A Day at the Beach

From the personal diary of Dianne Somersby

Date Unspecified

The girls and I decided it was time to take another trip to the beach. It had been weeks since we had last found time to spend a day together, what with my work at the Coffee Coffin and the girl’s hunting down bounties.

So today was the day. There was no way the three of us; Millie, Twenty and I, could fit on that scooter of theirs. I put the hard word on Danny and he agreed to let us take his electric sedan. This was only on the strictest assurances that Twenty would do the driving, as he did not trust Millie and I had never learned to drive.

I had been waiting out the front of my coffee shop for nearly an hour past the meeting time when Twenty drove up in Danny’s car. It was a beat up old four-seater, made back in the 2030’s I think. I was amazed it still ran but he assured us it was reliable, if not very stylish. The bonded plastic body was chipped and repaired in a number of places and one of the doors was a totally different colour.

Millie opened her door and jumped out to help me load the beach umbrella, blanket and cooler of drinks and food I had prepared. She was going to ask about coffee when I produced two flasks and she clapped her hands with delight.

“I love you so much” she said and hugged me tight. I hugged her with my arms only, holding the hot flasks away from her in case she knocked them. Millie can be very enthusiastic at times.

“Love you too” I declared and managed to get her and myself into the car. Once I was settled in the back, Twenty set off down the road. The sun was already up and the air was humid, but the coastal forecast said it would be warm with a cool breeze by early afternoon. A perfect day to hit the beach.

The drive to the coast from the Spit took about an hour. There was a lot of traffic clogging the expressway, so Millie alternated shouting at the other drivers and demanding cold drinks from me. There was no working air conditioning and the heat coming up from the road surface was already intense. Twenty just gritted her teeth and silently negotiated her way through.

Once we cleared the outskirts of the Spit we got up to speed. This old sedan had a busted auto-drive so Twenty had to keep her eyes on the road all the way. Millie was much happier and wanted me to sing along with her to some awful Korean boy-band she found on the net. She was playing the music as loud as her phone could, with the windows wound down, oblivious to the looks from other drivers we passed.

We finally made it to the seaside around mid-morning. Twenty and I were a bit frazzled from the journey, but Millie was bouncing with energy. I knew I should have limited how much soda she had drunk.

While Millie ran off to the water’s edge, I helped Twenty unload all our stuff. It amazed me as always how strong she was, lifting the cooler easily under one arm and her and Millie’s bags in the other. I took the umbrella, the coffee flasks and my bag, following Twenty’s broad back down to the sandy beach.

I had to admire her physique as I walked behind her along the fenced path to the beach. She was wearing a pair of black shorts, quite high cut, and a simple t-shirt over a black bikini top. Her favourite Demons cap was on her head, plus a pair of sunglasses. With her long black hair pulled back in a pony tail, she looked like a beach volleyball goddess. I have to admit I was jealous of her good looks and easy confidence.

She had changed so much in the time since Millie first introduced her. I still struggled to match who she was now with the Jills in the Guard we saw around the Spit. Twenty had gone from being a shy and awkward giantess to a beautiful woman.

I smiled at how nervous Millie had been when she first told me Twenty was her roommate. Like she was really worried how I would take the news and it did make me wonder about the nature of our friendship. My reverie was broken when I bumped to a stop against Twenty.

“How about here?” asked Twenty, pointing to a patch of grass struggling against the salt and sand to survive. It was about twenty meters to the water, where I could see Millie gleefully chasing seagulls. She was such a kid at times.

“Looks great” I agreed and we dumped all our stuff. In short order we had the blanket down and the umbrella up, Twenty driving in the spike to hold it without effort. There were a few other people on the beach with us, enjoying the nice weather.

I sat down next to Twenty as she took off her shirt, balled it up and used it as a pillow for her head. She lay on her back, took off the sunglasses, pulled the cap low over her eyes and settled down to relax.

“You are in the sun there” I told her “Do you want some sunblock?”

“I am genetically engineered to be resistant to sunburn and related cancers” she informed me. She lifted the cap from her face. “But it would be nice if you rubbed some on anyway” she added and winked at me.

I was a bit nonplussed at this and stared for a moment at her.

“I don’t bite” she said and put the cap back over her face. “Millie is the biter”

So I squirted some of the cream onto my hand and gently applied it to her legs, stomach and arms. It was pleasant to touch her smooth skin, so much warmer than a regular person. I hesitated when it came to her chest and the gentle swell of her breasts above the bikini top.

She chuckled when I rubbed in the last of the cream.

“I was wondering if you would be game to do my boobs” she said with a smile in her voice.

“Yeah, well just don’t tell Millie” I told her. “She gets crazy jealous about anyone touching you”

“You know she is the same about you, Di” Twenty murmured under her cap.

“We have been best friends for years. We look out for each other” I replied.

Twenty was about to say more when Cyclone Millie arrived in a spray of sand and dropped herself onto the blanket. She was wet from the waist down and had sand stuck to her legs.

“Who’s coming for a swim?” she asked breathlessly. I nodded assent and Twenty just waved us off. She still needed to unwind from the drive here I think.

Millie dragged off her shirt, revealing a green bikini top. She left her shorts on and stood up, ready to head back to the water. I grabbed her arm and made her sit down again. As she complained I put sunblock on her back, arms and legs.

“You can do your own front” I told her and she reluctantly took the tube. She dabbed a little on her stomach, two fast dabs to her breasts and stood up once more. I took that as a sign that this was the best I could hope for as Millie ran off into the sun once again.

I stood and removed my wrap around skirt and shirt. Underneath I had a blue one piece swim suit on. There was no way I was running around with just a bikini top to hold in my assets. As I started to apply my own sunblock, Twenty asked if I needed a hand. She had taken her cap off as was watching me as I got ready.

For some reason I felt shy in front of her, then I realised this was the most revealing clothing she had seen me wearing. Twenty must have read my mind.

“It’s just a swimsuit Di” she laughed and stood up next to me. She took the cream from my hand and started to gently apply it to my back, legs and arms, mimicking what I had just done with Millie.

Then she came to stand in front of me, holding the sunblock and looking at my chest. Now I am not a well endowed woman, but there was still a fair bit of skin not covered by my one-piece. Our eyes met and Twenty was daring me to say something.

“OK, fine, go ahead” I relented and tilted my head up. Twenty reached forwards and applied the cream to my face, neck and then softly across my upper chest. I won’t deny she had firm hands and it gave me a strange thrill as she worked in the sunblock. I was disappointed in a way when she declared me good to go.

I ran towards the sea as fast as I could and dived into the shallow surf. I was blushing bright red and needed to cool off. When I surfaced I swam out for about thirty meters, crashing through the low waves as they broke over me. I stopped once I was past the breakers and just bobbed in the water, my arms moving in lazy circles to keep me afloat.

The truth is, I have never had a partner in my life. I had a few offers, but none of them ever seemed right for me. Those encounters had been a few dates without any spark and I got out of them as quick as I could. My mum always worried about me and whether I would find “the one” as she called them. Now that she was back in the RUK and halfway across the world, she was even more concerned.

Millie was still splashing about in the shallows with childish glee. I knew she could swim, but she had learned in public pools, where the water was always calm. Even the gentle surf here was more than she was comfortable with. As I watched her, I realised a truth I had not let myself understand before now.

I had met her four years ago, when she was fourteen and I was nineteen. She was someone I had clicked with right away. Since I was so much older in relative terms, I had always treated her like my little sister. To Millie I was her big sister too.

But somewhere in that time, I started to feel something different towards her. She was always my best friend and I had taken that for granted. It was only when Twenty came along and made Millie understand her own feelings that I began to realise what I had missed out on.

I loved Millie. Not as a little sister, nor as a friend. I loved her as someone I wanted to share all of my life with. Now it was too late. She was devoted to Twenty and I would never try to break up that love. I cared for both of them far too much.

Salty tears had formed in my eyes, mingling with the sea water. So much for self pity I thought. I had my chance and did not take it. So I splashed my face with more sea water and swam slowly back to shore. Millie waved to me as I approached and I headed to her.

I stood once the water was shallow enough and waded to her in the surf. She met me halfway and grabbed me in one of her hugs. For a woman who did not like to be hugged in general, those she deemed worthy got hugged within an inch of their lives.

“Are you OK?” she asked me, her face buried against my shoulder. “You looked a little sad”

“I’m alright” I told her “I just had a few things to work through. A day here at the beach is a great cure for the blues”

“Hey, let go of my girlfriend!” shouted Twenty and rushed into the surf with us. She crash tackled Millie and I and we all fell down into the water laughing.

We messed about for a while, splashing water at each other. Then Millie wanted to stand on Twenty’s shoulders and do jumps into the waves. She finally convinced me to have a go and it was great fun.

When Twenty wanted to have a go, she had to climb up between Millie and I, balanced precariously on one shoulder each. She jumped off and sent us both into the water while she flailed her arms and splashed down awkwardly.

That was the end of that game we all agreed.

The rest of the day was spent eating and drinking everything in the cooler. We lay about in the shade of the umbrella as the sun moved across the sky. Millie sprawled on her back across Twenty’s stomach, her blonde hair being stroked by the larger woman. I won’t deny I felt envious of their casual intimacy.

Every so often I would catch Twenty’s eyes on me. She would smile a little and I would smile back, to let her know I was fine. It actually made me feel a lot better to know I had someone who cared about me. I always had Millie, but she was more the kind of person you had to care for, not the other way around. It was just who she was.

The day was winding down and we had no food or drinks left. Even the coffee flasks were empty. We packed up our little base camp on the shore and made the trek up the path to the car.

As we walked, I noticed how red Millie’s face and chest were. She was going to be sore tomorrow. I had told her to put more sunblock on, but she was defiant that she did not need it. So much for big sister looking out for her little sibling.

The car ride home was quiet. Twenty had suggested Millie lie across the back seat so she could sleep, and Millie had insisted I was there to rest her head on. So Twenty drove us back to the Spit in silent concentration, while I stroked Millie’s head and she drowsed contentedly. That had been Twenty’s plan I realised, to give me some close contact with my friend. I met Twenty’s eyes in the rear view mirror and she gave me a cheery smile.

We parked outside the front entrance to my small apartment building. I had a cosy three room place on the second floor. It was the same rooms I used to share with Millie before she found her own apartment. Even for one person it was small, but I still missed having her there.

Twenty left Millie asleep on the back seat while she helped me carry the bags and umbrella to my apartment. We took the elevator in companionable silence and I led the way to my door. As I opened the locks and welcomed her in, it occurred to me this was the first time I had Twenty here alone. The past times she had always arrived with Millie.

She put my stuff where I indicated and turned to wish me goodbye when I stepped forward and gave her a hug. Twenty did not hesitate and hugged me fiercely back.

“You know I care about you” she whispered to me.

I buried my head in her shoulder, exactly the same way Millie does with me. I could see the appeal and we just stood like that for a minute.

“Why are you so good at understanding what other people feel?” I asked her, refusing to let her fully go.

“It is what I was originally trained for” she said simply. “The Guard wanted Units like me, the Twenty series, to be able to interact with people and understand them. When I was first disconnected from the network, I was confused and lost. It took me a while to find myself and understand my own feelings, let alone the feelings of others”

She moved back and gazed into my eyes.

“I still have a lot to learn about being human, but having people like you and Millie in my life gives me that chance. I am always grateful for the love you share with me”

“You are very welcome” I replied. On an impulse I took a step closer again and kissed her lightly on the lips. “I just wanted to try it once for myself” I said by way of explanation.

“You know, I am already spoken for” Twenty said with a grin, “But I have lots of sisters and brothers if you are interested”

“Are they as good looking as you?” I teased.

“Guaranteed” she affirmed.

A horn started beeping from outside on the street. Twenty and I went to my window and opened it. On the street below, Millie was beside the car, tooting the horn and looking up to my apartment. As ever, she was oblivious to the annoyed looks from passersby.

“Millie stop that” Twenty and I yelled in perfect timing.

“Time to go” I told Twenty and she nodded in hasty agreement. As she rushed to the door, I added “Let’s meet up for coffee sometime, just you and me”.

“Copy that” she said.

In short order she appeared on the street below and scolded Millie for being impatient. Millie just pouted and got into the car. Twenty gave me a brief wave and got into the car herself. I gave her a wave back but she was already out of sight.

The car started up and Twenty pulled them off the kerb and into the traffic. I saw a brief wave from Millie’s arm hanging outside the door and then they were gone.

I closed my window and went and sat on my bed. It had a been a wonderful day with two of the most important people in my life. Sometimes I felt like the spare wheel whenever we three were together, but today had shown me I was as important to them as they were to me.

That was something to be cherished. I lay back on the bed and pulled a pillow to my chest. I wondered who I would dream about tonight?

End