Chapter 31: "Crap, my suit is still wet."

"Can we please, Mom?" begged Mark.

"Well, of course we can, Mark," answered Meredith. "But I don't know if everyone else wants to go out with us."

"Actually, I'd love to go," said Lisa. "I mean that's why I came here."

"Hell, count me in," said Kat. "But Bill, you do know that I'm definitely too sexy for my swimsuit."

They all laughed again at Bill's expense who graciously accepted their verbal slings and arrows once more. And they all got ready to go back to the beach.

As Lisa, Meredith and Mark were putting on their clothes to go out the beach Kat said, "Crap, my suit is still wet."

"It's not like you'll be wearing that at the beach," said Lisa. "I mean you're going to be in the nude anyways."

"That's true but I was going to wear this sarong with it."

"Here ... put on your suit and sarong right now," said Meredith.

Slightly puzzled, Kat put on the bikini and tied the sarong around her waist.

"Now look at yourself in that mirror over there," ordered Meredith.

Kat shrugged her shoulders and did as she was asked. "OK, Kat. Tell me what you see."

"Well, I'm standing here in bikini and sarong. Basically, the sarong's completely see-through. And I've never liked how I looked in this suit."

"Right, so essentially you will be walking around Miami Beach in your bikini bottom and top. This morning, you walked around Miami Beach just like that. Now take off your sarong and bikini again and stand there nude."

Kat did and Meredith had her describe what she saw.

"Hmm," Kat thought for a moment. "I just see me naked."

"Anything else?"

"Actually, I think I look better nude than when I did with that suit and sarong. It's not like I'm trying to hide something or show something off. How about that... !"

"The point is that if you want to be true to yourself, you don't have to wear that silly sarong or swimsuit anymore. I grant you your freedom for that ... but because of this crazy society we live in, you will have to put something on for the bus ride over to the beach. That's one of the reasons that I prefer to go nude; I hate lies."

Everyone laughed and Kat smiled and threw on a pair of shorts and a tee-shirt. They had a great time at the beach again. This time Bill was on better terms with his naked friends. Although he wasn't completely at ease at the beach, he did make more of an effort. They spent almost every day at Haulover. Kat's white bits became darker and Meredith, Lisa and Mark were a perfect golden brown. Evenings, Meredith and Mark stayed in while the others would go pub-crawling along Collins. While in the hotel room, everyone except Bill was clothes-free.