“Sure. We have accents.” Ade gulped her can and stood. “I’m going in now.” She stripped to her tank top and shorts and strode toward the break of the waves.
Shielding the falling sun from her eyes, Sylvie admired the length of Ade’s body and how her broad shoulders flexed as she moved across the sand, warming up. Her firm thighs led to endless calves. Sylvie shook the vision from her mind and picked up the dog-eared pages she’d been leaning on to save them from the warm breeze.
This book isn’t going to get itself back to the editor.
But Ade’s silhouette carved a shape in the distance as she leapt into the water with the grace of a dolphin. It was a contrast from her awkwardness on the sand. Sylvie wondered at the puzzle that Ade presented. She stumbled over her words and missed every social cue in the book, and yet she regained her confidence in the presence of her animals and was a force to be reckoned with in the deep blue of the Mediterranean.
It would be an interesting year trying to fathom which Ade would show up when, and which would win out. As her default coach and supervisor, could Sylvie bring out the best in her? Or should she leave Ade to find her way? There were plenty more things to do on her list.
Staring over the crumpled pages of her book, she watched as her protégée swam across the horizon. Ade dipped beneath thewaves and rose again with a consistency that took her further and further out. Sylvie squinted at Ade’s shrinking silhouette, worried that she’d swum too far from the shore. She refocused on the pages in front of her, but Ade’s progress drew her attention before she reached the end of the next paragraph. She had a nagging feeling that Ade might be a distraction this year.
CHAPTER SIX
Alone.Check. Heart rate. Not too bad.For the first time in a couple of weeks, Ade had bagged the evening shift at the lab, and the silence was a soothing balm. Other people were too chaotic and loud. She checked off the last of the feeding stations and prepared the water testing. At the unexpected click of the latch, she looked up.
Greg poked his head around the door. “Hi, Ade. I don’t want to bother you, but I was wondering if… Could I help you tonight?”
She clenched her jaw, biting any sign of frustration which threatened to show itself. “Sure. Come on in.” Ade shuffled over to the second stool and passed Greg the tablet. “You can record all the values in the columns. Keep up, because I don’t want to have to repeat myself.”
Of all the students in her care this year, Greg had impressed her back in Monterey. Despite her supervisors’ protest, she’d avoided leading any seminars, not wanting to engage face to face with a room full of enquiring young minds, but Greg had sought out lab time with her and always pulled his weight.
“I was thinking of specializing in husbandry when we get home,” he said, swiping the tablet to the next window. “Do you think I’d be any good?”
“Good at what?” She looked away from his searing eye contact to the syringe of water she’d drawn from the tank.
“Husbandry. You know, looking after the animals and all that stuff. You’re pretty amazing at it. Do you think I have potential?”
Ade considered his question carefully, wanting to answer him truthfully but with the tact and nuance that her pops constantlyreminded her about. She scanned though the back catalogue of Greg’s successes, revealing gaps in her files. “I think you show great potential for looking after the animals, Greg. You’ve got an eye for detail and a sense of what they need.” She turned to face him. “But I don’t know you all that well. I mean, how much time have we spent together? Twenty-two hours at the most.”
Greg frowned like he didn’t grasp what she meant.
“I can’t vouch for you on that basis. You need to build up your lab time, on the record, so you can prove it to someone back in Monterey.”
“I could spend more time here this year. Maybe you could teach me some of the techniques?”
She ran through all the possible reasons not to agree to his suggestion. She preferred alone time with the animals rather than with an audience. But someone who was so eager to learn, like Greg seemed to be, shouldn’t get in the way.
She thought of the time she’d shared with Sylvie in the lab at the beginning of the week. That had been a pleasure rather than a chore. She’d enjoyed Sylvie’s straightforward pattern of conversation, and the way her English was stilted enough not to be camouflaged by floral language and misconstrued sentences. When she’d seen her at the beach a couple of days ago, she’d made a beeline for her, eager to extend their talk. The urge to pursue another’s company, rather than retreat from it, was a break from her norm.
Maybe she should open herself up to more opportunities like that. She glanced sideways at Greg and followed a line of acne healing on his jawline. It might do her good to have a few people around her this year. Not that she was missing Steph and her dads. Out of sight, out of mind as her pops would say. But it might be nice not to spend the whole year alone. “I’ll be here most days, Greg. Let me know what free periods you have, and we’ll work something out.” She forced a smile, knowing he’d be expecting one.
On the tram home, she adjusted her headphones, suppressing as much of the background noise as possible. Cocooned in a world of predictable melody, her thoughts drifted back to Sylvie’s glowing skin and wide smile, the way her shirt had fallen open as she leaned back on her beach towel. She must be a few years older than her, but Ade found it hard to age people based on their looks.
But Sylvie’s essence had stuck with her. Her presence had slowed the rhythm of her heartbeat, in a way no one had really done before. She was attracted to all sorts of folks, given the right conditions. Usually, alcohol and a dark room. And a lot of fumbling.
She fiddled with her spinning ring, pushing aside the memories of bad sex and awkward goodbyes.
By the time she opened the door to her studio, the single room was dark, and her worn-out brain welcomed the absence of light, noise, and clutter. Although the southern Mediterranean summer had held out as long as it could, autumn was settling, and with it came chilly nights and sudden sunsets.
Ade turned on the floor lamp with her heel. She hadn’t decided whether it was too bright for her, but it was the only alternative to the glare of the spotlights in the ceiling.
Her phone buzzed.Steph. Right on time.
Time for a video call?
She pressed the camera icon and waited for the call to connect.
“Hey you.” Steph’s wild red hair escaped from the bun she’d pulled on top of her head.
