Water (21 page)

I stared at the scenery.

Shawn finally yelled from the other room.  "Take your time, it’s not like anyone is waiting on you."

Speaking of annoying people
.  I sighed and turned toward the door. 
Time to go to work
. 

The three men turned at the sound of the door, each of their reactions different but predictable. 

Alex smiled his goofy smile and complimented me, "You look nice, Katie." 

Micah swallowed, hard.  I thought I felt the beginnings of a mental communication coming from him but it was suddenly jerked back, as if he changed his mind.

Shawn sat at one end of the table and I walked toward him and the food.  He was staring at me.

"Hey, Princess – I saved a seat for you right here," Shawn said, patting his lap. 

I walked over to him, as seductively as I could manage.  "Oh Shawn, don’t you know?"  I took the untouched piece of cheesecake out of his hands.  "You can’t have your cake and eat it, too."

The smile disappeared from his face.

Alex giggled.

Micah interrupted, "Just sit down, will you?  We have a lot to go over." 

I took a seat on a large oversized armchair.  Micah made it a point to sit in between Shawn and me.

Micah began, "Cato didn’t give me all the details before he left, said he would fill me in tonight.  Alex – did you get us a boat?"

I groaned out loud; everyone ignored it.

"Yes – a trawler.  300 footer.  We have it for two weeks."

Oh, good.  On a boat for two whole weeks.

A knock on the door of Alex and Shawn’s neighboring suite made us all tense.  Micah looked at his watch, "Cato’s flight hasn’t landed yet."

Shawn stood and cautiously stuck his head outside the door.  He immediately threw open the door and held his arms out wide.  "Susan!" 

Micah and Alex immediately rushed the door, all piling into the hallway.  I followed hesitantly.  Words of warm greeting echoed around the corridor, a woman’s voice joining the men.  I tried ducking under arms and jumping up to see past the three of them, but there was no hope.  Alex, Shawn, and Micah were swarming her like bees on honey.  A pang of jealousy washed through me.  Finally, the sea of men parted and Micah came through with Susan on his arm.  They looked at each other, laughing.  My first thought was how handsome they looked as a couple; I instantly wanted to strangle her then and there.

"Susie, there is someone I want you to meet."  Micah gestured toward me.  So glad he remembered I was there.  "This is Kaitlyn, the newest addition to our team."

"Ah, the infamous Kaitlyn."  Susan, taller than me, looked down at me smiling. 

Infamous?  I narrowed my eyes at her.  Bright red lipstick accented perfectly aligned, white teeth.  Dark straight hair, voluptuous curves in all the right places and manicured nails completed the picture of a beautiful, exotic, man-stealing whore. 
What I am I so jealous about?  Let her have the rapist.

"This is Susan, my older sister," Micah quickly interjected.

My eyes widened, "Sister?  Well that, um…"  I was about to say ‘changes everything’ but I caught myself just in time.  "That’s great!"

I extended my hand to shake Susan’s.  She just laughed and pulled me into a full hug, concluding the introduction with a kiss on each cheek. 

So maybe I overreacted.  She smells great; I need to ask about her perfume.

Micah beamed.

The men herded us all back into the room.  I made sure to take a seat on the sofa next to Susan. 

She turned to me.  "Micah has told me quite a bit about you.  I’m glad we have this opportunity to meet.  I look forward to working with you."

"Working with me?"

"She is our Nerina," Micah explained, "What she does is similar to a Gaia, but she can only interact with the water element and sometimes the creatures in it."

"I will be helping you on this assignment."  She took my hand in hers.  "Together, I think we can make this work." 

"I’m sorry, but, I don’t think we have been fully briefed on what we’re doing here."  I glanced at Micah.

Before he could speak, Susan cut in, "I heard from Cato.  He didn’t make his flight.  He still had some repairs to oversee at the Chakra.  But he has passed all the details to me.  I’ll fill you guys in."  She leaned for the food on the table.  "Just as soon as I fill my belly." 

I was beginning to like her already.  Everyone in the room was enamored with her, even as bread crumbs fell from her mouth.

Shawn, of course, was more vocal than the rest of us in his admiration.  "So Susie, want to bunk with me tonight?  There is plenty of room."

"You don’t ever quit, do you Shawn?"  She barely glanced at him.  "Thanks, but no thanks.  I have a place of my own here."

"Quit hitting on my sister."  Micah got up and headed toward the mini bar, jabbing Shawn in the arm on the way.  "Does anyone want anything to drink?" 

Several requests were made for the small bottles of hard liquor.  Shawn hinted at getting Susan drunk.

"What about you, anything to drink?"  It took a moment for me to realize Micah was talking to me.

"Oh, sure.  Give me whatever."  I soon found a small glass of ‘whatever’ in my hand.  I looked at Susan.  "So, how did you and Micah become involved with the Seven?"

A flicker of pain passed through her eyes.  Maybe too quick to notice for most but I had seen Micah do the same. 
Subject for another time, maybe.
  "I mean, were you very young?"

Susan smiled, "Young and before you ask – inexperienced."

"Well aren't we all," I said.

Over the next half hour, she went into storytelling mode, letting me in on some of their adventures.

"We were sent to Alaska to help with the oil spill," Susan started one such story.  "It was our first real task after almost five years of training.  We went with Micah’s first Gaia, who was four times his age and very bitter about having an 11-year-old Ardwyad."

"Wait," I interrupted.  "Micah’s been with the Seven since he was six?"

"Yep.  I was nine."  Susan looked at Shawn.  "And Shawn was there even before us."

"I was too young to remember life before the Seven."  He puffed out his chest.  As if being the longest-standing member gave him the right to be an asshole.

"But he was made Ardwyad at age 11?  Why so young?"  I asked.

Micah said, "I was only in training, but the previous Ardwyad died – unexpectedly."

"Anyway," Susan continued, "Cato sent us off on this mission with a prayer; he was much more ritualistic back then than he is now.  He was all, 'The Earth is my mother, rivers run forth from her great breasts, remain close.  Fire is her gift, blah, blah, blah.'  Anyway
,
off went a forty-something diva of a Gaia, Cato, a gangly 11-year-old boy and his older sister who didn’t take much notice of any prayers unless they were incorporated with her rock music.  After five days of travel, we were standing in the middle of nowhere in the bitter cold on an icy bank looking out into a sea of oil.  Cato had come down with pneumonia and was confined in an Alaskan hospital.  The three of us were told to help, but given very little direction as to how.  The Gaia instructed me to separate the water from the oil.  It took me nearly three hours but I finally figured it out.  The only problem was, if the oil were to separate from the water, it had to go somewhere, and the only somewhere around that wasn’t water was the shore, which also happened to be where we were standing.  So this huge oil slick was rushing toward us, and I had no idea how to stop it.  The Gaia freaked out and immediately took over my waves.  The only problem was her strength, even with water, was double mine and the slick rushed at us faster.  She had no idea how to stop it because she didn’t know how I started it in the first place.  She sat there in shock, making no effort whatsoever to help the situation."  Susan paused to finish off her drink.  "So this is where Micah comes in, feeling our survival depended entirely on him."

I looked over at Micah, seeing his face red with anticipation of what was coming next.  "The only thing that kept running through my head was the prayer Cato said before we left."

"Don’t interrupt," Susan scolded.  "I’m telling the story.  So he took one part of the prayer very literally -
Rivers run forth from her great breasts, remain close
.  He stepped in between the Gaia and the oil slick – looked at me with the widest eyes he has ever had and then he buried his face square in her bosom."

My mouth dropped open and I looked at Micah again, who had now busied himself behind the bar making more drinks – his face conveniently hidden by an open cupboard.

"The Gaia froze in place; she didn’t even look down at him she was so shocked.  Micah looked back at the oil slick.  It was still coming so he turned and did another face plant; only harder this time.  And he started to shake his head back and forth; why – I don’t know."

Micah stepped out from behind the bar to defend himself.  "I thought maybe she couldn’t feel me under all those layers of clothes…"

Susan cleared her throat at Micah.  "Well whatever possessed him to do this, it worked.  The oil slick slowed and came to a stop right at our feet.  So, Micah turned back to the Gaia, still wide-eyed but also with a small smile of accomplishment on his face.  He no doubt thought he did what he was supposed to and was probably looking for some praise.  Instead, he received a neat slap to the face."

Susan had the whole room laughing, some of us in tears.  "Needless to say, the mission was over and we were carted back to the Chakra, accused of working together to fill the sexual desires of a puberty-stricken boy."

Micah defended himself, but it went unnoticed amid merciless teasing by the other men in the room.  I smiled sloppily, and realized I was getting tipsy.  I looked down at the table – there were three empty glasses with my shade of lipstick smudging them.  Micah was by my side handing me another.

I stood up.  "Are you trying to get me drunk?" 

The jovial mood in the room died.  Everyone went silent. 

"No," Micah said, dropping his eyes all the same.  "I was just, giving you drinks."

I narrowed my eyes at him.  "What are you up to?"

Alex jumped in.  "I think maybe we’ve all had a little too much to drink.  Susan – you want to fill us in on tomorrow’s schedule?"

After a sideways glance at Micah and me, Susan started, "Okay, well—"

"Can I talk to you a moment?"  My interruption was abrupt, loud, and pointed directly at Micah.  "Somewhere private?"

"Jesus, princess."  Shawn sent me a look.  "Let’s just put everything on hold so you can address your personal issues."

I spun on my heel and zeroed in on Shawn.  Before I could retort, Micah laid his hand on my shoulder.  "No, she’s right.  We need to talk things through.  Especially before we attempt anything tomorrow."  Although his explanation was directed at Shawn, he looked at me.  "Do you want to go for a walk, on the beach?"

I walked toward a window and looked out.  The evening tourists were trading the sun for disco lights at local night clubs, leaving the beach deserted.  "I don’t know…"

Alex came up behind me to look out the window.  "Just go, I’ll watch from here," he whispered.

I sighed and looked back at Micah.  "Ok, let’s go."

Once outside, I took the lead, ensuring we stayed along the same side of the hotel as our rooms.  The temperature had dropped significantly but it was still at least 70 degrees.  I watched the ocean waves coming in and sighed regretfully, thinking what an incredible vacation this could have been had my partner and I been on better terms.

I glanced at Micah several times but he didn’t seem anxious to start a conversation.  I also kept an eye on our room, several stories up.  Alex was there each time I checked, faithfully watching us.  He waved once and I gave a slight wave back. 

Micah saw, and even though he waved Alex away it must have given him the encouragement he needed.  "I have something for you." 

"What, like an apology?"  I mumbled. 

Micah pulled a small box out of his pocket.  "Yes, that.  And this." 

He opened the box and I peered inside.  A small, blue butterfly with a chain sat on the velvet inside the box.  I picked the charm up, holding it to the light from the hotel windows.  It was the same deep blue and had similar markings to the butterfly that landed on Micah’s pebble when he first gave it to me in the gardens.  Upon closer inspection, I saw that his lucky rock, minus the bird magnet, was part of the butterfly.  It was filed down to resemble the long oval-shaped body, set in a silver lining that also connected the rock to its ceramic wings.  Micah had marred something very symbolic to him, in order to make something special for me.  I rubbed the rock with my thumb, trying to remember beyond the greenhouse to when he first gave it to me.

Micah whispered, "Here, let me." 

I held my hair out of the way while Micah connected the clasp around my neck.  Then he stepped back, "Beautiful."

He wasn’t looking at the necklace, he was looking at me.  I didn’t know what to say; it didn’t exactly make up for what he did.