She sat on the dock in a yellow one-piece and sunglasses. She stared out over the water, wondering where Tom was. She said she’d be right here waiting for him.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She sent a text saying Jane would be out here waiting for him. But she’d sent Jane off on a wild goose-chase.
The truth of the matter was: she had a crush on Tom. She wanted to spend some quality time with him in order to get to know him better. But Tom was supposedly seeing Jane. That meant she’d had to improvise.
She acquired a yellow one-piece, the type that Jane wore. The sunglasses were to obscure her face until Tom got close. Thankfully, she and Jane were of a similar build and hairstyle.
She was hoping to get on board the boat he would be arriving in without him catching on to her deception. By the time they were far enough out in the lake, she would remove her sunglasses and reveal herself. Then she would apologize by making up some story about covering for Jane.
With any luck, she would be able to talk him into a date. Hell, even a swim out on the lake might be enough to attract his attention. If she played her cards right, she might even talk him into doing a little skinny-dipping with her.
After a while, she saw a boat out on the water. She couldn’t be sure, but it looked like a guy with binoculars. Was that Tom?
She waved in an attempt to get his attention. He sat down and powered up the boat. Then he came in toward her.
‘It’s Tom,’ she thought with growing excitement. Now she had to get him to take her out onto the lake before discovering her deception. With any luck, he wouldn’t be angry, and it would turn into a nice afternoon together. Maybe she could even get him to ditch Jane.
The boat came in closer. But the guy on board didn’t look right. Was that Tom?
The boat slowed until it came up alongside the dock. She could tell in an instant that it wasn’t Tom. Disappointment filled her features.
“I saw you wave at me,” he explained.
“I thought you were someone else.”
“Oh?”
“I’m waiting for someone. He was going to come out here to get me. We were going to go for a ride on his boat.”
“Does he scuba dive?”
She thought about it for a moment. Jane hadn’t said anything about that to her about her Tom. And she herself certainly didn’t know enough about Tom to know whether or not that was one of his hobbies. It was quite possible, being as how he had a boat.
“I’m not sure,” she said carefully.
“That’s funny. I came across a guy out on the lake in scuba gear. He said he was setting something up for some girl he liked. He said she’d be wearing a yellow one-piece. I offered to collect her so it wouldn’t spoil the surprise. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
Her heart skipped a beat. Was Tom setting something up for Jane? If so, she needed to get there ahead of her.
She hesitated a little too long. “Maybe he was referring to someone else,” the guy sighed heavily. “Pardon me for intruding…”
“No; wait!” she cried out as she rose up and walked over to his craft. “I’m sure he was talking about me!” She wasn’t about to let this opportunity slip away, especially if Tom thought it was Jane coming out to meet him.
He opened a side panel in his boat. Then he helped her aboard. She took a seat as he backed away from the dock before heading back out into the lake.
She could feel the excitement building within her. Then she got to looking around his boat. She could not help frowning at the sight of a strange concrete block with a metal ring sticking out of the top.
He slowed down as he reached the middle of the lake. But no boats were in sight. She looked all around, wondering why he was coming to a stop.
“Where’s his boat?” she asked as he cut the engine.
“Around that bend,” he replied as he pointed. “I told you: he’s in scuba gear. I don’t suppose you’ve ever used scuba before.”
“Of course I have!” she replied. She wasn’t about to risk losing Tom now.
He pointed downward. “I think he’s waiting down below. He hollered something about having something special in mind for this girl in a yellow one-piece.”
Something special? Was he going to propose to Jane? She couldn’t take a chance on that!
“He’s always so thoughtful,” she told him as she stood up and walked over toward the rail that opened to the water.
He picked up the rope and walked over to her. Then he started tying her ankles together. “What’s this for?” she asked in alarm.
“Your man hollered something about the girl in the yellow one-piece being quite the catch. He told me if I found her to bring her out so he could do something heroic to show his love and admiration toward her.”
She was a little unnerved. But she certainly wanted to take Jane’s place, especially if that meant she might steal him away from her. For the moment, she allowed him to finish tying the rope to her ankles.
He swung the gate open. She looked all around again. Then she pulled off her sunglasses and looked down before asking, “Are you sure he’s out here?”
He pointed down at the water. “There; right there! Don’t you see the bubbles coming up?”
“Where? I don’t see any – auugghh!”
A push into her back sent her pitching forward into the water with a splash. She submerged before coming back up. She sputtered as she gasped, “What the hell was that all about?”
“Don’t you see him?”
She looked all around. “I don’t see anyone!” But she frowned as she saw him attaching the other end of the rope to the cement block.
“Hey! What are you doing?”
“He said he wanted to do something heroic. I assume this is what he was talking about.” Then he activated some attachment to the side of the block that started beeping and flashing before sliding the block with the rope toward the side of the boat.
Her eyes flew open in horror. “NO; WAIT! DON’T DO THAT??!!”
She swam over and grabbed onto the edge of the boat as he pushed the block off. It slid into the water with a splash and went straight down.
She cried out, “NOOO!” as she tried to hang on. But her long, false fingernails could not maintain their grip. He smiled at her as she lost her grasp, her anguished cry swallowed up by the undulating surface.
“Say hello to your scuba guy when you see him,” he murmured down at the water. “I’ll be back later tonight to move you to my garden.” A flurry of bubbles bursting up to the surface was the only reply.
He stood there watching until the bubbles stopped popping up at the surface. Then he turned and noticed the sunglasses sitting on the deck. She must have lost them before he’d pushed her out. He smiled as he picked them up. He would make sure they ended up back on her face before it was all over.
6-13-23 written for Megax1x and inspired by his idea from the TV movie Cabin by the Lake.