“Like you?” Dad said with a smile.
“Yeah, exactly like me.” I grinned at him and went upstairs to get dressed. I stuffed a pair of shorts and a Sea Lab t-shirt into my gym bag. I had to dress the part today—it was interview day—but I planned on working the tanks later on.
I thought again about Pepper Anderson and her wasted life. How could someone so rich and beautiful, be so…shallow? With her kind of money, she could change the world. Apparently, she’d rather be drunk in a public fountain. Suddenly, I felt lucky to have parents that cared about me. All the nagging about homework and school over the years really paid off. If it hadn’t been for them, there was no telling where I’d have ended up. Honestly, I was no angel—I dabbled in drugs and drank a beer or two before I was legal. I’d hooked up with quite a few girls and done a few stupid things, but nothing like this new crop of wannabe celebs. All they seemed to care about was topping one another in whatever extreme, ridiculous way they could. Oh well. Thank God she wasn’t my problem.
When I got to the facility, I was surprised to see that I wasn’t the first one there. That was a good sign. Half the internship applicants were already there, but they were too busy on their phones, or sitting in their cars to talk to me—except one very attractive girl with brown hair and a great smile. She tried to flirt with me with a playful smile and waved her fingers. I said, “Good morning,” but kept on walking. No need to embarrass her. She probably had no idea I’d be doing the interviews and people were always surprised when they found out I was the boss.
I couldn’t figure it out—even in college, new friends were astonished when I told them I wanted to be a marine biologist. I couldn’t explain to them how much I loved the ocean and the sea life, and I just laughed it off back then, but now I didn’t have to laugh it off anymore. I’d graduated at the top of my class and started as an intern in my freshmen year. By the time I’d graduated, I’d already been promoted to a leadership role and now, just four years later, I’d become the boss—except for the board, of course. They decided how the business was run, and I took care of the animals and the people who worked in the facility.
I slid my key in the slot, entered the building, and waved at Ellie on the front desk. “I see we have another temp,” I smiled and carried on walking past the security office. “No problems last night, Chuck?”
“Nope, not at all, Mr. Gregory. No hide nor hair of those protestors.”
“That’s great. Thanks a lot.”
I walked down the hall to the elevator, got off on the second floor and went to my office. I spent most of my time in the aquarium, but not this morning. From my tall glass window, I saw the staff feeding the animals, opening pools for playtime and dragging out toys. I had a great crew, and I was anxious to find more just like them.
Eventually, I kind of gave up on tying my tie and turned away from the window. I sat at my desk and flipped through the folders of the candidates I’d be interviewing today and made two stacks for the interviewees. One was a “maybe no” pile and one was a “maybe yes” pile. Although I’d agreed to interview everyone in both piles, I already knew who looked good on paper. From my years of experience here, I knew that meant nothing most of the time, but it was somewhere to start. Start with what looks good on paper and go from there. I’d had some bright students apply in the past, but their interviews hadn’t gone in their favor, so I was interested to see what today had in store. I had five minutes before my first appointment, so I walked to the break room and made a pot of coffee.
As I walked back to my office on the second floor, I noticed that the waiting room was full and Paul, had finally arrived to man reception. He was a good kid, but he always arrived just in the nick of time and anyone that knew me, knew I liked to be early—but that was just me.
I strolled back to my desk and left the door open. Interviews were nerve-wracking enough for applicants, and I didn’t want them to have to face a closed door right from the start. I only had four spots and twenty applicants, so the competition would be tough this year.
“ Mr. Gregory, Michael Turner is here for his interview.”
“Great, send him in. Thanks, Paul.” I set my cup down and reached for David’s folder from the “maybe yes” file.” I stood up, walked around my desk and greeted the young man. He was tall and muscular, and it looked like he’d spent a lot of time in the gym.
“Hi, I’m Michael Turner. Nice to meet you, sir.”
“You too, Michael. Have a seat.” I opened his folder and reviewed his résumé. “You’ve got some impressive credentials here. Tell me a little bit more about you, maybe something I don’t see here.”
“Well, I’m originally from Louisiana, but I’ve been in Florida for the past six years. I do a lot of surfing and I love spending time on the ocean. I think it’s the most peaceful place in the world.”
“That’s interesting, not many good places to surf around here though. You drive all the way over to Destiny to surf?”
He beamed a big smile, clearly happy to talk about surfing. “Just about every weekend. Sometimes the waves are good in Pensacola as well, especially when a storm is coming through.”
“Unfortunately, gulf storms can be our busiest time here. If a storm threatens, we have to be ready because, unlike a zoo, we can’t just herd our animals onto a truck. It takes time and special equipment to move the animals to safety if a storm threatens us. That doesn’t happen every year, but when it does, we would expect you to be here. All the interns come in for that. Would you be willing to do that?”
He looked a little surprised, but he smiled. “Of course I would. Marine biology is my life—surfing is just a hobby.” Satisfied with his answer, we moved on to other topics, and by the end of the interview, I felt pretty good about the guy. I tagged a purple sticky note to his folder and jotted down some notes before I welcomed the next person.
It was my female fan from the parking lot. I pretended nothing happened earlier to avoid embarrassing her, but I needn’t have bothered—she didn’t seem embarrassed at all. Let’s just say that my interview with Tina didn’t land her a job with me and when we were finished, I shook her hand and told her I’d be in touch. Once she’d left, I tossed her file into a brand new stack I’d named, “Definitely not.” The rest of the day continued to be a mixed bag of winners and losers, and I had another day of interviews tomorrow. When I’d finally finished the interviews for the day, my head was pounding, but before I left, I stopped by the main tank where the dolphins were and Bobbie Jo, an excellent trainer and damn good biologist, was putting the animals through their exercise routines. She was a little older than me and I respected her opinion on most things. “How are they today?”
“Looking good, looking good.” She smiled at me as she tossed Wendee a fish and patted her nose. “I bet I had more fun than you.”
“Yes, you probably did. That’s why you’ll be doing the second batch of interviews tomorrow,” I grinned.
“Not on your life, buddy. I prefer animals over people any day of the week.” I laughed at her and nodded in agreement.
“Is that new tank ready yet? We’ve got those sea turtles coming in on Friday and I’d like to keep them isolated for a little while, just until they get used to their new surroundings.”
“I didn’t check, but the maintenance guys have been hard at work over there all day. Maybe you should check, you’re the boss, right?” Despite our friendship, I’d always sensed a little unspoken animosity between us. Bobbie Jo had applied for the same job as I had, but I’d won the spot. I think she wanted to hate me and she tried hard to keep her distance from me in the beginning. Once she realized that I was a team player and that I appreciated her, we got along just fine. However, those old hurt feelings still popped up from time to time, and I couldn’t blame her for that. There was a lot of politics at play around the facility, but I didn’t want to believe that it was politics that put me here. I’d earned this position because I’d practically lived here for four years
and I knew this place inside and out.
“Yeah, that’s what they tell me. You still plan on helping me with the training though, right?”
She grabbed my chin with her fishy hands and said, “Aw, you know I can’t say no to your face, snook-ums.” She laughed and rubbed her hands all over my sleeves.
“Aw, crap. This was my only clean shirt, Bobbie Jo,” I pretended to complain.
“Really?”
“Hell, no. Now get back to work,” I grinned. Fish scents didn’t bother me and I was about to go home anyway. I stopped by to check on the status of the tank and everything looked good, so I left for the day, feeling confident that the new additions to our Sea Lab would be comfortable. Now, if I could only feel that comfortable about these interns. I walked to my convertible, unbuttoned my shirt and tossed it into the gym bag. I slid on my other t-shirt and drove home.
Chapter Three — Pepper
The music thumped and I raised my hands above my head as I twisted my body to the music. I had a cup of beer in my hand and it splashed a little onto the floor, but I just laughed. I tossed my hair, it felt like silk against my bare back and somewhere in this crush of bodies was my tank top, probably covered in glow paint. The warehouse was full of beautiful people, young like me, but you’d be hard pressed to recognize many of them. The black lights shone and the lasers flashed as the DJ kept the sea of painted bodies moving. Aven was beside me, also painted and glowing. She slung her mass of dark hair and enjoyed the attention of some guy she’d just met. I pulled her away—he was getting too handsy and my friend had had far too much to drink.
“No, I want to stay!” She smiled at me, turned my back and danced the other way. If she wanted to hook up on the dance floor, that was her business. I felt hot and I was ready to find my top, so I worked my way to the edge of the makeshift dance floor. Suddenly, Church was in front of me, barely painted, but definitely bare-chested. He looked down at me and gave me a devilish grin. I took a big swig from my cup, finishing off my beer and Church tossed it to the side. He pulled me close, so close that my painted tits were pressed hard against his chest. The music pounded and he took my hands and raised them above my head. His hands ran down the length of my arms, sides and then my hips. I was wearing my tight white shorts, although there wasn’t much to them. His hands eased down into my shorts and he grabbed my ass and pulled me close to him. His lips were on me, full and commanding—I had to pull back to catch my breath.
He smiled again, and slid his fingers down my ass and toward my pussy. He liked pushing my boundaries, I don’t know why, but I found him exciting and repulsive all at the same time. He slid his fingers across my pussy lips and waggled his eyebrows. “You’re so wet. Let’s get out of here.”
“Church! People are watching!” He pulled his hand out of my shorts and licked his finger. He was so hot. The man could have anyone he wanted, and I was glad most of the time he chose me.
“So lets—”
“—Church!” It was Sofie Hanson, another one of Destiny Beach’s famous trust fund bitches. Sofie was old money, with great looks and an even better ancestry than I had.
“Sofie,” Church purred, and turned to watch the bikini-clad girl strut away in her platform heels.
I rolled my eyes as I left the dance floor and grabbed a white t-shirt from an attendant. I pulled it over my head and walked out into the dark, Florida night. I needed a break from Church and Aven. She could find her own way home, as far as that goes. I didn’t need to worry about her. If she wanted to act like an idiot, she could. Who am I to judge?
“Where you going, Pep? I thought—” It was Church, but I was buzzed and just ignored him. I’d had enough of Jonathan Church. Who did he think he was, checking out other girls asses in front of me? He had a lot of fucking nerve. My phone rang in my purse and I waited for it to come across the Bluetooth. It didn’t, so I wrestled around in my purse, trying to fish it out.
“Fuck!” I looked up and slammed on the brakes. Buh-boom! Dirt flew all around my car and I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat. My heart was beating ninety to nothing. I sat there—frozen in my car—and tried to catch my breath. Oh God, oh God, oh God! I sat there a minute longer, and wondered what to do. Call the cops? 911? My Daddy? Shit, I had to go check what happened. Someone could be dying under my car and I was too scared to move.
Finally, on shaky legs, I got out of the car with my phone in my hand, looked underneath and prayed to God that I hadn’t killed someone. Bile rose in my throat and I ran over to the side of the road and threw up. “God, why? Why me?” I yelled out to the sky. I stood there a second and took a deep breath. I was a grown woman and had no idea what to do. Fuck! I tiptoed back to the car and peeked underneath again. I still didn’t see anything under there, but I knew I’d hit something. I unlocked my phone, pushed my Daddy’s picture and waited for it to ring.
After a few rings, he finally answered. “Daddy!” I couldn’t help myself and started crying on the phone. “I need your help.”
“What’s the matter? Where are you?”
“I’m on the side of the road and I think I hit someone—or something. I don’t’ know what to do!” The tears were falling down my face and I had to catch my breath. “Can you come get me?”
“Where are you, Pepper?”
“I’m on Newman, right at the big curve before the highway. Please Daddy, come get me, I’m scared.”
“Calm down, honey. I’m on my way. If anyone comes, tell them I’m on the way.”
“Okay, Daddy.” I cried and hung up the phone. I shivered in the night air, and bent down to look under the car again and used my phone as a flashlight. I saw blood and some guts, and I couldn’t help myself, I puked again near my tire. I stood up and noticed the blue lights that flashed around me for the first time. I sobered up and wiped my face with my painted hand.
“It’s okay, officer. My daddy is on his way,” but before I could say anything else, he had me in handcuffs, leaning up against his car. “Ow!” Any other time, I’d flirt with the officer and maybe get out of a ticket. This time, I was too afraid. “My daddy will be here soon!” I protested.
His eyes widened, he looked away and then looked back at me. “Did you—? Are you—?” he shook his head and scoffed. “You know you could have killed someone. You’re drunk and you are damn lucky the only thing you ran over was a possum. Maybe a night in jail would help clear your head? Sober you up?” The cop was obviously not acquainted with my family.
“Yeah, well, my dad is on his way! You just wait!” I screamed at him and refused to climb into the back seat of the police car without a fight. Another cop car pulled up and the young cop that was trying to arrest me called to the officer that was new on the scene.
“What you got, Harry?”
“This young lady thinks she’s six foot tall and bullet proof. She’ll sober up real quick back at the station.”
“You can arrest her in just a minute. Did she hit someone? I see blood on the tires.”
“Just an ol’ possum trying to get across the street.”
“You are one lucky girl…what’s your name?”
“Pepper, Pepper Anderson and my daddy is on his way. Please don’t take me to jail, please! He’s on his way! I swear! I called him just a minute ago.” Tears streamed down my face, but neither of the officers seemed moved by them.
“Young lady,” the older cop said, “This is out of your father’s hands. Driving under the influence of alcohol is against the law—but don’t worry, your dad can bail you out when you sober up.” I cried as they opened the back of the police car and asked me to take a seat.
“There’s my dad! Can you please go talk to him? Please?”
“Sure, sure. Just have a seat so you don’t fall down.”
I did as I was told and with my hands cuffed behind my back, I managed to sit and the officer closed the door behind me. “Oh my God! I can’t believe this! Daddy! Get me out of here!” I watched the officer walk over to my Dad.
“Sorry, daddy,” I sniffled, even though he couldn’t hear me. My dad looked across at me in the back of the car. He was wearing dress pants, a dress shirt and his white hair was perfectly groomed. Dad was a tall, lean man who always had a deep suntan. I could see his girlfriend, Charlotte, sitting in his car and I guessed I’d interrupted his date night. “Sorry, dad,” I said again as I cried even harder.
The younger police officer seemed pissed, but the older man walked to the back of the car and opened the door. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here,” and he helped me get out of the police car. “Dry it up now. You’re going home. Lucky for you, I know Douglas Anderson and he’s a decent guy. You should be ashamed of putting your old man through this.”
“Yes, sir.” I sniffled.
“All right, Mr. Anderson, here she is. Obviously, we can’t let her drive the car home, but you can send someone back for it. We won’t tow it, however if you leave it here for more than a couple of hours, they’ll tow without an order. She hit a possum, but it probably didn’t do any damage. Just needs to be washed off. She’s one lucky kid.”
My dad shook the older man’s hand, “I know. Thanks, Frank. I owe you one.” Dad led me away and I got into the back of his car.
“I’m sorry, Daddy.”
“I’m taking Charlotte home and then we will go home. Just lie down, Pepper. If you have to be sick again, please tell me.” I hated hearing his voice like this. His sadness and disappointment was obvious and I wasn’t accustomed to hearing that—Dad was my best friend. We drove a few minutes then the car stopped. “Sorry about this, Charlotte. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
“It’s okay, Douglas. Call me when you can.” I heard them kiss and the car door shut behind her. Daddy didn’t talk to me and I hovered between sleeping and sickness. When we got home, he opened the door and helped me out of the car. Once we’d made it up the porch steps, he helped me up the staircase to the second floor where my bedroom suite was. He stopped at the door. “Can you make it from here?”
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