Chapter 26: Jake

Ring, ring, ring, "Hello?"

I recognized her voice right way. "Hey there. Saralinda? It's Jake."

"Oh, hi Jake! Where are you guys? Fiji yet?"

"Yeah, we dropped off Furthurmore at the shipyard this morning, and we're at a resort on the coast north of Suva. Pretty nice. I've got my own little cabin overlooking the ocean."

We continued to make small talk for a minute or two, before I asked, "So how's my favorite patient?"

She sighed. "Okay, I guess. I mean, I'm doing fine."

"You sound a bit ... down..."

"Yeah, and if you called day before yesterday, I would have sounded more than a bit up. Like really up. But it feels like normal ups and downs to me, not that I'd know."

"So what's got you down?" I asked, trying to keep my voice light.

There was a pause. Maybe she shrugged. "It's just Gary ... At least, that's what Moira says."

"What's just Gary?"

"He's just - Arrgghhh"

I kept silent, hoping she'd continue on her own.

"Okay, like, it's a long story. And it's kind of personal..."

"Saralinda, you don't need to tell me anything you're not comfortable with sharing," I reminded her. I really didn't want to pressure her into talking.

"No, I do want to tell you."

I waited, heard her sigh, and then she continued quietly.

"Gary and I, um, made love. Like, four days ago. It was my first time with a guy. Moira was with us, and it was fantastic."

Wow. That was fast. What to say... "Congratulations, I'm glad it went well for you."

"Thanks. We did it again two days ago. It couldn't have been better, almost. Then, today, Gary and Moira and me, we went to this beach on the far side of Maui. We had to drive for, like, a couple of hours to get there, which is pretty amazing that you can drive that far on this small an island. Anyway, it's this cove with red sand that's really pretty. There's another cove with black sand next door. Anyway, we hiked around this rocky headland on this little trail, and as we came around into the black cove, I couldn't believe it. Everybody was naked, Jake! Gary took us to a freaking nude beach! And the first person I saw was this absolute sun goddess, who was sitting on the beach with her legs spread wide open, letting the waves practically, like, fuck her. And she was leaning back on her hands, and she had her head thrown back, and she had this waterfall of dark brown hair hanging back there, and she's all-over tan - even her big tits - and she's, like, perfect."

"Hmm," I said, trying to sound noncommittal, rather than like I was drooling as I imagined the scene.

"Anyway, the three of us went on down to the beach, past this guy who'd set his lawn chair up so you couldn't miss him as you left the trail. He wasn't wearing anything except an open Hawaiian shirt and lei around his neck, and he had this huge dick curled up around his balls and this smug look on his face that seemed to say, like, 'you should see how big it gets when it's hard... ' and I almost laughed, which I don't think was the reaction he was trying to get."

"No, probably not," I smirked.

"So we went to the far end of the beach - I don't know, maybe Moira was trying to keep Gary as far as possible from the goddess. If so, it didn't work. We stretched out our towels, and Moira said to me, 'you okay with this, Hon?', and when I nodded, she stripped off her swimsuit and helped me take off mine. Gary was already nude and slathering on sunblock, and he walked off while Moira and I greased each other."

"It would be very wrong for me to say I wish I could have seen that".

"PERV," she said, but I could hear her smile. "But, anyway, when I was all safe from the sun, I looked around for Gary, and he was over next to the goddess, sitting in the surf just like her, and they were talking and laughing. I asked Moira if Gary knew her, and she said, 'he does now', or 'he's gonna' or something. Moira and I went swimming, and it was a really nice beach, but I kept looking over at Gary and the goddess, and, and I just felt..." She broke off.

"Small, not-so-pretty, and abandoned," I finished for her quietly.

"Yeah."

I remained silent again, willing her to continue. I wanted her to tell me her story, not have to drag it out of her.

"Um, so after a while, Moira and I got out of the water and lay on our towels. We talked a bit about Gary, and how he's just Gary. It's not like he doesn't care, he just focuses on the one he's with at the time but he's easily 'distracted', she said. I just thought I'd hold his attention for more than, like, three days!"

"Well, Gary's ... Gary," I said, wryly.

"Hey, that's exactly what Moira said. And then Gary brought Malia - that's the goddess's name - over to us and told us he'd invited her over for lunch. She looks even better up close. And she's really, really nice."

Saralinda said the last sentence with the same tone of voice she would have used to bemoan the ice cream being all gone.

"Oh, that is no fair," I commiserated.

"Anyway, she told us all about growing up here. Her father's Hawaiian, and her mother was Swedish, but Malia's never even met her mother, really, because she went back to Sweden when Malia was, like, not even two. Oh, and hey, she's the same age as me. We were both born the same month, even. So, anyway, she was raised by her Hawaiian grandmother in a little village half way up the volcano. She would help her grandmother string flowers to make leis all while she was growing up. Since high school, she's been working as a model, but she says she hates it and wants to do something different and she wants to get off of Maui because it's too small. So, anyway, Gary invited her to dinner with us too, which was to a place Malia knew about and it was fantastic, and then they were all going to a club, but I didn't feel like going, 'cause I've got a headache. I probably didn't drink enough water at the beach and did too much rum during dinner, or at least that's what Moira said."

"So you're all alone at the hotel room feeling sorry for yourself while Gary, Moira, and Malia are out having fun?"

"Pig. I'm not feeling sorry for myself. I was just about to watch a movie, but somebody called."

"Sorry. I just wanted to check up on you and make sure you were okay. I was actually wondering how the medication was going and how you were doing with the doctor. I didn't realize you were going to be so busy with, um, 'other stuff' ".

"Oh, Dr. Anna is fantastic, and the medications seem to be doing okay. I'm handling them fine, I guess. At least, Dr. Anna seems to think it's working, and she should know. I'm not having any obvious side effects, and I haven't flipped out or anything. Not really."

"Good, good," I said, feeling a touch relieved. "So, what movie?"

"'When Harry Met Sally'. You ever see it?"

"I love that movie. I wish I was there to see it with you."

"So what do you think?" Saralinda said, suddenly sounding serious.

"About what," I asked, catching her somber mood.

"About Gary, and me, and Moira, and Malia, and everything."

I paused for a long time before I answered. "Gary doesn't think about things like most people. He may well try to coax Malia into bed with him, but the next night, he's just as likely to try to coax you into bed with him. Unlike most guys, it's not that he's just a letch. He really loves the women he's with, and he'll do anything for any of them. He's never just trying to score. He wouldn't have made love to you if he didn't really care for you. And he's a really good judge of people, so everyone he's with tends to get along with all of the others."

"Mmmm. That's about what Moira told me too. That Gary collects and loves his treasures."

"That's it exactly!" I agreed, impressed with Moira's turn of phrase. I decided to use it.

"And that makes you a treasure, Saralinda. And I'm not just saying that. You're a wonder. You're beautiful. You're sweet. I probably shouldn't say this, but all of us on the ship were telling each other that we hoped you'd catch on permanently."

"Oh," said Saralinda, sounding surprised and humbly pleased. But then she went on. "What do you think about Moira, and Malia?"

"What about them?"

"Oh, Jake, I don't know. I don't know what I'm doing, or what I want, or what's going to happen to me next, or anything."

She sounded desperate and lost, and it was my turn to sigh.

"Moira really, really seems to care for you, Saralinda. I'm just not sure she knows what to think of you."

"What to think of me?" She sounded confused.

"Well, um, I don't really know. But I think she's feeling awkward because you're a bit too old for her to mother, but you're a bit too young to be her..." I broke off, not knowing how to finish the sentence, and wishing I'd never started it.

There was silence over the phone for several seconds, except for muffled breathing and sniffling.

Finally, I heard a very small voice from the other end of the line.

"Who am I, Jake? What am I? I feel like a nothing. Everybody says Gary cares, but I'm just another girl to him and I'll never be more than that. Moira cares, but she doesn't know what to do with me. I love her - oh god, Jake, I love her. But she's in love with Gary, not me. I don't want to be just the baby Gary won't give her and the partner Gary won't be for her. And I can't be my own mother's daughter because she's gone. I think I felt happiest pretending to be Dr. Anna's granddaughter, but that was just pretend..."