The Trainer Pt. 02

Amy remembered Charlie had said her sister knew she was gay and had even met her girlfriend in the past, but she still wasn't sure how much to tell her. She wasn't even sure how much there was to tell.

She decided to play it safe: "I met her through Jamie, my dog. I found her and she was covered in tar. Charlie and I cleaned her up together. She stayed here for a while before I adopted her. And then we've been coming to dog training."

Daya grinned to an inside joke. "I see. She roped you in."

What did that mean? Rope her into what? Amy had no idea but she didn't want to ask.

"You've been here for a while then?" Like Charlie, she just assumed Amy was a visitor and Amy was keen to establish her long-term visitor - nearly local, really - status.

"Almost a year. I came over at the end of December."

"And you're enjoying it?"

"Yes, I love it. It's such a nice, vibrant place," Amy replied honestly.

"It can be, yes," Daya said cryptically. It kept surprising Amy how much she and Charlie had in common, being vague included.

Daya pulled into the driveway of a modest house in a row of five. "Wait here," she said. "I just need to drop off this stuff." She disappeared and Amy saw her offload the garbage and cleaning tools into the garden. Strangely, she left the boards in the truck.

"Is this your house?" Amy asked curiously. Charlie had said her sister lived just up the road so that fit the description.

"Yes. Me and my husband and our two baby boys." She tapped a picture that was taped to the dashboard of two cute but naughty looking kids. "That's James. He's 6. And Jeremy is 3."

"They're cute," Amy said. Charlie had never mentioned that she had nephews. She'd never really talked about her family much at all.

"You and Charlene hang out much?" Daya asked. She gave Amy a glance that seemed too inquisitive for the casual nature of the question.

"Not really. We chatted quite a bit after the training, but we haven't hung out since. She's always so busy." If only that was the reason they hadn't seen each other.

Daya nodded knowingly. "Yes, she is. These dogs, her business, it's her life, you know? That will always come first." It sounded like a warning, or a threat even, although Amy had no idea why she needed to be warned or threatened about that. "We love her, but she's a stubborn one. She's always had a mind of her own. And I feel sorry for anyone who stands in her way," Daya continued.

Amy nodded in agreement. What else could she do? She wasn't planning on standing in the way.

"Right, here we are. Hold on." Daya only now fastened her seat belt, just before she drove onto an uneven dirt track. Amy could see now why she was discouraged from driving her 'dinky toy' here. Some of the rocks they had to drive over were the size of her wheels. Yet, the large pick-up navigated the track with relative ease, its suspension creaking at larger bumps.

It wasn't long until they passed a small beach, completely hidden amongst the rocks and trees. Tucked at the side of it was a beaten-up white pick-up.

"That's Charlie's truck," Amy exclaimed.

Daya smiled, clearly highly amused by her enthusiasm "Yes, it is. She usually leaves it here."

Instead of parking too and looking for Charlie, Daya kept driving along the track, telling Amy to look out for her sister. Amy scanned the road ahead and the bushes to their right, but she couldn't see far through the foliage.

"That side," Daya said, pointing to the sea. The truck was now driving dangerously close to the edge of a rocky cliff, which led straight into the sea.

"But how can she be walking on that side?" Amy asked, trying to see if there was a hidden path somewhere.

"She's not walking," Daya said simply, of course not elaborating further. Amy decided this was their most annoying family habit.

She did what she was told and scanned the sea, not knowing what she was looking for, but it was Daya who finally said: "There she is."

She pointed to a figure in the distance; a figure who seemed to be standing on the water. In front of her were two smaller dots, also perched on top of the water. Amy suddenly put two and two together and was ashamed it had taken her this long. Charlie was on a paddle-board, much like the ones they had in the back of the truck. Did that mean they were going in too? Amy had never done that before. Plus, she had Jamie with her. Where was she meant to leave her?

Daya drove a bit further until they were in line with Charlie. She was closer now and Amy could see that the two dots in front of her on the board were in fact dogs.

Daya got out of the car and whistled loudly on her fingers. Then she set her hands around her mouth and bellowed: "Charlene!"

Charlie appeared to have heard her. She waved, before going back to paddling.

"She's not coming out," Daya concluded, although Amy wasn't sure what gave that away. Daya started unloading the paddles.

"Does that mean we're going in?" Amy asked stupidly, while giving her a hand with the boards.

"It does if you want to see her. You don't get seasick, do you?"

"I don't think so, but I've never done it before."

"It's pretty easy. The sea is calm today. Just don't fall in."

"Right...," Amy said. That wasn't very helpful. "What about the dogs?"

"They come with us, of course." Daya gave her a look that suggested she didn't think Amy was the sharpest tool in the shed. Amy couldn't blame her.

"You can leave stuff in the truck if you want, but I wouldn't leave anything valuable. Also, if you want to keep it, make sure you hide it somewhere they won't find it when they go through the truck," Daya said, as she stripped off into a bathing suit and put on a rash guard.

"What do you mean, when they go through the truck? Who?"

"Oh, they will, for sure; someone looking for an easy haul. This is not a safe place to park. So I leave it unlocked with the windows open. Otherwise they'd just smash my windows." She said it so casually, not even remotely perturbed by the guaranteed future crime. Then she put down a fancy looking zip-lock bag. "Anything of value that shouldn't get wet can go in here. I'll bring a bag with some water too."

The bag was clearly only for small items such as phones and wallets, which Amy put in there. She didn't want to leave anything in the truck but if she got her clothes wet, it would be an uncomfortable ride home. She followed Daya's example and stripped off everything but her bikini, which she wore as a standard part of her outfit on the weekend.

Daya looked critically at her nearly naked body and Amy started to feel self-conscious under her gaze. "You're going to burn alive," Daya said, at last explaining the level of scrutiny.

"I've put sunscreen on. I have the 24 hour protection stuff."

Daya laughed. "That's not going to help you much out there, blanca. Hang on..." She rummaged through the glove compartment and produced another rash guard. "Charlene left that in my truck. I think it'll fit you, you're skinny like her."

Amy wanted to protest that really she didn't need it, but she didn't want to burn either. She pulled the top over her head and it fit well indeed. 'Surfer babe', she had written across her chest in bright pink. Somehow she couldn't picture Charlie in this.

There was an awkward hassle of getting the boards in the water and getting the dogs on the boards. Especially Jamie seemed keener to swim than be on the board but Daya insisted she'd get tired long before they got there and it would be even harder to get her on mid-sea.

Then at last, they were on their way. Daya gave her some pointers on how to paddle and how to keep her balance and Amy quickly got comfortable navigating the small but noticeable waves. At least Jamie had calmed down and was standing still. Diego on the other hand was restlessly wandering back and forth on the board and biting the water. Daya seemed an old hand at paddle-boarding with a fractious dog and compensated for his every move, keeping her balance and keeping a steady pace.

When they were nearing Charlie, Diego clearly decided he had waited long enough. He launched himself off the board, nearly throwing Daya off too from the recoil. He swam towards Charlie's board and when he reached it, tried to clamber on.

"Diego, no! Wait! Let me help you," Charlie shouted, but it was too late. The wiggling weight pulled the side of her board down and Charlie and the two smaller dogs she had with her were tipped into the sea. It was such a comical sight that Daya and Amy were both laughing, despite the fact that there were now more bodies in the water than on the boards.

Charlie turned out to be a good swimmer and she quickly gathered the two smaller dogs: little Paco and a white fluffy one that was quickly identified as Luna, a holiday stay dog. Both dogs were wearing small inflatable vests and Charlie used the handles at the back of their harnesses to lift them onto Daya's board, who had by now arrived at the scene of chaos.

"Here, you take the little ones, Dee."

Daya laughed and helped Charlie load them on-board. "Yeah, you take your problem child back."

"Oh my boy," Charlie said, now swimming to Diego. "You're not a problem child, are you? You're just a little wild. And you're not even wearing a vest." At this she threw a critical glare at Daya.

"They're dogs. They can swim," Daya said with a shrug.

Charlie manhandled Diego onto her board, which proved a lot more difficult without a vest or a harness to grab. Finally, she climbed on herself, her chest rising and falling with exertion.

Amy took in the sight of her soaked body. She was wearing a pair of wild-patterned black, green and blue boardies with a black bikini top, and a bright green pair of sunglasses. Her wet curls left little drops of water on her cheeks and nose as she pulled it back firmly and retied it; the first curls escaped as soon as she let go. Amy had never seen her with this little clothing on and she was glad she was wearing sunglasses. She couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from that flat, caramel-coloured stomach, the swell of her breasts where they disappeared into the bikini top, her strong, toned arms and legs.

"I brought you some friends," Daya said, pointing at Amy and Jamie.

It was the first time Charlie looked at them, although she must have already seen them, despite the chaos. To her credit, she smiled broadly and seemed genuinely happy to see them.

"Hey guys. That's a surprise. What brings you here?"

That was an excellent question, given the circumstances. Showing up unannounced at someone's house could easily be a spontaneous action. This, however, suddenly seemed a lot of effort to go through just to say hi to a casual acquaintance or even to a friend.

"Erm, we were in the neighbourhood and we stopped by your house to see if you wanted to come for a walk," Amy explained, using 'we' to make it sound as if it had been as much Jamie's idea as it had been hers.

"She looked so sad when I said you were out that I took pity on her and brought her here," Daya teased. Another family trait, apparently.

"I did not look sad," Amy protested.

"She was about to range-rove the whole west coast in her dinky toy, looking for you," Daya continued mercilessly.

"I was not!" Amy couldn't help but laugh and splashed some water on Daya with her paddle. Just like Charlie, the girl appeared to be curt and standoffish when she'd first met her, but witty and nice once she'd warmed up to her.

"That's some dedicated friend you got there, Charlene." Daya emphasised the word friend, as if she also thought it was a bit more effort than a friend would usually go through.

Charlie looked at Daya for a moment without speaking. Through her sunglasses, there wasn't much that could be read from her expression but clearly Daya read something because she cleared her throat and said: "Right, let's get going."

They started paddling further in the direction Charlie had been going. Amy wasn't sure if there was anywhere in particular they were headed, but it felt nice to be out in the sun and on the water. And of course, the view of Charlie paddling ahead of her was very welcome.

"Have you ever done this before?" Charlie called out to her over her shoulder.

"No, but I wish I had now. It's so much fun."

"You're a natural then. You have a good stance. Good paddling technique. You should come back when the sea is rougher. That's even more fun, ramping the waves. Paco loves it when it's rough out here."

"Oh, I don't know about that!" Amy still felt a little wobbly on her legs. "I think this is about as much wave action as I can cope with."

Charlie laughed. "Don't knock it till you try it. You just need to get your sea legs. You'll be fine." At that she paddled faster into a slightly bigger incoming wave and her board made a loud clap as it smashed off the wave. Charlie bent through her knees to absorb the shock and looked like a real surfer babe. Show off, Amy thought. Yet, the fact that she wanted to show off to Amy filled her heart with joy.

After paddling along the beautiful coast for a while, they arrived at a serene bay amongst some cliffs. The waves were completely absent there and Daya suggested they have a rest. She sat down on her board and got some water and snacks out of her bag. Amy followed her lead and sat down, albeit slightly less elegantly than Daya.

Charlie was just manoeuvring a bit closer when Diego spotted a fish in the clear water. Excitedly, he rushed after it from one end of the board to the other, forgetting he was not alone on the board. His body slammed into Charlie's legs. She fought to keep her balance. It looked for a moment as if she was managing, but then she tipped over backwards into the water.

"God, you really are a menace," she spluttered when she came up. "You have no board etiquette." Diego just looked at her from his position on top of the board, as if he had no idea why she was in the water all of a sudden.

Amy was still laughing when Charlie diverted her attention to her. "You think that's funny," she said, grabbing onto the edge of Amy's board and rocking it.

Amy squealed: "Charlie, no!" She was glad she was sitting down; otherwise she'd have fallen already. But Charlie kept rocking her and it was clear she wasn't going to let her down easy. With some superhuman strength she pushed the edge of Amy's board up and tipped her and Jamie both into the water.

Amy screamed with shock when she hit the cold water and she heard Charlie and Daya laughing. She deserved that. She laughed with them as she clambered back on her board. She lay down on her stomach. In the meantime, Charlie heaved Jamie onto the other board with Diego and handed the board's safety leash to Daya.

"Here, don't let them drift to South America."

Charlie put her arms on the nose of Amy's board and lifted herself up a bit so she could lean her head on her arms. She was so close that Amy could almost count the little drops of water in her hair and on her face.

"You two look like that scene from Titanic," Daya chuckled.

Charlie grinned and let go of the board, reaching out dramatically before letting herself sink underwater.

"Jaaaaaack," Amy croaked in a hoarse cry, reaching out towards her. When Charlie reappeared a moment later, Daya was still laughing at their performance.

"Don't quit your day jobs yet," she said.

"For the record," Amy addressed Charlie, "I would have made space for you, if I were Rose."

Charlie laughed. "You bet your sorry ass you would have." She dove under the board and came up again on the side. She surprised Amy when she went for her side, tickling her. Amy shrieked and tried to get away from her, nearly rolling off the board on the other side. She sat up quickly to stabilise herself.

Charlie smoothly lifted herself onto the board behind her. Nevertheless, the board rocked and Amy felt herself slipping. Charlie's hand was on her hip, steadying her, finding the strip of bare skin between her bikini bottoms and her rash guard. Suddenly it was all Amy could feel. Did the hand stay there a bit longer than strictly necessary? Amy couldn't be sure, but she was sure of the fact that it hadn't stayed long enough. She was glad Charlie was behind her so she couldn't see her inevitable blush.

Daya, however, was watching the scene in front of her intently. "So Amy said you met through the dog?" She asked Charlie.

Charlie must have nodded because she continued her interrogation: "And she came for training with you? I bet you gave her quite the sales pitch? Or perhaps that wasn't necessary."

Amy looked back just in time to see Charlie stick out her tongue at her sister. It was so unexpected that Amy laughed. Suddenly she could picture the two girls as children, always in each other's hair but fond of each other nonetheless.

"Has she met your friends?" Daya then asked.

"She has," Charlie said. If she was as surprised as Amy by the line of questioning, she didn't show it.

Just when Amy thought the two were just going to have this conversation about her without her, Daya addressed her: "What did you think? Interesting bunch, hah?"

"They're great," Amy said, not quite understanding Daya's knowing smile. "I've only met them once but they seem like a fun bunch. I'd love to hang out with them again."

"I'm sure you will," Daya said, still smiling.

"Can we have some of that stuff too, or did you plan to have it all?" Charlie changed the topic, pointing at the water and snacks Daya had spread out in front of her. She tossed them a bottle of water and some wrapped biscuits. They really hit the spot; Amy hadn't realised how hungry and thirsty she was.

After a while, Daya packed their empty bottles and wrappers back in her bag and said she would start heading back. "I need to get back. I promised I'd make a stew tonight."

"But it's still early," Charlie protested.

"Stew needs to sit for a bit, Charlene. Not that you'd know; you do your best cooking for your dogs. Anyway, I'll leave you two to catch up."

Amy didn't get much chance to get excited about the prospect of having some time alone with Charlie. Charlie said: "We'll go with you. That will be much easier than trying to transport four dogs on two boards."

Paddling back turned out to be harder because they were going against the wind. Soon the two more experienced paddlers were quite a way ahead of Amy. They seemed to be having an intense conversation too. Every now and then their voices carried across to Amy. She could pick up a word or two, but couldn't quite tell what they were talking about. Once again she wished she'd tried harder with the local language. Whatever it was, they seemed to be disagreeing and the conversation got more and more heated.

By the time they reached Daya's car, the girls had been paddling next to each other in silence for a while and they seemed to have calmed down by the time Amy reached them.

"I can give you guys a lift to your car. You don't mind catching a ride back with Charlene, do you?" Daya asked.

Amy nodded in weary agreement. She was grateful that she didn't have to paddle any further. She was exhausted.

They loaded the boards into the truck and Daya said she would drop them off at Charlie's house. The short drive back was spent mostly in silence and Amy could still feel the residue of the earlier tension between the sisters. She was grateful when they reached Charlie's car.

Amy grabbed her stuff from Daya's truck and pulled on her shorts and her t-shirt over her wet bikini. There was no way she was stripping off in front of Charlie. She still cringed with embarrassment when she thought back of Charlie finding her topless. Charlie had also put her shirt back on, the wet marks over her boobs suggesting that she also had kept her bikini on. Amy said a mental goodbye to the view of Charlie's exposed upper body. She hoped it wasn't the last time she'd seen it. But it may be.