A Rose by the Shore

I could tell Val woke up the next afternoon with an avalanche of a headache. She vowed she’d never get that wasted ever again and I prayed she didn’t. I never wanted to go back into that cluster funk of a men’s bathroom with the rotten smell of over sprayed AXE and scattered condom packets alike again.

As Val was at home trying to reboot herself back to humanity, I was at our dad’s sports shop called, The Athlete’s Shack. It was a pretty big place smack dabbed in a middle of a modern downtown and had all things recreational. The bell on the door jingled as I stepped into the air conditioned room. I saw my older cousin, Thiel, spinning a basketball on his left index finger as he was writing something down on the counter at the register with his right hand. He looked too peaceful to not get messed with, so I went over and tugged down on his grey, Nike sweatpants. I didn't completely pants him, but it was enough to get a startle out of him.

“Ass,” he growled humorously as he lightly tossed the ball to bounce off the side of my head.

I squealed out at the minor attack and rubbed the spot that it hit. I rested my arms on the counter on the opposite side of Thiel and he began ranting about how Steve Nash was traded to the Lakers and didn’t even get to keep his number. I understood all the sports talk because I was into a lot of it, too. I mean, how couldn’t I when dad’s been gearing me up in athletics all my life? He always wanted a boy and expected me to be one. I was this close in being named Quincy until he realized I was missing an important anatomy. He still raised me to do boyish things, though, which resulted in me not being slim like my sister, but firm and strong like an athlete.

I began rearranging the golf clubs so its logo showed on the outside of the rack and Thiel and I started talking about college basketball, which lead to the topic of college all together. Smarts ran in the family, but good decisions were debatable. Thiel turned down the offer to go to Rensselaer and ended up attending Colorado School of Mines, which was still a good school, but he didn't get as many scholarships. Val got admitted into Stanford, but didn't take the offer because she wanted to go to beauty school.

I never understood why some people never took advantages of their opportunities, but I shouldn't be the one to talk because I got recruited by top Ivy League schools and turned them down all of them.

“Those expensive ass schools always come with boring ass corporate jobs. Nothing compares to being here— being close to home and family and all. Besides, we make a lot of money, so it's all good.”

It was true, we had a lot of loyal customers.

"If you don't like your job, what's the point of doing it, right?"

I agreed with him and was about to refold the men's dry fit shirts when my dad walked down from the second floor with a phone sandwiched between his shoulder and ear. He held a clip board in one hand and a pen in the other as he quickly jotted down notes as he talked on the phone with a customer.

"I just checked our upstairs department, but I'll definitely look in our inventory. I'll call you back in a few." He hung up the phone and tossed the clip board onto the counter with a sigh. He turned on his heel to go towards the back room, but turned back again to look at me and Thiel.

"Can either of you two do me a favor?”

Both Thiel and I looked at each other and groaned.

“I just need one of you to go to Crowley Island to drop off the new equipment at the resort.”

Crowley was a private island that one of the founding families of our town claimed as theirs back in the 1850's. There was a beach resort on one side where it’s only open during the tourist season in the summer and the other side was strictly private. From what I’ve heard from tourists and a number of locals, Crowley Island was beautiful. They described it as a place with white sands and clear waters with the pleasant aroma of jasmine flowers. It all seemed so enchanting, but I never had the chance to really experience it for myself.

I looked at the fifty-four-year-old man and noticed the bags under his burnt sienna eyes from the lack of sleep and how thin his face had become.

"I'll go,” I offered. "I've never been there before and this would be a chance for me to explore a little." It only took about an hour to get to and from the island, but there were only four trips going there and back to the city. “I’ll even be back before dinner,” I shrugged.

My rosy cheeked father smiled, ”that sounds perfect, thanks, Honey, Thiel will tell you what to do.”

—-

I climbed out of the luxurious motor boat along with the flood of tourist around me. I looked down the dock and my eyes met with a stunning, marble, architecture that looked like a mixture between the Parthenon and the Playboy Mansion. It had four, thick pillars in the front of the hotel and three more sat on top of the roof of the first floor that supported the second and third floors. The first floor consisted of the lobby, the gym, and the two restaurants. The second and third floors were the suites, but on top of the third floor was what appeared like a pool that looked over the entire resort The sight was completely overwhelming, glamorous, and intimidating all at once.

I waited for all of the passengers to get off the boat before getting the three boxes of new Wilson tennis rackets from one of the attendants. He picked up the boxes one by one and handed them up to me on the dock. “It’s a little cloudy today, too bad you couldn’t come on a sunnier day,” commented the bald, middle aged man.

I shrugged, “yeah, but that’s okay, I’m just happy to be here.” I placed the boxes on the hand cart that was prepared for me, thanked the guy for helping, and began pushing towards the hotel.

I walked passed a large group of tourists who were doing touristy things and I was so fixated with how cute the Japanese kids were that I almost ran into someone.

“Oh, excuse me, I’m sor—“ I stopped mid apology when I looked up and caught sight of those same orbs I did the night before, but this time his jade eyes were chilled to an arctic color. They looked cold and slick like glaciers; beautiful like glass— damn, I was lost in them again.

“We have to stop meeting like this,” he said with a smirk.

Damn, Chameleon Eyes was tall, like, baby giraffe tall—six three and all. His hair was dark, so dark that it could have been mistaken as black, but the sun shone through the strands and reflected brown on the edges. His hair was cut shorter on the sides and kept longer at the top, giving way to his slight curls. Honestly, he was just too pretty, but I wasn’t going to admit that to him.

I narrowed my eyes and pushed the cart forward, but it was caught by his hand.

“Wait,” he grabbed the handle of the cart above where my hand was gripping, “let me help you.”

“No, thank you, I’m fine.” I grabbed his wrist and pulled his arm away from the piece of metal. What were the chances that I’d see him there? Just when I thought I could have a nice day on a beautiful Island… KLABAMB.

I continued to walk towards the hotel and tried my best to not look back. But I didn’t have to look back because he was right by my side the second I thought about turning my head.

“I’m really sorry for almost running into you and your frie—“

“Sister,” I said blandly.

“—Right and another thing about the other day—“

I cut him off, annoyed of his presence, “look, I’m sorry, but I have a job to do and I really don’t have time to chat, so…” I usually wasn’t rude to people, but let’s be reminded that he and his idiot friend almost made my sister and I road kill.

I finally made it to the front entrance and walked to the front desk. I talked to the manager who greeted me with a smile and a fresh glass of water. She was very poise and she even kind looked like Val, minus the taller height, but she was still petite and cute as a button.

I took a drink while the manager called up the gym department to pick up the new equipment. The moment she hung up the phone, her eyes lit up like fireworks.

“H-hello, Lincoln,” she stammered shyly to someone behind me with a hint of blushed cheeks.

“Hey, Helen,” replied the man.

I turned around and cringed.

In came Chameleon Eyes with his stupid khaki shorts and stupid white v-neck and stupid sandals and stupid smile with his stupid straight ass teeth.

Helen looked over at me with a smile and gestured towards the moving statue of a man, “um, Quinn, that’s, Lincoln Crowley—”

I restrained myself from spitting out water and watched as he sauntered towards us, not sure if I heard her right. The last name must have been a coincidence, right?

I turned around and looked at the women, “wait, Crowley, as in—“ I waved my arms around, indicating the entire place, “Crowley?”

“Yes, the one and only. He owns this place.” She kind of giggled as she said it.

There was no way this guy owned the island. He didn’t even look a day passed thirty, let alone the holder of a chunk of land in the middle of the ocean. There was no way. There was no way.

I felt a presence behind me and warm air hovered around my right ear, “hello, Little Squirrel.”

I jolted a little and turned around. We were so close in proximity that I had to crane my neck back for some space. He was leaned toward me with his hands behind his back; lips smirking. He retracted back into a tall, broad shouldered stance and gave Helen a wink.

Wait, did he just call me a squirrel?

“Did you just call me a squirrel?”

His lips went up into a full smile and goddamn he had dimples. He ran his hand through his hair as he walked to the counter, slightly leaning on it with his body faced towards me. “Yeah, you remind me of a little squirrel; always squirming around and running away from me.”

I gave him a blank expression. He talked to me so casually and so effortlessly that it oddly made me feel— or anyone feel— so at ease around him. He was charismatic, I’d give him that.

“Um, I should get going, thank you Helen, and…” I had to force out the last part, “nice to meet you, Lincoln. Goodbye.”

I looked at my watch and it was 3:45 PM and that gave me roughly two or so hours before the next departure. I scurried my way out of there and I decided to go around the resort to see if I could discover anything interesting. I followed a cobble stone trail that led me behind the hotel that Thiel told me about. He said it would lead me to a strip of a bunch of knick-knack shops and restaurants that stretched along the entire side of the island.

“Would you like to try our freshly made sourdough?” Asked a woman in a white apron who was holding a silver platter of freshly cut bread.

I smelled the aroma of baked goods coming from the shop she stood in front of and I couldn’t help but get a taste. I munched on the warm bread as I marched through the strip. Many people filled the road, walking in and out of shops and occupying restaurants. There were even people in golf carts driving around the place. I spent about forty-five minutes walking down the strip, talking to tourist, and trying out a ton of food. I’ve tried all sorts of desserts, drinks, and even fish. My taste buds had a party. This place as just all too lovely.

I walked a little more towards the end of the strip when I looked up and saw four bodies standing on top of a rock that hovered forty-five feet above the water. There were two boys and two girls playfully pushing each other to go next. One of the boys stepped back a couple feet from the edge and his arms went into a running position. He took one step and then another and then he pumped his arms faster as he got closer to the end. He finally flew off into a font flip and fell into the water, creating a splash. All of his friends excitedly jumped up and down and cheered for their friend.

“Cliff diving; ever tried it?”

I whipped my body around and my face was incredibly close to Lincoln’s. He was standing behind me with his body slightly bent over with his hands behind his back again. He stood straight up when I took a step back.

“Shouldn’t you be running this island in an oval office or something? Don’t you have monitoring to do?”

“I am, I’m walking around to see if my visitors are having a good time.” He crossed his arms and leaned in towards me, “are you having a good time?”

I turned around and mumbled “I was,” and walked away.

Lincoln followed and appeared by my side, “If you’re feeling adventurous, you can even go rock climbing.” He fell silent for a moment, thinking, “how about jet skiing?”

I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at him, “why are you doing this, I don’t even know you.”

He smirked, “Wren called and said his beloved daughter is stopping by and needed a tour guide.” I was kind of surprised at hearing him say my father’s name.

“You know my dad?” Of course he knew my dad, they did business together, what a stupid question.

“Yes and I know you, too. I actually met your dad through you.”

I don’t know if this guy was crazy or maybe staying on this island made you hallucinate, but I’ve never met him in my life. “How? I swear, I’ve never met you in my life.”

He looked disappointed, “You really can’t remember me, can you?”