Verity swung her board hard left to avoid the jagged rocks. She was so used to surfing this stretch of beach, that she now did it almost without conscious thought. Even so, she wiped out as the wave, the board, and her balance all disagreed at once on how much was too much. When her head broke the surface of the water, she kicked out powerfully with her long legs and caught her board in a few strokes. She was already in the shallows, and so had no trouble walking out of the cool surf.
The sun was already starting to break through the morning fog and shining down on the nearly deserted beach. It normally was, at this early hour; Porto was too far north and the water stayed cold for far too long to get many sun-worshipers. Oh, they got more than their fair share of tourists, between the many port wine lodges and the various other historic and cultural attractions, but most of the beach nuts stayed south on the Algarve, enjoying the Portuguese sun all day long.
Verity liked it that way. She recognized all regulars whom she was used to seeing there this early, but lying out on a red beach blanket was one girl she had never seen before. Her attention was momentarily averted from the sunbather when her friend Paulo called out a hello; out working on his perpetual tan, apparently. The tall surfer gave him a quick hug and they exchanged a few words, but she kept glancing at the unfamiliar sunbather, and her mind was only ever marginally on the conversation.
Verity waved to another acquaintance as she wrung the salty water from her dark hair and unzipped the wetsuit. She felt the sun on her damp skin and, trying to focus on that warm sensation, started for her car. For some reason, though, she returned her eyes to the redheaded stranger.
She intentionally changed course, admiring the girl's body on the way. Even lying down, the dark-haired surfer could tell she was shorter than herself, but had lush curves in all the right places. The black one-piece she wore made a stark contrast to her pale skin, and it immediately occurred to Verity that she could be a foreigner. Her auburn hair was worn long, and Verity was a bit disappointed that the girl was wearing a pair of dark sunglasses. She always liked looking at people's eyes. On the other hand, her long legs slightly parted to reveal the provocative way the suit pulled across her mound, and her breasts looked exquisite in the tight suit. The tall girl decided she might not have seen her eyes even if the girl hadn't been wearing glasses. For a girl with such a petite frame, she was very busty, and, as she walked past, Verity couldn't take her eyes off the dusting of freckles on her pale skin, just above the neckline of the modest suit.
She had never seen this woman before, she was certain, but something about her made Verity turn back and look again. A pretty woman, but nothing spectacular, and yet that nagging feeling that she knew her persisted. It persisted as she reached her car and secured her board to the roof rack, and as she stripped out of the black wetsuit and threw it in the back. Shoving the woman from her mind, she leisurely toweled her skin dry, catching the attention of both men and women passing by, and then grabbed her clothes from the car. The bikini she wore really showed off her toned body, and the color, a deep royal blue, was eye-catching. Verity pulled on a pair of cutoffs that she had to wiggle to get into, and a loose, almost see-through blue blouse that she didn't bother buttoning up.
As she sat and pulled on her white tennis shoes, though, that feeling returned. She sat in the driver's seat and pulled a brush out of her small black backpack. As she ran it through her hair, she searched her mind for the girl's identity, over and over. She finished with her dark hair and applied some light makeup. She was extremely attractive and needed very little to begin with, but today she almost overdid it, simply because her mind was elsewhere. If she could only pinpoint who that woman reminded her of... Fighting the persistent voice in her head, she turned the ignition and started to back out of her parking spot.
She was fully out and into the street when she gave in to the intense feeling, pulled back into her spot, and killed the ignition. Chewing unconsciously on her bottom lip, she wracked her brain, but the information she sought remained elusive. She reached again for the keys, but it seemed like some powerful force was contesting her will.
"What the fuck?" she exploded.
Verity found herself standing outside her car, not remembering getting out. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Driven by that all-consuming feeling, she walked back towards the woman. When she was standing over her, she put her hands on her hips.
"Hello," she said. The woman turned her head and Verity smiled tentatively, staring at her full lips and wishing she didn't have those damned glasses on. Taking a deep breath, she went on.
"This is going to sound like a weird pick up line," she began, and then paused. She was still staring, still not exactly sure what she was doing.
"I know you don't know me and I don't know you, but you seem really familiar..."
The redhead said nothing, but sat up and then slowly looked her up and down. Behind her dark lenses, the woman's eyes seemed to travel from her shoes, up her impossibly long, sleek, tanned legs and lingered on the juncture of her thighs for just a moment, before moving up over her flat tummy, past her pert breasts, and coming to rest on her face.
"I'm afraid I don't understand a word you said, but your pictures don't do you justice," the redhead said in a soft southern drawl.
Verity's mind whirled. The accent was American; of that she was sure. And she rarely sent out pictures to people she met online. She glanced at the woman again and saw her now wearing an impish grin. With it came recognition and surprise.
"I thought you never traveled," the tall girl said, automatically switching to English. She was comfortable with the language, although she often thought her slightly British accent and enunciations were too quaint.
"I don't."
"Then, how did you end up here?" Verity asked, shaking her surprise and quickly regaining control of the situation.
"Call it an experiment," she said and rose in a single fluid motion, shaking out her red blanket, which was in fact a thin square of material she then tied around her hips to make a long skirt. She shouldered the small beach bag she was carrying and smiled softly.
Verity could see she was trying hard, but the uncertainty and nervousness were there as plain as day. The tall girl wanted to laugh. Julia being here was against everything she had ever said about herself, and that made warning flags go up, but her demeanor showed she was truly terrified, and that fit perfectly with what Verity knew of her.
