Page 111 of Drop Shot
Slipping my feet into a pair of sandals, I follow Elias to the door. He holds it open for me to pass under his arm. Down the hall, we wait for the elevator in silence to take us to the pool level.
I hate this after how much fun we had at the tennis courts. Things have been awkward between us, and I know it’s solely because despite me turning him down, there’s no denying the chemistry.
The doors slide open and I follow him to the pool. I’m surprised to find that the only other people there are Noah, Sabrina, and Maddie.
“Did you know they were going to be here?”
He shakes his head no. In fact, he looks a little disgruntled by this turn of events.
“Look what the cat dragged in,” Noah hollers from the pool. He’s immediately shoved under the water when Maddie jumps on his shoulders. He comes up sputtering. “Jesus Christ, kid. Are you trying to kill your dad?”
“You looked like you wanted to cool off,” Maddie laughs, swimming away.
Noah grabs her by the ankle and tugs her back to him. “You little…”
He doesn’t finish the sentence, so I have to assume Sabrina quiets him with a look.
Elias dives easily into the pool. I envy the casual grace he has even with that. If I attempted to dive in, I’m sure I would end up belly flopping. Walking over to the table Sabrina sits at, her hair damp from the pool and quickly curling, I set my tote bag down and give her an easy smile.
“Hey,” she greets with a happy blissed out smile—the kind of smile you only wear when you’re truly in love. “What brought you two out here?”
“Elias took me to play tennis so we decided it might be nice to cool off in the pool.”
“It’s a great day.” She watches Maddie swim toward Elias. He grabs her and tosses her. She comes up shoving her hair from her face and giggling incessantly. “Maddie needed to burn off some energy.”
“I can tell.” I can’t help but laugh as she attempts to dunk Elias but he’s far too tall for her to even reach.
“I haven’t seen you much lately.” She takes a sip of some fruity drink I assume she’s ordered from the pool area’s bar. “I thought for sure now that you weren’t working for Elias that I’d see more of you around, but if anything I see you less.”
“I think I haven’t quite known what to do with myself,” I admit honestly. “It’s weird for me. The not working. Though, I did have an old friend reach out to see if I was still drawing, and if I’d illustrate their children’s novel so I’m working on that. They already picked a style they liked and I’ve been working on the first few pages.”
“Oh, wow. That’s incredible, Whimsy!”
“Thanks. I’ve never tried to illustrate a kids book before, but I’m having fun with it. It’s stressful because I want to get it right for them, but there’s something freeing about it at the same time since it’s catered to kids. There’s so much room for creativity.”
“That sounds like so much fun. You’ll have to let me see some sketches if you’re allowed to share.”
“Totally.” I pull out my iPad and quickly bring up the last piece I was working on which is the main character—Layla—talking to the raccoon she meets along her journey.
Sabrina gasps. “This is only a sketch?” she asks in disbelief. “This is incredible.”
Her praise has my shoulders curling forward like I’m physically trying to shield myself from embarrassment. I don’t know what it is about showing my art that makes me feel so shy.
“Thank you.”
“Has Ebba seen these?” she asks curiously.
“No, I haven’t seen her much.” She has some old university friends she made when studying abroad that she’s been visiting in Brighton.
“Whimsy, baby, are you going to get in or not?” Elias hollers out, disrupting whatever Sabrina might’ve said next.
I give her a playful eyeroll. “I better join before he gets out and throws me in.”
“Have fun.” She scoots down in her chair and kicks her feet up on another chair. Picking up her book, she flips it open and sets her bookmark on the table.
Standing, I carefully remove my top and shorts and kick off my shoes.
When I turn around, I’m greeted by Elias’s open-mouthed stare from where he leans against the side of the pool waiting for me.
