Chapter Thirty One
The beach was hot and sticky just as it always was at this time of year in Victoria; the sand was clean and blindingly white if you looked too long, the water glittered and never ceased to create perfect mirror images of the sky, clouds and sun while the air was still and the views reached far across the bay until the silhouette of the city could be seen, their hotel another tiny stick among the others. It had taken them almost an hour to get to the secluded place but Irina had continued to respond to everyone's complaints with promises of the perfect beach and now that they were there, no one was complaining.
Of course there were no palm trees, no little huts, but the atmosphere was serene and typical of what she had hoped for. Carefully, Irina lay out the patch work mat she'd somehow procured out on the sand, everyone's feet sinking in to their ankles wherever they walked. Looking about Jack tried to find something he could do without needing to speak or look at any of them. He was still overly upset at Irina and not entirely impressed at his daughter and her new 'boyfriend'. Vaughn and Sydney took only a few seconds to decide on a swim and ten minutes later Jack found himself still standing where he'd started, Irina sitting down on the mat, pulling her top over her head and placing her hand over her eyes as she soaked in the sun.
About to lie back and work on her tan, she noticed Jack's somewhat rigid posture and quickly changed her mind, knowing this was her chance to talk and she was not about to miss it. Looking out to the water she saw the two innocent agents playing, quite happily on a sand bar out alongside the rotting pier. Sighing she leaned on her elbows, watching him from behind her sunglasses, noticing his eyes and following their view out into the sky.
It was very rare for Jack to be staring into nothingness but it was most obvious now, judging by his glazed over eyes and his inability to feel her own eyes on him that Irina realized that something was indeed up. "Jack," she asked, taking in the faint jump as he moved his head around to look at her.
"What?"
Irina pushed herself up further on her elbows, trying her best not to seem too seductive in the bikini top while not prepared to put her top back on. "What are you looking at?" she asked, wondering if he would bother to lie.
He turned with his brow low and creased, his eyes darting past her to the sand dunes behind. A shrill scream from behind had him turning to find Sydney being thrown from Vaughn's shoulders, breathing a sigh of relief he had the feeling he had often with Irina, a feeling that he wanted to believe in, that he wanted to listen to but rarely did. This time though, he managed to find no faults or dangers in obliging his heart and went about sitting down. Not next to her for that was too provocative but near enough to nurture the conversation.
Turning to her, his feet, bare, buried beneath the sand and his hands on his knees as he drew them up to his chest he answer, voice serious but sincere, "I was wondering just what is going to happen when we all have to go back to LA."
She nodded, watching him as she pulled her glasses off, leaving them on her head, nestled in her hair. Despite the fact that she had not asked for his thoughts, she was thankful that he had chosen to give her them, but his answer still wasn't clear, "What do you mean? About Sydney and Vaughn?"
He shrugged, "I suppose." Pausing he picked up a handful of sand, letting the granules slide through his fingers and fly away, floating on the air a few meters before landing back in the sand. "But I mean everything." Irina shook her head to show she was still lost, smiling to relieve the seriousness she hadn't wanted in the first place. Jack turned his eyes back out to the sea, "It sounds stupid, but everything has changed since we got on that plane and when we go back we have to make like it never happened. I mean, it looks like this operation is going to go off without a hitch and we'll be home by Friday, but just..."
She nodded, knowing to some extent now what he was talking about. Not wanting to frighten him off but not prepared to waste time dancing around the issue, she tried to elaborate for him, "You're referring to us?" An unperceivable nod let her continue, "You think that we've changed?"
"Yeah," he said, continuing to avoid her gaze, his eyes instead focused on their daughter as Sydney swam around Vaughn, eliciting chuckles and giggles from both. "To be blatant, when we took off I wanted to see you dead, now, I'd probably rather die than see you killed." He let his eyes slide to hers, afraid he'd disclosed too much and that any second now she'd jump him, attacking with words of such force that he wouldn't live through it. Seeing her face openly sober and not the slightest trace of malice or deception he moved on, "We haven't actually done anything, or said much but the whole dynamic has been shattered and put together again...I'm not making sense am I?"
"No, I get it," she told him, removing the sun glasses again to fiddle with them in her fingers, subconsciously hoping he didn't notice her nervousness. "You've realized that once we get back, I'll be stuck in my cell and we'll never get a chance to talk again." He nodded, face steely in an attempt to erect a new defense of indifference. "What do you want to do?" she asked, taking the risk she'd promised herself she would never take and letting him decide what to do, opening him to the possibility of possibility.
Watching her, Jack knew what he wanted to say but couldn't find sufficient reason to say it and so he said nothing, watching he instead, letting his eyes wander her face but no further, memorizing the creases, the brightness in her eyes, the way her hair fell, the perfect beauty she'd always had. She nodded, startling him and smiled, one side of her mouth twitching up, a hand rising to grab the glasses and smooth her hair back. "I'll give you time," she said, "To think."
Standing she lost the tracksuit pants and walked, slow enough to look indifferent to where his eyes went but fast enough to know herself that she cared a great deal. Moving into the water, she waited until she was in up to her mid thighs before diving under; skimming over the sand, arms out in front as she aimed for the end of the pier, hoping her daughter would not mind the interruption.
Back on shore, Jack watched until she disappeared underneath the water, his body exhausted from the ten minutes of discussion, he fell back into the sand, feeling like a great weight had been lifted and replaced with a slightly smaller one. Now all that was left to do was think and watch for the duration of her swim and then, when she got back in, he would try, once again to explain the predicament that they were both in.
There's another chapter ready but you're not getting it unless you review, hehe, so please review, I love you guys who do.
The beach was hot and sticky just as it always was at this time of year in Victoria; the sand was clean and blindingly white if you looked too long, the water glittered and never ceased to create perfect mirror images of the sky, clouds and sun while the air was still and the views reached far across the bay until the silhouette of the city could be seen, their hotel another tiny stick among the others. It had taken them almost an hour to get to the secluded place but Irina had continued to respond to everyone's complaints with promises of the perfect beach and now that they were there, no one was complaining.
Of course there were no palm trees, no little huts, but the atmosphere was serene and typical of what she had hoped for. Carefully, Irina lay out the patch work mat she'd somehow procured out on the sand, everyone's feet sinking in to their ankles wherever they walked. Looking about Jack tried to find something he could do without needing to speak or look at any of them. He was still overly upset at Irina and not entirely impressed at his daughter and her new 'boyfriend'. Vaughn and Sydney took only a few seconds to decide on a swim and ten minutes later Jack found himself still standing where he'd started, Irina sitting down on the mat, pulling her top over her head and placing her hand over her eyes as she soaked in the sun.
About to lie back and work on her tan, she noticed Jack's somewhat rigid posture and quickly changed her mind, knowing this was her chance to talk and she was not about to miss it. Looking out to the water she saw the two innocent agents playing, quite happily on a sand bar out alongside the rotting pier. Sighing she leaned on her elbows, watching him from behind her sunglasses, noticing his eyes and following their view out into the sky.
It was very rare for Jack to be staring into nothingness but it was most obvious now, judging by his glazed over eyes and his inability to feel her own eyes on him that Irina realized that something was indeed up. "Jack," she asked, taking in the faint jump as he moved his head around to look at her.
"What?"
Irina pushed herself up further on her elbows, trying her best not to seem too seductive in the bikini top while not prepared to put her top back on. "What are you looking at?" she asked, wondering if he would bother to lie.
He turned with his brow low and creased, his eyes darting past her to the sand dunes behind. A shrill scream from behind had him turning to find Sydney being thrown from Vaughn's shoulders, breathing a sigh of relief he had the feeling he had often with Irina, a feeling that he wanted to believe in, that he wanted to listen to but rarely did. This time though, he managed to find no faults or dangers in obliging his heart and went about sitting down. Not next to her for that was too provocative but near enough to nurture the conversation.
Turning to her, his feet, bare, buried beneath the sand and his hands on his knees as he drew them up to his chest he answer, voice serious but sincere, "I was wondering just what is going to happen when we all have to go back to LA."
She nodded, watching him as she pulled her glasses off, leaving them on her head, nestled in her hair. Despite the fact that she had not asked for his thoughts, she was thankful that he had chosen to give her them, but his answer still wasn't clear, "What do you mean? About Sydney and Vaughn?"
He shrugged, "I suppose." Pausing he picked up a handful of sand, letting the granules slide through his fingers and fly away, floating on the air a few meters before landing back in the sand. "But I mean everything." Irina shook her head to show she was still lost, smiling to relieve the seriousness she hadn't wanted in the first place. Jack turned his eyes back out to the sea, "It sounds stupid, but everything has changed since we got on that plane and when we go back we have to make like it never happened. I mean, it looks like this operation is going to go off without a hitch and we'll be home by Friday, but just..."
She nodded, knowing to some extent now what he was talking about. Not wanting to frighten him off but not prepared to waste time dancing around the issue, she tried to elaborate for him, "You're referring to us?" An unperceivable nod let her continue, "You think that we've changed?"
"Yeah," he said, continuing to avoid her gaze, his eyes instead focused on their daughter as Sydney swam around Vaughn, eliciting chuckles and giggles from both. "To be blatant, when we took off I wanted to see you dead, now, I'd probably rather die than see you killed." He let his eyes slide to hers, afraid he'd disclosed too much and that any second now she'd jump him, attacking with words of such force that he wouldn't live through it. Seeing her face openly sober and not the slightest trace of malice or deception he moved on, "We haven't actually done anything, or said much but the whole dynamic has been shattered and put together again...I'm not making sense am I?"
"No, I get it," she told him, removing the sun glasses again to fiddle with them in her fingers, subconsciously hoping he didn't notice her nervousness. "You've realized that once we get back, I'll be stuck in my cell and we'll never get a chance to talk again." He nodded, face steely in an attempt to erect a new defense of indifference. "What do you want to do?" she asked, taking the risk she'd promised herself she would never take and letting him decide what to do, opening him to the possibility of possibility.
Watching her, Jack knew what he wanted to say but couldn't find sufficient reason to say it and so he said nothing, watching he instead, letting his eyes wander her face but no further, memorizing the creases, the brightness in her eyes, the way her hair fell, the perfect beauty she'd always had. She nodded, startling him and smiled, one side of her mouth twitching up, a hand rising to grab the glasses and smooth her hair back. "I'll give you time," she said, "To think."
Standing she lost the tracksuit pants and walked, slow enough to look indifferent to where his eyes went but fast enough to know herself that she cared a great deal. Moving into the water, she waited until she was in up to her mid thighs before diving under; skimming over the sand, arms out in front as she aimed for the end of the pier, hoping her daughter would not mind the interruption.
Back on shore, Jack watched until she disappeared underneath the water, his body exhausted from the ten minutes of discussion, he fell back into the sand, feeling like a great weight had been lifted and replaced with a slightly smaller one. Now all that was left to do was think and watch for the duration of her swim and then, when she got back in, he would try, once again to explain the predicament that they were both in.
There's another chapter ready but you're not getting it unless you review, hehe, so please review, I love you guys who do.