“No, I mean, did you ever, like, have an imaginary friend?”
She looked at him. “It’s like you’re in my brain.”
“Really?”
“Her name was Nicole. She was a stuffed animal, this little bear. I would talk to her whenever I needed someone to talk to. It got to the point that I was talking to her even when she wasn’t with me.”
“Where did she go?”
“I guess I just let her go after a while. She’d served her purpose.”
“Huh.”
“Why, are you seeing an imaginary friend?” She smiled slyly.
He shook his head. “No, no, I’m just curious.”
She gave him a narrow-eyed stare. It was like she was looking right through him. And given her ability to know what was going on in his brain, he’d all but accepted the fact she knew he was lying.
“Well,” Ashley said. “You can tell me anything you want. You know that, right?”
He nodded. “Thanks, Ashley.” He hugged her. “You’re a great friend.”
Chapter 8
After his day of what most people might call normalcy, he felt almost like sitting on the rocks waiting for his illusion to return was tempting fate. Maybe he didn’t need the illusion tonight, or ever again. Maybe it was enough to just see Ashley two days in a row and remember that it was not only possible, but perfectly okay, to feel something other than loss and pain.
He’d forgotten how hard it was to get over Ashley. There was no way he wanted to go through that again. But being with her, he could see how easy it would be to fall in love with her all over again. The fact she was married was a complete non-starter. He was definitely not a home-wrecker. That was his father’s deal. He’s the one that broke up marriages like it was his job. Of course, to be fair, his mother did it on a regular basis too. That, however, was not going to be him at any cost.
As the sundown filled the sky at his back, he wondered if Ariel would come. A few people in his immediate area would surely keep her from appearing. It was a little disappointing that his imagination couldn’t create a better name than Ariel. That was so very lame. Of all the names in the world, he could have come up with something better than that. But no, he had to pick the only mermaid movie he’d ever actually seen in the history of mermaid movies.
A few minutes after the last person left his area, he moved down the large rocks closer to the water, hoping it wouldn’t take him much longer to get into the deep regions of his brain. Maybe he needed to see Ariel more tonight than ever before, to once and for all dismiss her as an illusion. Maybe that’s why he came here again rather than just giving up on it all.
Ashley definitely had him second-guessing his sadness. He’d been wallowing in it, enjoying the pain in a way, for so long he forgot what it was like to just exist. He didn’t want to be sad anymore, he wanted to move on. There was light at the end of the tunnel and he was running toward it full speed.
The sea was rough. The waves were slamming into the large rocks, sending a huge spray into the air ten feet over his head. He didn’t think there was any way Ariel would be able to stay at the base of these rocks and not get crushed.
With that in mind, he got up and started to navigate down the shore a little, to where the landing was softer. He got to the end and decided to head over to the sand where a small inlet between the breakers and the beach had long ago carved its way into the shore.
Jake took a short step and jumped over the wall, landing on the sand next to the little inlet. He looked around and didn’t see anyone. He was alone.
Cupping his hands to his mouth he yelled, “Ariel!” He’d never called her before. She usually just showed up.
She didn’t show up at first but then he saw some movement out in the waves. The glint of something catching the moonlight grabbed his attention. She was out there, bobbing in the waves but not coming closer.
He had a good idea what was keeping her from coming into shore. Something compelled him to dive into the next big wave and start swimming toward her. Ducking under the last curl, he came up for air right next to her. “Hey.”
“I wasn’t sure if you were going to swim out to me.”
“I wasn’t at first. But it looked like you weren’t going to come in.”
“The waves are too big. I can’t go to the shore when they’re like that. It’s just too hard to handle.”
“You’ll get slammed around.”
“I do like to breathe.” She winked. “You’re a good swimmer.”
“I’ve been swimming in these waves since I was five years old.”
“Me too.”
He laughed. “Yeah, I bet.”
“Were you born here?”
“Yeah, right here in Wilmington.”
“Lived here all your life?”
“No, I went to college up in New York City, stayed up there for a few years, but I missed the beaches and the warm air.”
“So you love to swim.”
“I do. It’s probably nice to have that fin.”
She flipped over and kicked a bunch of water at him, popping back up after her somersault. “Jealous? It makes it easier to zoom through the water. I can out-swim anyone.”
“But I bet it’s harder to walk,” he joked.
“Ha-ha, very funny.”
“Sorry, that was a low blow.”
“You’re smiling. I’ve never seen you smile so big.”
He treaded water against a big wave. “I am.”
“That’s great. I’m happy for you. You have a nice smile.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve had a reason to smile.”
“Am I your reason to smile?”
“One of them.”
“Even better if you have more than one.”
“I was in such a good mood I didn’t think you’d come.”
Ariel ducked under the water and popped back up on the other side of him. “What sense does that make?”
Jake started to get tired from treading water. “I don’t know. I just figured you were a result of my sadness.”
She frowned. “I don’t know how to take that. Your mood doesn’t dictate whether or not I would come to see you.”
“A part of me still kinda figured that you were a stress-induced hallucination.”
She moved closer to him. “You still don’t believe I’m real?”
He nervously laughed. “I’m just going to play it out until one day you disappear.”
“How can I convince you?”
“I don’t know.”
She moved closer. So close he could feel her brushing against the length of his body. “Touch me,” she said.
Jake felt nervous but he reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist. The soft undulations of her fin kept both of them buoyant in the rolling waves.
She whispered in his ear. “Do I feel real?”
“Terribly real.”
They were cheek to cheek, but he felt her lips drawing close to his until they were kissing. Jake felt himself lost in her, and the water, and the world. He’d never had that floating feeling of kissing someone while he was actually floating under the power of something like this. He was kissing a dream, a fable. Either way, it was simultaneously the most bizarre and amazing moment of his life. But it was so real, so very real. The kiss was both innocent and sensual. He wanted to kiss her forever but there was one thing in the back of his mind.
She finally pulled back. “Now do you believe?”
He took a deep breath. “How could anyone deny that?”
“I can understand your skepticism.”
“Can you blame me?”
“This is why I don’t show myself to people often. It’s not good for anyone.”
“How many people have seen you?”
“A few.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing happened. I didn’t let them see me again.”
“How come you let me see you again?”
“I like you. I know my se
cret will be safe with you. I trust you.”
“Thank you for trusting me.”
A car pulled into the parking area near the beach. The lights cast out into the water and fell briefly on them. Ariel quickly ducked under the waves. Jake sank with her. When the headlights extinguished, they popped back up.
She gave him another long kiss, and then kissed his neck softly. “I have to go.” Letting him go so he could tread water again on his own, she said, “Until next time.”
With that, she was gone again.
Jake treaded water for a few seconds and then headed back toward the shore. He got to the sand and removed his shirt, wringing it out and cursing himself for not taking it off before jumping in. He found his sandals in the sand where he’d left them and slid his feet into them.
As he approached the parking area, the driver of the car stood there smoking a cigarette. Jake walked up the beach to the gravel path and headed toward his car.
“Nice night for a swim,” the man said.
Jake nodded. “Yeah, not bad.”
“Gotta watch out for the sharks. They like to feed at night.”
Jake kept walking. “I’m not too scared.”
The man tipped his hat. “They like rare flesh. Be careful who you swim with, certain types of creatures attract them more than others.”
Jake stopped. “What?”
“You gotta be careful when you’re in the water. You can get in over your head really fast and before you know it, it’s too late.”
“Huh?”
“You spend too long in there and you’ll never make it back to shore in time before you find yourself gasping for air that never comes.”
Jake didn’t reply this time. He just kept walking to his car as the man gave him a creepy cigarette-drag grin.
Chapter 9
Ashley
Ashley got out of the car at the same time Mike was exiting their three-car garage with a golf bag in his hand. He dropped it into the trunk of his car and closed the lid.
He stopped and put his hands on his narrow hips. “Where were you?”
“Out.”
“Where?”
“With a friend.”
“I saw Donna and Kelly at the gas station. They’re your only friends.”
She walked up the sidewalk. “I was with Jake.”
“All day? Again?”
“Yeah, again. So what?”
He stepped in front of her. “I don’t think it’s good for you to be spending so much time with him.”
She pushed past him. “I’ll spend time with whoever I want.” Opening the front door, she gave him one more look.
Mike entered the door before it closed. “What kind of attitude is that?”
She tossed her small pink purse on the counter. “It’s the kind of attitude I’ve always had. Do you have a problem with it suddenly?”
“Jake is a loser.”
She snapped him a dirty look. “You don’t know him well enough to make that assessment. Jake is a nice guy having a hard time. He could use a friend.”
“I know him enough. He’s a shiftless loser from a loser family. And he drags down everyone he touches. You’ve seen him twice in two days. How much friend does he need?”
She went to the fridge and took out a plastic container full of baby carrots. “I don’t know. How does one go about answering that asinine question?”
He shook his head. “You know what I mean. Why’re you spending so much time with him? Does he even have a job anymore? I’m pretty sure his business is bankrupt by now.”
“What does that matter?”
“I mean he’s a loser. He’s a beach bum.”
“He’s my friend, Mike. He’s been my friend for a long time.”
“He’s a lost cause. The guy is a piece of garbage. Let him sink into the abyss and fall off the face of the Earth.”
She was growing angrier by the moment. “Jake is not what you think.”
“I know enough. I know people who worked with him. The guy had a great career and threw it all away to fix bicycles. What kind of loser does that?”
She sneered, “He bought a bike shop.”
“He’s a moron. He could have been on Wall Street. The guy gets handed a position at one of the most regarded investment firms on the planet and he quits to sell bikes to a bunch of drunks on the beach.”
“You’re crazy. He hated that work. Not everyone needs to make a lot of money to define themselves.”
“He dragged Cassie down. She came from a good family. She was slumming around with him and look where that got her.”
Ashley looked at him with complete contempt. “That’s not fair. That’s a shitty thing to say.”
“He deserves to wallow in pain for what he did.”
She felt the heat of anger welling up in her. She took a fistful of carrots and nearly whipped it at his head but she didn’t want to waste the food. “You’re a real jerk-off sometimes. That’s really shitty. What the hell kind of attitude is that?”
He picked up his phone. “It’s the same attitude I’ve always had.”
“So you’ve always been a jerk-off?”
Pointing with his phone, he said, “Stay away from him. I don’t want that loser dragging you down.”
“Mike, what is this crap? Are you jealous of him?”
He moved closer to her. “Should I be? I mean, you tell me. Is there something going on with you two?”
“No, there isn’t. We’re good friends.”
“Yeah, maybe he’s playing you to get into your pants.”
She huffed. “You’re disgusting. You think he’d play on my sympathies to get a piece of ass?”
“I know men, it’s what they do.”
“Speak for yourself. Jake isn’t like that. He never was and he certainly isn’t going to start now.” She resisted mentioning the fact that he’d cheated on her already. She knew it, but he didn’t know that she knew. It was something she was keeping in her back pocket.
“Says you.”
“Yeah, says me. And since you’re supposed to love me, you’ll trust me.”
“Maybe I can trust you today but maybe not tomorrow. People break the bond of trust all the time. Tomorrow is another story. Maybe I’ve trusted you for the last time. Maybe I’m done trusting you tomorrow. I have a career here, and a public image.”
“Fuck you!” She let that slip. It just came out, she didn’t usually swear at him. “Is that what this is about? Your career? Your public reputation? You think you’re going to sell fewer houses if there’s a Robertson family scandal? You’re a complete slimeball.”
“I’m done with you and your childish behavior. Done! I can’t live like this. I’m tired of being the only adult in this relationship.” He stormed out the door and slammed it hard behind him.
Ashley took a deep breath and popped a carrot into her mouth. She chewed so hard and fast she bit the inside of her lip and drew blood. With a shake of her head, she tossed the rest of the carrots into the container and probed the cut on her bottom lip with her tongue.
Mike had a knack lately for getting under her skin. But they were just weeks away from their eighth anniversary and she honestly didn’t know if she was going to make it another day.
Her old boss Lynn had warned her not to marry Mike about a hundred times. The entire time they were engaged, Lynn was ending her marriage of fifteen years. She was so anti-marriage that Ashley didn’t take anything she said seriously. Looking back now, so much of what she’d said was making sense.
The biggest thing that kept sticking out was that a few months ago she had a suspicion that Mike was having an affair. When she found out the truth, she didn’t even care. The fact she didn’t care was what seemed too stark in relation to everything. If she really loved him, that idea would crush her. Instead, all it did was make her wonder why she didn’t care.
If he had not cheated, it didn’t even matter. She knew in her heart that she didn’t love him anymore the way she once
did. But maybe that was normal. Things change, people change, and feelings change. Yet marriages march on for decades undaunted, laughing in the face of the incredibly high divorce rate. Hers, however, was not meant to be one of them.
* * *
Castro
Castro waited on the pier. The darkness swallowed him up, just the way he liked. His phone rang and he answered without a word.
The voice on the other end was clean and emotionless. “Your last report was troublesome.”
“I just report what I see.”
“I think we should act now before it gets out of hand.”
“That’s your call.”
“I think it’s for the best.”
“How should I proceed?”
There was a long silence on the other side of the phone. “I think I’ll leave that up to you. But give me some time to do background. I want to know exactly who he is before we proceed.”
“Very well.”
“I have to make sure he’s not tied back to the organization in any respect.”
“I assure you he’s not. He’s a mixed up kid, that’s it.”
“All due respect, I like to know who I’m having—”
“Careful what you say.”
“Don’t worry, I’m discreet. And I pay well. So give me a couple days.”
“That’s your call.”
“In the meantime, just try to scare him away and see how he responds. Maybe we don’t have to proceed if he runs for the hills.”
“And if he doesn’t scare?”
“Why wouldn’t he scare?”
“Not everyone runs away at the prospect of a fight. Some people dig in their heels and push back.”
“Then we will have no choice but to proceed with extreme measures.”
“Very well.” He ended the call and lit a cigarette.
Chapter 10
Jake
Jake thought he was dreaming when the strange noises invaded his ears. But even after blinking himself awake, the sound still existed.
He sat up in bed, listening. It sounded as if someone was throwing something at the house, or it was raining rocks. But it wasn’t raining.
The Mermaid Page 5
