La Douleur Exquise

Fifty Seven

I followed the pair down to the lake. In my haste to see what was going on, I alerted others to where I was going and suddenly, I was surrounded by tens of other people as we reached the deck. I looked around for Darcie and Ritchie but couldn't find them. How could the have disappeared so quickly?

"This is so cold!" I heard Darcie squeal. The noise was followed by Ritchie's guttural laugh. "How did I let you talk me into this?"

"Because you can't say no to me, sweetheart," Ritchie replied. Once they'd waded out to the point that the water reached Richie's waist, he and Darcie stopped and moved so that they were stood opposite one another. "Wait, so what exactly am I supposed to do?"

Under the darkening summer sky, I saw Darcie look worried at Ritchie's words. "You're supposed to catch me, you idiot," she scorned him. Bridging the gap between them, Darcie moved to hold Ritchie's hands, placing them on her waist as she whispered what I guessed was some instructions to him. Once Ritchie nodded in understanding, she moved away from him and clasped her hands together in a prayer. Then she opened her eyes. "Alright, Johnny. Ready for this?"

The crowd around me grew as we all watched Ritchie and Darcie mess around in the water. Whatever they were trying to do, it wasn't going so well. Whenever Ritchie got close to placing his hands on Darcie's waist, he'd freak out, shake his head and start whining like a bitch about how he couldn't go through with it. Darcie would simply roll her eyes and give him a stern telling off, insisting that he grow a set of balls. 

I felt a presence at my side and looked down to see Lauren stood next to me, another drink in her hand. She watched the pair in the water and frowned. "What are they doing?" She asked. When I shrugged, Lauren turned to her right and looked at her brother. "Harlan, what are they doing?"

"Beats me," Harlan answered. He watched them intently, tilting his head from side to side, as if that would help him understand. "Oh, wait, I think I know what's going on. Ritchie's doing it wrong, though."

"Clue me in," Lauren demanded. Suddenly, she narrowed her eyes on the scene in front of her. "He's not going to injure or kill my number one tumbler, is he? Because if he is, I'm going to maim him."

Before Harlan could explain, movement from the water caught all of our attention. Ritchie comfortably had his hands on Darcie's waist and with a look of absolute concentration on his face, he started to lift Darcie from the water. The muscles in his arms strained as he attempted to straighten them out but with one swift movement, he locked his elbows and held Darcie aloft above his head. 

"Huh, nevermind," Harlan mumbled. When Lauren and I still looked confused, Harlan pointed at Ritchie and Darcie and said, "It's the Dirty Dancing lift."

A scream and then a splash momentarily distracted us. The sound of Darcie laughing hysterically filled the air but it was short lived. Looking out across the lake, I was prepared to see Darcie struggling as she drowned, or something like that. What I wasn't expecting to see, however, was Ritchie and Darcie kissing. 

"Told you," Lauren smirked in her brother's direction. "You owe me fifty bucks. I'll take it in cash or the equivalent value in shoes. Your choice. Nixon, honey, your jaw is on the floor. Pick it up before I accidentally walk over it as I make my way back to the bar."