The year was 2000, the new millennia. A new start and a new life for me. A new future. Little did I know I was destined to be thrown into a world I never thought I’d be a part of. A world full of fame and fortune, money and misery, sex and drugs, love and hate, and even dreams. Life for me, Christi Lynn Smith, was about to change, starting with a meeting on the beaches of Santa Monica with a celebrity.
I had just moved to Santa Monica, hoping to start my life over from living in a small town to living in a big city. I planned on making something of myself out in Los Angeles, the “city of angels”; become a star, a singer, a dancer, anything to get my feet off the ground. I would lie and say I wanted all that fame, that I wanted to be in the spotlight, but all really wanted was to find myself.
It was there on the beach, alone as usual, when I met the person that would change my life forever. It was a Saturday afternoon in early September, the air was cool enough to keep the sweat from your face but warm enough to soak your feet in the beautiful waters of the ocean without getting cold. That was California. Back in Arkansas the weather was always unpredictable. Hot and cold, wet and cold, hot and wet, and so on. Never what it was supposed to be or what the weather man said it would be. Just plain old unpredictable Arkansas weather. I had spent most of the day sitting on the beach writing gibberish with my fingertips in the sand. It had been pretty busy around noon, but it was already getting late and I had decided to take a ride on one of the Jet Ski’s down by the docks before it got too late. By four the beach was already emptying, so I headed down to the docks, bag full of necessities in tow, with my beach towel around my neck and my t-shirt in my right hand. I had already started to tan, and my chocolate brown bikini top had shifted just enough to reveal tan lines. I knew I wouldn’t be swimming so I had just brought my bag, wore my suit underneath my beige tank top and brown Capri’s and grabbed a towel from the hotel I was staying at up near the beach and had headed down earlier that morning. The sun was still pretty bright so my red sunglasses still covered my hazel eyes, keeping most of the squinting away. Sand began to fill between the cracks of my flip-flop covered feet, so I picked up the pace.
When I arrived at the docks I took note of two guys talking near a yellow and white jet ski as a couple and their two little boys walked past me, talking joyously about their adventures on the open sea. The guy on the left wore a coast guard t-shirt, which I assumed owned the business of renting out ski’s. The other was tall with blonde wet hair, so I knew he had just gotten back from the water. I couldn’t help but notice how cute the blonde was. Seeing as my last relationship had ended about a year ago and I had just turned twenty-one, I had been keeping my eye out for anyone that might spike my interest.
The coast guard guy turned towards me as I approached them, and his eyes immediately went to my chest. “Looking to go for a ride?” he asked. I could tell he was going to annoy me right away by his demeanor. He seemed to be a college student, probably a frat boy who was looking to make some extra cash during the semester. I could tell the coast guard shirt was a fake once I got up closer; it had a popular brand name tag on the collar. “What time do you close?” I asked, pulling the towel nonchalantly over my cleavage. “Depends,” he said, turning his head down to look at his watch. “On what exactly?” I asked, pulling the sunglasses off my eyes. I could see much better now, and the blonde caught my attention even more. He just stood there watching the two of us talk, his eyes were a soft blue and I could tell he wasn’t too interested in my chest, which offended and comforted me at the same time in a strange way.
“Depends on how long you’re gonna be out in the water, we close at five,”
“Not long,” I said looking out at the water. It was so calm and peaceful, and it was starting to get chilly. I knew if I went out now it wouldn’t be too bad, but I also knew that I hadn’t ridden a jet ski since I was a kid, and this guy would more than likely offer to show me the ropes and that was the last thing I needed, a perverted frat boy trying to cop a feel on me while I try to ride a jet ski. “Well tell me how long and I’ll give you a price and a ski to go on,” the guy said, picking up a clipboard from a small but very tall table near the edge of the docks. “Maybe 30 minutes,” I said, trying hard not to look at the blonde. He was now pulling his wallet and some other things out of the footlockers on the other side of the table. “Ok, that’ll be thirty-five fifty and I’ll be needing a ten dollar down payment just in case something happens to the jet ski. Think of it as an insurance policy. Also I’ll need your name, and we have foot lockers over there if you need to put anything in them, but I’ll let that go for free since it’s getting late and no one’s here,” he said, smirking as he looked me up and down. “Christi Smith, and thanks,” I said handing him the cash. It was a lot just for thirty minutes of riding time, but at this time of day it was going to be worth it. “No, thank you, and also if you need any help just let me know,” he said putting the money away and placing the clipboard down on the table.
I walked over to the footlocker and shoved my bag inside. The blonde was still getting his things together and it looked as if he was about to leave. I took my sunglasses and towel and put them inside the small space and took my tank and pulled it over my head. I glanced over at him as he went back over towards the jet ski attendant, noticing his shorts showed off his muscular legs nicely. Not only that, but I just had to glance at his ass, which wasn’t too bad either. The attendant caught me looking and a smirk crept up on his mouth, revealing a set of pearly whites. Not only did this guy look like a model straight out of Abercrombie & Fitch, but he acted like one too. It disgusted me. He probably thought I was checking him out instead.
“You know how to ride, right?” he asked from his large podium. “Yes,” I said shortly, pulling the clip out of my hair and letting my long golden blonde hair down. I had been trying to grow it out for years, and it finally reached below my shoulders just last month. I had been excited, but because of the heat I usually kept it up and off my neck. “All right I’m gonna run up to Shorty’s to grab a beer you want one?” the attendant asked the blonde. “Nah, don’t worry about it, me and the group have a meeting at seven, but thanks anyway,” the blonde said. His voice was soothing, it had a relaxing bass tone to it and it sent shivers down my spine. I could feel my heart flutter for a moment, but then it was gone. “Suit yourself,” he said walking towards me. “Almost forgot, here’s the key, it’s the green and black one on the end,” he said handing me the keys to the jet ski. His brown hair was sticking straight on end, as if he’d dumped so much hair gel in it that it wouldn’t move for days. Even the wind, which was picking up slightly, didn’t move a single lock. “Make sure she doesn’t run off with it will ya?” he said jokingly to the blonde. “I’m sure she wouldn’t, but I’ll hang out here until you get back if you want,” he said looking at me. I manage a smile and headed towards the jet ski. “All right, thanks Lance, I’ll be back in about ten,”
By the time Abercrombie boy was far enough away I had already gotten on the jet ski and started it up. The blonde, who I now knew as Lance, was sitting on the dock in one of the very few wooden deck chairs, watched me as I sat on the seat of the jet ski, looking over the devices in front of me. I tried to think of it as what my family back in Arkansas called 4-wheelers. The gears, the reverse, how to go, but none of it made sense in comparison to the jet ski. I was completely lost. I placed my hands on the handlebars and pushed down on what looked to be what made the thing go, but instead the ski sputtered and died. Sighing, I started the ski up again and this time let it run for a little longer as I looked over the gears and buttons again. I went to press something else when I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to see Lance approaching me with a grin on his face. “I thought you said you knew what you were doing?” he said as he crouched down on the edge of the deck. “You caught me,” I laughed, “I lied to that guy, he creeped me out. Plus I thought I’d remember how to drive one of these things but I guess not,” I said shutting the engine off. “Aww don’t give up now, you already paid for it,” he said standing back up and stepping down onto the ski next to me. “Christi right?” he asked me. “Yea, and you’re Lance?” I asked. “Yeah, well nice to meet you,” he said sticking his hand out for me to shake it. I took it, feeling how soft his hands were. “You don’t look like you’re from around here,” he said pulling out a pair of keys and rummaging through them. “You’re right once again,” I laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “Let me guess, small town girl?”
“Yep,”
“Let see, you look like the Alabama type,”
“Arkansas”
“Close enough,” he chuckled.
“Yeah pretty much,” I said, watching him take a key and put it in the ignition. I didn’t notice before but it was the jet ski he was messing with earlier. “Is this yours?” I asked. “Yeah, Matt let’s me keep it here at the docs and watches it for me ‘cuz I don’t really have a place for it right now,” Lance said.
“Why’s that?” I asked, now trying to make small talk. He paused for a minute and looked at me, as if confused, then said, “I travel a lot,”
“Really? For work or for leisure?” I asked.
“Both I guess you could say,”
“What kind of work do you do?”
“If I told ya I’d have to kill ya,” he said jokingly, and I laughed. Then it got quiet.
“Ok so, how do I drive this thing?”
