Ladyfish

by Andrea Bramhall

  A shadow appeared slowly below them, the coral-covered hull rising out of the depths. A shoal of sergeant majors with their yellow and black stripes swarmed in front of her, dancing one way, then shifting to the other as the current flowed around the ship.

  So beautiful. Finn slid into an aerodynamic swimming position and maintained the position naturally, Oz occasionally pointing to interesting fish or plants.

  A parrot fish was pecking at the coral attached to the hull, and Finn swam slowly around it, mesmerized by the vivid greens and pinks against the blue water and buff-colored coral. Oz was shining her flashlight into a crevice ahead of her. She swam over and balked at the sight of a moray eel. Its fearsome prehistoric features splayed as it bared its teeth, its warning to any who would invade his territory. They floated along watching angelfish with blue and yellow stripes, squirrelfish, with their distinctive red-orange bodies and thin white stripes weaving in and out of the coral formations, along with tangs, groupers, snapper fish, and even a few porcupine fish. As they neared the end of the dive site, a turtle raised its head and swam out of the porthole just ahead of them. It seemed almost curious as it swam toward them before dropping down, only to reappear behind them and pass them easily, before disappearing into the vast blue ocean. Finn looked at Oz, wide-eyed with amazement. She made a general gesture with her hands in an attempt to signal her amazement and nodded when Oz threw her an okay sign.

  She found her attention drifting to her left, watching the great blue abyss for shadows that could become creatures she had only dreamed of seeing in this environment before. The enormity of the space beside her shocked her for a moment, the true vastness of the ocean hitting her all at once. A small part of her had been worried she might feel some sense of fear when she was down here, but all she felt was the calm Oz had told her about. The pure and simple wonder of being surrounded by the power and magnitude of the ocean and all its inhabitants, from the smallest fish to the largest mammal and everything in between. It was so easy for her, floating along beside Oz. It felt so natural it was hard for her to believe that this was not the world to which she belonged.

  Finn saw Oz check her gauge and noticed that she had just hit one hundred bar so she signaled Finn to check hers. She signaled back straight away with a T sign and two digits. Oz shook her head and signaled again. Finn repeated the sign. Oz reached for Finn’s wrist and looked at the air gauge herself. She pointed to her own chest and gave the T sign for one hundred bar and the signal that they would be starting their ascent to the surface. At fifteen feet, they held their position for the required three minute safety stop and watched as a shoal of barracuda eyed them warily. They broke the surface a few minutes later and located the dive boat about twenty feet away. A short surface swim and Carlos’s help had them on deck in no time. He lifted the tank as Finn unstrapped her BCD and he placed it in the rack, reaching Oz just in time to help her rack the tank.

  “Wow. That turtle was incredible. And the colors in that parrot fish? Oh my God. Stunning.”

  “Finn, I’m sorry.”

  Finn frowned at her. “What for?”

  “Making you repeat yourself over the air thing. I can’t believe how light on air you are. I’ve never, and I do mean never, dived with anyone who came up with more air than me at the end of the dive. I thought it must be a mistake. I’m sorry.”

  “Oh. It’s okay. I kinda like surprising you. So was that okay?”

  “No problems at all. We need to do a surface interval now before doing our next dive. What’s a safe time limit before we go down again?”

  Finn thought for a moment. “Recommended after a ninety-foot dive would be forty-five minutes to an hour. The longer the better. I could use a drink, though.” She grinned at Carlos when he handed her a bottle of water. “You’re a mind reader.”

  “Not really. Everyone else wanted drinks when they came up too.”

  Oz waited until Carlos wandered away. “So what did you think?”

  “It was amazing. I wish I’d had my camera with me.”

  “You’ll be here plenty more times with your camera. Juanita will be here tomorrow and you can talk to her about it all then.”

  “Oz, thank you so much. I’m enjoying this more than I ever thought I would.”

  “You’re welcome. Feel like Chinese food tonight?”

  “Sure, I’ll see if Emmy wants anything when we get back to shore.”

  “I was thinking that you might want to come over to my place? I can pick up takeout when I leave here and then you can come over when you’re ready.”

  Finn’s excitement grew at the prospect of being invited into Oz’s home for the first time, and she tried hard to control her reaction and not scare Oz into retracting the invite. Something told her that this was a big deal for Oz, but she couldn’t keep from smiling. “That sounds perfect. Gives me time to jump in the shower and let Emmy know where I’ll be.”

  “Anything you don’t like?”

  “Not a huge fan of Chinese soup, but I do like duck.”

  “Duck, got it.”

  “And crispy wontons. I love those.”

  “Duck and wontons, no problem. You might want to write up your dive log while we’re waiting.” Finn grabbed her backpack and fished out her log book. Oz smiled at her before going to talk to the other divers, and Finn felt it to her toes. Dinner with Oz. The perfect end to a perfect day.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Sterling grabbed the dressing gown before he strode angrily from his bedroom and down the stairs.

  “This had better be fucking good, Jack.”

  “Sir, I’m so sorry to wake you. But I really thought you would want to know about this as soon as—”

  “Spit it out, you fucking idiot.”

  “Sir, Peter Green is on a plane back to London. I believe he is meeting with Pritchard from MI6 on Monday.”

  Sterling stood stock-still and stared at him. “How reliable is your source?”

  “Very.”

  “How close is our Mr. Green?”

  “Initial approach, sir. I believe that he has yet to give them anything detrimental to you or any of your dealings. We’ve got the information in time.”

  “When they land—”

  “Sir, your daughter’s not with him.”

  “What?”

  “He’s returning alone. Daniela is still in Florida.”

  “Still at the hotel?”

  “I believe so, sir.”

  Sterling nodded. “Tail him when he lands. If he shits, I want to know about it. I’ll visit him myself.”

  “Very good, sir.” Jack started to make his way out of the room.

  “And, Jack? Call our friends in America. I’m concerned about my daughter. I thought they were looking out for her at all times.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He poured himself a drink and sat heavily in his chair looking around the room, his eyes landing on the picture of his wife and daughter. The decorator had placed it on the bookshelf more than ten years ago. It was expected, so he left it there. He finished his drink and slammed the glass on the desk before crossing the room and picking up the picture. He studied the faces looking back at him. Studied the way the light played in their eyes as they smiled.

  He stared into his wife’s eyes and wondered if she’d been planning her escape even then.

  He didn’t care that she was gone. It was what he intended in the long run anyway. It was the fact that she decided when she was going. How she was going. The bitch could’ve left me a fucking body to make my life a bit easier, torch the car rather than push it off a fucking cliff. He despised having to spend the money to pay off the coroner to get the case closed and the estate finalized, but there was no way he was going to wait seven years with all the money tied up. No body. No money. He still couldn’t believe that she had the audacity to fake her own death. Fucking bitch, I will find you. I don’t care how long it takes; I will find you. Then I will enjoy making you suffer. He stroked a finger along
the glass covering her face, then threw it against the wall, smiling as the glass shattered and fell to the floor. He crossed the room and poured himself another drink, swallowing it down in one gulp before picking up the phone.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Finn showered and changed quickly, wanting only to be with Oz. She thought back to her reaction when she saw Oz on the dock earlier that day. The way her heart had jumped in her chest and her breathing had quickened and she knew there was only one explanation for it. Innocent, not stupid. I want her. She found herself thinking back over the conversations they’d had. The way Oz acted around her, the flirty little comments, the compliments, the rambling. Does she want me too? She checked her reflection in the mirror, quickly applying a new coat of lipstick. Do I want her to want me too? Or do I just want the fantasy? She’s made no secret of her past, or her reputation. Do I want to be another notch on her bedpost? She ran her fingers through her hair. If that was what she wanted, she would have tried something by now. Wouldn’t she? She flipped off the bathroom light. She said that she thinks I’m beautiful. Was she just being kind? She laughed to herself as she closed the door to her room behind her. I’m driving myself crazy with this. She’s just being a good friend. Pete told me I was beautiful too. He didn’t want to sleep with me either.

  “Emmy, I’m going out now.”

  “Okay. Are you off somewhere nice, dear?”

  “I’m just going round to Oz’s. She’s trying to cheer me up, what with Pete leaving and all.”

  “That’s nice of her. See you in the morning.”

  “Bye.” She almost ran the short distance to Oz’s house and took a deep breath before she knocked. This isn’t a date, no matter how much I might want it to be.

  *

  Oz pulled open the door and grinned as Finn held out a bottle of wine.

  “I was taught to always bring something when you visit for the first time.”

  “That’s really sweet. Thank you.” Oz took the bottle noting the label, a 2010 Selbach-Oster Anrecht Riesling. “I’m afraid I don’t know very much about wine.”

  Finn shifted uncomfortably, regretting her decision to bring the wine. “It works really well with Chinese food.”

  “Then it should be perfect, and you can educate me on the finer things in life. Come on in, but you have to promise to be nice. I haven’t had a house guest before.”

  “Are you serious?”

  Oz shrugged sheepishly.

  “How can that be possible? I thought you said you lived here for years?”

  “Yeah, about four years. Since I got out of the navy.”

  “So why no house guests?”

  “This is my personal space. It’s where I escape from everything out there.”

  “Oz, I don’t want to invade your space. We can go and eat at Emmy’s.”

  “No, you’re not invading. I invited you. I want to show you. Please. Follow me.” Oz led her down a spacious hallway into an open plan living and kitchen area. Swaths of white muslin draped the floor to ceiling windows and doors along the back of the house. Brown leather overstuffed sofas called invitingly from their position in front of a wall mounted flat screen TV. Glass shelves holding slender glass vases with a single flowering orchid in each adorned the walls seemingly haphazardly until you stood back and looked at them as a whole, and they became the branches of a tree.

  “Did you design this yourself?”

  Oz shrugged, embarrassed and desperately hoping Finn liked her design and wouldn’t find her lacking. “Yeah. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

  “This is so beautiful. It looks like an uber modern tree with these delicate flowers tracing each branch. It’s amazing.”

  “You can see it?”

  “Of course.”

  “I thought it would just be me.”

  “It’s not just you. It is amazingly beautiful, and I can’t wait to see anything else you want to show me.” Her smile was so genuine and heartfelt that Oz found herself grinning as she tugged her into the kitchen.

  “Not only did I design it, I did the work too. When I bought this place, an old lady had lived here for about thirty years. She’d been struggling to keep it up, and it was really dated. So I started ripping out walls and opening up the space. I love nature and outside stuff, but I wanted to make it a bit different. Hence the glass branches and orchid leaves. I wanted the kitchen to flow from it but be different again. So this is what I came up with. I like it.”

  “Your home is beautiful. I hope I can live somewhere as gorgeous as this eventually. I love what you’ve done here too. The work surface looks like water. The blue is so intense it looks like the ocean. That’s what you wanted wasn’t it?”

  “Yeah, it was.”

  “Didn’t you say you did all the work yourself too?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you tried to tell me you weren’t butch. You’re such a fibber, Oz.”

  “Hey, be nice or I won’t feed you.”

  Finn mimed zipping her lips closed.

  “Are you ready to eat?”

  “Hell, yeah, I’m starving.”

  Oz headed straight for the sofa but dropped in front of it letting her back rest against the seat. She started pulling cartons from the bags. “We’ve got crispy wontons. Duck in plum sauce.”

  “My favorite.”

  “Sweet and sour chicken, crispy chili beef, fried rice, soft noodles, prawn crackers, and fortune cookies.”

  Finn followed and sat next to her, accepting the glass of wine Oz handed to her as she did. Oz handed her a pair of chopsticks and raised her beer toward her in salute. “Welcome to my humble home, Finn.” Oz clinked their glasses together, her stomach flipping at Finn’s shy smile.

  “It’s gorgeous.”

  “Thanks. I haven’t been sleeping very well, so I thought I might as well do something useful and managed to get the kitchen finished quicker than I thought I would.”

  “Why couldn’t you sleep?” Finn said around a mouthful of rice.

  “Worrying about you.”

  “Me. Why?” Finn frowned.

  Because I read the file on your father and I think he killed your mother. Because I’m scared that you’ve bitten off more than you can chew, but I admire you even more because of it. Because I really want to be able to protect you, and I don’t really understand why. Oz shrugged, and decided on the easier path. “Since Pete left, I guess I was a bit worried that you’d be upset and stuff.”

  “I was, and I cried myself to sleep after I took him to the airport.” She pulled some rice from the carton before quickly transporting it to her mouth. “You don’t need to worry about me.”

  “You can’t help worrying about your friends, Finn. It’s the natural order of things.” And I really can’t seem to stop. “I’ve got movies, if you want something mindless to distract you?”

  “Sure, what do you have?”

  “Well, I don’t know what you like, but my collection is extensive. I’m pretty sure I could scare up something in every genre.” She pulled open a cabinet and flipped through a few before she held up one of the plastic cases. “Avatar for the sci-fi action genre.” Then a second case. “Blind Side for the Sandra Bullock genre.” She raised one eyebrow as she wiggled the case before grabbing another. “Harry Potter for the English genre.”

  “Do you have any real genres in there or are they all like this?” Finn was grinning at the look of mock outrage on Oz’s face.

  “Madame, I don’t know what you are talking about, but I think I take offense. May I continue?”

  “Please, do.”

  “Well, thank you. Now, where was I?” She rummaged around the bag again and grabbed another case. “Oh yes, here we go. Salt for the Angelina genre. Knight and Day for the Cameron Diaz genre.” She dropped them both back into the bag and spoke while still looking inside. “And finally, we have Shrek for the funnies genre.”

  “You have interesting genres for films; that’s for sure. Is there by any
chance a little fishing involved here?”

  Oz feigned indignation. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Of course you don’t.” Finn flipped through the cases and selected one. She crawled across the floor to the DVD player and slid the disk into place. Oz watched her backside the whole way, loving the way her shorts pulled tight with each movement. She burst out laughing when Finn clicked the button and a grumpy green ogre filled the screen. Finn grinned as she crawled back to her place and began happily munching on her duck.

  “Will you not even give me a clue? Sometimes I think you’re straight, and I think you’re flirting with me, but then you seem to realize and stop yourself.”

  “Does it really matter?” Finn knew she was being coy, but couldn’t help it. Part of her was worried that if Oz did know she was gay, and still didn’t find her attractive, it would blow a grapefruit-sized hole in her self-esteem.

  “I guess not. I’m just curious and it’s bugging me that I can’t figure you out.”

  “So it won’t bother you whatever happens to be the truth?” Finn winced inwardly. She wanted it to bother Oz if she wasn’t gay, and that bothered her.

  “Not in the slightest.”

  “Okay.” Finn moved over to the cupboard and looked around before tossing a DVD over to Oz. “That one would be my preferred genre.” Oz opened the case to see the Gia DVD staring at her. The smile that spread across Oz’s lips lit up her whole face, and Finn found herself unable to breathe as she watched.

  Finn kept her eyes focused intently on her rice as heat suffused her cheeks.

  “Good genre. So when did you come out?”

  “I haven’t, really.”

  “Huh?” Oz’s eyes locked on Finn’s lips as she spoke. Finn couldn’t help but lick them in response and the flare of answering desire in Oz’s eyes nearly made her groan out loud.

  “You’re the second person I’ve told.” She poked her chopsticks at the bottom of the carton. “Pete was the other one.”