She walked along the beach in the early morning light and felt the cold water of the Pacific splash over her bare feet. It was a cold, dreary morning in early June and the summer sun had yet to warm either the air or the water. That would come later in the day, when this beach would be filled with bikini covered girls and well tanned men who would ogle the girls like pieces of meat. Which they all were, the human body was nothing more then a piece of meat that was waiting to be served up like an offering to the gods.
With a sigh, Leandrea Morris came to pause on a rock over looking the ocean and smiled as she wondered if the poet in her was working harder then usual today. Still, she found little to write prose about as she looked out over the fog shrouded water and heard the cry of a foghorn. They had been coming here every summer for as long as she could remember, spending two weeks in that house back behind her. The big Ivory colored on with gray shutters and trim that her grandfather had built back in the days that he and her grandmother had decided they wanted a retirement home for when they were old and beyond working. Instead, they had bought an RV and were spending all their time on the road, going from place to place.
The house remained empty all the year but for the twelve weeks of summer. Buttoned up tightly against the winter winds and driving rains. The last week in May, a couple from the nearby town came and opened it up, then shortly after Leandrea and her family would descend like vultures upon it. For two weeks they would do as the weather dictated. Then they would go home and talk about the trip all summer long until the last two weeks in August when they would come back and the house would hold all her family, aunts, uncles, cousins, and her grandparents. It would be filled to over flowing almost.
Today would be a lazy day, one doing little things around the house, running errands into town, and so on. If it was sunny, they would be planning runs up and down the coast line seeing places they had seen a hundred times before, doing things they had done a hundred times before.
This was the year she had wanted it to be different. She had looked forward to this summer more then any other in her life. This was the summer she had joined the ranks of her older sisters and brothers. When curfews were lifted and she was allowed to run as wild as they were. This was the summer she had hoped to find a summer romance that would die off as the fall and sanity returned. Instead she knew she faced a summer as boring as all the others before.
For three days she had explored the town, and found what she found every summer, the same boring places, the same boring people, the same boring life. Had she really thought...? It wasn't fucking fair, and she wanted to scream it to the world. "It's not fucking fair..." The words escaped her mouth in a low tone then were repeated over and over in a louder voice until she was screaming above the sounds of the ocean. "IT'S NOT FUCKING FAIR...!"
"No, it's not, but that's how life is." The voice startled her and she slipped off the rock as she turned too suddenly to face the newcomer who had walked up on her unawares. At the same time, she felt a wave crash over her and soak her clothes.
"Son of a bitch..." She stood up and looked at the man who stood there. "Didn't anyone ever tell you about sneaking up on people?"
He grinned at her, making his ice blue eyes glimmer with amusement. "You were the one screaming at the top of your lungs about it not being fair. Not my fault you didn't notice me. Sorry sweetheart, life isn't fair, but you learn to deal with it. Names Jeremy, what's yours." He held out his hand.
"Leandrea and you don't need to tell me it's a stupid name. I know it is, I hate it."
"I wasn't going to say a word. So you are staying around here?"
She nodded. "See the big house about right past the service station, that's where we are. You aren't local are you?" She had her doubts, he was too suntanned and too well built to be any part of the people around here.
"No, just passing through, on my way south. Back to sunny California and warmer water...which reminds me, you must be freezing."
She nodded. "Yeah, I need to go home and change. Nice meeting you Jeremy, enjoy your stay."
He gave her a smile as he looked her up and down. "I think I will now." With that, he walked off in the direction of the row of the motels down the beach.
Leandrea went back to the house to find it alive with activity and after changing into dry clothes she settled down to discover the plans for today. Sure enough, it was as she expected, with a "as weather permits" clause on the list. She went shopping for supplies with her mom, feeling a little surprised as she passed the man from the beach as she wandered around the fruit and produce area. He gave her a smile and she saw again how blue his eyes were, and she noticed how long and slender his fingers where as he examined a melon that was not to big or too small, in truth, she saw it was just about the size of her breasts. He was almost caressing the damn thing as his eyes never left hers.
She felt her face blush and went off to find her mom and kid sister. Not that she was able to escape him long. He ended up in line right behind her and as she looked through a tabloid paper, she felt warm breath by her ear. "It's all lies you know, they publish it to tease a person."
The way he said tease was almost a caress, and she smiled. "Are you following me?"
"Hmm, if I was, would you be mad?" Would she? With a shake of her head, she heard his soft laugh. "Good, because I guess I am. At least in here..."