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It slips into your thoughts. It infiltrates your soul. It takes you by surprise, then seizes full control.
The next morning Charles awoke fresh, ready to start their vacation. He was glad that fishing was on the top of their to do list as he very much enjoyed the sport. He wore another light blue button up shirt with light gray trousers. He tucked his trousers in his fishing boots. They hired a boat the previous evening for 7:00 that morning. Charles walked out of his room at 6:45 and walked over to Beryl and Bill's room. He knocked on their door and waited. He knocked again and finally Bill opened it.
He was still in his robe and pajamas. His face was almost white and he looked very fragile.
"I'm sorry Charles, but Beryl and I will not be going fishing with you this morning."
Charles immediately saw the symptoms of food poisoning. "Have you called a doctor?"
Bill shook his head. "I am not sure I would care to be seen by a doctor right now. We will be right as rain in a few hours, I'm sure."
Charles saw there was nothing to be done. "Is there anything I can get for you? Some breakfast? Maybe an egg and…"
Bill's cheeks puffed. "Oh Charles stop right there." He turned back into their room and shut the door behind him.
Charles furrowed his brow at the situation. Just him and Elsie. Well, he was going fishing one way or another.
He walked over to her door and knocked.
"Just a minute." She called from inside.
She came out a moment later in gray cargo capris and a blue and white striped shirt. She wore her sun hat on her head. "Oh, it's you. Good morning. Is there anything else I should bring?"
"No, I think you are all set. But there is one change of plans." She looked at him, intrigued. "Beryl and Bill both have food poisoning and are stuck in their room."
"What? Oh my god, I will go see if they are alright." She began to bolt for their room door.
"Elsie, I was already in there and it was not a pretty sight. Bill said they are fine and told us to have a good time."
Elsie turned to him, unsure of how the rest of the afternoon was to go.
"We will spend the morning and early afternoon out fishing and then check up on them. Maybe they will feel alright for dinner or a walk later on."
Elsie rolled her eyes and sighed. The gods must have it in for her. She followed him to the front desk to get their fishing things. They each carried a pole and tackle box down to the motor boats. Elsie carried a packed lunch the resort provided for them.
Charles turned to Elsie as they walked. "I'm surprised you still came out with me. I thought only my presence all day would be too much of a bore for you."
She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "I may surprise you Charles. Besides, there is no cell service and all the television stations are in Spanish."
He chuckled at her remark and she tried to hold back a smile.
Their boat was a decent size with a strong motor. Charles helped her in the boat, even though she gave him a certain look. He steered the boat out of the harbor and into the blue sea. It went much faster than she was expecting. She sat tightly in he seat and held onto her hat.
Charles settled on a nice calm spot with the shore only just still in their view. There were no other boats in sight.
"Have you ever baited a hook before, Elsie?" Charles walked to the back of the boat where she sat.
"No I have not, Charles. But I am sure I will do better with worms than I will do with fish."
Charles chuckled. "That is true." He cocked his head towards her. "How about a little bet on the side. Who can catch the biggest fish and the loser has to…" He thought.
A cheshire cat grin came over her face. "Has to skinny dip in the ocean tonight."
His eyebrows popped off his forehead before they lowered into a stealthy gaze. "You're on woman."
Charles showed her how to bait the hook and she followed his directions, only making a minimal amount of disgusted faces. They cast their lines into the water and waited. The boat had pockets built in for their rods, so they could relax in their chairs and wait for a fish to bite.
Elsie removed her hat and tilted her face back, soaking up the sun. Charles settled back in his chair and looked over at Elsie.
"I wonder what Joe and Alice are doing right now?"
Elsie kept her face towards the sun. "Knowing Alice, she hasn't left Jimmy's room all day and Joe is walking the streets of Berlin. Neither prospect near as exciting as what we are doing right now."
"Touché, but when was the last time you were surrounded by this view?"
Elsie looked around their little boat. There was only sea on all sides of them. If one squinted, they could see the shore in the distance, but it was mostly all sea. "Your right, Charles. I will be content."
"Do you enjoy fishing, Elsie? Really. Please tell me the truth."
She tilted her head back to center and looked at him. "I do. I enjoy the back and forth movements of the boat, the sun beating down on us, and, as you mentioned, where else can you find this view? I don't even mind waiting hours for a fish or even care if we catch any."
He smiled, pleased with her answer. "I feel the same way. It's the experience, not the success or failure." He breathed in the sea air and leaned back in his chair.
They sat for hours enjoying pleasant conversations, talking about their book interests, their favorite breakfast foods, what they loathed about football, and how they took their tea.
"I have another proposition for you," Elsie said.
Charles listened, anxious to hear what would come out of her mouth now.
"No matter who wins the bet, we will celebrate our day with red wine tonight."
Charles smiled at her. "Ah, decided to come over to my side have you now?"
Elsie scrunched her nose up at him. "I will only say this once so listen carefully. I was wrong. I made my mind up too soon and I promise to be more open minded in the future." She wiped her hands on each other. "There, done."
"That was very big of you, Els." That last shortening of her name slipped out unintentionally. Charles stared at her waiting to bare her wrath. Instead, she held her breath for a second and gave him a brief tug of her lips to show she was not bothered by it.
He was relieved and turned to their picnic basket. It was high noon and both were hungry.
He handed Elsie a sandwich. "Turkey is your favorite, right?"
She nodded her head. "I'm surprised you knew that."
They had known each other for so long, yet they knew nothing about each other, yet they knew everything about each other.
He dug into his own ham sandwich. "Oh, you'd be surprised at the number of things I pick up on."
The statement was left in the air as they ate their lunch. They decided to wait a couple more hours before they called it a day. During those hours, Elsie sat off the edge of the boat with her feet in the water and Charles took a nap. Every once in a while she would hear him let out a snore and that made her giggle.
Elsie kicked her legs in the water and saw how far the splash went. On her third kick, she heard her rod catch.
"Charles, I think I caught something!" She jumped back in the boat and grabbed the rod. Whatever was on the end almost pulled her right out of the boat.
"What do I do?" She yelled.
"First of all, calm down! Play him a little." Charles held the other side of the rod and helped her keep control. "Oh Elsie! I think you got a big one!" Charles moved his hands up the rod so she had room to pull the line in.
"Oh Charles, I've never caught anything in my life!" The excitement of pulling in the prize was a thrill for Elsie. Every muscle in her body was tense and working to pull in that fish.
"He's got some strength to him. Let him tire himself out a bit and then he will be easier to pull in."
Following Charles's instructions, Elsie felt the fish's strength dwindle. She reeled him in and she finally saw him flapping on top of the water.
"Elsie! He's a beaut!" Charles kept a firm hand on the rod.
"Guess what we're having with our wine tonight, Charles?" she exclaimed through her laughter.
They finally brought him into the boat. He wiggled around on the deck which made Elsie shriek and jump up on the chair behind Charles. She held his shoulders for support.
"Charles do something! Get him in the cooler!" Charles picked him up by the mouth and brought it towards Elsie.
"Charles Carson, don't you dare! Get that thing away from me!"
He laughed hysterically as he placed him in the fish cooler. The fish was about as long as Elsie's forearm.
Elsie jumped down and stood above the fish. She was still exhilarated from the pursuit.
"We did it Charles!" She raised both arms above her head and turned to him. It was the easiest thing in the world to wrap her arms around his neck and crash her lips into his. She tilted her head and felt his top lip between her own. She almost swore she felt him push his lips back onto hers.
She pulled back a second later upon realizing what she just did, letting her arms fall back to her side. She stared blankly at him and he stared blankly back. Neither could say or describe what had happened or why it had happened. It just happened.
"We should get back to shore," Charles said, never breaking eye contact.
"Yes we should." She turned her gaze towards the beach. "Maybe Beryl and Bill need something from us. I should check on them."
He raised the anchor and steered the ship back to safe grounds.