Ocean State of Mind

Beach Day

Today is my beach day with Ricky, even though he's getting discharged from the hospital this afternoon. I keep telling him that we should just reschedule and that he should stay home and rest, but he was stubborn and refused. I can't lie, though... I was excited to be able to spend an entire day with him. Since I was off today, I did everything in my power to sleep in, but the powers that be woke me up around 6:30 anyways. I figured there was no use laying around in bed when I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep, so I got up and started organizing and packing everything I'd need for the beach.

I was so lost in my organized packing that I never heard Ej leave for work and when I glanced at the clock, I saw it was already 8:30. Damn... time flies. Once everything I needed was packed, I got into my car and made my way to the cafe. I didn't have to work, but I figured I would grab a quick bite to eat and talk to Gina for a bit if she was there. I pulled into the parking lot about ten minutes later and furrowed my eyebrows when I saw the deserted lot. The cafe is normally bustling with customers at this time.

Eggheadz will only be open until 11:30am. Back to normal hours tomorrow. Sorry for the inconvenience!

-Lynne

When I walked inside, Gina was standing behind the counter talking to Red and a few of the cooks. "Hey guys! Why is Lynne closing the cafe so early?" I asked as I grabbed a cup of coffee, along with some toast and eggs and placed my money for my meal in the cash register. "Well, she's been at the hospital all morning and they're releasing Ricky soon so she put me in charge!" Gina said, happily. "Oh, is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Red asked. Gina glared at him and the redhead sunk back into his chair. "It's definitely a good thing. A great thing, actually!" He said, quickly. I laughed, shaking my head in amusement and then turned to Gina. "Do you know any good stores that have one piece bathing suits?" I asked, clearing my plate. When I turned around, Gina was squealing, which caused me to raise an eyebrow. "What?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. Gina chuckled. "Okay, well first thing sweetie, how old are you? Don't ever say bathing suit again until you're at least forty and have three children, alright? Secondly, we're getting you a bikini! It's gonna make Ricky do a double take!" She grinned. I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, well I would rather have that happen with my actual boyfriend." Which isn't a lie. Then again, I wouldn't mind getting a bit of attention from my curly-headed friend... Not that Ricky would even look at you Nina, I scolded myself. "There's actually a new boutique that just opened down the street that I've been meaning to check out. They might have something there. We can check it out when I close up." She said, excitedly.
I smiled and nodded. "Sounds good. I'm just gonna chill here till you close. I'll even help if you want." I said, taking a seat in an empty booth. Gina gave a curt nod and Red cleared his throat as he stood up. "I'm gonna head out but I'll see you guys later!" He said, walking towards the entrance. Gina and I both waved as we heard the door chime.

*****

The rest of the morning went by slowly since there weren't many customers. There was only 45 minutes left until closing time when a group of girls walked in with Lily and sat in the booth right behind me. "I feel so bad for you, Lil! It must've been so hard for you with Ricky almost drowning." Another blonde said, and I rolled my eyes. "I'm alright and thank god he is too! Oh, guess what?! He's meeting my parents tonight!" She said and all the annoying girls squealed. I saw Gina not-so-subtly rolling her eyes, and as she passed by with a tray of water she "accidentally" bumped into Lily spilling it all over her. I couldn't help but smile a bit, "oh my god! I'm so sorry, Lily! I totally didn't see you there!" Gina said, feigning worry. "Oh it's fine, Gigi! Come on girls, let's go shopping so I can find some new clothes." Lily said smiling at Gina and I as they walked out. I faked a smile back and looked back at Gina before we both burst out laughing.

"I can't believe you did that!" I exclaimed as I stood up from my seat. "What? She was getting annoying and you can't deny that she was getting on your nerves too." GINA! ORDERS UP!" The cook yelled from the kitchen. She sighed and walked back to the kitchen window where Antoine handed her a stack of pancakes. "Gi, I'm going up to the loft for a little bit! Holler for me when you close up!" I said to her as I made my way towards the back. She waved at me as a sign of acknowledgement and carried on serving the few customers that were in the cafe.

I figured I'd come up here for some peace and quiet as I made another attempt at writing a song. I opened the door to the loft and took a quick glance around the small room, notice there were photographs placed all over the place. Most of them were Lynne and Ricky over the years. I looked them over and saw Ricky, who looked to be about ten, holding a surfboard with his dad, they were standing next to the ocean. Awe, that's so cute! Then I saw a picture that looked older- it showed a younger version of Lynne. Her hair was longer and she looked like she was in her early thirties. There were four pictures total: One with her and I'm guessing Ricky's dad and a baby, who I assumed is Ricky all standing outside the cafe- the sign behind them said 'sold'. The next was of them making silly faces, well besides Ricky who was just laughing. One of Lynne and the man kissing and the final one of them cutting the ribbon that was over the doors. I smiled, they all looked so happy. Well at least back then...I know they're divorced and I could only hope it wasn't messy unlike my family. My mom cheated on my dad with his best friend. My dad would always be on business trips and my mom would often times get lonely and I guess she needed an outlet. I didn't see it when I was a kid, but I saw how toxic everything became. They used to argue so much and I would try to drown them out with my music, but they would come up to my room and then act as if nothing happened. But now my dad has a girlfriend and my mom remarried a year ago, so I guess everyone's happy.

****

Gina called me downstairs a half hour later and I helped her lock up before we walked over to her car. "So when did Rick say you should meet him?" She asked as she started up the car. "Well he told me to meet him at his shack by twelve thirty." I said. "Damn we've only got an hour?! Good thing I can work miracles." She mused,, ce
causing me to laugh. "Should I be offended?" I asked and she rolled her eyes, playfully. We drove down to a small mall and walked into this new boutique. Gina dragged me right to the swimwear that left little to the imagination. I gulped. "Gi, aren't these a bit- well... revealing?" I asked looking over at my best friend who already managed to grab five of them. "That's the whole point Neens! Now go put these on! Here, I'll come with you!" She said. I sighed. This boutique was extremely upscale. The minute we walked in, we were offered refreshments on a silver platter and the fitting rooms were bigger than my living room. The fitting room had a cushioned bench and a mirrored wall that allowed you to see yourself from various angles. The coolest part though was that the room had a sort of conveyor belt where if you didn't like an item, you'd place it on the continuously moving rack and the unwanted clothes would be brought into a back room to be resorted. I was in such astonishment over the fitting room that I forgot the reason I was there in the first place until Gina's voice snapped me out of my trance. "I'll wait here and then you need to come out and show me!" She said, shoving me into the room. I sighed and got out of my dress and tried on the first one which was light shade of blue. I walked out and she shook her head. "Too basic." Then I tried on a simple red one with a cute little bow in the middle. I liked this one because it wasn't too over the top. I walked out and Gina shook her head again. "Still not right." I groaned and walked back into the room, trying piece after piece- none of them being the one. I was down to my last suit. It was a blush pink ruffled swim top with some cheeky bottoms, although they weren't overly cheeky. The minute I tried it on, i felt something shift inside me. I felt sexy and confident and I actually wanted to show off my body, rather than hide it. I walked out one last time to show Gina and she smirked, knowingly.

"He's gonna love it."
*********************************************

I hated this with every fiber of my being. Pt 2 tomorrow.

This was not a great depiction of my work. In fact, this belongs in the trash bin 🗑🚮