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ALEJANDRA
Troubled Waters – Alex Warren
They should have been enjoyingthe beach, family members coming from around the world to attend the wedding, the familiarity of being together once more to celebrate, and yet, here they were, seated at the bottom of the pool, anchored by two dumbbells each one.
The water swallowed every sound from above.
Alejandra steadied her breathing, and with it, her mind.
Ilias, one of her best friends and the groom-to-be, sat beside her. In front of her, Amira—his sister—floated, a cloud of curly hair drifting around her face. Ghita, their cousin, was already faltering, shoulders tightening against the urge to breathe. If Alejandra counted right, it hadn’t even been a minute. She was going to win this without breaking a sweat.
To non-surfers, surfing was all adrenaline and risk, walls of water closing in. But in reality, it was about control. Thediscipline to quiet their bodies, to hold their breath, to remain calm under the crushing weight of the water overhead.
Even in the off-season, they had all eagerly agreed to apnea training. Competition was ingrained in them, and Alejandra loved turning everything into a challenge. Losing to them was never an option. Not if she could help it.
As predicted, Ghita resurfaced a couple of seconds later. Alejandra could excuse her because she was the only one who wasn’t a pro and did it just for fun. She definitely didn’t have all the hours Alejandra, Ilias or Amira had spent training daily.
A smirk played on her lips as Amira caught her eye. She didn’t even have to do much before Ilias’ younger sister burst into laughter and had to resurface.
Two out.
Ilias was already watching her. His hazel eyes were trained on her with that eagle-sharp attention he usually reserved for reading waves. He knew she was there to disrupt his peace, and he was ready for it.
The staring contest began. They’d been playing that game since they were kids, bored to death during apnea training. Now, well into their thirties, they still behaved like children in moments like this.
By the way Ilias’ nostrils flared, she knew he was about to lose it. She just had to hold a little longer. She raised her eyebrows, tilting her head slightly. His nostrils flared even more before he lifted a middle finger and finally went up for air.
Alejandra followed seconds later, resurfacing and letting air fill her lungs, and the sound of seagulls ground her back on planet Earth. Warm air kissed her cheeks as she pushed the goggles off her face, fingers tangling briefly in her long black hair as she tried to free them.
“I won,” Alejandra declared smugly.
“Almost five minutes, Ale,” Carlos called from the side of the pool, where he was crouched, stopwatch in hand.
“I’m getting better.”
“That training with the big-wave surfers really helped to expand your lung capacity,” Carlos commented, quite impressed.
“I should’ve gone with you,” Ilias frowned as he lifted himself onto the pool’s edge, where Amira and Ghita were already stretched out in the sun, clearly pretending to be unbothered by the loss.
“Next time. I bet Edo will lead another retreat soon.”
“I want to join too. I could offer him one retreat for free in Azul in exchange,” Ghita offered.
“Yeah, because you were shitty down there,” Amira shot back, and Ghita, who clearly didn’t like that comment, just pushed her into the pool.
Alejandra chuckled as they watched the two cousins bickering.
Learning new techniques to deal with wipeouts had always been an obsession of hers. If she could reduce the chances of feeling like she’d been thrown into a washing machine without panicking, then that was the goal.
It didn’t help that after winning her second title in Fiji the year before, she hadn’t won the season that had just wrapped up. She’d lost to a new twenty-something Aussie and hit her head on the reef at Pipeline. Thankfully, she hadn’t lost consciousness, but the bump and the scratches had hurt for days. That alone had pushed her to sign up for another big-wave surfers’ retreat led by Edoardo, an old friend and ex-pro surfer, when the season ended.
If nothing else, it bought her some peace of mind.
“How do you feel?” Alejandra asked Ilias as she sat next to him on the pool’s edge, the Atlantic stretching endlessly in front of them.
“About marrying the love of my life? Amazing.” The bright smile he gave her confirmed—again—how completely smittenhe was with Sofia, her best friend and bride-to-be. “But all the organization stuff,” he scoffed. “I’d rather stay underwater until it’s over.”
