“Yes, and I am so damn mad at you.” She slung a newspaper at me. “Really, Pep? Do you have to show everyone your boobs—twice in one week? What the hell? You know it’s my birthday in a few weeks and you’re so scared I might get some attention. I swear to God—sometimes you act just like Mom.”
“Don’t even go there girl! You know that’s not true at all. It was a big mistake!”
“Both times was a mistake? You seriously want me to believe that? You suck, Pepper. Now, help me carry my stuff upstairs.”
“No, have Flora do it. That’s what we pay her for.”
“Flora is off today, dork! You’d know that if you weren’t so busy being some kind of celebrity.” Mills scoffed and tugged the handle on her bag. “Help me out.”
“Okay! Geez!” I did as she asked me, only stopping to throw that newspaper in the garbage can. I felt like crap now for real. Dad was right—I had to do this for Mills. Sea Lab, here I come! “Well, you’ll be happy to know that I have a job now, so no more parties for me. Except yours of course.”
She paused at the top of the stairs, “Yeah, right, you have a job. What is it? Porn star? I’m not stupid, sis. No need to lie to me.”
“No, it’s not a porn star and why does everyone keep calling me a liar? I’m not lying. I got a real job at Sea Lab. And watch your mouth or you’ll be carrying your things yourself.” I dragged her suitcase up the stairs and followed her down the hall to her side of the wing. Each of us had three rooms, a bedroom, a spa room and a living room, but when Mills was home, she spent most of her time with me. I kind of thought it would be like that again but apparently I was wrong.
I took her stuff to her suite and she hugged me and said, “I’m going to take a shower and then I plan on going to see my friend, Victoria. She’s in town for the next week, so I hope you didn’t plan anything.”
I smiled awkwardly at her, “No, nothing.”
“Great, I’ll probably see you later then.”
“All right,” I walked out of Mills’ room feeling heartbroken. Not only was my dad pissed at me and ready to kick me out of the house, my sister acted like she didn’t want anything to do with me. I walked down to Dad’s studio and found him looking over some drawings while he sucked on a tobacco pipe that wasn’t even lit. I picked up his lighter and popped the flint for him.
“Oh, thanks.” I loved the smell of pipe tobacco. He rarely smoked a pipe, but when he did, I knew it meant something. That made me feel even worse.
“Daddy, I really am sorry. I admit that I’ve kind of lost my way a little, but it’s not as easy as you think. Of all my friends, none of them do much of anything, so I just followed along. I’ll go to that Sea Lab thingy tomorrow and talk with Greg.”
“The name’s Gabe. Gabriel Gregory. Don’t get off on the wrong foot by getting his name wrong, honey.”
“Oh, sorry. Yes, I’ll work with Gabriel Gregory and do the internship, but it’s not for the money and it’s not because I don’t want to live with Mom—although that was enough motivation for me—honestly. It’s because I‘m lost and I know it. I need to find my way. I hope that makes sense to you.”
Dad walked around his desk and hugged me. “All I want for you is a good, happy life. You’re smart, Pepper, you’re kind, beautiful and you have so much more to offer than a naked body or drinking, so give yourself a chance, okay?”
“Okay, Daddy, I’ll try.” Tears welled up in my eyes, because although it sounded easy, my daddy didn’t live my life. I silently cried in his arms for a second and then wiped the tears away and said, “Please don’t expect miracles. I’ll do my best, I promise, but, I doubt I’m going to want to swim with the dolphins for the rest of my life.”
“That’s all I’ve ever wanted, just do your best.”
I smiled. I had an amazing Daddy and I was going to give it my best shot. “By the way, Mills is home. She’s taking a shower then going to see Victoria, so good luck seeing her tonight. Maybe we can all have dinner tomorrow? Invite your girlfriend too. I’d like to apologize to her for messing up your date night.”
“That would be nice,” he smiled. “She likes you, Pepper.”
“All right. Well, I’m going to call this Gabe person now. Do you have his number? I’d like to know what I need to prepare for.”
“Oh, yeah. Well, he said come ready to get wet, whatever that means, but here’s his number.” He flipped through his phone and scrawled the number down for me. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind answering your questions.”
I kissed his cheek and left his studio, closing the door behind me. I dialed the number. Man, Dad’s handwriting was horrible. He should have been a doctor, not a real estate agent. “Hi, is this Gabe?”
A deep, rich voice on the other end said, “Yes this is Gabe. Who is this?”
“You don’t know me, well not really, my name is Pepper. I’m Douglas Anderson’s daughter. I’m your new intern.”
He paused and then laughed, “Yeah right, intern. How can I help you, Miss Anderson?”
“Well, for starters, you can stop calling me Miss Anderson. My name is Pepper.” Oops! That sounds bitchy. “Daddy didn’t give me much in the way of details. What am I supposed to be doing tomorrow? I mean, how should I dress?”
“Well, I usually pack a gym bag with a change of clothes. A lot us of take a shower at the end of the day.”
“What? Together?”
He paused again, “Uh, no. We have a men’s locker room and a women’s locker room. We don’t shower together.”
Oh my God! That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever said. “No, I was kidding. So what should I pack in my gym bag?”
“Bring a bathing suit, some jeans, a t-shirt and whatever hair and body products you need. We will assign you a locker when you get here so you can stash everything without worrying about lugging it back and forth every day. In the beginning, your duties will be pretty simple. Follow instructions and get trained on how to handle the animals. Later this summer, Bobbie Jo—she’s the lead trainer—will assign you a position for our fundraising gala. It’s kind of important.”
Most of what he said went in one ear and out the other, but I got the gist of it. “Do what you’re told,” was the message I’d gotten. “I think I can do that. So I won’t be wearing a mermaid costume?” I joked.
Gabe obviously didn’t understand that, and in a flat tone he said, “You do know mermaids aren’t real, don’t you?” Are you freaking serious? This is my boss for the next month and a half?
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Gregory. What time?”
“Ten o’clock. Don’t be late, Miss Anderson.”
“Great, see you then.” I hung up the phone. What a total ass! I stomped up the stairs and went to take a shower. I called Church back and told him to pick me up. Since I was going to be a working girl now, I needed to unwind a little before I started. This might be harder than I thought, and as I shampooed, I thought about Gabe Gregory and his wise ass remarks about mermaids. He did have a nice, sleepy voice though. I wondered what he looked like.
The more I thought about it, the more I had to know, so I got out of the shower and wrapped my hair in one towel and my body with another. I dried my hands and quickly Googled Gabriel Gregory and Sea Lab. In a flash, his picture came up and I caught my breath. Gabe, my new boss was smoking hot.
Oh fuck! This wasn’t going to be easy.
Chapter Six — Gabe
I slid my blue jeans on, happy I wouldn’t have to wear any more suits for the next few weeks—thank goodness. Blindly, I grabbed one of our new Sea Lab t-shirts and slid it on over my torso. I wasn’t sure I liked this incarnation of our new shirt—it had a snarling shark on the front of it—I didn’t like to think of the animals snarling, but it wasn’t really my call. The design department should watch the animals before portraying them as violent.
I thought about the day ahead. It was Day One for the interns and that meant half the day in orientation and the other half on the grounds. I had hig
h hopes for the three I’d hired and it was going to be tough to decide on who to hire at the end of the season since I only had room for one.
Now, Pepper Anderson—she was another case altogether. I ran my hands through my hair, forgetting that I’d cut it all off a few days ago. I rubbed my eyes, slid my feet in my tennis shoes and walked downstairs to grab a bite to eat. Mom was home so I knew there’d be something delicious for breakfast, like scrambled eggs with bacon or who knows what. I hoped it wasn’t one of her occasional experiments. I loved home cooked meals, but my mother wasn’t the best cook in the world. Although she did really good when she stuck to the basics.
“There he is! Good morning, handsome young man. Come, sit. I’ve got some chorizo and eggs ready for you.”
“That sounds great, Mom. Thanks. Do you have plans today?” I noticed her glasses were perched on top of her head and she was wearing her favorite robe with flip-flops on her feet.
She smiled sleepily, “Yeah, nothing. That’s my plan. Your father will be back tomorrow so I’ll have to get my shit together by then.” She giggled. “Then just a week and he’s gone for a whole month. We’ll have to make the most of our time together.” She raised her eyebrows playfully. I rolled my eyes and grinned. My parents were the most affectionate people I knew—they were crazy about each other. I used to hope that I’d fall like that for someone, but it hadn’t happened. People my age didn’t care very much about the things I was passionate about.
“Mom! Stop! I’m eating here.” I dug into my food, slightly grossed out to hear about her bedroom plans with Dad. She laughed out loud and patted my back playfully.
“Okay, okay.” Then as if she hadn’t already put enough images in my mind that might haunt me all day, she made me squirm a little harder in my chair when she said, “You do know old people have sex too, Gabe?” I nearly spat out my food, but she continued, “We didn’t just have it the once to have you come along.” She ruffled my hair, “Now, enjoy your breakfast. I’m going to read the paper out by the pool. See you for dinner tonight?”
“Yeah, that sounds wonderful,” I said, while I processed the new horror that was going on inside my head.
“Awesome! Pick up some Chinese. I’m dying for some shrimp fried rice.” I nodded in silence and she shuffled out of the room and onto the patio in front of the swimming pool. I finished up my breakfast and watched the news for a minute or two before I walked back to my bathroom to brush my teeth, then I headed out the door.
As I crossed the parking lot to the entrance, I could see that Sea Lab already had quite a few visitors waiting to get in—a sight that made me smile. I greeted the parents, their kids and held the door so the families could come in. I walked past the public area and stopped by the security office to see Chuck. He was on the phone when he spotted me, but gave me the “thumbs up” sign. All must be well then. Maybe the vandals have gotten bored with wrecking this place.
Bobbie Jo was in the conference room, laying orientation folders out on the big wooden table. She smiled and waved. She seemed happy this morning, which was unusual for her unless she was with her dolphins. I was too—finally. Interviewing people sucked but training them was a lot less pressure, and a lot more fun—I liked teaching and I loved the animals here even more. Five minutes before ten o’clock, we were ready to go—all except for Pepper Anderson.
While we waited for her to show up, Bobbie Jo took the opportunity to take everyone’s photo for the ID badges all Sea Lab employees and interns had to wear. At just a minute to ten, Pepper breezed into the conference room, looking like she’d just stepped off a runway. She wore big, white sunglasses, an off-the-shoulder sweater, denim shorts and high heels. On her arm was a huge bag and in one of her well-manicured hands, she held an iced coffee. “Hey y’all! Is this where the interns meet?”
The curvy blonde looked so ridiculous that I instantly felt sorry for her. Not that she wasn’t beautiful—her hair fell around her shoulders like a wave of golden sunshine and despite her cherry red gloss, her lips had a perfect pout.
“You must be Pepper. I’m Gabriel.” I shook her hand and introduced her to the rest of the crew. “This is Bobbie Jo, my assistant, and this is David, Tracee and Martin—all interns here at Sea Lab this summer.” She smiled and waved at everyone, but got a muted response—except for David who didn’t hide his appreciation for her beauty. “Bobbie Jo, why don’t you go ahead and take Pepper’s photo for her badge? Then you can print them while I get started with the boring stuff.”
“Sure.” Bobbie Jo stood behind her camera and tripod that was focused on a blank wall of the conference room. “Over here please, Miss Anderson.”
“Oh, please call me Pepper. Can I check my hair first? I didn’t know I’d be getting my picture taken.”
“It’s perfect,” David piped up.
“Aw, thanks.” Pepper stood against the wall with her hands on her hips and struck a perky pose.
“Um, no. I can’t use a profile picture. Please face the camera full on…like you do at the DMV.” With a frown, she slung her shoulders back and stared at the camera. “Not a mug shot, Miss Anderson.” Pepper looked exasperated and embarrassed, but she managed a slight smile. Bobbie Jo said, “Thanks, I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She gave me a look that said, “Really?” and left the five of us to chat.
“First of all, congratulations for earning your spot as an intern with us. As you know, at the end of the six weeks, we may select one of you to stay on as a full-time Sea Lab employee,” I quickly added, “If you have an interest in marine biology, that is.” Tracee smirked at Pepper, but she didn’t seem to notice.
I used my laptop to give a quick overview of the facility—when it opened, what challenges we faced and what our plans were for the future of Sea Lab, including our various renovation fundraisers on the summer calendar. In the middle of my presentation, I glanced around and noticed Pepper tapping away at the screen on her phone. Even though that wasn’t cool, I would have ignored it, but it seemed to bother Tracee and Martin. David laughed and Pepper looked up, surprised to find us all watching her.
“I’m sorry. It’s my boy… I mean, my friend. He’s supposed to pick me up for lunch. What time is lunch by the way?”
“Actually, we’re serving you lunch here today, but it’s just for the interns. Hope that your friend won’t be too disappointed.”
“No, that’s fine. Let me just text him back,” and she tapped away on her phone again, oblivious to her disruption of the meeting, while we all watched.
“When you’re done with that message, Miss Anderson, I’d appreciate it if you’d put your phone away, at least until lunchtime. I’m going to need your undivided attention for this next part.” Tracee snorted and Pepper swung around to face her.
“Do you have something you want to say to me?”
“If I did, I’d say it.” The silence between them grew awkward. Pepper appeared ready to come back at her, but she rolled her eyes instead and smiled at me.
“All done,” then she tossed her phone back into her purse. I was glad things hadn’t escalated since I’d never had people argue in a training session before—that would’ve been a new one on me.
Martin raised his hand, “Is it true that you started working here when you were seventeen, Gabe?”
“Yes, that’s true. I’ve been here for eight years and I’ve loved every minute of it. I hope you all do too.” I pressed the button on the remote and said, “Okay, this is a map of the facility. Here’s the Science Center, where most of the research takes place. As you know, living here on the Gulf Coast, we have a unique ecosystem—one that should be protected and studied. Now, this side of the facility is our park area and this is where the visitors interact with the animals. You’ll be spending most of your time in this section, in a limited way, of course. We don’t expect you to interact with the animals yet, other than feeding them and demonstrations, unless you’re comfortable with it.”
“What kind of animals are here, be
sides fish?” Pepper asked as she sipped her melting iced coffee.
“That’s a good question, but probably nothing you haven’t seen before. We have sea turtles, sharks, dolphins, shellfish and hundreds of different species of fish—you name it, we have them.”
“That’s cool,” she smiled. I grinned back at her and kept going. By the time the presentation was over, Bobbie Jo had returned with the ID badges and we got ready to go out into the park.
“I hope everyone brought a bathing suit, because we’ll probably get wet in the park. Let’s meet back here in fifteen minutes and wear your badges too, guys. You’ll need yours to access some of the locked facilities as it’s not just an ID card—it’s a slide key as well.”
We walked to the locker rooms and I showed the interns where they could keep their things, and where they could change then we waited a few minutes longer for Pepper to finally walk out of the locker room and join us.
“Yuk! It’s fishy in there.” She still had her heels and big glasses on and she wore one of the smallest bikinis I’d ever seen. She had an evenly tanned body, flat stomach, beautiful round breasts and a wonderfully curvy behind. Although I appreciated a pretty woman as much as the next guy, she wasn’t dressed appropriately for work. We were going to be meeting the animals and feeding them, not frolicking in the pools.
Before I could break the news to her discretely, Bobbie Jo spoke up. “What in God’s name are you wearing? That’s not a bathing suit.”
Pepper looked straight at her and her hand went straight to her waist—she seemed aggravated. “What’s wrong with it? Should I have worn a one-piece? I don’t think I even own one.”
“Well, you sure can’t wear anything sparkly in the water. Some of the more predatory and aggressive animals will think you’re dinner, and not to mention, it doesn’t cover up very much, does it? By the end of the summer you’ll have much more sun than you want. Let’s see, I’ve got Sea Lab t-shirts for everyone. For today, wear one of these larger ones as a cover up. Okay?”
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