Swimming Through the Dawn

by R. P. Rioux

  "I should learn to quit while I'm ahead," Steve said to her with a chuckle. His awkward attempt to lighten the mood failed miserably.

  "Ya think?" responded Heather icily.

  No serious injuries or ailments resulted, fortunately. Quick-thinking members of the crew managed to cover the most sensitive equipment, preventing much damage from occurring. Once the necessary business was taken care of, the hangar employees who were tasked with safeguarding the facility issued their edict. Everything would have to be returned to standard operating condition by noon the next day. Steve knew it would take an all-hands-on-deck effort, cast and crew included.

  Since the talent had been dancing the entire evening, Grace requested they be allowed to sleep in a bit longer the next morning. Her request was granted under the condition they procure breakfast for the crew members who'd be arriving pre-dawn to begin the cleanup effort. Steve handed her a pre-paid debit card to cover the purchase and provided the bakery's address.

  "I'll see you at 9:15 a.m. Don't be late."

  "Aye aye, captain," she saluted.

  38

  Vanessa

  "It doesn't open 'til 9:00," said Grace. She and her fellow group members stood outside Sprinkles Bakery hungrily ogling the dazzling confections on display in the window.

  "I knew it was too early," complained Vanessa. "Nothing opens early on Sunday, especially on Easter."

  "You should have double-checked. I thought by getting an early start, we'd be able to head home sooner."

  "What should we do?" asked June.

  "We wait," said Grace. "What else can we do?"

  Sun-hee, Erin, and Mindy claimed spots on the one bench available outside the shop. Grace, Heather, and June, lacking better alternatives, returned to the Shepard family minivan they had borrowed. The doors and windows were flung open for circulation. It was early, but the Arizona sun shone bright, harkening the searing it was prepared to dish out later in the day.

  Vanessa grew impatient. Having never visited Scottsdale before, she explored the immediate area on foot. Not five minutes later, she ran back. "Guys, guess what I found?"

  "A million bucks?" offered Erin.

  "No."

  "A pirate treasure?" suggested Mindy.

  "Close. A bike-share station's 'round the corner."

  "And?" said Grace.

  "Let's get off our asses and live a little instead of sitting here like a buncha slugs on reds."

  "Vanessa, chill," said Grace. "We're recovering from yesterday."

  "Look at the weather. It's gorgeous. The sun's shining early. There's a greenway half a block away. When'll we ever be back? It'll be fun."

  "The shop's opening in 45 minutes," countered Heather.

  "It's a dollar a half hour. I'd pay a buck to not watch you all mope around. Thirty minutes tops and we'll be back before it opens."

  "I mean, it is boring sitting here," said Erin.

  "I want to see," said June.

  "All right. Who am I to defy the will of the people?" asked Grace.

  Without further resistance, Vanessa led the way to the bicycles. Before long, the seven of them rode along Indian Bend Wash, attempting to recreate the "Do-Re-Mi" bicycle scene from The Sound of Music.

  "Tea, a drink with jam and bread," sang Mindy out loud.

  "Hey, who said you could be Liesl?" asked Erin.

  "I'm your unnie. Besides, you look more like Kurt anyway." The other girls laughed.

  "I do not."

  "Don't feel bad, Erin," said Grace. "Liesl's the one who fell for a Nazi.

  More laughter. This time Mindy was the one reacting. Gritting her teeth, she kicked the action into high gear and took off racing to see who would follow. Vanessa was game to give chase, and soon, the others were struggling to catch up. It didn't take long for Vanessa to reach Mindy. As the most athletic member of the group, with years of intense weight training, her leg muscles were developed to the point where it took an insubstantial amount of effort to leave the others in the dust. Each time they caught up, she'd spur them towards a new destination. "Let's see if we can reach that red mountain over there," she said, pointing to one of the scenic peaks encircling Scottsdale.

  "That's too far. It'll take too long," said Sun-hee.

  "Naw, a few minutes. Besides, Steve said we could come late. Before anyone could offer a reasonable response, she took off again. Heather could be heard shouting from the rear, "We're supposed to be resting."

  After 20 more minutes of riding, it became apparent the mountain they saw in the distance was indeed much farther away than it first appeared. When Vanessa heard her name being called by her members, she abandoned the quest and returned to them.

  "Nessa, it's 9:30 already," Grace noted. "We need to get to the bakery."

  The return trip was far less enjoyable. Now warmer, the girls were also under pressure unlike before. Heather led the vanguard on the return, but there was far less enthusiasm to charge forward. Vanessa sullenly brought up the rear. At one point, the group stopped ahead. They were debating options.

  "Which way?" asked Heather.

  Vanessa considered the fork and selected the rightmost path. "This way."

  "Are you sure?"

  She didn't answer, preferring instead to let her legs do the talking. The others followed. After another 30 minutes had passed, it was evident she'd chosen incorrectly.

  "Dammit, Nessa, you got us lost," said Grace.

  "We're not lost. Just go back and pick the other side," said Vanessa.

  "It's too hot. I need to rest," said Erin.

  "There's a smoothie place nearby. Let's stop on the way back," suggested Mindy.

  "With what money?" asked Heather.

  "Grace has the debit card," she responded.

  "That's for breakfast."

  "We can get them, I suppose," Grace said. "Just don't order anything expensive."

  "Kale-infused, artisan kombucha in a mason jar?" observed Grace when Heather joined them with her drink. "There's one in every group."

  "If no one plans to be different, I'll volunteer," responded Heather.

  "These smoothies are super-duper delish," stated Mindy.

  "I know, right. Exactly what I needed," agreed Erin.

  "I thought I'd melt," said Sun-hee.

  "Does the card have any money left?" asked Heather.

  Grace's lips stayed glued to the end of her straw as she sipped hands-free with the cup resting on the table directly before her. Her eyes darted around in assessment of each member's appetite for the truth. "Um."

  "Spit it out," demanded Heather.

  "Well, we're gonna have to pay extra for the bike rentals because we're late," Grace said.

  "Yeah, and?"

  "And you all ordered expensive drinks even though I told you not to."

  "Grace, get to the point."

  "I need to borrow a phone to check. Mine's charging at the house."

  Heather turned on her phone. It started bing-binging frantically as a series of texts came through at once.

  "We're dead," said Heather as she scanned through them. "They are not happy."

  "What did they say?" asked Sun-hee.

  Heather read some of the messages aloud. "Where are you?" "We're starving." "Are you okay?" "We need help." "You're still not here!" "What the hell is going on?" "We'd be done by now." "Thanks a lot."

  "We didn't trigger the alarm, why should we clean that mess?" said Erin.

  "I mean, I do feel guilty. We're out having fun, while the guys are working," admitted Sun-hee.

  "We worked hard for this video. We're just blowing off steam," said Vanessa.

  "It's not like they didn't work hard, too, though," noted Heather.

  "We need to make amends somehow," Mindy agreed.

  Grace grabbed the phone from Heather's hands and dialed the number on the card to check the balance. "Great," she said upon dropping the connection. "After we pay off the bikes, there'll be $5.37 left."

  "We need to brin
g food. If we arrive empty-handed on top of everything else, the guys will make us walk back to L.A.," advised Mindy.

  "What can we buy with $5.37?" asked Erin.

  "I have an idea," offered Sun-hee. "We need to find a grocery store."

  39

  Steve

  "Did you ever get a hold of them?" asked Dalton.

  "I've been calling all morning. No answer," said Steve.

  "Did something happen?" asked Toby.

  "No idea, but I'm starving," said Stan.

  "They were supposed to bring breakfast hours ago. Sorry guys, I was counting on their help."

  "We're finished now," said Dalton.

  He finally received a text. "It's from Heather." Steve read it. "They're on their way." He groaned. "Get a load of this. They went bike riding."

  "Bike riding? Is this a vacation to them?"

  "That really pisses me off," said Jackson.

  "That's what the message says," explained Steve.

  "They did it on purpose, I bet, to escape doing work," added Dalton.

  "While they go on a joyride," said Toby. "I'm ballistic."

  Steve shut off his phone. "I say screw it. Let's get someone from the company to sign off on this, and we'll go grab lunch."

  * * *

  Steve arrived at his parents' house. The minivan in the driveway signaled the band members had returned from their escapade. His crew had eaten their fill at Miguel's Taqueria. The meal had put the guys in a better mood, but they weren't ready to forgive the girls for their transgression.

  "Okay, here's the deal," said Steve. "We need to present a unified front. Be tough. Don't let them off easy. They need to know their behavior was unacceptable."

  "You got that right," said Jackson.

  "They left us in the lurch," said Dalton.

  "They're not getting away with this," added Toby.

  "Listen up," Steve said. "Go inside, pack the equipment, and load the vehicles for the trip home. Don't say a word. Give them the silent treatment. Make them worry. Force them to respond. Capiche?" The crew nodded enthusiastically. "My parents are out. The girls won't be able to hide behind them, at least. Let's roll."

  As they bounded their way across the driveway and through the front door, initial reconnaissance suggested they were clear. The crew set to work on their assigned tasks. Steve knelt on the floor separating cables according to size and type. Dalton and Toby tended to the camera, while Stan and Jackson packed the grip equipment. Just as Steve was wondering where the girls were, the ambush was sprung.

  "You're here!" said Grace excitedly as she entered the living room, followed soon thereafter by her groupmates. Steve relied on his peripheral vision to notice they came bearing gifts. He purposefully locked his gaze on the task at hand to avoid paying the ambushers any undue attention.

  Despite only glimpsing her from the knees down, he recognized Heather as she approached. "Are you mad?" she asked with a giggle, though not mockingly.

  He was determined not to let them off the hook so quickly and refused to respond. Unfortunately, his band of merry men proved their pre-encounter bark was worse than their actual bite. Exposed to the heat of battle, they withered instantly.

  "Where were you?" asked Toby from his position near the living room window. Toby, you idiot. What's wrong with you? Steve wasn't sure who Toby was talking to, but gauging from the tone of his voice, it didn't sound promising. Cracks were already forming in their supposedly ironclad façade.

  "We made you treats," Sun-hee said brightly. Steve couldn't resist any longer. He snuck a glance out of the corner of his eye and observed Sun-hee presenting two wrapped confections of some sort, one in each hand presented to both Dalton and Toby. Don't you dare take it, you morons.

  When Dalton pointed at him, Steve averted his gaze to avoid being sucked into the vortex. Heather, meanwhile, was pulling on Steve's left arm to get him to acknowledge her directly. He continued to ignore her. A terse, "What?" is all he could muster in response.

  "We want to apologize for our behavior this morning. We made you dalgona. It's a Korean sweet candy. Taste one."

  "No."

  "Why not?"

  "I'm not hungry. We ate."

  "Take a bite. It's splendid."

  "I'll have one later."

  "They'll be gone later."

  His mates were similarly being worked by the other girls. Their assault was total, and his beleaguered crew was faltering quickly. Sun-hee communicated in Korean to Heather, who subsequently released the sweet from its crinkly envelope. She leaned towards Steve and placed it near his mouth. Its baked, sugary scent filled his nostrils. Resist, Steve. If you take their gift, you're done for. He pushed her arm away. Rather than taking offense to the brush off, Heather laughed like a mother would when dealing with a petulant child.

  "Well, since you went through the trouble of making them, the least I could do is sample one," he heard Jackson say. That goddamn backstabber.

  Stan was complimenting June. "You must've worked hard to make these. They look beautiful!" These guys are hopeless.

  "Wow, these are delicious," said Dalton. Et tu, Brute?

  One by one, they bravely fell to the Made in Heaven charm offensive. Soon an armistice was called, and Heather opted to seal a formal peace agreement with another offering of freshly wrapped dalgona. This time, Steve found himself relenting too. He never wanted Heather to actually be upset with him. Besides, his entire crew was by now enjoying their treats. All talk of silent treatments and unified fronts had been replaced by discussions of key ingredients and preparation techniques.

  Heather's dalgona was wrapped in gold-colored cellophane and tied with a red twist. It resembled a sizeable, thin lollipop the color of a pancake. Into it, a heart pattern had been carefully pressed.

  "If you eat around the heart without breaking it, I'll give you another," she offered with a flutter of her eyelashes. Further resistance was futile.

  * * *

  "Thanks, Steve," said Vanessa, "but Sun-hee and I decided we'd like to live a little longer. We're taking the van this time."

  "No, I understand. I recognize my car has some serious shortcomings," he said. "I don't blame you."

  "Will you be by yourself?" asked Sun-hee, appearing to immediately regret her decision.

  "I'll go with him," said Heather. "You can ride in the van. I don't mind."

  Sun-hee offered a meek, "Thanks."

  When it came time to leave, the seven members gathered around Steve's parents to thank them for their hospitality. Mr. Shepard received extra special attention.

  "We're glad we finally got to meet Steve's father," said Erin.

  "Yeah, now we know where he got his handsome looks from," said Grace.

  One by one, they kissed him on the cheek, sometimes two at a time. When June took her turn, Mr. Shepard nearly melted into a puddle on the sidewalk. As the rest of the group climbed into the waiting van, Heather and Steve walked to his car. "What the hell was that all about?"

  "We wanted to mess with his mind," Heather admitted sheepishly.

  "Y'all almost gave him a heart attack." He shook his head in disbelief.

  Together, they climbed into the Torino, which had been sitting in the Phoenix sun for hours. "Now I know how Hansel and Gretel felt," Heather said. Rolling down the windows helped a smidge, so long as the car kept moving. Waiting at traffic signals stung the most. Steve responded by turning the fan on full blast. That merely transposed the inferno from the outside to the inside.

  As they were in the process of being broiled alive, Heather asked slyly, "You guys didn't think it would be that easy to resist a K-Pop girl group in full charm mode, did you? We're professionals. We have standards to maintain."

  Steve thought for a while. "You know, for a second there, yeah, we kinda did."

  "Silly rabbit."

  Steve looked askance at Heather, who wore an impish grin. "Oh, no. I'm not taking the bait. There's no way I'm going to allow myself to be out movie-ref
erenced by a K-Pop singer."

  Before they reached the freeway, Steve pulled into a convenience store to acquire supplies for the road. "Ready to roll?" he asked after they had stocked enough sodas, chips, and candy for the journey.

  "Let's do this."