Destiny Undone: The Complete Series Box Set (6 page)

As I crossed the parking lot to the entrance, I could see that Sea Lab already had quite a few visitors waiting to get in—a sight that made me smile. I greeted the parents, their kids and held the door so the families could come in. I walked past the public area and stopped by the security office to see Chuck. He was on the phone when he spotted me, but gave me the “thumbs up” sign.
All must be well then. Maybe the vandals have gotten bored with wrecking this place.

Bobbie Jo was in the conference room, laying orientation folders out on the big wooden table. She smiled and waved. She seemed happy this morning, which was unusual for her unless she was with her dolphins. I was too—finally. Interviewing people sucked but training them was a lot less pressure, and a lot more fun—I liked teaching and I loved the animals here even more. Five minutes before ten o’clock, we were ready to go—all except for Pepper Anderson.

While we waited for her to show up, Bobbie Jo took the opportunity to take everyone’s photo for the ID badges all Sea Lab employees and interns had to wear. At just a minute to ten, Pepper breezed into the conference room, looking like she’d just stepped off a runway. She wore big, white sunglasses, an off-the-shoulder sweater, denim shorts and high heels. On her arm was a huge bag and in one of her well-manicured hands, she held an iced coffee. “Hey y’all! Is this where the interns meet?”

The curvy blonde looked so ridiculous that I instantly felt sorry for her. Not that she wasn’t beautiful—her hair fell around her shoulders like a wave of golden sunshine and despite her cherry red gloss, her lips had a perfect pout.

“You must be Pepper. I’m Gabriel.” I shook her hand and introduced her to the rest of the crew. “This is Bobbie Jo, my assistant, and this is David, Tracee and Martin—all interns here at Sea Lab this summer.” She smiled and waved at everyone, but got a muted response—except for David who didn’t hide his appreciation for her beauty. “Bobbie Jo, why don’t you go ahead and take Pepper’s photo for her badge? Then you can print them while I get started with the boring stuff.”

“Sure.” Bobbie Jo stood behind her camera and tripod that was focused on a blank wall of the conference room. “Over here please, Miss Anderson.”

“Oh, please call me Pepper. Can I check my hair first? I didn’t know I’d be getting my picture taken.”

“It’s perfect,” David piped up.

“Aw, thanks.” Pepper stood against the wall with her hands on her hips and struck a perky pose.

“Um, no. I can’t use a profile picture. Please face the camera full on…like you do at the DMV.” With a frown, she slung her shoulders back and stared at the camera. “Not a mug shot, Miss Anderson.” Pepper looked exasperated and embarrassed, but she managed a slight smile. Bobbie Jo said, “Thanks, I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She gave me a look that said,
“Really?”
and left the five of us to chat.

“First of all, congratulations for earning your spot as an intern with us. As you know, at the end of the six weeks, we may select one of you to stay on as a full-time Sea Lab employee,” I quickly added, “If you have an interest in marine biology, that is.” Tracee smirked at Pepper, but she didn’t seem to notice.

I used my laptop to give a quick overview of the facility—when it opened, what challenges we faced and what our plans were for the future of Sea Lab, including our various renovation fundraisers on the summer calendar. In the middle of my presentation, I glanced around and noticed Pepper tapping away at the screen on her phone. Even though that wasn’t cool, I would have ignored it, but it seemed to bother Tracee and Martin. David laughed and Pepper looked up, surprised to find us all watching her.

“I’m sorry. It’s my boy… I mean, my friend. He’s supposed to pick me up for lunch. What time is lunch by the way?”

“Actually, we’re serving you lunch here today, but it’s just for the interns. Hope that your friend won’t be too disappointed.”

“No, that’s fine. Let me just text him back,” and she tapped away on her phone again, oblivious to her disruption of the meeting, while we all watched.

“When you’re done with that message, Miss Anderson, I’d appreciate it if you’d put your phone away, at least until lunchtime. I’m going to need your undivided attention for this next part.” Tracee snorted and Pepper swung around to face her.

“Do you have something you want to say to me?”

“If I did, I’d say it.” The silence between them grew awkward. Pepper appeared ready to come back at her, but she rolled her eyes instead and smiled at me.

“All done,” then she tossed her phone back into her purse. I was glad things hadn’t escalated since I’d never had people argue in a training session before—that would’ve been a new one on me.

Martin raised his hand, “Is it true that you started working here when you were seventeen, Gabe?”

“Yes, that’s true. I’ve been here for eight years and I’ve loved every minute of it. I hope you all do too.” I pressed the button on the remote and said, “Okay, this is a map of the facility. Here’s the Science Center, where most of the research takes place. As you know, living here on the Gulf Coast, we have a unique ecosystem—one that should be protected and studied. Now, this side of the facility is our park area and this is where the visitors interact with the animals. You’ll be spending most of your time in this section, in a limited way, of course. We don’t expect you to interact with the animals yet, other than feeding them and demonstrations, unless you’re comfortable with it.”

“What kind of animals are here, besides fish?” Pepper asked as she sipped her melting iced coffee.

“That’s a good question, but probably nothing you haven’t seen before. We have sea turtles, sharks, dolphins, shellfish and hundreds of different species of fish—you name it, we have them.”

“That’s cool,” she smiled. I grinned back at her and kept going. By the time the presentation was over, Bobbie Jo had returned with the ID badges and we got ready to go out into the park.

“I hope everyone brought a bathing suit, because we’ll probably get wet in the park. Let’s meet back here in fifteen minutes and wear your badges too, guys. You’ll need yours to access some of the locked facilities as it’s not just an ID card—it’s a slide key as well.”

We walked to the locker rooms and I showed the interns where they could keep their things, and where they could change then we waited a few minutes longer for Pepper to finally walk out of the locker room and join us.

“Yuk! It’s fishy in there.” She still had her heels and big glasses on and she wore one of the smallest bikinis I’d ever seen. She had an evenly tanned body, flat stomach, beautiful round breasts and a wonderfully curvy behind. Although I appreciated a pretty woman as much as the next guy, she wasn’t dressed appropriately for work. We were going to be meeting the animals and feeding them, not frolicking in the pools.

Before I could break the news to her discretely, Bobbie Jo spoke up. “What in God’s name are you wearing? That’s not a bathing suit.”

Pepper looked straight at her and her hand went straight to her waist—she seemed aggravated. “What’s wrong with it? Should I have worn a one-piece? I don’t think I even own one.”

“Well, you sure can’t wear anything sparkly in the water. Some of the more predatory and aggressive animals will think you’re dinner, and not to mention, it doesn’t cover up very much, does it? By the end of the summer you’ll have much more sun than you want. Let’s see, I’ve got Sea Lab t-shirts for everyone. For today, wear one of these larger ones as a cover up. Okay?”

The look on her face said it all. Once again, she’d embarrassed herself and I could practically see the wheels turning in her head. I wondered if she’d even make it through the day. I looked at my watch and said, “Bobbie Jo, take these three down to see the animals and I’ll wait for Pepper. We’ll meet you there.”

“Sure, Gabe.”

The group followed Bobbie Jo, but David gave one last look at Pepper and said, “I think you look great.”

Pepper sighed and slid the oversized shirt over her shoulders. She pulled a ponytail holder off her wrist and piled her blonde hair on top of her head in a messy bun. To me, she looked sexier now than when she’d strutted around in her sequined bikini. She pushed her glasses up on her head. “I think I’m going to put these shoes up too. Be right back.” The reluctant intern came back after a minute and I could tell she’d been crying.

“Don’t let Bobbie Jo bother you. She’s not much of a people person. Come on, it’s this way. We’ll stop by the gift shop and get you some flip flops. The training area is nothing but concrete and you’ll tear up your feet if you walk around barefoot down there.

“I asked you what I should wear. You didn’t say anything about a one-piece.” I tried to ignore how good she smelled—like vanilla and strawberries and something else, something sweet and overwhelmingly sexy.

I chuckled, “Sorry, I’m not the guy to give fashion advice, clearly. The glasses are great though.”

“You’re making fun of me too?”

“Haven’t you ever been to Sea Lab before?” I sighed and wondered how someone so beautiful, and somewhat intelligent, could be so disconnected from reality.

“Yeah, when I was a kid. But, I wasn’t watching the people who worked here to see what they wore.”

One of the girls in the gift shop recognized me, “Hi, Gabe! How can I help you?”

“Hi, Anita. Pepper here, needs a pair of flip flops. What size do you wear?”

“A six—oh, those are cute.” She ran to the wall where all the shoes were on display, but we didn’t have time for shopping so I thought I’d better cut this off right now.

“Oh my God! Is that Pepper Anderson? Isn’t she?…didn’t she?…”

“Yes,” I whispered, “but please keep it to yourself.” Anita nodded, wide-eyed, “Great, she’ll take those. Send the invoice to my inbox please. Thanks. Let’s go, Pepper. We’re getting behind.”

“I’m not sure what color to get,” Pepper chewed a nail while she tried to decide. I walked to the wall of flip flops, reached for a size six pair and handed them to her.

“I don’t mean to be a hard-ass, but we have to go.” She took the shoes out of my hands and tore off the string that held them together.

“Really? Blue? So not my color.” I walked out of the gift shop and she tagged along behind me as she slid into her shoes. “Hey, wait for me.” She reached her hand out to steady herself on my arm while she slid her toes in the left shoe. I couldn’t help but notice her perfectly pink polished toenails. She smiled up at me, “I’m ready.”

By the time we’d made it to the training area, I could tell the girl in the gift shop hadn’t followed my instructions about keeping quiet. Employees were coming out from every corner to see the spoiled heiress who’d managed to nab a slot as an intern. It didn’t take long for Pepper to notice either and I heard her muttering to herself as she pulled her sunglasses down over her eyes. Her face was like stone.

“Hi, Pepper. I’m Louise, I work here too. So nice to meet you.” Where had she come from? I kind of felt sorry to see Pepper have to deal with this kind of craziness. She shook the girl’s outstretched hand and looked up at me like,
“Are you kidding me?”

“Excuse us, Louise. Right this way.” I eased her away from new found friend and led her by the shoulder. “Sorry about that. I guess you must get that a lot.”

“Sometimes, I really hate it,” she whispered. No one else intercepted us and we joined the other group. Unfortunately, they’d also put two and two together and had a different attitude about their fellow intern.

“Okay, boss. Is this some sort of reality show we don’t know about?”

“Let’s deal with this now. No, there is no reality show, no hidden television cameras. Miss Anderson is here, like the rest of you, to be a part of our internship program.”

“As PR for the Sea Lab? Because unless I missed something, she’s not accustomed to swimming with dolphins—except in fountains, and those are the concrete kind,” Tracee scoffed. I liked her less and less the more I heard her, not because she had questions, but because she obviously had a chip on her shoulder.

To her credit, Pepper didn’t say anything. She just slid her glasses back away from her eyes and stared at Tracee.

“That was uncalled for, Tracee,” I said. “I imagine we all have moments we’d rather forget, don’t we? You don’t worry about Pepper or her motivation for being here. That’s between her and Sea Lab. I suggest you focus on doing your personal best so you might have a shot at staying on permanently—or at least, leave with a good recommendation.”
That’ll shut her up.
I honestly hoped I wouldn’t be spending the next six weeks having to answer questions like these. Sure, Pepper being here might raise the profile of our facility, but it could also prove as a distraction if the press got a hold of that information. The way gossip had traveled around here today, it probably wouldn’t take too long.

“Now, let’s get started. Bobbie Jo, introduce everyone to our friends.”

Bobbie Jo clapped her hands and began to interact with the stars of Sea Lab—our dolphins. I let her take the lead while I gave the interns tips on how to work safely with them, what to do, what not to do. I sat on an auditorium bench and watched them work. One at a time, Bobbie Jo called each intern into the pool—it was only four feet deep—and introduced them to each of the dolphins, telling them their names and pointing out their distinctive features.

Surprisingly, Pepper didn’t run screaming when, Singh, our friendliest dolphin, swam up to her and poked his head out of the water. He squeaked and splashed and she laughed. I heard Bobbie Jo ask her a question then Pepper nodded and took a fish from her. She offered it to Singh who greedily gobbled it up and squeaked a thank you. Pepper clapped her hands in delight and Bobbie Jo grinned too. After the introductions, we continued to the other tanks and warned everyone about the dangers that the animals presented. We told them that tanks four through ten were off limits because those creatures weren’t anywhere near as friendly as the dolphins.

Soon, she called all four interns into the pool then she walked out and came to sit beside me. “Well, what do you think?” I asked her.