Almost a week later, Jia's idea of having the next generation Paradise City folks was almost ready to happen, and she wanted to make them feel welcome. Although she and Brett were pretty good friends, for some people, more people meant more fun. I was not one of those people.
"Okay, people. We have twenty-four hours until our guests arrive, and I want to make sure that they don't hate this, and they have some idea of what to expect," Jia said.
"Are you going to clean the bathrooms or not?" Brett asked.
"I promised, and I am a woman of my word. I compiled a list of things that they might want to do. Shit, do you think they'll keep themselves entertained? Maybe Reagan should buy some coloring books in town or something," Jia replied.
The plan was that Robbie, Nastasya, and I would all impress them first with my whale project, but that wasn't exactly going to work. The three of us had already decided to have an official mourning of the drone, and I already had my all-black outfit ready for the next day. Before we got everyone on the boat, I also had to buy whatever supplies we needed while everyone else made the house look presentable last-minute. And adding on the responsibility of creating a good first impression, I had quite a bit on my plate.
But with even more on his plate, Brett had to cook for twice the normal amount of people, which he didn't mind, but rather enjoyed. He also gave me a long list of weird ingredients, and I wasn't quite sure about it. Miso paste, butternut squash, chocolate, and avocado. No matter how I put the ingredients together, it didn't sound normal, but who was I to judge? He knew more about food, and I knew more about marine life.
"They're not three years old with the attention span of a gnat like some people here, I'm sure, so they can handle themselves," Darrell said.
Jia glanced at her phone, then looked up at me. "Actually, I'll get the coloring books. We'll get more done if we have two of us."
"Okay, but you have to wear black," I said.
"Why?"
"We're paying our respects to Nastasya's fallen ten thousand dollar drone."
Jia laughed. "Now I feel like I'm intruding on your weird whale-watching cult."
"That's because you are. Robbie's strange, Nastasya's even stranger, and Rea? Damn, she's in a league of her own," Logan said as he walked into the room.
I frowned. "Thanks."
"Honestly, that was the weirdest day of my life, being stuck on a boat with you for several hours. It was like trying to talk to a five-year-old with slightly above average intelligence," he continued.
We must have remembered it being weird for different reasons, but I coughed and whispered through a forced smile, "You're overdoing it."
"But yeah, she's okay personality-wise," Logan said, then sat down on the couch.
I blinked at him a couple times. If he blew our cover, I didn't even know what I'd do. Darrell clearly had his opinions about me, and I didn't want to lower my worth and competence in his mind any more than I already had. I had to prove that I belonged. Logan didn't.
"Uh, okay. Do you know when we're going to leave tomorrow morning?" Jia asked me.
"Usually I'm on the boat by six, but since we have some shopping to do, we can leave a little later. It takes about an hour and a half to get to Bar Harbor from here, so is seven okay?"
"Perfect." She went back to her phone.
I looked over to Logan, and he held his hands up in surrender and apology.
He's lucky he's cute. Not that I would do anything anyway, though.
Jia looked back up at Darrell. "Would you do a huge favor for me?"
"I would, but in all honesty, I don't like you at all, and I certainly don't want to help you in any way, shape, or form," Darrell replied.
"I was just thinking that maybe we could have the noobs determine the diversity levels on the island. It's not much, but it could maybe spark an idea for one of them. I wish I had an idea to work with, so I wouldn't have been stuck with you," Jia said.
"As much as I hate to admit it, that's actually a good idea. Did you want me to set up a spreadsheet for them or something?" Darrell asked.
"I need you to go count the number of barnacles in the intertidal zone between the watchtower and the opposite side of the house," Jia said.
"That's not only ridiculous but time-consuming. We have to collect our daily sound samples in half an hour, and I clearly do not have the time nor patience for such a tedious task."
"Oh, man. Guess I just wasn't thinking." Jia rolled her eyes.
Brett laughed. "That actually sounds like fun. Can I do that?"
Jia rose her eyebrows. "I don't think you actually—"
Logan interrupted her. "No, no. Let him do it. It's not like you can stop him anyway."
"He's not wrong. I can't stop you, Brett," Jia said.
As he headed for the door, Brett smiled and said, "Our time here is limited. We might as well make the most of it."
He shut the door behind him.
"He'll get sick of it in ten minutes," Logan said.
"I can't imagine how awful his life is here, since all he does is cook and talk to Jia and Logan. The fact that he thinks this is helpful and fun is just a side effect of his miserable existence," Darrell said.
"Duck slippers," Jia said, and I nodded.
There wasn't much more one needed in life: food, shelter, water, and duckies.
***
With no running water on the island, there really wasn't much motivation to conform to society's expectations of personal hygiene. In fact, it really wasn't much of an option, and that was a reality we all accepted and dealt with.
But with the next generation of Paradise City applicants coming in to visit, it gave us all a well-deserved excuse to indulge in a shower. Especially Brett. He counted barnacles for three hours and still didn't get them all. It was sweet that he was trying to help, but it was a pointless task with no real benefits.
Jia chatted with Toby until he was on board with our plight for personal hygiene.
Back where the people were several nautical miles away, Bar Harbor, Maine was a frequent vacation spot, filled with touristy knickknack shops and hotels. Getting cleaned up wasn't a luxury we were used to, but in order to make it look like we were still normal, functioning humans, we had to present ourselves like it. Showering was included in the functioning category.
We all headed back to the mainland aboard the Millennium Osprey, much to Logan's dismay. He only threw up twice, but he glared at the Atlantic the entire time, muttering curses for making him miserable.
We couldn't stay for very long, because we still had plenty to do back at Paradise City to prepare, but the thought of warm water that I had taken for granted for years was fixated in my mind.
It was a bit of a waste of fuel, but I justified it by reminding myself of all the good I was doing for the whales, raising awareness, monitoring their health and behaviors, and appreciating them for the magical creatures they were.
We checked in to the least sketchy motel we could find that would make our expensive showers worth it, and as Jia went first, the rest of us sat in the room.
Even though we were grounded on land, Logan still kept a trash can within arm's reach as he curled up in a ball on the floor. I frowned sympathetically. There wasn't a single sure-fire cure for him, but that didn't keep me from thinking of ways to help and getting frustrated when I remembered that we had tried everything I knew about.
"Is anyone else really not looking forward to these people invading our island?" Darrell asked.
"I hope they don't try to talk to me," Carter said, and although I didn't mean to, I laughed.
As long as they wanted to talk about whales or other marine life, I would be okay with it, but any other conversation topics were always a chore. My personal life was boring, and the un-boring parts I liked to keep to myself.
"If it'll keep Jia from losing her mind, I think we can all deal with it," Brett said, then shrugged. "Plus, Toby said there's a girl, so that's a good distraction."
"We're not just distractions," I said. I didn't think Brett meant anything negative by what he said, but there was a language surrounding women that I hated, and distracting was one of the words in that dictionary.
"Right, because Jia doesn't try to be a distraction every single second of every single day. She actually tried to get me to count barnacles today to keep me from working on my project," Darrell said.
"The project is just as much hers as it is yours, and you don't treat her like your partner. Maybe you should try that," I said.
"When she proves that she deserves it, then I will, but if she keeps acting like a child, that will never happen," Darrell replied.
Jia wasn't perfect, but she was human. When she got mad, it made sense to her, and it made sense to me usually, because we saw the way Darrell thought less of us (and Brett, of course). But to everyone else, it was just a crazy action, not a frustrated reaction.
I shook my head. If he found out that I was Logan's distraction, he'd think of me as a bigger waste of space and resources than before.
Logan thought it was a crazy thought process by me. I saw it as a frustrated reaction.
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Hi everyone! Thank you for reading, even though this was late. Sorry about that.
So I don't know how I didn't mention this before, but Paradise City isn't just a product of my imagination. I'm not that creative. Number one, I used the name from a Guns N Roses song, and number two, it's a completely real place called Mount Desert Rock. Google it if you'd like. It's pretty wild.
I spent a day there and had the time of my life, and I even got to chill with four humpback whales like Reagan, whose project is also real. I only remember one of their names, though, and her name is Liner, because she had a line on her fluke. Yep. I stole that for my story too. Oh, and the foghorn does really go off every 23 seconds. I timed it.
Anyway, I forgot to mention all of that until last week, so thank you to the wonderful for reminding me!
But that's enough about me. Happy late Valentine's Day, since you're my valentine. You don't have a choice. Sorry, but that's the rule.
This chapter was mostly set-up, but do you think Reagan is right? Will Darrell think less of her? Should she even be concerned about what he thinks?