"What are you wearing?" Claire was ransacking her bag for something to wear to the beach.
It was already past four in the afternoon and we agreed to go for a swim before dinner and before the party started later.
I looked at my own bag and took out some swimsuits and bikinis I brought.
"I can wear maybe my one-piece?" I asked her with the cloth in my hand, showing it to her.
"Oh, hell to the no, Cara!" Clair exclaimed a little bit exaggerated.
"Why? What's wrong with this?" I looked at my white one-piece, it was fine for me.
"First of all, it's awfully white, Cara. And second, you have a gorgeous body underneath those fabrics..." She was even pointing at my body up and down.
"... Flaunt it, honey! You are so effing gifted and you're not even appreciating it." She continued and walked towards me.
She looked at the bikinis I laid on the bed and snatched my bag to find the others.
"Here, wear this." She handed me the halter black bikini that she gifted me last summer.
"But, it's too..."
"Sexy? hot?" Claire interrupted me.
"We are on the beach, Cara. You are supposed to wear a bikini that is hot and sexy. And I know for a fact that not only Brian will drool over you but that Boss of yours as well."
I stared at the little fabric that Claire was handing me. I am not demure or conservative, I just feel shy, I guess? I wear bikinis at the beach but not that often as I don't go much.
And now that I know Alex would see them, the pressure just fueled up.
I took the bikini from Claire and headed to the bathroom to change.
"Oh my fucking god! Seriously, no effort at all and you look like a goddess!" Claire with her exaggerated remarks looked at me from head to foot.
She was also wearing her red bikini, she might have changed when I was in the bathroom.
"Well, look at you too. You're on fire, aren't you?"
Claire playfully turned around to show off her perfectly toned body.
"This is the fruit of working out every day, thank you very much!"
We both wore denim ripped shorts and while she did not wear any shirt to cover her chest but just put them in the bag, I did. I took out a white V-neck shirt from my bag and wore it.
"Really?" Claire was looking at me in disbelief.
"Shut up!"
Before heading out to the beach, I left a message to Brian letting him know our plan for this afternoon. I wore my sunglasses and left my phone and let Claire carry our beach bag with our necessities.
As we sat up on the beach chairs, I looked around and saw a lot of my colleagues were already getting their tans done, some of them were already in the water, playing and swimming.
I waved when I saw Lisa and the others, and as they waved back, I got up and signaled to Claire that I'd be right back.
"Hey!" I greeted them.
"Hey, we thought you were not gonna come up and even say hi to us." Lisa joked.
I bumped my shoulder to hers.
"Sorry, I was a bit occupied."
"Yeah, we can see that." David was eyeing Claire in the distance.
"I'll introduce you later to her, she's my best friend from college, also a friend of Brian."
"Where's your boyfriend, by the way?" It was Lisa again.
I playfully punch her in the arm.
"You know he's not my boyfriend."
"Why is that again?" Everybody chuckled at Lisa including myself.
"I'll see you guys later." I chose not to rebuke what she said and bid my goodbye.
"They look fun." Claire was applying sunscreen to her body and gave it to me and gestured for me to apply some on her back.
"Yeah, they are. I'll introduce you later to them."
I removed my shirt and did the same, Claire did my back.
"Remove your shorts." She ordered.
As I stood up to remove it, my eyes automatically scanned the place and saw half of the people looking at me. Thank god with my sunglasses, they weren't able to see the embarrassment in my eyes but not Claire.
"What did I tell you? You have a gorgeous body, my dear, why are you so embarrassed to show it? If I have that..." She pointed at my body from up to down.
"... I'll be naked all the time. Go to work, naked. Jogging, naked. Cooking, naked. All day, every day, naked."
I burst into laughter and it actually helps a little to my confidence. I ignored the stares and continued to apply the sunscreen to my legs.
"Let's go?" Claire held out her hand for me.
I was about to take them when my eyes flew to the woman almost in front of me.
Emerging from the water, with the black bikini, she looked like a goddess brought to life. Little water droplets clung to her skin, shining in the sunlight. Her brown hair was wet and wavy, framing her face in a beachy kind of beauty.
Her eyes had a mysterious sparkle like they held secrets from the ocean. Rosy cheeks gave her a fresh, sun-kissed glow. She had this way of moving that was both strong and graceful as if she could dance with the waves.
Every step she took left a loud beating in my chest. Her eyes focused on me, and everybody seemed to disappear, suddenly, it was just me and her, everything else didn't matter.
As she gets closer, with the sun behind her making it look like she is a walking silhouette, my nerves twirl like a whirlwind in my chest. My palms feel suddenly clammy. Each heartbeat becomes an impatient drumroll and my mind gets all jumbled up.
I was pulled out of my trance when I saw her corner lips, twitched, smirking probably on my reaction. I cleared my throat before removing my sunglasses and averting my eyes.
Alex sat on the beach chair just beside mine.
Oh, lucky me!
"Staring is rude, Greene." I heard her say. She took her towel and patted herself.
"I- I was not... I was... I didn't."
"Yeah, right!" Sarcastically, Alex chuckled and ignored me the next.
I felt Claire tugging my hand and not letting me respond. We headed to the water but I can't help to look back and I was so glad I did as I just caught her checking out my ass.
But she didn't show any embarrassment like I did. Like it was normal and what I did was not.
"Did you know you drooled a little?" Claire said when we were already in the water. I stared at her blankly.
"I told you, she should be the one drooling and not you, Cara." She continues to scold me.
"I was... I was just... surprised to see her. And, and, it's the first time I saw her in a bikini and it was..."
"Oh my God, Cara! You are so whipped!"
"I was not!" I splash her with the water.
"You so are!" She splashes back.
We stayed in the water for almost 30 minutes before we decided to head back to our chairs.
Alex was still beside mine but lying down on her stomach. Her bikini top was undone so her bare back was exposed.
I swallowed what seemed to be a big lump in my throat staring down her back, she was obviously working on her tan while perv scenarios running through my mind.
Claire saw that I was staring so she tapped my shoulder a little bit hard and made me remove my gaze.
As I sat, I gave her a last glance and saw that her eyes were closed, she probably drifted to sleep.
She looks so beautiful.