Chapter Twenty-One. Buoyant
Chapter Twenty-One
BUOYANT
The next day, Cam spent her entire shift at Beau’s focused on the wrong things. Her new hair, the fantasy world she was building, how she and Danny had smoked a cigarette and counted the stars in the sky …
Her recollection of the night before prickled her nerves, like a million mosquitoes attacking her skin. She was overwhelmed with the pressing desire—no, need—to do something spontaneous.
Stupid.
Fun.
Reckless.
They’d get their tattoos at the end of the week and yet … it wasn’t enough. She loved their domestic nights on the sofa, watching TV and hanging out. But as the sun set, Cam knew she needed something different.
When Danny returned from his dinner walk with Reggie, she bombarded him by the door, shifting nervously on her tippy toes. He noticed her attention, raising an eyebrow as he unhooked Reggie from his harness.
“You must be as hungry as Reg is,” he joked. Once he began prepping Reggie’s dinner, he added, “What’s up? I thought you were writing.”
“I was,” she rushed out, leaning over the kitchen island to watch him. “But … I couldn’t focus. I had something else on my mind.”
“Yeah? Care to share?”
“Do you ever have shower fantasies?”
He set the bowl down, encouraging the dog over. As Reggie dug in, he turned to Cam, amused. “Fantasies? Like…” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“Not that kind of fantasy. I mean, do you ever put on scenarios in the shower? Like … you’re responding differently to a conversation you had in real life?”
“Sometimes. Why?”
“Because recently, I’ve been thinking about how my recurring shower fantasy was talking to upper management.
” She tapped her nails against the butcher block, envisioning the same conference room of her many daydreams. “I was CEO Barbie. Pantsuit, sensible heels, tight bun. I’d give a presentation with a laser pointer, talking about how my team hit every KPI. ”
He leaned onto the island, only inches between them. “That was your shower fantasy?”
“Yes. Because my entire life was work. All that mattered was a good midyear review and if you were lucky, a merit increase every January.” She cleared her throat. “I’m bringing this up because it’s come to my attention that I’m really fucking boring.”
“Cam … what?”
“I’m boring! Esme calls me Corporate Camille.”
“You’re not boring,” he insisted.
“I’m not anymore. Not as of last night. Now I’m Fun Cam. And Fun Cam wants to do something stupid. So!” She pressed a finger into his chest. “You were always the fun one. What are we doing tonight?”
He crossed his arms, failing to hide his smile. “Are you suggesting our nights in front of the TV aren’t fun?”
“Oh, they’re invigorating, but I want to do something stupid. This town has an unnaturally high percentage of establishments serving alcohol. There must be something stupid we can do.”
“Depends how stupid you wanna get.” He smirked, eyes crinkled with mischief. “Another misdemeanor on the table? What about Molly from behind Maloney’s Hardware?”
She winced. “Okay. You caught me. Not that stupid.”
“Well, that kinda limits our options.”
“We could … gamble! That’s fun, right? What if we play poker? Surely there’s some old guys playing right this minute.”
Danny laughed. “Cam, do you even know how to play poker?”
“No! And that’s why it would be stupid.”
He didn’t immediately respond, instead checking the time and feeding Reggie a couple of supplements from the many containers lining the counters. “I have an idea,” he started, “but it’s not technically sanctioned.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means depending on who you talk to, it could be illegal, but it’s probably fine.”
“Could be illegal?”
He shrugged. “You said you wanted to get stupid.”
She bit her lip, forever torn between her responsible side, and the one desperate for change. “On a scale of one to ten, how likely am I to spend the evening in jail?”
“Zero, because I know people.”
“Okay! Then it’s settled. What are we doing?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, washing Reggie’s empty bowl. “Wear a swimsuit. We’ll leave soon, grab dinner, and then, as you requested, get stupid.”
After a quick dinner at a local burger place, they drove towards their mystery destination.
Danny wouldn’t give her any hints about where they were going, even as they crossed into a part of town Cam hadn’t explored.
It was primarily residential, with modern beach cottages lining grassy knolls and larger, historic homes overlooking the water.
But in the nighttime, it was hard to sightsee from the window. Streetlights were limited, and they drove on a nearly pitch-black stretch of road until reaching a behemoth of a gated property. Small lights scattered across the expanse of grass, illuminating the beautiful exterior.
It didn’t look like a normal home. It looked like a—
“—country club,” Danny said, as he parked on the shoulder beside the property. “North Elswick.”
“North Elswick,” she repeated. “And that’s not Elswick?”
“Technically, it is. But the rich folks gave their neighborhood a name. You know, to separate from the masses.” He climbed out of the car and rushed to her side to open the door. “This place is so fucking expensive I can’t even get a clear answer on how much it costs to join.”
As she exited the vehicle, she grabbed onto his arm to steady herself on the uneven shoulder. “Aw, are you interested in joining?”
“Somehow I doubt I’m their target demo.” He directed her past the locked entrance, and together, they walked through freshly mowed grass towards the back of the complex. “This place shuts down early Monday to Wednesday. So, it should be a ghost town by now.”
“And how are you so knowledgeable about the very exclusive North Elswick Country Club?” she teased.
“Because they keep delivering my fucking food here!” he cried. “Three times this year. And the first two times, I sucked it up and got the shipment myself. Those visits introduced me to a couple of friends with useful information.”
“Information? Does that mean you’re in now?”
He laughed. “Maybe. Rick runs guest services, and Calvin’s one of the kitchen managers. Now they come to Beau’s every week to play…” He glanced at her, smirking. “Poker.”
“Poker!” She threw her hands into the air. “I could’ve had a chance.”
“No, you wouldn’t. You’d lose your hard-earned money, and it’d break my heart.”
“Then I guess you saved me from such a fate. My hero.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He shook off her teasing, and while it was hard to tell in the darkness, she knew he was blushing. “Anyways, Rick and Calvin gave me some tips for getting in here after hours. In case there were ever any issues with deliveries or … I wanted to take a swim.”
“Are we swimming in the fancy country club pool?”
“You bet your ass we are.”
It took another five minutes of rounding the property until they reached a section of gate blocking off a truck loading zone. The gate had a number pad, and Danny plugged in a code that opened it. Once inside, they circled the building until they spotted the muted lights of the swimming pool.
“They only use one code here,” he said. “For deliveries, cleaning crews, all of it.”
“Are there cameras?” When he shrugged, she groaned. “Danny! What if there’s security watching us?”
“I told you. We’re fine.” When they reached one of the tented snack bars outside the gated pool, Danny began stretching. “Margaret van Bergen comes to Beau’s weekly, and I know I could sweet-talk our way out of any trouble.”
“Margaret van Bergen?” The memory of a very rude middle-aged woman came to mind. “That’s the blonde who stiffed me on my first day?”
“Yup. She’s on the board here. Her husband funneled a fuck ton of money into this place before he died. Supposedly his name’s on everything, including the urinals.”
When Danny started doing little hops into the air, as if he was jumping rope, she asked, “What the hell are you doing?”
“Stretching.” He sprinted towards the pool fence, leaping over the blockade like a track star over a hurdle. Once on the ground, he opened the gate from the inside and motioned towards the pool. “After you.”
“I can’t believe you just did that.”
“You said you wanted to be stupid. How can we be stupid without risking bodily injury?” He shrugged out of his shirt, laughing. “Besides, we were on an incline, so it looked more impressive than it was.”
As if unable to wait a second longer, he kicked off his Chucks and jumped into the pool. After a dip underwater, he circled the end closest to her like a shark, until popping his head up and leaning over the edge.
“You coming in or what?” he asked, shaking out his wet hair.
“In a minute.” Once stripped to her swimsuit, she sat on a lounge chair and began combing her hair with her fingertips, taking care to arrange it as neatly as possible on the top of her head. “Chlorine will ruin my dye job so don’t you dare get it near my hair, Daniel Simon.”
Lounging in the water, he floated on his back and gave her a thumbs-up. “Wouldn’t dream of it,” he promised. “You only throw one girl into the pool at age thirteen before you learn your lesson.”
Cam approached the edge. “Oh, do tell. Did middle school Danny have a crush that backfired?”
“Yup. I thought splashing was flirting, and that meant throwing her into the pool was professing my love.” He swam to the steps, waiting for her at the bottom. “Instead, I made her cry because her makeup wasn’t waterproof.”
“Ouch. Has your flirting improved since then?”
“You tell me.”
“Well, you’re single, so I’m not sure.” She took the steps into the pool. The water was cool, the perfect temperature for the summer night. “Then again, I’m single too, so maybe I can’t flirt either.”
He leaned against the silver stair rail, watching as she lowered into the water until her shoulders were covered. “You haven’t mentioned any guys recently. Does that mean you weren’t dating in DC?”