The sunlight reflects in the crystal blue water. Sitting on the surfboard, Aimee inhales the salty air and looks towards the vast ocean. Up in the distance, the perfect wave peaks, and she paddles ahead to position herself to catch the ride. Suddenly, another surfboard paddles an inch away from her and claims the peak.

"Oi!" she yells at the surfer. "Get out of my wave!"

The surfer ignores her protest and performs a bottom turn, gaining speed in her direction. The aggressive manoeuvre prompts Aimee to rush her pop-up. With her stance unsteady, the wave wipes her feet from beneath her and pushes her to the rolling thunder of the current. Aimee feels the pull of the board dragging her right feet to the depths of the ocean until she regains control and swims back up. She grabs her board, climbs back up, and paddles furiously to land.

Callum, that has seen the whole incident from the sandy beach, runs towards her.

"Are you ok?" he asks.

Aimee picks up her board and angrily pierces it in the sand. "Did you see that guy? He cut me off!" She stares at the surfer that is still in the water. "Freaking asshole!" she screams at the top of her lungs.

He smiles at his sister's overwhelming emotional response. "Come on, rubble," he says in a playful tone. "Let's go back. Enough beach for one day."

She still has her eyes on the water and curses under her breath. "Fine. This wouldn't happen in Portugal."

"Aimes, we are going to be here for six months, just please..."

Aimee stares at Callum's pleading eyes with a hardened look. This trip to Australia wasn't her idea, but she knows he needs this. She takes a deep breath and reminds herself of the promise she made to their father. "Sorry, you're right. We have only been here for two weeks and I'm already losing it," she rolls her eyes, annoyed at herself. "I'm a true nincompoop."

He roars with laughter at her remark. "Nincompoop? Which era do you come from again?"

Aimee rolls her eyes and mocks his laughter while picking the beach towel that lies on the sand. "I'm going to change. Meet you in the car in five?"

He nods and grabs his backpack, and the longboard that lies on the sand, and heads towards the car.

She peels her wetsuit with the towel wrapped around her waist. She gazes at the rolling waves, and it transports her mind to a simpler time.

"The trip will do you guys some good." their father, Paulo, said to her three weeks before their trip. "Callum needs this, but so do you. You can't keep burying your feelings."

Aimee and Callum were raised by Justin and Paulo, a couple that adopted the twins when they were honeymooning in Justin's homeland. They were taken as toddlers to England, and never returned to their birthplace.

"Pai, what if he finds her?"

Paulo sits down on the sofa and Aimee rests her head on his shoulder, allowing him to stroke her long hair. "That is his right, the same way that it's yours to decline to meet with her if that time comes." He looks up at the family picture hanging on the living room wall. "Our story with her is complicated, but he has the right to know about it. And so do you."

Aimee's heart was cut open with Justin's death and uncovered truths that her twin brother was determined to follow through. She followed him to Australia so she could lick her wounds and help her brother to heal his own. However, it's hard to unveil unwanted truths.

Aimee takes her eyes off the ocean and grabs her board and walks back to the car park where Callum is waiting. She wonders if her Australian father ever chased the waves at this beach. She misses him dearly and the distant past back in London.

Unlike her twin, she never felt the need to have a mother. She had two wonderful fathers that loved her and Callum unconditionally, and that had always been sufficient in her eyes. However, Callum's view clearly differed from her own, as here she is in New South Wales, Australia, a land that she has no recollection of, reconnecting to an uncle they only met once, and in search of a mother they never met.

A vociferous voice shakes her thoughts away.

"You there!"

She looks up and sees a six-foot man approaching her. He has dirty blonde hair and a scruffy beard to match. He sports a rugged look with his wetsuit hung by his hips and he carries, underneath his right underarm, a blue and white surfboard. Aimee's gaze hardens at the sight of the board that crossed her own path just moments ago.

"What the hell do you think you were doing out there?" his brassy tone and his ruthless light blue eyes complement the message that is professed by his mouth.

"What I was doing? What the hell do you think you're doing? You snaked me back there!"

The man releases a menacing chortle. "Of course you had to be a Pommie!"

Aimee frowns at the unknown term. "What did you just call me?"

He looks away, clearly amused. "No worries, lassie. Nothing for you to worry about."

Aimee's face reddens. "You're an asshole!"

His piercing blue eyes turn to her once again, this time matching her own rage. "What did you just call me?"

Callum, that runs towards her, accompanied by Josie, their cousin, cuts Aimee from completing her sentence.

"What's happening here?" Callum asks.

The man glares at the siblings and, through clenched teeth, redirects his attention to the short brunette that wears a bright yellow t-shirt and jeans shorts. "You know these people, Jos?"

"They're my cousins, Liam, from England. Go easy on them. They just arrived."

"But, he..." Aimee attempts to protest Josie's excuse.

"Just keep them in their lane next time. This is no place for newbies." Liam says pointedly, ignoring Aimee's attempts at a rebuttal.

"Will surely do." Liam nods curtly to Josie and walks away, stomping in anger. He places his surfboard in the back of his red pickup truck and drives furiously away.

"What the hell was that? He cut me off!" Aimee stares at her incredulously.

"Were you on his spot?" Josie asks.

Aimee shrugs, questioning Josie's words.

"You can't take some surf lessons for a few days and expect not to irritate locals. Liam has been surfing here for the past 20 years, every day. He and his family, so you need to stay out of his way."

Aimee rolls her eyes at her cousin. "You must be joking."

Callum laughs. "I knew you taking surfing would end up badly. It almost ended up with me getting the beating of my life from that guy." Callum takes the surfboard from her hands and places it in the back of the pickup truck.

"You?" Aimee cocks an eyebrow at her brother.

Her brother is a calm human being, and the complete contrast of his twin sibling, that thunders with the smallest misstep. Their father, Paulo, always says that Callum is the calm ocean that stands before and after the Aimee storm. Even though the siblings contrast in demeanour, skill, and disposition, their facial features are uncanny. Both sport light brown hair, and green eyes, and both have high cheekbones. They are siblings second, best friends first, that always stand together against the hindrance that is life.

Callum takes the car keys from his pocket. "He would not hit you, but you were getting on his nerves, which would mean I would have to intervene and get punched in the process."

Josie laughs and sits on the passenger seat. "I'm glad I had to stop by. Although, part of me would have like to have seen Callum getting his ass kicked by Liam."

Callum slides to the driver's seat. "Did you see his size?" he raises his eyes at his cousin. "What is he? Corn fed?"

Aimee sits in the backseat. "Don't exaggerate." She looks at her cousin, that is now occupied in changing the radio channel. "Why were you looking for us?"

Josie looks at her through the rearview mirror. "My dad needs your help."

Callum starts the car and drives towards the Fig tree restaurant where Jack Adams is the proud owner. The restaurant is in one of the most secluded places in Byron Bay. The old farmhouse was renovated and is now adorned by an orchard, a vineyard, and an iconic view of the Byron Bay lighthouse. It's the perfect venue for celebrations and since Aimee and Callum have arrived, there hasn't been a day where there isn't a hustle and bustle about the place.

The drive is a short five minutes from the beach, and as soon as Callum parks the car, the three can see Jack busy commanding the troops for a last-minute event. Jack hears the roar of the engine and makes his way to greet them. His smile is uncanny to the one Justin used to sport. "Hey, children. How were the waves?"

Callum takes Josie's longboard and the surfboard from the back of the truck. "Rocky at best," he smirks. "I need to drop the surfboard back to the rental place."

Jack waves at one boy helping to trim the garden. "Emilio can do that for you. I'm sorry to cut your fun short, but I really need your help."

The boy named Emilio approaches and takes the board from Callum.

"Milio, take it back to Sunita's." Jack requests.

Emilio nods and disappears in a flash.

"You know, if you are serious about surfing, we need to get you your own board," he winks at Aimee.

"After today, I sincerely doubt that I'll be stepping in anytime soon, on a surfboard." Aimee kicks her feet on the ground, still bothered about the earlier confrontation.

He walks over to the siblings and leans his arm over Callum's shoulder. "What happened?" he whispers in his nephew's ear.

"She pissed off some local." Callum responds.

Aimee rolls her eyes and huffs, which causes Jack to chuckle.

Once they step inside the farmhouse, the place lights up with bodies busying around the place, from staff decorating tables with white lilies and roses from the garden to a small IT crew setting up a small stage at the back of the restaurant.

"I thought you didn't have an event tonight," Callum says.

Jack inspects one table, carefully sorting the cutlery arrangement on the table. "Just got the request. Can't say no to the Forsyth clan."

Aimee snickers, "Forsythe clan?"

"The wealthiest family in Byron Bay, and one of the most powerful in the whole of Australia." He walks over to another table and starts inspecting the cleanliness of each glass. "I need all hands on deck tonight. We are expecting an intimate gathering of forty people, but the last-minute request has left me short-handed."

"How can we help?" Callum asks.

"Callum, perhaps you can help in the kitchen?"

Unlike his sister, Callum struggled in school until he found his calling as a chef. Until three months back, he was the sous-chef in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London, and he loved every second of his job. Nothing gives him more pleasure than to be back in a busy kitchen preparing a variety of dishes that delight sophisticated palates.

"What about me? Do you want me to tend to some tables?" Aimee enquires while Josie is already tying the black and red apron around her waist.

"My dear Aimee, I could not dream of putting you in such a position when you have such a marvellous gift."

Aimee's face falters at his request. "Do you mean?"

Jack points at the piano that is in the room's backdrop.

Aimee takes two steps back. "I can't... I'm sorry." The request drained her face of the blood supply that tinged her cheeks. Aimee stares at the piano but doesn't dare to approach it, as if touching its surface would equate to her touching a poisonous plant. Aimee shakes her head and runs outside.

"Aimee!" Jack calls to her in vain. "Callum, can you please persuade her to play something tonight? One hour, only, I promise."

"You know she hasn't played since..." he says hesitantly.

Jack lowers his eyes to the wooden floor, pain flaring in his heart. "I know. I wouldn't ask if... If, I wasn't so desperate."

Callum softens with his uncle's words.

"Please, just try to convince her." Jack pleads.

"I'll give it a go." Callum walks outside to catch up with his sister.

"Sarah wasn't available?" Josie asks.

"She was." Jack's eyes betray a suppressed emotion.

"This is not a good idea," Josie warns in a singing tone. "And it will backfire spectacularly if you push her."

"I have to try." He sighs, looking at his niece and her sibling that followed in her footsteps.

Aimee takes a deep breath once outside. She leans against a car and closes her eyes, her heart palpitating outside of her mouth.

"Sis," Callum calls, "he didn't mean to upset you."

She takes another deep breath.

"Do you want me to take you for a spin?"

She shakes her head.

"Can I hang out here with you for a bit?" he asks.

Aimee drags her limp body to the floor and Callum joins her with both their back resting on the car.

"Aimes, you can't keep avoiding it. It's in your blood. I don't remember a time when you weren't playing..."

She darts a knowing glance at him.

"Apart from now... All I'm saying is that..."

She gets up abruptly.

"I can't perform in front of an audience."

Callum gets up and approaches Aimee, enveloping her in an embrace. "You wouldn't be."

Aimee opens her eyes at her brother, releases from his embrace, and walks a few steps back from him.

"I mean, a party is not an audience." Callum kicks some rocks around, fiddling with words in his head to avoid the wrong sentences in his mouth. "Not really, if you think about it. You'll be background noise, they will entertain themselves. No one pays attention to the background music in a family gathering," he lies. "Besides is for like one hour during the appetisers. Once dinner is served, you'll be off the hook, and I guarantee you that no one will have even noticed you. Well, except for me. But that is just me. You've played for me thousands of times."

Aimee wavers and glances between the farmhouse, and the ground with her back turned away from her brother.

"He has opened his house to us for the next six months with no questions asked. We barely know the guy, but the last two weeks they made us feel really comfortable here." Callum continues his attempt at a persuasive speech.

Aimee nods thoughtfully. The twins only met Jack from that one time when he stopped by London, on a layover flight from New York back to Australia. He had some hours to kill and called his only brother, Justin. The twins were only 7 years old and were more concerned about wreaking havoc in the house than in discovering their only surviving link to their father. Yet, he opened his arms once Callum contacted him and informed him they were to spend the next six months in Australia. No questions asked.

"Don't you think we owe him the courtesy of doing him this favour?" Callum pleads.

Aimee hates when her brother is right. "Tell him I'm going home to shower and change my clothes so I don't smell like the ocean, and I'll be back to tune the piano in one hour."

Callum embraces his sister and places a kiss on her temple. "Will do."

Author's Note:

Photo by Delphine Ducaruge on Unsplash