Convinced she should stop thinking about the whole situation she jumped in the shower and washed the day away. Then she rang Jake, knowing he would be finished work for the day. The call went straight to his message bank so she asked him to call her back. It took him two days to return her call. Mila was not impressed at the lack of interest he showed in calling her or returning any of her messages. But on the flip side, this was all good news for Marley!
Dismissing Doubt
The flyer from the Out Rigging team lay on the kitchen bench. Kylie picked it up, again. It had been a week since her encounter with Shooters in Woolies and she knew the words printed on the flyer by heart. “What do I have to lose?” she asked herself as she took the clean cutlery from the drainer and put it away in the top drawer. “Absolutely nothing – that’s what! I will have a go at a practice session,” she declared to the empty room.
She spent the next two hours going through every item of clothing she owned trying to choose the best ‘first impressions count meeting new people in a sporting environment’ outfit. Her final selection started with current season Billabong flowered shorts to cover any rampant blancmange, in a colour and fabric tough enough to withstand transparency if it got wet. The next item was an exercise top that although sporty had no nipple camouflage. So, in the off chance she did get wet, she stuck some nipple covers on underneath to avoid being embarrassed by any sudden change of temperature that lefty and righty might react to. This was topped off with a dark-coloured singlet that would also resist transparency in water. On her feet she chose to wear reefs, because reefs are a practical outrigging accessory. All up, Kylie thought she oozed the look of confident and comfortable in a beachside situation. This couldn’t have been further from the truth as she had always hated being wet, being seen in her swimmers, and she had an aversion to the beach and the sand and the salty water... But she hated being friendless even more so she channelled her inner voice and declared, “Suck it up Princess!”
The Out Riggers’ meeting place was less than five hundred metres walk down The Strand, in front of a restaurant called The Watermark, Kylie nervously made her way towards the outskirts of the group gathered there, who were chatting amongst themselves. One of the girls began a head count to see how many canoes they would take out, based on six people per canoe. Kylie re-introduced herself to Shooters, who acknowledged her and then turned to the lady who had just finished counting. “How many did you get Bundy?”
Bundy replied, “Twenty Shooters.”
“Same here mate.”
Shooters walked towards Bundy and they met half way and had a quick chat to work out if they could accommodate the newbies. There were fingers pointing to palms of hands, some shaking of heads and then they both screwed their faces up painfully and walked towards Kylie and another girl standing to her left. Facing the two newcomers, the lady who Shooters had called Bundy said, “Hi Ladies, what are your names.”
“I’m Kylie.”
“I’m Jess.”
“Kylie, Jess love, I am so sorry to do this to you both, we would love to take you out but there isn’t enough seats to fill another canoe and we have a regatta coming up this weekend so we need to train with full crews this week. Would you mind if I asked you to come back next week and I guarantee you will get a seat for a trial run then?”
“Sure, Bundy is it?” Kylie asked.
“Yes love.”
“Do you have a thirst for a certain amber spirit mate?”
“Yessssssss, you could say that.”
“And I thought you were Shooters as in guns but I think it might be drinks? Am I right or am I right?”
Shooters eyes widened as she rubbed her hands together and gave a mischievous, “Correct!”
Bundy answered for her, “You have NO idea! Shooters can drink any man, woman or grog monster under the table when it comes to shooters. She’s famous for it. When you come away with us be sure to say NO to a shout from her. It always ends in a bad way for the newbie.”
“Roger that,” Kylie acknowledged her.
“Ha! Roger that. Sorry again ladies, come back next week for sure okay!” said Bundy.
“Yep,” said Kylie.
“Okay,” said Jess.
Shooters then said, “Hey, sorry ladies, last week we had spare spots but this week it’s a little tight. Promise me you will both come back next week and we’ll have a seat for you both!”
“Righto,” replied Kylie, wishing she had come down last week and saved herself the agony of another week’s wait. But she had to be strong minded and keep thinking positively.
“Okay” Jess nodded.
The two newbies stood and silently watched the others walk over and unload the canoes and carry them into the water, all the while talking and laughing with each other.
Kylie looked at Jess and said, “Bummer. Now what?”
Jess said, “Back home I guess. See ya.”
“Bye,” said Kylie.
Kylie hesitated as she saw Jess walking off. She was inches away from reaching out to someone who like Mila, may not want anything to do with her socially. Taking a deep breath, she told her inner voice, “Doubt, Fuck off!” Then she scurried along the sand to catch up with Jess.
“Bugger going straight home. I have enough time alone in my flat, want to go and have a coffee with me?” Kylie asked.
Jess’s face broke into a smile. “Yeah that’d be great.”
“Cool. There’s a cafe up the road on the headland that looks nice but I haven’t been there before.”
“I think I know the one. Yeah, that sounds good.”
“We’ll just walk from here ay?” Kylie suggested.
“Sure.”
“I’m Kylie,” she said turning and offering her right hand to greet Jess.
“Jess,” she replied shaking it.
Jess was a lot heavier build than Kylie, and she carried a male handkerchief in her left hand and was continually dabbing her face with it as she seemed to be over sweating, even when she stood still despite it not being a hot or humid day. She had long mousey brown hair to the centre of her back and was just a bit shorter than Kylie. She wore glasses and her eyes were a lovely green colour, a mixture of olives and trees. Kylie wasn’t fit by any means but she didn’t have any trouble walking and talking whereas Jess was puffing away beside her after only walking twenty metres on the sand.
“Tell ya what, walking in sand sucks!” Kylie said stopping at the concrete path to shake her reefs clean of grit.
“Yep,” Jess said stopping and kicking off her thongs.
“So baby? What brings you to Outrigging? Me thinks it’s not the love of sand!”
“Well this might come as a shock but I thought I should take up some regular exercise and lose some weight,” Jess said sarcastically.
“Hey me too!” Kylie smiled.
“You look great, what do you hope to lose?” Jess said.
“My big arse, my hatred of the ocean and my fear of Lycra” Kylie said.
“Ha!