*Ray

Ray's phone buzzed at the same second as she was getting hired. Talk about timing.

Beth: Get your a** out here. I'm hot.

Ray: I know you're hot. It's why we are in Hawaii.

Beth: So I can sweat more? Get out here.

Ray: in Greenland you'd melt all the glaciers. Almost done.

Beth: 2 minutes, at the wall

Ray: you got it hottie

She waved one last time to Miller, didn't see Lokela, but figured he didn't care whether or not she said goodbye and hopped into action. It would take two minutes to get to the beach if she jogged, which wasn't really her style.

Half speed-walking, half skipping (because yeah, she just landed her dream job here in Honolulu), she hurried from the shop, and headed towards the sparkling sand across Kalakaua Avenue.

Beth reclined in a narrow strip of shade created by the concrete wall that divided the beach at the end of Waikiki, a huge, all paper to go cup and straw in one hand.

"I made it," Ray said, throwing herself in the sand next to her. "And I got myself a job."

"Congratulations. This is the best smoothie ever. See?" Beth held up the cup, where the words Best Smoothie Ever decorated the cup.

"Oooh. What flavor?"

"The flavor called 'you don't get to taste because you don't deserve me.' Ha."

Ray frowned at her—there was something off with her voice. "Beth? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Besides you left me out here for nearly thirty minutes. Russell was so busy with your closet, he didn't notice we weren't back, but I noticed. I have a life, you know."

"You got the best smoothie ever and you are sitting on a tropical beach. How sorry am I supposed to be?" Ray asked. "Now are you going to tell me what's really wrong?"

"Nothing," Beth said, but her voice hitched. She raised a quick hand to wipe at her eye under her dark sunglasses.

Ray hooked the sides of the frames and gently lifted the glasses up. Beth wiped another tear in the mascara streaks under her eyes, and stared resolutely out to sea.

"I knew it! What's really wrong, Beth? You can't lie to me."

Beth sniffed, slurping the last bit of her smoothie. "I'm two days late."

Ray gasped. "But that's good! That's what you want, isn't it? Did you take the test?"

"No, it's still kind of early."

"Early? My pearly-white behind! If I was two days late, I would be peeing like crazy on every test they had in the pharmacy. Hey! I know, let's go get one now, they have public restrooms at the park and we can surprise Russell." She knelt in the sand, ready to get up.

"Stop, Ray. Just stop. Don't do this to me," Beth begged. Pools of tears gathered in her eyes. Ray dropped back, sand burning her bare legs.

"All right, I'll stop. What exactly am I doing?"

"Just don't be excited. You have no idea what this feels like, and I can't have you excited for me, when I...it might not...I can't fall in love in this baby. If it is a baby."

"Beth, this is what you and Russell want."

"And after three miscarriages, I can't allow myself to hope this time. We aren't even trying right now. It's probably the stress of getting you settled and my new studio ready that's making my period late." Beth wiped both cheeks and shook her head. Something in the sand must have been fascinating, because she was studying it between her feet. "That last time nearly killed me. To see my hopes and dreams, my baby gone while I was on my drive to work. You can't understand."

"You're right," Ray whispered. "And if you can't have a baby, then I promise you, I'll be a surrogate mom for you. After I finish my Ph.D. in about nine years, anyway."

Beth chucked her cup at her head, but laughed. "You would, too, if I let you. Nincompoop. You need to promise me to live your life for you and your happiness, not me."

"But it would make me happy to make you happy." Ray picked up the cup and tore off the lid to peer inside. Pink goo lined the insides and sweet scent of strawberry drifted into the air. She stuck a finger in and swirled it around to scoop up as much as possible, and then sucked it off. "Wow. You were right. I shouldn't have left you out here so long, I should have been here to support you and eat my own smoothie."

"Yeah you should have. But it's okay. I know you know you need to live your life and there isn't anything you can do to change mine." Beth sniffled and tear rolled down her cheek.

"Hey, this will happen for you, I can feel it. And you and Russell will be the most amazing parents ever." Ray held out her arms and Beth leaned in, sticky and sweaty. They tilted their heads together. Ray gave her a little squeeze. "You smell funny."

Beth laughed and they pulled each other to standing. "Those really are good smoothies. They have lunch sized ones, and I think we should get three."

The sun beat the beach mercilessly by then and Ray swayed in the heat. She needed sugar and a cool place to sit and enjoy it. Beth led the way to the smoothie bar, several blocks off of Waikiki, running up the side of the park. The small, nondescript shop had a fake palm-tree, three card tables with folding chairs and a couple of real surfboards.

Plus, a young Asian woman hunched over the cash register, muttering at it. She popped upright as Beth and Ray strolled in the shop and nodded, knowingly.

"Welcome back to The Best Smoothie Ever. Would you like another strawberry-mango wellness supreme?"

"We would like the lunch style smoothies this time," Beth said.

"Wait, I think I want the strawberry-mango one. Does it come in large?" Ray asked. Wellness supreme and strawberries and mangoes?

Sign me up.

"They all come in two sizes, regular and large. The lunch ones are the regular flavors, size large, but with extra secret ingredients to fill you up."

"What kind of secret ingredients? It says, all natural ingredients," Ray said, pointing to the black-board above the counter.

"Actually the ingredients aren't that secret." The sales clerk handed them both flyers with the list of smoothies. They were basically fresh fruit bonanzas with lemon juice, freshly ground grains, natural cold-pressed oils, honey or maple syrup sweeteners, and optional soy yogurt or milk. The dessert selection was made with coconut milk ice-cream. "We favor local produce to the max of availability, we're one hundred percent vegan, most smoothies are gluten-free, peanut-free but we do have lots of nuts. That's the big allergy risk I haven't been able to exclude from my recipes. Maybe one day."

"Wait, is this your shop?" Ray asked.

"I'm the owner, chef and cash register girl. Indeed."

"Oh, my gawd, you're amazing. Can I be your best friend?" Ray whipped out her phone to take a picture. "And I have to post this, I hope you don't mind."

"No problem. Tell everyone you know."

Beth chuckled. "Actually, Ray is friends with everyone at the university. And I really mean everyone. I'll take the kiwi-pineapple with coconut flakes and the cantaloupe with cucumber, extra almonds and ground millet. That sounds like something Russell would enjoy."

"Oh, he'll enjoy it, or you can have your money back." The owner jumped into action, dumping heaps of fruit into two mixers. "And you?"

Ray clicked her tongue. The agony of choosing. "I'll stick with the strawberry-mango, but can I have coconut milk instead of soy?"

"Anything. You're my new bestie, remember?"

Ray winked at her. This smoothie joint was two blocks away from her new job. Life couldn't be more perfect.

The next morning, she strode through the front door of the Hang Loose and Rent shop. Her watch read six-fifty-eight, the birds were singing, the trade winds were blowing gently, the ice-cubes in her iced café latté clinked joyfully and she was ready to take on the world.

The desk came into view.

"Good mor—" she started, but came face to face with a stormy Lokela, who barely glanced in her direction before returning to the computer screen. "—ning."

No reply.

All right. There was some friction there, some animosity, she couldn't deny it, but they would be living together and working together for at least the school year. She would give him another chance.

"I'm looking forward to getting started. Are you doing my training or..."

"Nope. Miller is. When he gets here."

"All right. I'll put my bag in the back." She eased around the counter, careful not to touch him or get too close in any way. "Hey, I don't know what you plan for lunch usually, but there is this great smoothie place a couple blocks from here. If you like, I can pick up a...bye."

Lokela stood and left to walk down one of the aisles while she was talking. That had never happened to her before.

From the corner of her eye, she studied his features. He seemed normal on the outside, but his attitude towards her suddenly made him absolutely unattractive. Funny how that worked. Most girls would certainly find him pretty hot—dark, curly hair; smooth, glowing Polynesian skin; muscles and tattoos peeking out from under his floral t-shirt. What wasn't there to like? Maybe the silver bull-ring in his nose.

He shifted suddenly and noticed she was stuck at the counter. With a scoff, he hunched his shoulders and started rearranging flippers.

Yep. He was completely unattractive, and the problem was obviously him. Shrugging, she dismissed him from her list of worries. Whatever was wrong, it was his to fix.

She wandered around the shop, generally avoiding him, straightening shelves and greeting people as they came in, directing them to the gentleman at the desk who would help them. Except when it was young girls or women on their own. She took them directly under her wing and helped them figure out what they wanted before sending them to Lokela. It wouldn't be right to let his ugly nose ring and black mood scare off potential customers.

Finally, Miller showed up, like a fresh, misty rain to refresh the atmosphere. He smiled wide at Ray and apologized for getting stuck in a meeting with his dad, the owner of the rental shop.

"What did Lokela show you so far?" he asked

"He showed me very clearly that he didn't want me to bother him, but I didn't let that stop me from fitting masks on a dozen people and telling them which beaches near Waikiki were safe for snorkeling."

"Ah. Good. Well, let's get you started on some administration stuff." He directed her to the front desk and had her sit at the computer. "Why don't you get familiarized with our web-site, prices and the files here." He pulled up an application she wasn't familiar with that had their reservations for the next six month listed on a calendar."

"All righty! Did you want me to pick up a smoothie for you when I get one for me for lunch? They really are the best smoothies ever."

He laughed. "I bet they are. Unfortunately, I have to go already now. There are some supplies to pick up and then I have a tour this afternoon. I will talk to Lokela, though, you shouldn't be left to fend for yourself. I'll see you around five!"

"Great, see you then!" she called and waved goodbye.

What the merry hell? She held up her fingers to count. If she saw him at five, and she came in a seven, and had half an hour for lunch that came to nine and a half hours. If she got off at five, which he hadn't mentioned.

That would be so much money!

"Awesome. I love my life." She turned to the calendar, scrolling through the dates and flipping pages.

The layout was horrible. Not that she wanted to complain on her first day, but this application had a sucky interface. She clicked on a few things to see what she could improve.

The calendar went blank.

She had erased the reservations. Her stomach dropped to her feet where it lay quivering and freezing on the dirty floor.

"Oh, no. Oh, please no. I did not just do that," she whispered. She clicked on all the icons. It was still blank.

She was dead.

Glancing up in fear, she checked for Lokela. He was busy in the back room.

The door jingled as a customer came in. Like in a fuzzy brained fantasy, the blond surfer dude she had tried to talk to in the bookstore strolled up to the counter, blue eyes pulling her into their depths and radiant smile almost making her forget she had royally screwed up.

Confirmations. They had to send out confirmations. All she had to do was log into the email, find them going back a year from today since they only did a year in advance and then manually fill in the reservations. She could save her butt.

"Hi," Surfer boy said. Part of her wished so badly she could enjoy the moment.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Yeah. Is Lokela here? I'm supposed to meet him for a—"

"Why yes he is." She bounced up. "Friend of yours?"

He nodded, scuffing a foot nervously. "Yeah, uh..."

"Could I ask you to do me a really big favor and I will owe you a smoothie?"

"Wha—"

"No time for negotiating, two smoothies. And my phone number. Keep him busy and away from me for as long as possible. That shouldn't actually be difficult. This is for you. Thanks a million."

She slid him a scrap of paper with her phone number on it.

Lokela stepped out from the back room. "What's going on?"

Ray hid the computer with her body. Surfer boy glanced between them in confusion.

*** Way to go, Ray. Not everything needs to be fixed... Now, will surfer boy come to the rescue, or leave you hanging high and dry? Stars show love, don't hesitate to spread good cheer if you enjoyed reading. ***