by Sarah Carter
“Too bad. You will,” Damien replies, getting some juice.
“Mmhmm,” Claire hums to herself, desperate to not look at anyone.
Alex clears his throat and brushes past Claire, heading farther down the line. She swears silently. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Damien look at her and then at Alex and then back at her. A smirk spreads across his face, and he obviously keeps from laughing.
Claire shoots him a look, and Damien puts up his hands. She groans and follows Alex out of the room.
He finds a table and sits down. Claire sits opposite of him with Damien next to her. She feels very awkward, not really knowing why.
“The food looks good,” Claire finally says, trying to sound cheerful.
Alex puts a small plate of broccoli in front of Claire. “Eat that.”
“No, I hate it.” Claire laughs. “You eat it.”
“I got it for you to eat, so eat it,” Alex retorts, pointing his fork at her. “Your diet is horrible. You need something green on your plate.”
Pointing back at the buffet line, Claire says, “There’s some green Jello.”
“You hate Jello, Claire,” Alex sighs. “Please, eat your vegetables. For what I have planned for us this week, you’ll need them.”
“Yay,” Claire cheers, stabbing a piece of broccoli. “I haven’t had a real workout in forever, because I haven’t seen my partner in months, since he got a fancy new job.” She bites the broccoli and grins.
Alex rolls his eyes. “I left you in the very capable hands of your brother and Felix.”
“Dude, I love my brother,” Claire says. “But you run circles around him and Felix isn’t even on the same planet. You are my partner when it comes to fighting. We agreed on that.”
“I do agree with you on that,” Alex replies. “But we can’t be together all the time. It’s called different professions.”
Damien finally butts in. “Why don’t you try out for the guard, Claire? You’d make it, hands down.”
Her heart sinks. She’s always wanted to. “I can’t,” Claire whispers. “For reasons I won’t get into.”
“Whatever they are, who cares? You’re so talented.”
“Please, Master Damien,” Alex says. “Leave her alone on this. She doesn’t want to join the guard. She’s going to college in the fall.”
Giving a hesitant look, Damien replies, “Alright.” Turning to Claire, he asks, “So, what do you want to be when you grow up?”
“I have no idea,” Claire replies. “Haven’t decided that yet. How about you?”
“Doctor,” Damien replies. “I think neurosurgery.”
“Holy…cow,” Claire stammers. “That’s incredible.” She sees Alex roll his eyes, but Damien doesn’t notice. “You could do a lot of good. From what I’ve heard, you’re brilliant.”
Shrugging, Damien says, “I don’t know about brilliant…okay, yes, actually I am, but that’s neither here nor there.” He looks at Claire with a big smile and she bursts out laughing.
“You’re funny,” Claire says.
“Thank you,” Damien replies.
“Looking,” Claire snickers, as she leans as far away from him as possible. Damien gets a shocked look on his face and then points his finger at her. Claire scoots back, but goes too far and falls backwards. She lands on her back.
Damien and Alex both quickly stand up.
Laughing hysterically, Claire puts her hands up. “I’m fine. I’m fine. Relax.”
Alex chooses to ignore her. He walks over and lifts her up. “Will you be careful please? I’d like you in one piece.”
“It takes more than that to break me. I’ve gone through much worse in practice.”
“Yes,” Alex chuckles. “Like when you fell off that post you were supposed to be balancing on when you were 13. You cut your head open pretty badly.”
Claire glares at him. “You just had to remind me of that.”
“Oh, yeah,” Alex replies with a grin. “It’s in my job description.”
“And tell me,” Claire whispers. “What all is in your job description, exactly?”
The humor drains from Alex’s face. “Do you really want to know the answer to that?”
“No,” Claire snaps. “I don’t.”
He gives her a kind look, and Claire quickly turns away.
“Let’s eat. I’m starving,” she finally says, sitting back down in her chair.
Bending over, Alex murmurs in her ear, “You and I need to talk.”
“No we don’t,” Claire mumbles, staring down at her food. “Just sit down and eat. You need your veggies too.”
Alex hesitates, but finally sits down across from her.
Damien follows suit. “I’m glad you didn’t hurt yourself. That wouldn’t have been any fun for class tomorrow.”
She looks up at Damien and says, “No. It wouldn’t be any fun at all.”
“So, what are you going to teach us in class tomorrow Alex?” Damien asks.
Alex starts to tell him and Claire is thankful for the change in topic. The last thing she wants to do is have a heart-to-heart with Alex. She isn’t even sure what she wants to say to him. Really, Claire just wants to bang her head into the table, but her food is there. She takes a piece of broccoli and eats it. Deep down inside, she hopes she isn’t alone with Alex anytime soon.
When they finish eating, Damien says, “Well, what should we do next? There aren’t any more workshops tonight.”
“We?” Alex retorts, looking at him.
“Yes, of course, we,” Claire snips. “What would you like to do, Damien?”
He shrugs, “Go swimming.”
Looking at his watch, Alex says, “It’s past 8. The pool is closed.”
“Not when you’re me.” Damien winks. “When your family is forking over most of the bill for this, you get a little leverage. Come on.” He stands up and extends his hand to Claire. She looks at him and then Alex. If looks could kill, Damien would be dead.
Claire stands up and takes his hand hesitantly.
Damien smiles at Alex. “I hope you’re going to join us?”
“Of course,” Alex replies, standing up too. “Can’t have Claire alone in the dark with a…strange boy. No offense intended Master Damien.”
“Strange boy?” Damien retorts, looking at Alex. His smile widens, “I am a little strange, though I’m sure you meant something different. You can come with us but your worries are in vain. You know she can kick my ass.”
Claire laughs. “Yes, yes I can. Let’s go. I want to swim.”
Not letting go of her hand, Damien walks her through the dining hall. That makes Claire really nervous. When they get out into the hallway, she releases his hand and casually steps away. Damien looks at her from the corner of his eye, but doesn’t say anything.
When the elevator reaches Alex’s floor, he turns to them. “I’ll be up to your room in a few minutes. I just need to change.”
“Alright,” Damien replies, with a smile. Alex looks at him wearily and then steps out. When the doors close, Damien turns his gaze to Claire. “I do have to say…I’m horribly interested to know what your history is with that boy.”
“It’s nothing,” Claire mumbles. “Just some stuff in the past.”
“I don’t think it’s just in the past for him Claire,” Damien says quietly. “Just stating the obvious.”
Claire bites her lip and looks down. She doesn’t want to talk about this anymore, and thankfully, Damien doesn’t say anything else. When they get to their room, Damien holds the door open for her.
“Thanks.” Claire goes into her suitcase and stares at her two bikinis. “Which one to put on…”
Finally, Claire decides to be a little daring and takes out the pink one. She practically skips to the bathroom. She quickly changes, checks herself out in the mirror and nods.
“Perfect.” Taking one of the hotel room towels, she wraps it around herself.
When she gets back into the room, she says, “All s
et. Your turn.”
“I changed while you were in there,” Damien says, showing her his shorts. Mine was just pull one down and pull the other up. I figured you’d take longer.”
“What if I had walked out here while you were changing?” Claire quips with a smile, putting her clothes on the bed.
“Then you would’ve had a free show,” Damien replies, grinning back.
There is a knock on the door. Claire walks over and opens it. Alex is standing there in his swim trunks. “Hey, are you ready?” He asks.
“Yup.” Claire turns to see Damien behind her with a towel.
“Let’s go,” he suggests, waving his hand. They make their way down to the first floor. When they get to the front desk, Damien smiles. “We’d like to go to the pool.”
The lady replies, “I’m sorry. It’s closed.”
“My name is Damien Blakely. I’m sure you know my father. I can always call Mr. Levy, the owner. He and I have a great rapport.”
Not seeming very amused, the receptionist says, “Well, Mr. Blakely, I would suggest you call Mr. Levy then.”
With a grin, Damien takes out his cell phone. “Sounds good to me.” He scrolls through some numbers and his finger hovers above “Send.”
The receptionist jumps. “Wait, fine. I’ll let you in myself. Please be quiet, though.”
“Oh, we’ll try,” Damien drawls back. He grabs Claire’s hand and they follow the receptionist.
Claire stares down at her hand in Damien’s. She isn’t exactly sure why he’s holding it. Her gaze moves to Alex who follows them, and he stares intently at her. Claire gulps.
When they’re let through the gate, the receptionist looks at them. “The gate will be locked. No one can come in, but once you leave, it’ll shut behind you.”
“Alright. Thank you.” He thrusts out his hand and the receptionist looks at the $20 bill between his fingers. “It’s for you. Thank you.” The receptionist smiles and takes the money. When she leaves, Damien turns to Claire. “Ready?”
“Oh, yeah,” Claire giggles. She walks over to one of the chairs and takes a deep breath. Slowly, she takes off her towel, dropping it on the ground. Claire turns around and looks at Alex and Damien. Both of their jaws hang down. Claire is in a tiny hot pink bikini, and she knows she looks killer in it. “What?”
Alex stands up straighter. “I think you need to go change.”
“No, I’m fine,” Claire states. “I want to swim now.” She walks over to the edge of the pool and traces her foot in the water. “It’s warm.”
Someone tackles her from the side and they fall into the water.
When Claire comes up for air, she finds Damien next to her. He smiles, “Sorry. I like to do that. It’s my thing.”
She giggles, “It’s okay.” Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Alex dive into the pool. When he comes up next to them, he gives her a look. Claire sticks out her tongue.
Leaning over by her, Alex whispers, ever so quietly, in her ear, “Don’t make me use that.” Claire gasps, and Alex laughs.
“Yeah, this feels nice,” Damien says.
“It does.” Claire jumps and starts to swim backwards. After a little bit, she stops and floats in the deep end.
Alex swims up next to her. His voice hushed, he says, “We need to talk.”
Claire groans, and she sits up and starts to tread water. “No, we don’t, Alex.”
“Yes, we do, Claire. We need to talk about what happened.”
Exhaling, she replies, “We haven’t talked about it yet. Why start now?”
“Because there’s stuff I want to say. Things that need to be said.”
“It’s fine. We’re fine. Let’s just leave it at that.”
“Claire, baby. Please,” Alex pleads. “I want to talk.”
She shakes her head. “Not now. When we’re alone.”
“Promise?”
With a nod, Claire agrees. Alex smiles, but Claire’s stomach drops. She doesn’t know what to say to him, or what he’s going to say to her. What if it’s not what she’s expecting? How will she feel about that? And the worst part is, if Ben ever found out, he would freak. Claire rubs her forehead in frustration.
Damien swims over to them. “Are you excited about training the class tomorrow, Claire?”
“Uh, yeah,” Claire answers. “I’m excited for the workout tomorrow morning. Like I mentioned earlier, Alex and I usually partnered up. We encourage each other to push the limits. My brother is great. Felix is weird but good, but Alex and I, we make an awesome team. My grandfather says as much. We’re his favorite pupils.”
“You are. I’m not so sure about me,” Alex replies.
She rolls her eyes, “Whatever Alex. You’re part of the family.”
“Kind of like a big brother,” Damien interjects, with a mischievous smile.
Alex snaps. “No. Nothing like an older brother. We aren’t like that.”
“Sorry.” Damien puts his hands up. “I was just assuming, because you were her brother’s best friend.”
Almost fuming, Alex says, “We’re extremely close. Extremely.”
“Alright, Alex,” Claire says. “We got it.”
He shoots Claire a look, and she has to move her gaze.
“We’re going to whip everyone into shape tomorrow,” Alex finally declares. “Be warned. You’ll be pushed to your limits.”
“Good. Sounds fun,” Damien replies. “I like physical things. Like Claire said, the more physical the activity, the better.”
“Yup,” Claire chirps. “I like pushing my body.”
A heavy, awkward silence floats between them.
“So, tell me something embarrassing about Claire,” Damien says.
“I don’t think so,” Alex retorts.
“Oh, go on,” Claire sighs. “You know a lot about me.”
With a thoughtful look, Alex finally says, “When she graduated from high school, she graduated summa cum laude and when it showed up on her diploma, she had no idea what it meant.”
“You’re such a jerk.” Claire laughs. “You didn’t have to tell him that. It was an honest thing to not know.”
“He wanted to know something embarrassing.”
Claire jumps at him, and tries to push him under the water. Alex grabs her and spins them around, pushing her under the water. When Claire comes up, she giggles. “Not fair. There’s this thing called buoyancy.”
“See? In water, strength wins,” Alex chuckles.
“Yeah, well—” Claire goes under the water and yanks Alex’s shorts down. Quickly, she swims away and comes up for air a ways away from him.
Damien is laughing and Alex is glaring at him. Damien shakes his head. “I didn’t realize we were skinny dipping.”
“We can if you want,” Claire giggles. Damien’s eyebrows shoot up. “I’m only joking.”
“I’d gladly take my shorts off if you want me to.”
Claire blushes. “I said was joking.”
“Yes, let’s keep our clothes on. Though Claire, I will get you back. You just wait and watch,” Alex snaps playfully, pointing at her.
“You always try to get my clothes off,” Claire shoots back, then she freezes, and Alex stares at her wide-eyed. “That did not come out the way I wanted it to.”
Obviously trying to stifle his laughter, Damien says, “No, it’s alright. If I were him, I’d try to take your clothes off too.”
“What?” Alex yells.
“Joking.” Damien puts his hands up again. “Only joking. Bad joke.”
Covering her face, Claire mumbles, “I never think before I speak.”
“It’s alright. Neither do I,” Damien chuckles. “You’re in good company.”
With a heavy exhale, Claire says, “Anyway, no more pantsing. What shall we do?”
“Play marco polo,” Damien quips. “It’s another quirky thing I like doing.”
“Seriously?” Alex retorts.
“Yup,” Damien answers. “Dead serious.”
That makes Claire grin. “I’m game.”
Damien closes his eyes, and says, “Marco.”
“I’m not doing this,” Alex folds his arms.
“Then go to the side and watch,” Claire replies. She swims away from where she was and yells, “Polo.”
Alex doesn’t participate at all, but Claire has a blast with Damien. They go back and forth for a while. Finally, Alex almost snaps, “If you guys are going to do this all night, I’m leaving.”
A little aggravated, Claire says, “Then leave. We’re having fun. We’ll see you in the morning.”
He glares at her for a second and then climbs out of the pool. Alex turns around. “You know, I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Excuse me,” Damien growls. “I think you’re overstepping your boundaries right now. Do I have to remind you who you’re referencing in your accusations?”
“Damien,” Claire interjects calmly. “He didn’t mean any harm.”
Taking a deep breath in, Damien says, “I just don’t like being made to feel like I’m doing something wrong. And even if I were trying to have sex with her, it would be none of your business.”
“It is my business.” Alex taps his chest with his thumb. “She means a lot to me, and what happens to her is very important to me.”
“Maybe I should leave you two alone instead.” Damien folds his arms.
“No.” Claire splashes. “Alex, you’re being a jerk. Either stop or leave.”
In a huff, Alex snatches his towel off the chair and turns to leave. He shouts, “Have a good night” and then walks out.
When the gate bangs shut, Claire slaps her forehead and groans. “Men are stupid.”
“No, he is stupid,” Damien replies. “Don’t bunch me in with that behavior. He likes you, Claire. It’s really obvious.”
“Please…don’t say that,” Claire says quietly. “That isn’t what’s going on.”
There is a moment of silence, then Damien replies, “I’m a guy. I know how guys work. There’s something going on between you two and I think you have to figure it out.”
“I know,” Claire moans. “But I don’t know what he’s going to say. I don’t know what I would say. I don’t want to have that conversation.”
“What happened?” Damien asks.