AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah, I’m not even awake yet."
“I’ll bet your eyes are as red…” She looked at her suit bottom and tried to tuck in a nice round cheek. “As my bikini."
“They’re patriotic, red, white, and blue." I corrected her with a vinegar tone.
“Oh, so you’re not feeling very sociable this morning?" She reached for a tote in the chair beside her and pulled it into her lap as she sat at my table. While I was trying to form words, she extracted her hand from the bag’s depths and extended a folded wad of cash. "I was hoping you’d make an appearance, I wanted to give you this."
“What’s that? I sat up to focus.” All I saw were rivulets of water sluicing down her tanned midriff and how it pooled in her navel. I wanted to thank the doctor who crafted that deep ‘innie’ belly button.
“Eight hundred dollars." She almost snatched it back. "You gave it to me last night."
“What the heck for?"
“You said I had an honest face and you liked me."
“I looked away from her and scratched at my forehead.” Honestly? What a line. “Was I a gentleman?"
She drew back the cash and sat up indignantly. "Don’t be an idiot."
“Then you should keep it."
“Don’t be an asshat." She dropped the bills closer to me on the table.
I slid them back to her. “Don’t you be an asshat,” Neither of us touched the cash. I moved it between us. “I meant for you to have it if I gave it to you.”
I simplified the story for the parents. “It turned out; I gave her some of my winnings to hold for me when I was…er…a little worse for drink. I heard my name called from the second-floor balcony and felt I was needed by my friends.”
I didn’t tell them it was a lifeline to get me out of an awkward conversation. I didn’t know why I gave her the lion’s share of my winnings. I didn’t know why she stalked me to give it back. “I gotta run…” And I almost did run, trying to get the image of her pout out of my lower brain and into my higher intellect.
Since Duckworth had been showing sympathy, I felt I needed to make a stronger connection with Betina, so I turned to her. “Bluto and I had a disagreement about my money. I felt he had taken advantage of my incapacity and he pilfered some.” Betina nodded.
The truth was after I backed him up to the wall and threatened to give him new dental work, he coughed up another two hundred of my dough. I never knew why he followed me around like my shadow, Lord knew I didn’t encourage it, but at least for the rest of the afternoon, he left me alone.
Back down by the pool, I strolled slowly enough to keep my head from splitting. Diana watched me, chin down looking over the tops of her sunglasses. Not to brag, but I’m an athlete, so the view she was getting was decent.
“My sport? Like I said, I fence.” I waited for snickering, but nothing came. “Fencers are incredibly fit. Even hungover, I have great balance and can move like a cat in all directions. Hand-eye coordination is crucial, and it comes in handier when I try to be cool and slide my shades back on my face without tripping on the patio bricks.”
Duckworth stared at a spot on a carpet bigger than my whole apartment. What do I look like? If you lined up fencers, dancers, and tennis players, you would see very similar body types. The tennis players have tans. The dancers wouldn’t have any right or left bias. But tennis players and fencers have slightly stronger dominant arms. I’m a righty, but I work hard to keep my build even.
Diana slid off her sunglasses and gave me a long look. "What are you, like five-eleven, six feet?’
“Six feet, but my feet are as quick as my hands."
“Yeah, I’ve heard about fencer’s hands. My brother warned me. He said you were competitive as hell, too."
“Your brother?” I was deciding whether or not to sit back down, but I had to know more about that wad of money.
“Duncan Bauder.”
I continued editing for the sake of the elder Bauders. “The night before when I ran into Diana, she mentioned she was Duncan’s sister. Duncan and I have been buddies since his freshman year. We both surf.” Betina moaned. I gathered mentioning surfing was a misstep.
I wasn’t quite so correct with Diana. “Him?” I scoffed. “What a goof. A total surfer dude.” The guy was desperately running from true generational wealth. His father’s people perfumed and beautified the world, while his mother’s people strip-mined and destroyed the environment. The incomes from these opposing industries sent Duncan and his sister to Stanford without a financial care in the world.
“And you’re his twin sister, Diana.” We both nodded as she chewed on the earpiece of those fancy sunglasses. “You don’t lack for a thing. You still need that money?”
“I performed a service for that money." She rested her bare feet on the chair next to her and leaned back. She’s one lithe and tanned goddess.
“I asked you if I was a gentleman…”
