Fish And Money

[Mal and Evie's home. 12:16 pm]

Evie's POV

Later that morning, I told Mal what I did and she felt happy and relieved. Later that day, we brought in all our stuff that was stored in our yacht from Auradon and were now completely moved in. And for the next few days, Mal worked on getting our home to feel more like home while I was at work.

We skip ahead to my next day off from work. It's Saturday, and Mal and I have been taking it easy. I was in our bathroom, laying in the tub enjoying a nice, relaxing bubble bath. I was in there for a good twenty, twenty five minutes, until Mal came running in.

"Evie! Evie!"

I opened my eyes to see an excited Mal.

"Yes, Mal?"

"Guess what? I found a way to make us some more money." Mal said.

"Yeah? How's that?" I asked.

"Fishing."

"Fishing?"

"Yeah! There's a crap load of tuna fish passing Vancouver Island. I think they're migrating. Anyway, it started when we first arrived here, but since it's still summer, we can take advantage of it." Mal said.

"Mal, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying we need to get aboard our yacht and get to the waters near Vancouver Island and catch a tuna."

"Why?"

"So we can sell it! Fishing markets are paying top dollar for them. If we can catch one and sell it, we can make a lot of money. Money we can use for the house."

I sat up in the tub and pulled the drain stopper.

"I see. Earning money to make this house like it was in your dream is your next little mission, isn't it?" I asked.

"It is." Mal replied.

"Well, I find that really sweet." I said.

As I stood up, Mal grabbed a towel for me and helped me out of the tub, then wrapped the towel around me.

"Is that something you want to do today?" I asked.

"If that's alright. I mean, I guess I got a little too excited. We don't have to do it today." Mal said.

I smiled at Mal and gave her a kiss on the lips.

"I'm alright with it. Hey, I don't have anything else planned for today other than to spend my day with you." I said.

That brought a warm feeling to Mal.

"Thanks, E. You know, this is a good time to wear our bikinis again." she said.

I laughed.

"Yeah, it is. Let's do it."

"Alright."

I dried myself off while Mal grabbed our bikinis from the closet. We wore regular pants and shirts over them. After putting our jackets on, some makeup, and our shoes, we were ready. We had a quick snack in the kitchen before I grabbed the yacht keys and the car keys from a key holder that Mal mounted on the wall for us, and we walked to the garage. I tossed Mal the keys so she could drive. After locking up the house, we were on our way. However, as Mal was driving, I realized something.

"M?"

"Yes, E?"

"I don't think the yacht has any fishing gear aboard." I said.

"Oh crap. Then we'll need to get some. If you're okay with spending the money." Mal said.

"I am."

And I was. There are many things Mal and I have yet to try. This isn't going to be the first time we ever fished though. We, along with Carlos and Jay, fished some times back on the Isle. Except it was only with a stick, a string, a small hook that was made from a wire or a paper clip, whatever we could find, and lastly worms. And worms creep me out. Eww. But whenever we caught some fish, we fried them up and ate them. One of the few good meals we had living on the Isle.

"Evie?"

I was reminiscing about that before Mal snapped me from it.

"I'm sorry, Mal. You were saying something, weren't you?" I asked.

"Yes. Can you give me directions to a fishing store or a store that sells fishing stuff?"

"Of course."

I directed Mal to a nearby sports store that sells fishing gear along with other types of sports stuff. We walked to the fishing section and saw the massive amounts of fishing poles and bait to choose from.

"Okay..so..what should we get?" Mal asked.

At the end of a shelf, I noticed a small booklet attached to the shelf by a zip tie. It contained information about lots of different kinds of fish and what bait is needed to attract them.

"Let's look in here." I said.

Mal walked up behind me and put her arms around me with her head rested on my left shoulder as I flipped through the book to find info about tuna fish.

"Gosh, you look bangin'." Mal said.

"Mal! Focus." I said while secretly liking the compliment.

I continued to flip through the book until I saw info about tuna.

"Okay, here we go." I said.

Mal leaned in closer as we both read the info together. After several minutes of reading, we got what we needed to know and proceeded to buy what we needed. We talked to an employee for a little bit and got some more information. And we left the store with the perfect fishing pole, the right kind of bait, and some information especially tips on what to do when we do catch a fish.

Mal's POV

We arrived at our yacht forty minutes later with all that we needed. Evie picked us up some food along the way cause who knows how long we will be gone for?

After being in the waters near the islands, Evie stopped the boat and met me in the cabin. I took my jacket off before Evie took hers off. We then took off our shoes, pants and shirt and were left wearing only our bikinis.

"Oh, it feels so nice to be back on our boat again." Evie said as she stretched herself across the couch.

I felt a little turned on by Evie's sexy body. And without thinking twice, I laid on top of her with no warning to her.

"Oh, Evie. You're so hot." I said.

"Yeah? Is my body turning you on?" Evie asked.

"I think so." I moaned.

The kiss we then shared was magnificent. Then another kiss, followed by many more. I slid my hands under Evie's bikini top and felt the skin underneath. After one last kiss, I lifted Evie's top a little off her to expose her breasts.

"Oh, I could play with your body all day long." I said.

"You're going to do that or are we going to try and catch a fish?" Evie asked with a serious tone.

"Catch a fish, geez." I said, not realizing Evie was only playing around.

I got off Evie and stood up.

"I'm only messing with you, baby." she said.

"You were?" I asked.

"Of course! I love it when you feel me. But for now, let's focus on catching a fish that'll get us a lot of money, okay?"

"Okay, Evie!"

Evie grabbed my hand as I offered to pull her up. She readjusted the bikini top on her to its correct place and followed me out to the stern of the boat. After preparing the fishing rod with an attached hook and live bait, I cast the line out into the water.

"This is going to take awhile, isn't it?" I asked.

"You need to have patience, Mal. Remember when we fished on the Isle?" Evie asked.

"Yeah, I remember."

After a few minutes of waiting, on the stern guardrail by me, there was a fishing rod holder attached. I slid the pole into the holder and stood close by it on standby. Ready for a biting fish.

"Would you like to eat?" Evie asked.

I turned around and saw her holding a wrapped sandwich up to me.

"Sure." I said, gracefully taking it.

Evie sat on the edge of the stern, with her bare feet in the water. She looked at me and patted next to her, inviting me to sit next to her. I smiled and happily sat next to her with my feet in the water as well. We ate our sandwiches together, while looking out into the watery view. After eating, Evie put her arms around me, pulling me into a nice kiss.

"I love you." I said.

"I love you too." Evie said.

We continued to wait and wait. It sucks when you have to wait for a long time. One fish. That's all I'm asking for. Just one fish for a little extra money. Am I asking too much? After another minute of waiting, which felt like forever, I groaned loudly. Wanting to do something, but there's really nothing to do except to stay in the area and keep hoping to get a bite. But as I readjusted myself on the floor, the reel was heard spinning.

"Oh shit!" I exclaimed.

I quickly got up and ran to the pole, grabbing a hold of the fishing pole from it's holder.

"You got a fish!" Evie said as she ran up to me.

"Yes! And by the tension I'm feeling on this thing, I think it's a big fish." I said.

"Tuna?"

"Possibly."

I began doing what Evie and I read. I angled the rod and tipped it a bit to balance out the pressure between the fish and the rod. I then let the fish swim out a bit before I began reeling it in.

"Oh yeah, it's a big fish!" I said.

"You're doing great, baby. Keep reeling. Nice and steady." Evie said.

She rubbed my shoulders a bit to keep me calm. I reeled the fish in everytime it stopped swimming outward. This fish was tough and persistent though. It kept swimming outward, but I'm persistent too. After a few minutes of struggle and fighting, I soon was able to set eyes upon it ahead.

"It is a tuna!" Evie said.

"Yes!" I exclaimed.

My hands were really hurting now. But I must not give up.

"This fish...will be mine. I'm not giving up. I'm not giving up." I said.

"He's getting closer. He's almost ours." Evie said.

"Evie, get the rope. He's ours." I said.

Evie nodded and grabbed the rope that was nearby.

"I got him! He's coming!" I said.

"I'm ready, baby." Evie said.

Evie got herself in position as she watched me reel the tuna fish in closer and closer.

"Almost there." I said.

"Just a little closer, Mal."

After a minute, I was able to get the tuna right up to the boat.

"Now, Evie!" I said.

Evie nodded and was quickly able to wrap the rope around the tuna's tail and secure it. As Evie was doing that, I grabbed the harpoon stick and stabbed the fish.

"Big fish, Evie! Big fish!" I yelled.

Evie squealed in excitement. We both jumped up and down with loads of excitement.

"Nice job, Mal." Evie said.

"Thanks. Now let's get him aboard." I said.

Easier said than done. We stood at the edge of the stern and grabbed the fish's tail, planning to pull it in. But damn, this guy was heavy.

"Come on, Evie! Pull!" I said.

"I'm trying!" Evie said.

But just as we were starting to pull the fish in, a splash of water was heard nearby. A group of three large sharks were swimming around us. I looked past the tuna and saw blood in the water around it.

"Shit. Nope! Nope! Too late, sharks! This is my catch!" I said.

Evie and I pulled hard to bring the fish in, but the sharks were bringing in feelings of stress. But I'm not about to give in. This fish is mine as I said before.

"Come on, Evie. I know this fish is heavy, but we must get it aboard. I know we can. Together, we can do anything." I said.

"I agree with you completely, Mal. Let's go." Evie said.

We smiled and nodded at each other before tightening our grip on the fish's tail. We then gave everything we had in pulling it in. We grunted loudly as the fish was slowly, then fastly pulled aboard the boat. After the fish was in, Evie and I fell to the floor and breathed heavily in exhaustion.

"Oh my god." Evie said.

"I feel my heart racing." I said.

"Me too."

I looked past the fish and saw the sharks swimming away.

"Ha! Too slow, motherfuckers!" I yelled at the sharks.

"Mal, that's not nice." Evie said while lightly hitting me in the arm.

"What? It's not like they can understand me."

"True. Anyway, you were great, Mal. Maybe fishing should be a hobby for you."

"We'll see. But first, let's take this guy in and see how much he's worth." I said.

"Of course. But can we rest for a minute?" Evie asked.

"Of course. As long as you would like." I said.

I moved myself closer to Evie on the floor and held her close to me.

"Hi, sweetness." I whispered.

"Hi, baby." Evie whispered back.

"You look beautiful."

"So do you."

I cupped her cheeks in my hands and began to kiss her. I wanted another kissing session, but it didn't last long, as Evie backed out during the middle of a kiss.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Evie didn't respond except she continued to look in the direction behind me. I turned myself around and saw the dead fish looking right at us.

"Oh." I said.

I instantly got what was bothering Evie. Yeah, I guess I wouldn't want to make love in front of a dead fish either. Big turn off.

"We'll continue this later." I said.

Evie smiled and nodded.

"But would you like to take a picture?" I asked.

"Of the fish?" Evie asked.

"That and us, and us with the fish." I replied.

"Sure." Evie said with a smile.

Evie ran to the cabin and returned back with her phone. First she took a picture of the fish, and then a selfie of us with the water as the background, and lastly a selfie of us with the fish.

"The pictures look great." I said as I was reviewing them.

"They are. Later I'll send them to our family." Evie said.

"They'll love it. But another thing you should do is get some of these photos of us and our family printed out and then framed. So we can hang them on the wall of our home." I said.

"I know. And I'm going to do that. I plan on doing that real soon." Evie said.

"Nice. Well, I was able to locate a fishing market earlier, so I know exactly where to take this guy. Are you ready to see how much we can get for it?" I asked.

"I am." Evie happily replied.

We went back down to the cabin to put our clothes back on, then we went to the bridge so Evie can take us to the fishing market I located. Once we were near the shore, it wasn't too far away.

As we stopped our yacht at a pier at the fishing market, a man approached us.

"Hello. How can I help you ladies?" he asked.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Dave. I'm the manager here." the man repled.

"Okay, Dave. We got a tuna for you." I said as I pointed out the tuna to him.

"Looks like a nice one. You two caught that yourselves?" Dave asked.

"We did." I replied.

"Impressive. Rarely do I see women catch tuna around here themselves. They usually have a guy or two with them."

"Well, it's just me and her. It wasn't easy, but we did it. I'm Mal, and she's Evie."

"Nice to meet you. Well, like I said, this looks like a nice one."

Dave pulled out a tape measure from his pocket.

"Good length. Fifty four inches. Let's weigh it and see what we got." Dave said.

"Sounds good." I said.

Dave grabbed a nearby rope and wrapped it around the tuna's tail. He then walked up to an upper pier nearby that was close to an open large warehouse building. The other end of the rope was attached to a small crane that lifted the fish out of our boat.

"Come on up here and I'll tell you the weight of it in a moment." Dave said.

Evie and I met Dave by the warehouse the same way he went. But as soon as we saw the fish, Evie quickly looked away and covered her eyes with her hands. Dave was cutting the fish's head off with a saw. Then he cut the tail off.

"Okay, let's see how much he weighs." Dave said as he wrapped another rope around the body of the fish.

"It's okay, Evie. You can look now." I whispered to her.

Evie uncovered her eyes and saw the body of the fish lifted up by a crane with a small scale attached to it. But Evie saw the head and the tail laying on the floor first.

"That's really not any better." she whispered.

"Nice. A hundred and thirty six pounds. That's a nice little tuna you got." Dave said.

"Little? That thing is a monster." Evie said.

"Yes. But this is a young bluefin tuna. Four and a half feet long. Adults grow up to twelve feet. Maybe more and weighing fifteen hundred pounds. You girls were lucky to catch this one." the fishing manager said.

"True that. Imagine if we caught a full grown tuna, we would never get it in the boat. In fact, I don't think I would be able to even reel it in." I said.

Dave lowered the body of the fish back down and cut a section out and we followed him to a table away from the rest of the fish.

"So what are you doing now?" Evie asked.

"Checking the quality of the fish. Fish that have a nice color, lots of fat and oil will sell nicely. And your fish has good fat and color and is really oily. This is a really nice fish." he replied.

"Yeah? So, how much for it?" I asked.

Dave studied the fish a bit more, then smiled at us.

"You ladies have brought a truly nice fish. It's one of the smallest we've received, but it is a nice one. So I'll give you...fifteen dollars a pound for it." he said.

He grabbed a calculator nearby and did some math.

"Hundred thirty six times fifteen is...two thousand forty dollars."

Ka-ching.

"Awesome!" I said.

"Thank you so much." Evie said.

"You're welcome. I look forward to doing business with you both again sometime." Dave said.

"We don't know if we'll fish for big ones again, but you never know." Evie smiled.

We were soon handed a check and began to walk back to our yacht. But as we were close to the steps leading down to the lower pier, I saw our tuna's head, which instantly gave me a cheeky idea.

"M, what are you doing?" Evie asked as she saw me run for it.

I grabbed the fish's head and ran up to Evie with it. Evie let out a short scream as I put it up to her.

"Oh, Evie. I'm so sad. Where's my body going?" I said, moving the head, pretending the fish's head was talking instead.

"Mal, what the hell are you doing? You can't be playing with that." Evie said, while waving her hands away at me and looking quite disgusted.

"Well, yeah, I know. But just thought up this thing and well…"

I couldn't think of anything else except move the fish's head around again at Evie while making little babbling noises. I thought this was funny, but I could see Evie did not, and was still quite disgusted by it.

"Alright, fine. Let's just go." I said.

I dropped the fish's head and we boarded our yacht and took off. Since I did what I did, Evie told me to wash my hands really well. I asked if she was disappointed. She said no and to just really wash my hands and we'll be good.

After I finished cleaning myself up, I joined Evie back at the bridge.

"Wasn't that fun though?" I asked Evie.

"It was, Mal. It truly was. So, what do you plan on using this money for?" Evie asked.

"I was thinking it was time we get our own car." I said.

Evie put her arms around me and pulled me into a nice kiss.

"I like the way you think, baby."

I smiled and kissed her once more. We docked the yacht and locked it up before heading back to the car. It was a nice ride on the way home. Evie is a really good driver, like myself. But as we stopped at a traffic light, I heard Evie groan to herself.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Gas." she replied.

"Oh, it must be that sandwich you ate earlier." I said.

"Not my belly, the car! I need to fill it up."

"Ohh." I said.

Evie quietly laughed to herself as we were on our way again. But along our way, I noticed a large electronic billboard sign that got my attention. It said that a lottery drawing for two million dollars was happening tonight.

"Hey, E." I said.

"Yeah, M?"

"Let's get a lottery ticket."

"A lottery ticket?"

"Yeah! I just saw a sign that said there will be a drawing for two million dollars tonight." I said.

Evie sighed.

"You know the odds of winning are pretty low. One person against so many others." she said.

"I know. But it'll be worth a try. You know that saying "you can't win if you don't play". So why not?"

Evie smiled.

"Okay. I guess it's worth a shot."

"Yay!"

I leaned over to her and gave her a big kiss on the cheek.

"I love you." I said.

"I love you too."

After arriving at the gas station, Evie paid for the gas at the pump using her debit card, then gave me her card for me to use to buy a ticket. When I walked in the building, I noticed there were tickets and scratch cards. Interested in them, I bought a few scratch cards and a two million dollar lottery ticket. Afterwards, I returned back to Evie, who was waiting for me.

On the way back home, I was anxious to know if any of the cards are winners for major cash as well as the ticket. I've noticed something new about myself and I'm sure Evie has too. I have a little obsession with money, but I do appreciate the value of it and I do plan on putting it to good use. Which I'm also sure Evie sees that as well.

We soon got back home and the first thing we did was take all our clothes off and put on our nightdresses. After that, I got on Evie's computer to see what time tonight the drawing was. We got internet a few days ago, but no tv yet. I went on the website listed on the ticket and soon saw that the drawing was scheduled to happen in a little over an hour. I closed the computer and grabbed the scratch cards, but decided to wait until after the lottery drawing to see if any of them are winners.

Evie sent the pictures we took on the boat to Carlos and the others. And engaged in a long group text. It's always nice talking to them. An hour later, Evie was washing some dishes and cleaning up the kitchen, while I was at the dining table reading a book. I offered to help Evie but she said she was good. I then noticed it was nearly time for the lottery drawing. I closed my book and got up.

"Okay, Evie. I'm going to get online and see what the winning numbers are and see if these scratch tickets are winners as well." I said.

"Alright, you go for it." Evie said.

I walked up to her and gave her a kiss, then I went to the living room and sat on the couch. I smiled as I heard Evie humming to herself as she was drying some dishes. Using a coin, I scratched all the small tickets and discovered none of them are winners.

"Damn it." I said.

Well, that's how it is. I got back on Evie's computer to the lottery website and saw the drawing had already happened. I clicked on the button that said, "reveal winning numbers" and saw the six numbers. I held my ticket up to the screen and got quite a surprise. The numbers were starting to match up. One after another.

"You gotta be kidding me." I said.

When I saw that all the numbers were matched up, I sat back on the couch in disbelief.

"Did we win?" Evie asked as she walked in.

"Um...no. No. We're not winners. No." I said.

"Aw. That's okay. You were right though. It was worth a try." Evie said.

She then returned back to the kitchen to finish cleaning up. Meanwhile I grabbed my phone, and the lottery ticket, and hurried to the bathroom by the foyer and closed the door. I got on the website to confirm the numbers. When I saw them, I kept looking back and forth at the screen and the ticket to verify the numbers matched. And they did.

All six numbers matched. I'm holding the winning ticket. The ticket that was picked randomly out of god only knows how many others. To clarify, I rubbed the ticket around the numbers to make sure there wasn't anything around them like stains. But there was nothing. I didn't misread any of the numbers either. We just won two million dollars.

"Holy shit!" I exclaimed.

Evie and I are freaking rich.