“How are you getting on?” I say, as Ash looks down at me grinning.
“Hey, Mara,” he says. “Couldn’t have picked a better day, could you?”
“What are you doing now?” Sanka snaps at Ash. I can see they are at the bickering end of this new relationship. Two complete opposites.
“I’m just drilling a small hole so we can pull the screen tighter,” Ash replies with utmost patience. “See?” he says, yanking on the edge of the screen so the whole large, heavy fabric sits flat.
“Stop pulling on it,” says Sanka, reaching for his vape in anxious concern.
By 8 p.m. the sun is finally heading down, the sky is beginning to turn from bright blue to deep blue, and I gaze out toward the cottony clouds that will form another spectacular sunset across the sky.
I turn to Ash, who has already opened a beer and is wiping thesweat from his brow. “Ninety-five fucking degrees is not a temperature for outdoor work,” he says.
“I’m grateful as hell, if that helps?” I say.
“How can you be so chilled about all of this, and so stressed about the color shade for your house?” he says, reaching behind the bar to pull out a beer from an ice bucket and handing it to me. Eddie, also borrowed from the Star and Anchor, and taking a wholesale cut, rolls his eyes and throws his hands in the air, as if to sayTake them all.
“I don’t know. I am stressed. But it’s kind of a happy, excited stress. It’s not about me, I suppose,” I say, shrugging. “Oh God, look, here’s the first people. We have to get the lights on.”
We turn to see a group of twentysomethings, the girls with their long hair and colorful bikinis with cut-off jeans and flippy skirts. The guys in their beach clothes, one wearing a sailor’s cap. We move quickly away from the bar to make room and I delight in watching them peel notes out of their wallets to buy popcorn in paper bags and beers in reusable bamboo cups.
Ash takes a swig of his beer. “You go out and sit by the edge there and I’ll turn them on, okay?”
“Thanks, Ash,” I say. “I’m going to go take a minute.”
I head over to the other side of the pool, looking back at the lido as I wait for the lights to come on. In this quiet moment of pleasure, I marvel at what I’ve managed to achieve with this amazing group of people around me. The canteen lights go down first, and each little lantern is turned on by Samira and Ryan as they make their way through the room. The bar lights up with all its little pindot fairy lights and the large search-and-rescue spotlight fixed overhead.
The sunset breaks into full pink-and-orange glory and I hold my breath as Ash finds the main switch and the lights suddenly burst on. It is absolutely magical. A twinkling, sparkling dream.
“Yes,” I gasp, as Ash emerges from the side of the building and shoots me a thumbs-up.
Within a few minutes Samira appears with Ryan, and then Ash joins us just as the projector starts up. “Five minutes!” I say, looking at my watch.
The crowd is filling out and some start to make their way into the water, holding on to the floating rings and air mattresses, and someone has even brought a tiny blow-up boat for one. A young man wearing a shark mask dives into the water. Another shouts, “We’re going to need bigger balls,” and cannonballs in next to him.
Then I see Lynn, coming toward me with a bottle of champagne in her hand.
“Lynn,” I hiss as she slips off the wrapper around the cork and starts to twist off the metal fixture. “No glass by the pool!”
“Who on earth is going to stop us?” says Lynn as the cork pops high into the air and right over the cliff into the sea. “It’s cork,” she says when she sees my face.
I spot Ash lingering back a little, giving us our moment together, and I wave him over to join us. Lynn pours a small serving into four bamboo tumblers and hands them to everyone but Samira, who is happy with her water.
“Look at you. What a success,” Ash says, grinning. “Only you could have pulled something like this off, Mara.”
“Thanks,” I say, blushing.
“I guess you’re working in the movies after all,” he says, nudging me in the arm.
“I guess,” I say, unable to hide my smile. I wonder if this is something I could share with my parents next weekend.Next weekend.I breathe out. Maybe I can do this?
“Now, don’t forget,” Lynn is saying now, “we’re looking for memberships. Try to get them before they’re too drunk.”
“Why?” says Ryan.
“I’m trying to be slightly ethical,” says Lynn.
Then the projector falls to black andJawsbegins to the whoop of tipsy voices around us.
