by Claire Adams
I did allow myself a glance in the rearview mirror, right before I pulled out of the parking lot. She was standing there, watching me go, and though I was too far away to make out the expression on her face, I imagined it to be one of confusion, and possibly hurt—the same sort of look she’d gotten that first night I met her when I told them I wouldn’t be giving them tattoos.
8.
Chloe
“All right, you’ve got to tell me everything.” Tara took a big sip of her latte and looked at me, her eyes wide. “And I mean it—spare no details.”
We were sitting at one of the outside tables at the Sidewalk Café. Tara had insisted I meet her here after I was done at the studio—unless, of course, Graham and I were going to do something after that. That had seemed like a possibility, until the last few confusing minutes when it suddenly seemed like he couldn’t wait to get away from me.
“There’s really nothing to tell,” I said. “We talked about art, actually. It was nice. He’s not pretentious about it, and he gave me some good ideas for the sculpture. Which was what this whole thing was about, anyway.”
“Okay, but then what? I know you didn’t just talk about art the whole time.”
“Actually—we did.” I shrugged, knowing that I had disappointed her.
“Did you at least make plans to see him again?”
“Not really. I mean, he’s going to help me with this sculpture, so I’ll see him again, but we didn’t set anything up.”
Tara grinned. “Maybe you should sculpt him—sans clothes, of course.”
“I don’t think that’s the kind of thing Claudia is going to want in her show.”
“So, that’s it? Really? Remember what we talked about? How you’re going to get some practice before you meet your Prince Charming? He’s the perfect one to do it with. He’s hot. I bet he’s great in bed.”
I felt myself starting to blush. “Will you stop it? He’s probably got a girlfriend, anyway.” I decided not to mention how abruptly his attitude had shifted right before he left. Maybe I was imagining it. I wanted to believe that, but I knew it hadn’t been my imagination at all. But I also knew I didn’t want to hear Tara’s theory about it.
“No. He wouldn’t have offered to help you with this project if he already had a girlfriend, trust me. Although ... I had this idea last night. I need a few pictures of me and Graham together. Do you think he’d go for it? And then I can post them online and Michael will see them and he’ll feel like shit because Graham is way hotter than he is.”
I stared at her. “I’m not asking this guy I barely know if he’ll take pictures with you so you can make your ex-boyfriend jealous.”
Tara waved me off. “You don’t need to ask him—I will. We’ll go to the beach. It’ll be awesome. You can entice him in that cute bikini we got for you last year. You still have it, right?”
I did, somewhere, though I’d only worn that bathing suit once and felt embarrassed the whole time because we were at the beach surrounded by families with children. Not that any of them seemed to care, and I certainly wasn’t the only person there wearing a bikini, but I’d just felt weird, especially because all the moms had been wearing modest swimsuits.
“And don’t even try to tell me that you don’t want to wear it because you’re going to feel uncomfortable,” Tara chided. “You look great and now is the time to flaunt that. We’re not going to have it forever, you know, so we might as well enjoy it! Now, give me your phone.”
She leaned over and snatched my phone off the table. “Hey!” I said. “What are you doing?”
“I’m calling him and setting this thing up! You’ve got his number saved in here, right? Oh yes, here it is.” She had the phone up to her ear before I could grab it back. “It’s ringing,” she said, “so even if you make me hang up now, he’s going to know that you called—Oh, hey. Is this Graham?” She turned away from me slightly. “No, it’s not Chloe; it’s her friend Tara. I met you the other night. Yeah, it’s great!” She laughed. What were they talking about? I could sort of hear his voice but not enough to make out the words. I cringed. “I heard about that,” Tara was saying. “Sounds cool. So, hey, listen. You’re probably wondering why I’m calling you. No, it’s not about the tattoo, though I am still planning to come in and get it. Chloe and I are going to be beaching it tomorrow and were wondering if you’d like to join. Yeah, we’ll probably be heading out in the morning. I don’t know—around ten? That’s when they say the best suntanning hours are—ten to two.” She paused as he said something, and she started laughing. It was kind of hard not to be in awe of how easily she could just strike up a conversation with someone she didn’t even know—on the phone, no less. I hated talking on the phone, and rarely did it since texting was so much easier. That’s what I would have done, if I had been the one to invite him to the beach: I would’ve sent a text. Not Tara, though. She hung up the phone a minute later, handing it back to me with a satisfied grin.
“It’s all set,” she said. “He even sounds sexy on the phone. You better go home and find that bathing suit! I’ll pick you up tomorrow at quarter to ten.”
And just like that—it was decided.
9.
Graham
It was probably foolish to agree to go to the beach, but I didn’t know any man that would be able to turn down an offer like that, even if he wasn’t planning on taking it any further than lying out under the sun during the best hours, which, apparently, were between ten and two.
We met in the Nauset Beach parking lot. They’d arrived first, and I spotted them as I drove around. Instead of parking, though, I stopped behind Tara’s convertible and threw the truck into park.
“You gonna park that thing?” Tara asked. She had on a pair of tiny, cut-off jeans and a bright-pink bikini top, which essentially consisted of two strategically placed triangles of fabric and some string. She was tan and taut and had oiled herself up. Chloe was wearing one of those flowing, coverall things, made out of a sheer material. She had a big, floppy hat that the wind was trying to blow off her head, and white suntan lotion smeared on her face. She was struggling to get a cooler out of the back of the car.
“Here, let me help you with that,” I said. I hoped out of the truck and lifted the cooler out. “I have an idea though—how would you ladies feel about going to the outer beach?”
“Um, fuck yes,” Tara said. She looked over at my truck. “You’ve got a sticker?”
“I do,” I said. I looked at Chloe. “How does that sound?”
She seemed either nervous or unwilling to look at me; I wasn’t sure which it was. Probably it had something to do with the way I had left things with her yesterday, and I didn’t totally blame her. I sure as hell wasn’t trying to be one of those guys who fucked with people’s heads just for the fun of it. I’d make it up to her today; I’d be friendly but not overly so, and neither of us would have to feel weird about any of this.
“How’s your arm?” I asked.
“You did a great job,” Tara said before Chloe could answer. “I will definitely be coming down there.”
They grabbed their towels and beach chairs and threw them into the back of the truck. I put the cooler in there as well and then they climbed in, both of them getting in the front, despite the truck actually having a backseat. Tara, of course, was in the middle.
I aired down the tires to the recommended eleven psi and we drove to the back end of the parking lot where the entrance to the outer beach was.
“So,” Tara said as I slowly navigated the truck through the soft sand. “I’m really glad that you were able to join us today. I actually had somewhat of an ulterior motive in asking you.”
“Tara.” Chloe said it under hear breath but I still heard her.
“This sounds interesting.” I shot her a sideways glance. “And what exactly might this ulterior motive be?”
“I realize it’s going to sound a little ... I don’t know, strange ... but I was thinking that since it’s such a beaut
iful day out, and since we’re actually going to be going to the outer beach, maybe you’d pose for a picture or two with me.”
“Are you an aspiring model?”
She laughed. “Oh, you’re too kind. No. I’m nowhere near tall enough. Like I said, I know this is going to sound a little juvenile, and you can totally say no if you want, but it would just be to post one or two of them on a few of my social media accounts. I wouldn’t even use your name, if you didn’t want.”
I nodded, waiting for her to continue, but she didn’t. “I feel as though there’s something else you can add to this that will suddenly make it make sense,” I finally said.
Chloe leaned forward and turned her head to look at me. “It’s to make her ex-boyfriend jealous.”
“I know it sounds silly,” Tara said quickly. “But, you’d really be doing me a favor, because my ex is an asshole and he left me for someone else, despite telling me that he planned on us getting married.”
“Eh ... I’m not that big on social media,” I said.
“Maybe it could just be the two of us standing there, and your back could be to the camera or something. We wouldn’t have to see your face.”
“I find it a little hard to believe that I’m the only prospect you have to make this ex-boyfriend of yours jealous.”
“This is just something that I want to do, like, yesterday.” Tara started digging through her purse. She pulled out her phone and started tapping at the screen. “He’s been posting pictures practically every fucking minute of his trip, and I just feel like he’s doing it to try to get a reaction out of me.”
“Which he totally is,” Chloe said. “Don’t feel like you have to do this,” she added. “Michael is a total weirdo anyway, and everyone was glad when they broke up!”
“What about you?” Tara asked. “Do you have a girlfriend?”
“Nope.” I slowed the truck down. “How does this spot look?”
We’d driven past most of the other vehicles and had a nice stretch of beach all to ourselves.
“Perfect,” they both said at the same time.
I parked and then helped them unload their stuff. Tara promptly spread her beach blanket out and lay down. Chloe took some time setting her stuff up and then took her coverall off, revealing a much more modest two-piece than the one Tara was wearing. Still, she looked great. She caught me looking and I tried to cover it up by asking if anyone wanted to go swimming.
“In that water?” Tara asked. “Hell no; it’s going to be freezing.”
“I’ll at least stick my feet in,” Chloe said.
Tara grinned. “You two have fun. Be good.”
Chloe put her sun hat back on and we walked through the soft sand down toward the water. I stopped before we got to the surf, though, and she looked back at me.
“The best way to go about something like this is to just run right in,” I said. And before she could reply, I did exactly that.
The water was ice cold. I mean, yeah, it was almost July and the air temperature was getting closer and closer to the eighties, but the water felt like it was about fifty. I let out a strangled-sounding gasping shout when I resurfaced, water streaming off me, arms flailing.
“Holy shit!”
Chloe was still on the beach, laughing. “You’re insane!” She took a few steps closer and a wave licked the tips of her toes. “That water is so cold!”
I stood, the lower half of me still submerged. “Come on,” I coaxed her. “It’s actually rather refreshing.”
That wasn’t a lie; yes, my balls felt like they had been sucked back into my body and my dick was probably about the size of a thumb, but aside from that, the cold saltwater had a way of making you feel cleansed in a way that couldn’t really be compared with anything else.
“But you’ve got to just go for it,” I said. “Don’t think about it. If you think about it too much, you won’t do it.” Fuck, I was starting to sound like Todd.
She looked nervous, as if I were trying to talk her into jumping off the top of a building, not coming into the water for a swim. A greenhead buzzed near me and I went back under, the cold still somewhat of a shock to my upper body. When I resurfaced, Chloe had taken her hat off and was looking right at me.
“Okay,” she said. “Here I come.”
And just like that, she ran right into the water, shrieking before she’d gotten in past her knees. But she dove under, and actually swam several yards before coming up.
She was gasping and wiping the water from her face. “Oh my god,” she said, half-laughing. “This water is so cold. You’re right though—it does feel refreshing. I’d just really like to not encounter any sharks.”
“I’ll protect you if we do.”
She smiled and splashed a bunch of water at me. “You better.”
We swam for a little while, then floated on our backs, faces upturned toward the warm sun. I barely even knew this girl, yet there was something about her that made me feel differently than I had with previous women. I had no idea what it was; maybe I was even imagining it since I’d decided I wouldn’t be dating anyone this summer. Maybe it was just a trick my mind was playing on me, trying to get me to give in.
10.
Chloe
I’d decided that I wouldn’t talk to my parents about the sculpture. And even if they asked, I would be purposefully vague. This way, they would be completely floored when they went to the exhibit, and I would be right there to see the expressions on their faces.
Mom didn’t really have any interest in talking to me about the exhibit though—she wanted to know if I had any plans on Thursday night.
“I’m not sure,” I said hesitantly. If I said no, I didn’t, she was probably going to try to get me to go with her to a wine tasting or to some function at the yacht club, which was the last place I felt like spending any time.
“Do you remember my friend Alison? They’re from California and they rent the O’Conner’s house for a few months every summer?”
“Uh ... not really.” It would be impossible to remember every single person that my mother considered a friend.
“They have a son, about your age. His name’s Riley. Nice boy. Anyway, they’re here now for a few weeks, and Alison and I were at lunch the other day and we got to talking. About you two.”
“Us two?”
“Yes, you and Riley. It sounds like the two of you have a lot in common! So, Alison and I were thinking it might be nice to arrange a little get together. Just the two of you, of course—we wouldn’t be there. How does that sound?”
“You’re setting me up on a blind date?”
“You make it sound like it’s a bad thing! And it doesn’t have to be a blind date—here, I’ll show you a picture. Alison texted me one. He’s very handsome.” I sat there, trying not to roll my eyes, as my mother started tapping away at the screen of her phone. “Here,” she said triumphantly, turning the screen to face me. “Isn’t he handsome?”
The picture showed a guy on a boat, in a sky-blue polo shirt, his short, light brown hair blowing in the breeze. He had a smile on his face, showing off perfect, white teeth. He looked incredibly wholesome, like this was a picture out of some Christian Bible camp pamphlet or something.
“He looks nice,” I said finally. I looked at her. “Please tell me you didn’t text his mother a picture of me.” I hated having my picture taken and did whatever I could to stay out of photos, but my mother was notorious for sneaking around and getting candid shots, which usually meant the photos she had of me I was mid-sentence or about to take a bite of food.
“Don’t worry, Chloe, I wouldn’t send a bad photo of you,” she said. “Anyway, Riley is free this Thursday, and Alison and I thought it would be splendid if the two of you went out to dinner together. And before you start trying to think of excuses, I’d like it if you were just open to this idea and went out this one time. If it doesn’t work out, fine, you tried, and that’s the most anyone can expect.”
“I just don’t und
erstand why you’re trying to set me up on a date. Did I ask you to do this? No.”
“Well, if you must know the truth, Riley just went through a ... how did Alison put it? A rather traumatic breakup, I think was what she used.”
“Oh, I see. So, I’m his rebound.”
“No, that’s not it at all. The breakup was almost six months ago, so it’s not recent, relatively speaking. He’s moved on. He’s ready to get back on the dating scene. And I figured since you’re not seeing anyone, it might work out really well!”
She seemed so earnest and good-intentioned that I could almost believe her. “But what sense would it make for you to set me up with someone who lives all the way across the country? What if things did work out between us, just for me to have to say good-bye to him when he went back to California?”
“Well ... let’s just say you two really did hit it off ... who’s to say you couldn’t move out to California? It’s a lovely state, you know. No more harsh winters to deal with. Remember how your father and I were talking about exploring your options? Living in California might be a great way for you to do that.”
“Are you serious, Mom?” I couldn’t quite believe what she was saying, though I should’ve known better. Of course this whole date was part of her bigger plan. “I didn’t realize how much you and Dad hated the idea of me being in art school. And what other options do you think I’ll be exploring out in California? Being someone’s housewife?”
Mom gave me a patient look. “Now, Chloe, you’re being a little dramatic, don’t you think? No one’s saying that you and Riley are going to get married, nor is anyone suggesting that you become a housewife! Riley graduated from Stanford, though, did you know that? Just this year, in fact. Alison said he’s thinking about grad school but might take an off-year—but I’ll let him tell you all that. I’ll just text Alison back and let her know that Thursday is good for you too, all right?”
