Apex

02 | safari

MAY 15

MAUD

If there was one person I could always count on, that person was myself.

It wasn't that I was a lone wolf or had read Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self Reliance one too many times. It wasn't even because I was the epitome of a Leo Sun: ambitious, loyal, and uncompromising. Counting on myself was a matter of acknowledging that I was the only constant in my life, and having faith in my sixth sense was a survival mechanism.

Therefore, as I leaned against the railing at the starboard bow of a boat named Sea La Vie, I tried not to have a change of heart. In my mad rush to arrive at the docks on time, I invited Nicki Watson to join me for work at the Pacific King Whale Watching Company. My family had owned the Pacific King for almost fifty years. The company's anniversary was on July 10th.

Friday Island's culture was deeply rooted in its love for the orca population. I suspected that most island locals would partake in the celebrations that my grandfather was planning. There were other whale-watching companies on the island and in the archipelago, but Pacific King was the best. I wasn't biased, just honest.

Sighing, I watched the tourists chatter excitedly amongst themselves as they boarded our converted U.S. Navy search and rescue vessel with fancy cameras. Almost all of them were wearing the red rain ponchos that we sold at the souvenir shop, but I doubted that they would be necessary today. The early morning fog would lift soon and unveil crystal blue skies and rolling evergreen mountains.

Though despite the radiant presence of the sun, the morning temperatures would likely stay in the high forties. It was this weather that ensured that Patagonia fleeces and other trendy outerwear were never out of season in the northwest corner of Washington State.

As if on cue, a cold breeze rolled across the harbor. I curled my hands up into the knit sleeves of the oversized fisherman sweater that I'd never had the heart to burn when I terminated my relationship with its former owner.

But back to my pending change of heart. It begged me to preserve the casual nature of my relationship with Nicki Watson and call off our impromptu morning plans before anyone got hurt. It wasn't that I didn't like Nicki - the truth was the exact opposite - but now that he was here on the boat, there was no escaping my grandfather.

As the captain of Sea La Vie and the self-proclaimed Chief Justice of my life choices, my grandfather would expect me to introduce him to Nicki. Life cheated me out of the whole 'meet the parents' social construct, and the story constantly prompted people to do a double-take.

My parents were field biologists. When they were working in Kenya ten years ago, they were gunned down by poachers as they tried to protect an African elephant and her calf. African elephants were the largest animals walking on the Earth, and yet they still needed protection. People still died trying to protect them. 

It was all so tragically heroic and the kind of formidable backstory you'd expect an environmental heroine to have. I was still working on that part.

As the last of the tourists boarded Sea La Vie, I saw him. With dimpled cheeks and an air of casual confidence, I suspected that Nicki Watson had never made a bad first impression in his life.

Nicki ran a hand through his golden hair, his gaze sweeping across the deck before landing on me. I counted ten steps before he was standing beside me at the railing. The sliver of air between us buzzed with electricity.

"Last chance to back out," I said, reminding myself as much as I was Nicki.

Nicki adjusted his Ray-Ban aviators to sit on the crown of his head and his blue eyes crinkled in amusement. The small vertical scar on his left eyebrow was the only imperfection on his face. "It's a damn shame you think I'm a quitter, Maud."