Stand-In Bride

Eight: Smile

When they arrived at the beach, it was jammed. Different teams with a particular shirt color cheered for their contender. When the host announced it was the second half of the regional surfing competition, Carter pulled Gian under a tree and pulled her down to sit. "C'mon, it's starting." Carter's eyes gleamed with excitement, his smile wide.

Michel and Ian sat beside them.

"You seem so happy." Gian said looking at him. "Do you surf?"

Carter smiled at her, "I do." He answered "Although, I'm just an amateur compared to those girls." When Gian looked at the Ocean, 5 women were paddling away.

"Here." Carter handed her a binocular. "So you can see closer." Gian paused and accepted it with slight hesitation. When did he pack those?

Gian, using the binoculars, intently watched the competition. Cheers started getting wild when the timer started and participants started catching their first wave.

Gian remembered her childhood when her family practically considered her a mermaid since she'd rather be in the ocean than anywhere else. Her skin red from spending so much time under the sun, but she didn't care. She loved every minute of it— how her limbs were numb by the end of the day from excessive work. One of her favorite memories.

One by one, participant caught their wave and perform their surfing moves— some better than others. Carter cheered for each one that made Gian smiled. He's really enjoying it.

When the next participant did a roundhouse cutback (surf line creating figure 8) after a foam climb (getting out of a wave's closed section from one end to the other) that wowed Carter and most of the crowd, he turned to Gian with wide smile. "Did you see that?! That was awesome!"

Gian smiled and nodded. Although, internally she can tell that the surfer was not in sync with the wave, but she was able to perform it flawlessly.

"That was fantastic!" Michel screamed while clapping. Her big hat and sunglasses covering her face.

"I know someone who can do better." Ian commented confidently. "Way better."

"That's great!" Carter said smiling, "You surf?" He asked Ian

Ian smirked at Carter, "Learned from the best."

"Maybe she can teach me some tricks too." Carter said optimistically. "I would love to meet her."

Michel scoffed, "Her? A girl? These girls are exceptional. How can she be better?" She said bitterly

Carter deadpanned Michel's comment while Ian just shook his head and laughed. Gian remained quite. Still holding her binoculars watching the ongoing competition. "What do you think will be her score?" Carter asked, "The one in red."

"Solid 8." She answered

Carter looked at her, "Really? Not 9.5?"

"Wanna bet?" Gian asked quite sure with her answer.

Carter was surprised by the sudden challenge, he laughed. Of course, he's not one to back down, especially if it's Gian on the other end. "You sound so sure, but I'd take my chances."

***

"How did you know it's a solid 8?" Carter asked walking beside Gian on their way for lunch. "That was a great hunch for a non-surfer."

Gian didn't answer and just shrugged. Ian suggested a local restaurant nearby they agreed to meet for lunch after Gian take something back from their hotel room.

"What do you need exactly?" Carter walked through the door behind her. "I'll help you find it."

Gian stooped in front of him, "We need to talk." She seriously said

Carter paused and looked sideways, for a moment her was nervous. "Sure." He answered taking a seat in front of her, Gian sat across him. "About what?"

"You already know that I'm not who you thought I am." She started and Carted nodded. "We don't have much time, I need your cooperation on this."

Carter looked puzzled, "What's going on?"

"I know you know Mina." Gian said "You have to tell me everything you know about her."

Carter was surprised, "I—yeah, we were friends in high school until she moved away." For a second, sadness flickered on Carter's eyes, "We lost contact after that."

"Is that why you agreed to marry her?"

Carter looked at Gian and shook his head, "I didn't really care whoever I'm marrying. A year ago, when the engagement happened, I wasn't there. I just found out it was you—I mean, Mina— at the wedding."

"Do you have any idea where she could be right now?" Gian stood up and started pacing, "A place? A person, perhaps? Anything. I need a lead."

Carter remained silent, deep in his thoughts. "I don't have any idea." He said disappointed, "Mina is a quite person, she don't like talking much. She likes singing, though, she's good at it. I remember she has all those songs written on her notebook—sad songs. I stopped asking about it when she obviously wouldn't answer. One time she went to school with bruises under her jacket. I tried to confront her, ask her about it but the next day she didn't come. And the next day after that. Until I heard she moved somewhere else. That's it."

Gian stood there silent. Thinking: Bruises? Could it be domestic abuse? Could her father be hurting her? Could it be the reason why she ran away?

They were taken out of their individual thoughts when Carter's phone rang. He held up his phone saying "It's Ian. They must be waiting for us."

Although Gian's mind was in a complete puzzle, she tried to set it aside and nodded. Heading out the door as Carter answered the call and followed behind her.

***

They spent the day trying local food and exploring the market of the town. Gian was quite surprised when Carter blend in finely with the locals. He was friendly, unexpected for Gian. By now, she already figured out that there's a lot of things about Carter Sebastian that's unknown to people—to her— one could not imagine him doing. For instance, when he haggled over a price for a large conch shell in his flip flops and disheveled hair. He didn't win, and didn't get it in the end but the conversion was quite comical seeing him convince the man to give him a 50% discount. Gian was amused, or rather, entertained.

"Did you find something?" Carter asked, pouting with a sullen expression, when he walked up to her after he lost a haggling challenge.

Gian giggled that surprised Carter as much as herself. Embarrassed, she cleared her throat and turned her back at him, "I'll try looking."

Carter smiled widely, amused to her embarrassment. He followed behind her almost skipping with excitement which he didn't know where from. "You should do it more often?"

"Do what?" Gian asked, mentally kicking herself for giggling. Gian doesn't giggle, she remind herself while looking at the key chains laid out on a table. But then, maybe she could. For a moment, she's not Gian but Mina, so she could. She scoffed at herself, flabbergasted by her own thoughts.

"Smile." He answered picking up a key chain. It made Gian paused for a moment before she pick out one herself. She didn't answer. Warm feeling stirred in her. "Genuine smile. Can you do that again?" He urged like a little kid, grinning.

Gian glared at Carter, but he only laughed. That made her roll her eyes and suppress a smile before walking past him.