Page 48 of Reel Love

“Duh.Tangled?”

“What?”

“Do not even tell me you don’t know whatTangledis. The cartoon adaptation of the Rapunzel story?”

“Oh. Yeah. I heard of it.”

“Heard of it? Heard of it! What?!! You haven’t watched it, like a minimum of ten to one hundred times?”

I laugh at her outrage.

“Stand up. We’ve got a movie to watch. And then you’re taking me hiking so I can have a sighting of those wild monkeys that live on the uninhabited side of this island.”

After a few hours curled up on my couch watching a movie, that yes, does bear an uncanny resemblance to some aspects of my life, Brigitte and I take the golf cart she acquired at the resort and drive to a trailhead where the path traverses along hills and cliffs on the back side of Marbella.

It’s true, rogue wild monkeys inhabit this portion of the island, along with other non-native species who were brought here for a film years ago and now have populated the area.

Brigitte has her binoculars and is searching for wildlife while I’m along for the ride, hiking down the switchback that leads to acove at the bottom of the trail. The coastline feels more rugged here and we seem to be the only two people out right now. It’s a fact that many residents of the island have never even been to this side of Marbella. They prefer staying on the developed side that faces California rather than the wilder areas facing the wide-open ocean.

We reach the bottom of the trail where jagged cliffs form a perfect semi-circle around a white-sand beach. Tide pools line one side of the cove and the water laps up onto shore and washes back out in a soothing rhythm.

“I want a selfie—the two of us!” Brigitte says. “This is the perfect spot with the crystal-clear water in the background. Come here.”

Brigitte climbs onto a large, flat rock near the water's edge and strikes a dramatic pose, then she curls her finger, inviting me to join her.

“Okay. Okay,” I concede.

I never mind taking photos with Brigitte. She doesn’t post them, and she always sends me a copy to keep for myself.

I hop up onto the rock next to Brigitte. But the surface is slicker than I anticipated. I start flailing around and lose my balance. Brigitte grabs for me, but that only serves to throw her off too. We cling to one another, screaming, eyes wide.

“Ahhhh!” I topple into the shallow water on the other side of the rock with a splash.

“Ohhhh my gosh! Alana!” Brigitte follows me only seconds later.

I sit up, my hair and clothes soaked.

Brigitte looks over from where she’s sitting up to her waist in water and starts laughing.

She holds up her phone. “I got that on film! And my camera’s still running!”

I try to stand, but I’m laughing too hard, so I fall back down, which only makes me laugh harder. My hair is dripping water down my face and neck. My shirt and pants are soaked.Brigitte and I look like twin drowned rats, but we’re both cracking up.

Brigitte jumps up. “Something tickled me! Or nibbled! What is it? What is it? It’s near my ankles. I’m being attacked!” She snaps up and then she’s doing some sort of high-knee run out of the waves, flailing her arms and squealing. “Ahhh! Is it following me? What is that slimy tickle fish? Get it away from me!” She runs onto shore and turns to look back where she came from.

I walk toward the spot where she had landed and see her “assailant” just beneath the surface.

I grab a hold of it and hold it in the air. “This?”

“Uh. Yeah.” She places a palm on her abdomen and bends in laughter.

“Seaweed, Bridge. It’s seaweed.” I chuckle, tossing it back where it came from.

A deep male voice surprises me. “Yes, but that’s a particularly dangerous variety. The seaweed around here has a reputation for sneak attacks on unsuspecting women."

I turn toward the voice.

Stevens, the guy who has been taxiing me from Marbella to the mainland this week is waist-deep in the gentle waves, shirtless. The top of his board shorts are just barely visible above the sloshing of the water around him. A snorkeling mask is perched on his wet hair while the snorkel dangles next to his face.

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