SUMMER'S END

11

Robyn spent the rest of the afternoon alone, wondering where Nicki had gone. After nibbling on a pomelo salad while engaged in reluctant conversation with the Scots-she'd much rather be talking to Nicki over dinner-she fetched her Kindle and retreated to the beach with a beer. Her eyes kept drifting away from the illuminated screen, off into the black horizon in front of her, while her thoughts always came back to Nicki. Why was she so secretive? Although Robyn was quite certain Nicki would just call it discreet. What had brought her here? If Robyn really wanted to, she could find out. Few people leave Holland Park behind for Koh Samui, and her father would quite possibly know about it. But this would require sending him an e-mail and establishing contact with home a few days too soon. She needed the time between now and going home to sort some things out in her head. Also, if Nicki wanted her to know anything at all, it was up to her to tell Robyn.
"Any good?"
The voice behind her startled her. She'd been so wrapped up in her thoughts she hadn't heard Nicki's footsteps approach. Instantly, a tension that had nestled into her muscles over the course of the day-a day spent looking out for Nicki-fell away from her. "They always make these female detectives so strong and independent and hot... and straight. It frustrates me." Nicki looked a bit worse for wear, as if she'd just finished a night shift somewhere. Her hair stood up on one side, her eyes drooped and sported black circles underneath them. That was all Robyn could make out in the dark. But it was good to see her at last.
"You'd best get used to that." Nicki chuckled and crouched next to her. "I'm sorry for disappearing on you today," she whispered. Silence hung between them for a few seconds.
"I'm sure you had a good reason for that." Saying it caused Robyn to re-evaluate her expectations. Why had her eyes been busy searching for the slightest sign of Nicki all day? Surely, she'd spent the rest of her holiday trying to avoid other people.
"If you call getting wasted on cheap beer in the middle of the afternoon a good reason, then sure." Nicki shifted her weight and let her behind drop into the sand.
"You're free to do as you please. That's the whole point, right?" Robyn glanced at Nicki who stared out into the ink black night. The skin of her cheek closest to Robyn was a bit wrinkled. She just nodded absent-mindedly.
"Night swim?" Nicki asked after a while. She turned her head to face Robyn and her eyes burned through the blackness of the night. Robyn was on her feet in a split second. She was still wearing her bathers underneath her shorts and tank top and she rushed them off her in record time. "Yes, please." She watched Nicki hesitate. Her eyes stopped at Nicki's t-shirt and she immediately understood. She suppressed a grin and said, "Race you."
"Hey, that's not fair-" Nicki's words were drowned out by the slapping roar of the waves. Robyn waded into the water and looked back. She witnessed
Nicki struggle out of her shorts before walking towards her in a pair of white panties and her t-shirt. Should be interesting when wet.
"Forgot something?" Robyn asked when Nicki faced her in the water.
"As usual." Nicki grinned, her eyes glinting in the moonlight. It was a half-smile that seemed to connect with Robyn's stomach, leaving it feeling funny. Then there was that warm, fuzzy sensation making its way through her blood. And the sudden need for swim goggles so she could dive under and sneak a peek.
Apart from the faint sound of voices drifting towards them from one of the nearby resorts, everything was quiet around them. It was a stillness Robyn was not used to, or maybe it was the child in her, and she started splashing Nicki with water. Gently at first, but her enthusiasm-and her lack of knowing what to say or do, quickly took over and soon she was dousing Nicki in handfuls of salty sea water.
"Hey," Nicki shrieked. "I always give as good as I get." She moved her arms through the water and over her head, her wet tshirt clinging to her skin, and it was almost enough to make Robyn stop in her tracks, but she couldn't stop now. It would be a bit too obvious.
Water hit Robyn straight in the face and while she was still busy trying to spit it out, she felt a pair of hands grab her below the knee and pull her under.
When she came back up for air, Nicki stared her in the face triumphantly. "That should teach you not to mess with me." She stood tall in the water, only covered to the middle of her thighs, and Robyn couldn't keep her eyes off the water drops cascading down the other woman's skin-tight, soaked clothes.
"I surrender," she managed to squeeze out of her throat as a desire quite new to her swept through her flesh. And if it was an invitation on Nicki's part to instigate something, or even ask an inquisitive question, Robyn missed that entirely because her body had become the master of her mind. She witnessed how Nicki's hard nipples poked through the drenched fabric of her t-shirt and all she could think was how lucky she was to be under water so Nicki wouldn't notice how soaked her bikini bottoms were.