jeans to take a seat. Shayla
seemed surprisingly comfortable, curling her long legs to the side
and settling in on the cushioned seat.

Evie just beamed at me, for this had always
been one of our favorite places to enjoy an intimate lunch. It was
familiar and cozy, and all my troubled thoughts fell away. A
beautiful soft-spoken waitress clad in a silk kimono rustled in.
She brought us warm perfumed towels for our hands and gracefully
poured us small cups of green tea. Shayla couldn’t take her eyes
off of her.

“I’ve taken the liberty of ordering ahead for
us,” Evie announced.

The food started arriving with perfect
timing, first bowls of steaming miso soup, followed by multiple
platters of masterfully crafted sushi. A giant pot of Sukiyaki was
set in the middle of the table, along with cold soba noodles. I
described some of the dishes to Shayla and was surprised at how
eagerly she tried unfamiliar things. She was like a sponge, soaking
up as much new experience as she possibly could.

Cruz and Evie had their heads together about
the latest Vogue editorial spread as I gave Shayla a lesson in
eating noodles with chopsticks. I pointed out the cooked sushi and
maki rolls and she tasted them with an open mind. Soon she was
sampling the raw sushi, surprising herself.

“I always thought it would be gross,” she
said in amazement, “but it’s like, really– really good!”

“Japanese food is one of
the
most
refined cuisines,” said Cruz with an air of authority, making me
laugh at his professorial demeanor. He was taking on the role of
mentor to Shayla, and I was struck by how totally inconceivable
this would have been just a few short weeks ago. The universe was
truly full of miracles.

We were laughing and having a wonderful time
when Evie turned to me, “So, when do you leave for Greece?” she
asked.

“In a couple of weeks,” I said, “for spring
break.”

“The islands should be beautiful this time of
year,” she said dreamily, “Just be sure to pack for cool
evenings.”

“What are you going there for?” Shayla
asked.

“I’m meeting my dad,” I said, “We’re going to
visit some ancient ruins.”

“Wow, your life is like... so totally
amazing,” Shayla sighed.

“You might be surprised what life has in
store for you,” I smiled knowingly at Shayla. Evie cast a curious
glance over at me.

“Marina, I have a proposal,” Evie said to me,
“I’d like to take you and Cruz on a vacation over the summer. We
could fly down to Argentina to meet Cruz’s sisters and then pop
across the pond to Europe. We could shop in France, Italy, Spain...
the fashion there is to die for!”

“Really?” squealed Cruz, “Oh my God! It’s a
dream come true!”

“Cruz, The baby’s coming sometime in August,”
I pointed out with a stern look, “Don’t you want to be there for
your mom?”

“Well, aren’t you just the little buzz kill,”
Cruz scowled at me.

Evie jumped in, “We could be back in plenty
of time– I think two months might do the trick...”

“The trick?” I asked.

“How about it honey? We could leave the
instant you graduate,” Evie looked at me expectantly.

“I can’t,” I said firmly.

“Are you crazy?” said Cruz, “Why?”

“I can’t leave Ethan for that long.”

Evie looked like she had expected my
reticence, “Sweetheart, he can do without you for a few months.
Besides, the boys in Europe are going to keep you so busy you won’t
even miss him.”

I knew what she was doing and it wasn’t going
to work. I was the only one who ever said no to Evie; it was
difficult to resist her charm but I met her gaze with steely
determination.

“I won’t leave him for that long,” I met her
eyes with a steady gaze and saw Evie shift tactics.

“You wouldn’t want to disappoint Cruz, would
you?” she looked at me innocently. She wasn’t above using my father
to get her way either. Funny, I had never really noticed how Evie
worked me over until Ethan pointed it out.

I lifted my chin a notch, smiled, and called
her bluff, “You two can go without me.” I’d changed more than she
knew in the past few months. I had been willing to sacrifice
everything for Ethan, and if Evie thought she could break us apart
with the offer of a vacation she was sorely mistaken.

“We’ll see,” she said with a conciliatory
smile, “There’s no need to decide now. Summer is a long way off...
an eternity really.”

Cruz looked stricken and I couldn’t help but
feel a twinge of guilt. I wondered about her observation, thinking
about her choice of words. We finished our lunch and got up to go
when Evie pulled another ace out of her sleeve.

“I need to pick up a few things downtown… Are
you three up for a little shopping?”

Cruz and Shayla were wrapped firmly around
Evie’s little finger as they trailed her through one exclusive
department store after another. Evie lamented over Shayla’s
ill-fitting shoes and took her into several high end shoe
boutiques. She graciously bought Shayla some classic pumps and
sandals in several colors, chattering to her about what sorts of
outfits she should wear to modeling interviews.

“You must always present yourself as neutral
as possible to allow them to visualize you as a blank slate. You’ll
have your book of photos to show your versatility. I know some
photographers who would simply love to take some test shots.
Everyone wants to take credit for discovering the next big star…
and
you can showcase Cruz’s designs!”

“Awesome! I need some good pictures for my
portfolio!” enthused Cruz.