to the hotel in time for her to get a good night’s sleep and be ready for a long day of shooting tomorrow. We took our seats and slipped on the earphones that he handed us. The flight lasted about half an hour, during which we were treated to some of the most spectacular rainforest scenery on earth.
Every time our eyes met Shayla and I broke into an “I can’t believe this is really happening” grin. After the helicopter set down lightly, we both laughed with joy.
“Thank you so much for bringing me along,” I said solemnly, “You have no idea how much I needed to get away.”
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for you… Hell, I wouldn’t even be alive if it wasn’t for you!”
We both burst into hysterical laughter again, for although it was true, it seemed like something from out of a movie. Once more, were overcome with a giddy feeling of freedom and an exciting sense of adventure. Our guide looked at us oddly, and we dissolved into another giggly laughing fit at the look on his face. He seemed relieved to deposit us at our hotel.
Once we got settled in and had our dinner I slipped away to call Ethan. It was late at night in California, but he picked up right away.
“Marina! Are you okay? Why didn’t you call?”
I knew I’d kept him waiting, but things had been happening so fast I wasn’t even sure what day it was.
“It’s okay, I’m fine,” I said soothingly.
“What happened?” he asked anxiously, “What did they say?”
“They believed me– they didn’t even ask about the mermaids.”
“Really?” he sounded relieved, “Good! When are you getting home?”
“Uhm, something happened and I’m… Hey– Shayla did really great! She was in a bunch of French newspapers, and all the designers are fighting to have her in their shows!”
“Of course they are,” he chuckled.
“Yeah… well, she got this big job. The swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated. They’re shooting it in Maui with a surfer theme, and they wanted a model who could surf.”
“Wow! Shayla?” he sounded bemused, “Who would have believed it? But then again… she’s got you.”
“Stop that,” I said, irritated. He knew I didn’t like it when he brought it up.
“I’m sorry,” his voice softened, “I miss you. When are you coming home?”
“I miss you too,” I said, and it was suddenly so true I ached, “I just got to Hawaii with Shayla.”
“WHAT?”
“It all happened so fast… They chartered her a jet, and she really wanted me to go and–”
“You couldn’t take five minutes to call me?” he sounded upset.
I thought about telling him about Marissa and Olivia, but decided not to get into it over the phone.
“Something kinda bad happened, and I needed to get out of Paris, and then I never got the chance…”
“I thought you said it went okay! How long are you gonna be there?” his voice was tight.
“They’re going to shoot the pictures tomorrow, and we were thinking about trying to surf a little the next day before I–”
“I suppose you’re gonna meet up with Kimo.” I was taken aback, surprised that he would bring him up, startled at the bitter edge to his voice.
“No! Not at all! I’m flying to San Francisco the day after tomorrow.”
He was quiet, and I could tell his feelings were hurt.
“Look, I’ll be home soon. Hey– Evie was upset that I wouldn’t come straight back to Paris along with Shayla!”
“That I believe,” he said unhappily.
“What’s going on with the eminent domain case?” I asked, not wanting to even think about Evie, “Did Lue get himself a good lawyer?”
“He doesn’t need one,” he said, “She won the special election. We have a new Congresswoman. She’s putting a stop to the whole deal.”
“Already? That’s great news!” I said happily.
“Yeah.” He didn’t sound as excited about it as he should have.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing.” I could feel the weight of the whole ocean between us.
“Ethan?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s so pretty here, I wish you were with me.”
He sighed into the phone, and he sounded tired, “Maybe someday.”
“I love you.”
“Me too.”
“I’ll call you when I get back to Aptos.”
“Alright.”
I snapped the phone shut, disturbed that he would bring up Kimo, surprised by the tone of his voice when he did. It’s not like I came to Hawaii for anything other than Shayla’s photo shoot… and to be honest, the surfing. Ethan sounded about as irrational concerning Kimo as I was about Amber. The big difference was, I never dated Kimo, and I