Swimming in a Hallmark Movie

Aanya was following Val’s advice and getting out of the room. It was a waste of this vacation to spend the whole thing moping around because of a couple of shitty men who didn’t even care about her.

She’d signed up for a snorkeling excursion so once she was on the boat, she wouldn’t be able to retreat back to her room. She’d have an adventure, explore paradise, and forget about the assholes in her life.

It was a brilliant plan, until one of those assholes got on her boat.

He was fit in a casual kind of way. Not shrink-wrapped six-pack gym bro, but a healthy physique that was unintimidating, yet strong. Wearing trunks, an unbuttoned t-shirt, and sunglasses, she didn’t immediately recognize him.

Once she did, she was annoyed for an accumulating set of reasons.

First, she’d ogled him, and didn’t want to admit that to herself.

Second, he had the gall to be attractive. If he was going to steal writing contracts from her, he could at least have the decency to be some withered troglodyte like most writers.

Third, he did not return the favour, which was a sin given how good she looked. Her iridescent green swim top presented her breasts firm and proud, treating onlookers with expertly sculpted cleavage. Her legs were bare, smooth and toned. And her low-rise bottoms showed off a midriff cut from stone. She could have walked off the set of a Bollywood movie, straight onto the boat. That he didn’t stop and drool was frankly offensive.

Fourth, given her own sunglasses and wide-brimmed hat, he didn’t recognize her, either, and sat down right next to her. Not that he’d had much choice, the boat was full of the other expeditioners. Still, she blamed him.

When he did recognize her, he was gentle and polite, despite how they’d been introduced days earlier.

“Hello again, you’re Valerie’s friend right? Aanya was it? Pleasure to see you again.” He said and an annoyingly undemanding way. He even remembered her name and pronounced it correctly, like some kind of car salesman.

When she snubbed him, he didn’t press her. He just sat there, like some smug twat, placidly gazing out over the blue ocean.

As the boat motored over to the reef, he engaged politely with the other guests: asking them about themselves, laughing at their jokes, and being insufferably charming.

Loathsome.

“Okay folks, this is our reef!” the excursion director said. “Buddy up! Nobody swims alone. You keep your eyes on each other.”

It became very apparent that only two people on the trip hadn’t come with a partner.

Martin looked questioningly at Aanya, but didn’t demand or complain. It was like he was willing to stay on the boat, miss out on the whole day of snorkelling if she refused him.

She yielded with an eyeroll and a nod. He might be willing to miss the snorkelling, but she wasn’t.

The moment she hit the water, most of her loathing washed away.

It wasn’t as though she’d stopped despising the man, just that he seemed small and insignificant in comparison to the glory of the underwater vista.

She swam gently, trying to do the impossible and take in the whole of the reef. There was simply too much. Too many shapes and colours, fish, crabs, rand rays to be believed.

For a blissful minutes, her troubles felt as though they were all on another planet.

A flash of gold among the rocks and coral pulled her from her meditative state. One of the statuettes had been placed on the ocean floor.

She took a deep breath and dove down, though she tried to look casual, not wanting to draw too much attention to the prize. It was no good if everyone else there found the statue as well.

She cruised along the bottom of the reef and booped her convenience band against the statue.

+1 VP Statuette Found

She continued for a bit longer, till she was getting short of breath, just to help obscure her purpose for the dive.

As she moved to return to the surface, her flipper caught between some rocks. Surprised and already low on air, she panicked.

She thrashed and kicked. Her mask and top came loose, but her flipper did not. That left her also blind and struggling with a bikini which seemed intent on strangling her while she drowned.

What she believed were her last thoughts passed through her head, that she would die alone and topless in paradise.

She felt something grabbing at her ankle. In her panic she struck out at it, imagining it to be a shark come to feast.

Suddenly she was free. Her foot had come loose from her flipper, and she made a mad sprint for the surface.

It seemed impossibly far and her vision was tunnelling. Her lungs gave up and the last of her breath escaped. She wasn’t sure she was going to make it until a strong arm wrapped around her from behind and helped haul her up.

Glorious fresh air filled her lungs and the scrambling panic faded as her rescuer held her firmly above the surface.

“Just breathe,” he said gently in her ear. “I’ll bring you over to the boat.”

She let herself be carried through the water, then felt a hand guide hers to the metal railing on the ladder.

With help, she climbed aboard and fell back, exhausted into a seat.

+2 VP Showed Master her breasts (x2 First)

“Are you going to okay? Did you inhale any water?” The man’s voice was gentle and worried.

She knew who it was but refused to admit it for the moment. She couldn’t allow Martin to be her rescuer. It was contrived, cruel, like one of the lazy romances she’d been paid to write.

“I’ll be fine,” she replied. “Almost drowning is just really exhausting.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back.”

A minute later, a flipper and bikini top flew over the edge of the boat. “I’ll wait out here while you get it on.”

He stayed in the water facing away while she struggled with her bikini, like a fucking gentleman.

“The clasp’s broken,” she grumbled.

“You can use the shirt I wore, if you want,” he offered. “It’s the blue button-down t-shirt with the pink flamingos.”

She knew which one it was. She’d noticed how good it looked on him, how it hung on his broad shoulders and how it was stylish yet with a hint of whimsy. “Thanks,” she said and through it on. She did not, however, button it.

She left it open, leaving exposed the valley between her breasts and flat belly. She wanted him to admire her in it the way she had him. _He _should be falling for her.

He climbed aboard and shucked his snorkeling gear.

“You’re bleeding!” she said.

He dabbed a finger to a sore spot on his forehead. “Oh, I guess I am. Someone kicked me with a flipper a few minutes ago. My fault for swimming too close, I suppose.”

Aanya dug out the boat’s first aid kit and set about cleaning and bandaging the jovial jackass.

Like the jerk that he was, he didn’t even try to look at her exposed chest, or admire her legs while she worked. He just gazed up at her with his infuriating, big, dumb, soft, kind eyes.

+1 VP Touched the Master.