Dark Beach - By Lauren Ash Page 0,2
call.” Ron’s tone was neutral.
“Conference call? But you’re on vacation!”
“I have to. There’s something going on.”
“Can’t someone else handle it?”
“No. I need to be in on the call. I’m the one who sees the client face to face. I’m the designer. I have to.”
“But Ron, you’ve only been off half a day. They need you already? They’ve known for ages that you were taking time off.”
“It’ll be quick: fifteen minutes, tops.”
“It better be.”
He went through the drive-thru and pulled into a small parking lot packed with lunch-rush cars. Jenny climbed into the back with Kip, trying to help her tiny hands grip the cheeseburger.
“Mmm.”
“Good, huh?”
Kip’s blonde curls bounced as her burger slid out of its bun and plopped onto the beige car seat. “Oops.” She giggled.
Jenny blotted at the red stain with the paper napkin, pushing the burger back into the bun with her other hand.
The burger still looked good. Jenny bit into it—nausea. She tried to mask it with a sip of chocolate milkshake. “Gosh.”
“Mamma. More!”
“Here, have some apple.”
Fifteen minutes passed. The food was gone, leaving a lingering film of grease around her mouth. Jenny rolled down the window. “Ugh … Jesus.”
“Jeeeeesus.”
“Kip, don’t say that.”
Charlie barked, as if to agree.
Jenny concentrated on the line at the drive-thru, each car slowly inching by. The occasional driver glanced over at her. “What are you staring at?” she grumbled under her breath.
Charlie barked again.
“I hate this. Come on, let’s go inside. Mommy needs to use the bathroom.”
In the corner, Ron sat with his feet up on one of the worn plastic chairs. He stared out the window, one ear to his cell phone, listening. Jenny sat across from him and motioned with open palms. “What’s taking so long?” she mouthed, not so quietly.
Ron gesticulated wildly for her to leave.
Turning, she grabbed Kip’s hand and stormed out, back to the car, slamming the door behind her. There was nothing to do except watch the cars, watch the clock, and tap.
“Unbelievable! Forty-five minutes.” She leaned back, tired from the aggravation.
Finally, Ron appeared and slid into the driver’s seat. “What’d you do that for? Why’d you come in? They could hear everything. Now I look like a fool.”
“Ron, you said fifteen minutes.”
“I told you, I can’t help this stuff. Now, please...”
“Please what … shut up?”
“No…” Ron shook his head and rested his forehead on the steering wheel. “I don’t want to fight. Can we just stop?”
Jenny crossed her arms, already beginning to tune out. “Fine.”
The roads emptied as they exited Olympia, hitting the country highway west. The ominous clouds cleared and a ray of sunshine dashed through the windshield, flashing right in Jenny’s eye. She slid on her dark sunglasses and laid her blonde head back, drifting away to another place.
The water was murky, and she floated in it alone. There was no sky, just liquid warmth, tugging, directing her somewhere and nowhere at the same time.
She heard a roaring splash, and she flipped upside-down, sinking lower and lower, pressure increasing on every pound of flesh. Through the dark, it came—the whale, black and huge, long and smooth. Her descent ended. Her body suspended. It opened its mouth and all she saw were bright-white, razor-sharp teeth.
Jenny gasped.
“Honey, what’s up?” Ron glanced over then returned his gaze to the road.
She ripped off her sunglasses, a tear rolling down her cheek. “That dream—I had it again. It won’t leave me alone.”
“What?”
“The whale.”
“A whale?”
“It has teeth, hundreds of horrid teeth. It’s so awful.”
“I don’t think whales have teeth, maybe it’s a shark?”
“God, Ron! It’s a whale! It’s massive.”
“How long has this been going on for?”
“I don’t know, a few months … maybe.”
“It’s just a dream, honey. Don’t worry.”
“I have it almost every day, throughout the day. Like it’s lurking there, behind my eyes, behind my thoughts, in my breath—in me.”
Ron flicked the indicator on, checked his blind spot, and changed lanes. “I always have this dream that the dentist sits me in his chair, straps me down and removes too many of my teeth. And there’s the one where I’m falling and I land, and then I startle awake.”
“Let’s change the subject. I’ll be fine.”
“You sure there’s nothing else going on?”
Jenny put her sunglasses back on. “No. Not a thing.”
“Well, only another hour to go and then we’re there. Is there anything you need? I can stop at the next exit”—Ron pointed forward to a fast-approaching off ramp—“get you some tea, coffee, something sweet?”
“No.”
“I’m sort of hungry. I forgot to eat earlier. I was so wrapped up in