Chapter 2
Sun shot into Gary’s eyes despite the protection of his sunglasses. The glasses were black acetate and titanium. They cost several thousand dollars per pair and were worthless. Nothing was protecting him from the rays of light.
Gary sighed.
“Will you put more sunscreen on me,” he told his wife.
Joy was sunbathing next to him. She was topless on the top of the yacht. The Andaman sea breeze blew and the champagne bottle between the two was sweating. The ice had already melted and when Gary went to take a sip of his bubbly it was warm.
“We need more ice too,” he said.
Joy was napping, or pretending to nap. She’d been lazy of late more than a little lazy. She had the perfect body. Gary had paid for it. He paid for the nips, the tucks, the trainers, and the silicon. She was sculpted perfection. All the sculpting had turned her into a statue. She barely moved an inch and when she did it was with more than a fair amount of groaning.
Gary ran his eyes up and down her body. Her platinum blonde hair matched her white bikini. He’d remembered the price tag on the little pieces of cloth. It had been double the cost of his sunglasses, not that it mattered. Gary had hit it big, real big, with tech and he was enjoying himself and helping Joy enjoy herself but Joy didn’t really seem to be enjoying him these days.
When they’d first gotten together Joy had been filled with drive and ambition. They’d both started from the bottom. He was working long hours on his various startups and she was doing administration work and public relations. With their success, they’d grown apart even though they still inhabited the same space.
It was Gary who thought that buying a yacht and taking a summer on the Andaman would help out their relationship. He still loved his wife but there was no more lust anymore. There was no desperate yearning for each other and the sex that they had was routine.
Gary was still attracted to her and even at some points he could feel himself ache for her but she’d changed. She just didn’t have the same passion anymore. Even the great things that he was able to provide now that they were filthy rich didn’t seem to amuse her.
“I’m sleepy,” Joy said.
“Maybe it’s all the sun.”
The boat rocked back and forth on the water. He’d purchased the yacht and hired a crew for the season. It hadn’t cost much, especially because wages in Thailand were lower. They’d spent a week on the water, drinking, eating, and getting massages. On days they were bored they would sail back to the mainland and stay in a resort. They’d taken in a lot of Southern Thailand’s best resorts.
Everything blurred together for Gary. The sun and the sand all seemed the same wherever they went. He had a hard time telling people apart and while he knew he was in a foreign country everything just melted together.
A light breeze picked up and the smell of salt and sun screen lifted into Gary’s nose. He sat up on the deck of the yacht. Joy was still laying down. Her arm was draped across her face to protect herself from the afternoon sun. Droplets of sweat formed on his forehead and Gary could see small drops of perspiration on Joy. It looked like morning mist but instead of on green grass it was on her tanned body. His eyes took in her breasts, the pointed upwards with silicone support. The mounds of her breasts dropped dramatically to her stomach which was flat and toned from the expensive fitness trainers that she employed. Her legs were splayed out, open to the sun, but he knew they weren’t open for him. He tried to remember the last time they had sex. The last time they had made love.
He got up and looked into the water. It was transparent and he could see fish slowly making their way from deep in the ocean towards the beach. A bright blue one swam after a school of yellow. He moved closer to the rail and saw a turtle making its way towards the sand as well. He wondered if it was egg laying season yet.
The water was too clear to see his reflection but he caught glimpses of his outline. It was distorted by the refraction of light on the water. He picked up the champagne bottle and emptied it in one long pull. The liquid gave him gas and he belched loudly.
“Gross,” Joy said without moving or looking.
He nodded and threw the empty bottle into the ocean. It splashed loudly and he watched it as it sank into the sand. A green fish with black stripes swam towards it in curiosity and then darted away having found no use for the item of luxury.
“You need to do something,” Gary said.
“What do you mean? I am doing something.”
“We spend our days wasting away.”
“I’m not wasting I’m tanning.”
“What’s the point of this,” Gary said. He looked out to the horizon. The sun had moved from its high overhead perch and was beginning to set.
“This is what we wanted.”
“Was it,” Gary said. Joy didn’t hear him. She lay still on the boat deck. He continued to out towards where the sky met the sea. It seemed impossibly far away. No matter how close he got the horizon would always be in the distance.
“I’ve always liked hair dressing. I’m going to start a salon,” Joy said.
Gary grunted.
“It will give me some time to get out and about. Although I do enjoy these sunny days.”
“You enjoy laying around doing nothing,” Gary said.
“Who doesn’t? What’s the point of wealth if you can’t be lazy.”
“What’s the point of life if you don’t have passion?”
“Is it so wrong to want to be comfortable?”
“I don’t know,” Gary said. The horizon wasn’t getting any closer and he was standing still.
“Well you’ve been wanting to settle down for a little while,” Joy said. She was getting to her feet. “We can go back to the bay. It’s been a while. Maybe you can find yourself a project, something to keep you busy with. I’ll start a salon. With something to do you won’t have time to be miserable.”
“Yeah. I guess so. Maybe I just have too much free time.”
“I’m going to take a nap,” Joy said. She started back towards the main deck of the yacht. Gary could hear one of the deck hands open the cabin door for her.
“Didn’t you just take a nap,” Gary shouted.
“I was tanning,” Joy yelled back.
“Tanning,” Gary said. “She was letting herself get burned.”
Gary picked up the bottle of sunscreen by the empty champagne bucket. He contemplated throwing it into the water but instead squirted the last bit of lotion out onto his hand and applied it to his shoulders and arms. He rubbed a little onto his face. He had a sunburn already. His face was red and hot. He was blistering.