It was almost noon when Beth was up and feeling enough better to head home, so Kjem bundled her and Megan into his moke and they headed into town. Both of them lived in West Village 10, the dorm nearest the harbor, so Kjem drove them there.
All of the student dorms were the same style, one-story buildings arranged as a square. An entrance on each side of the building opened into the central outdoor square, and each of the units opened into this. There were four single units on each side of square, split by the arched entrance way, and four double corner units. This meant that each dorm could accommodate as many as 24 students. Each dorm room had a small porch on the inside of the square, and a screened-in covered porch on the outside.
After parking at one of the entrances to West 10, Megan walked Beth to the porch on the room to the left of the entrance on the water side, and then into the room itself. Once inside, Kjem could see that it was a nicely organized studio flat, with a minimal kitchen area, dining/living area, and bed. One section of the room was separate and had a door, Kjem presumed (correctly) that this was the bathroom. The bed was in the back, next to a door that he could see would open out on the inside porch, in the central square. Pretty nice for a college dorm room, he thought.
His scoping out of the place was interrupted by Beth flopping onto the bed. "OK, I'm here, now get the fuck out," she said, mostly into her pillow.
Megan paid her no mind, filled up a glass with water from the fridge, and brought it to her. "Yeah, sure, after you drink this."
Beth flipped over onto her back and pouted, but sat up unsteadily, took the glass, and drank. She got most of it down, then set the partial glass on the night stand, and once again flopped back onto the bed with a groan. Megan pulled a blanket up from the bottom of the bed, and covered her. Beth curled up on her side, and clearly was headed for sleep.
"Well, that's her sorted, at least for now," Megan said, and then lead Kjem out through the back door into the square. There was a little table there with a couple of chairs, a potted palm, and a bag of snorkeling gear.
Megan headed across the square and unlocked a door that was apparently her room.
"I'd invite you in, but I need to crash too. She put her arm around his neck and drew him into a deep kiss, then asked, "You headed into town to check things out?"
"Yes, that's the plan," replied Kjem. "Any suggestions?"
Megan shrugged. "Just wander around and see where stuff is. It won't take long." She disengaged him, and then continued, "Oh, you should stop in at the video store."
"So I've been told. But seriously, a video store? What year is this?"
"Oh, this is not Blockbuster. You'll be surprized."
Kjem hopped into his moke and headed up the road past the quad, then parked at the library. It seemed to be the only two story building on the island other than the teaching buildings, painted yellow with big windows everywhere. He entered one of the main entrances on the roadside, and was surprised to see the building was vaulted inside, with offices and open rooms on the road side and ends of the building. There were balcony walkways overlooking the open interior of the building and the huge glass walls facing the decks (one on each level) that extended like a dock onto a small lake. The lower-level deck was right on the water, covered by the upper deck to create an indoor/outdoor space for a cafe/bar. The upper deck was festooned with sun sails and tables with shade umbrellas. The lower level, where Kjem entered, was divided into informal study areas, many of which were occupied.
Kjem's stomach rumbled loudly; yeah, time to get something to eat. He wandered over to the cafe on the lower deck, and checked out the menu. Pretty basic stuff, but he could get a burger, some chips, and a beer, so he was happy. He ordered, and was handed a number for the table. He walked up some steps to the upper deck to take in the view; there were flamingos, egrets and ducks on the lake, and beyond the lake was what looked like low trees and scrub.
He took a seat at a wooden bench under a shade sail, and put his number on the table. After enjoying the breeze for a while, his food was delivered by a very attractive student. He ate heartily, he was hungrier than he realized. The burger was great, definitely not prefab, and the beer was on tap rather than bottled or canned. He liked it for sure, appreciating the effort GCC put into good food even at a library cafe.
"If what I just saw is any indication, they're going to have to increase food shipments from the main island!" exclaimed an older woman as she helped herself to the seat across from Kjem.
She pushed a fresh beer across the table to Kjem, and from her other hand put down a glass of white wine.
"Hi, I'm Bernadette. You must be Kjem, the new biologist. What was that, three bites to finish that off, or was it just two?"
Bernadette looked to be about 60 years old, with long grey hair pulled into a loose, fuzzy ponytail. She was quite petite and wearing black capri leggings, a sleeveless t-shirt, a big floppy grass hat and big round sunglasses, which she took off an set on the table next to her wine. She then put out her hand to Kjem from across the table.
Kjem shook her hand, saying, "Yeah, sorry about that, I'm still unsettled from travel, and didn't realize how much I needed something in me."
"Well, you look like the calories won't do you any harm," she replied as she sat down. "New guy, hmm, I'll bet the eager young ladies have been helping you burn off whatever you eat, too."
Kjem blushed, and Bernadette laughed and took a sip of her wine.
"Things never change here, there's always a line to take the new guy for a test drive. I hope they're treating you right, wouldn't want anything broken!" She laughed again at his discomfort. "Take a drink, it'll give you time to think before you have to say anything."
Kjem did take a drink; it was the same beer as his previous one, so he knew she'd been watching him.
"So," he said after setting his beer back down. "You have me at a disadvantage. You seem to know all about me, so tell me about yourself."
"Ah, a good start, ask a lady to talk about herself rather than try to make the conversation about you. I approve. Me, I'm sort of a fixture here, been here pretty much forever. I teach fitness and health, so we should talk later about you getting more of the ladies in the water. But I also saw in your info that you used to be a cyclist. Again, I approve, although I have to admit that cycling has always been my weakest leg in triathlons. Maybe you can help an old lady get up to speed. Better yet, get some of the youngsters on the road."
"Hmm, interesting idea," mused Kjem, "I haven't had a chance to check out the roads here much, what I've seen looks good, but not much of it. I do have my bikes coming, but mostly for sentimental value, I hadn't really thought about riding much here. Let's chat more about it once I get settled in. I don't know how much time I'll have for all the stuff folks expect me to be doing."
