Tides

Chapter 23 - Looks Like Blue

KAY

I look again at my phone to make sure I am at the right address. Valentina and the Rip Curl team are staying in a cottage east of the beach. Dax called me to say that Sadie is in Sea Glass and invited everybody for dinner. I'm also welcome and can bring a date. I called Valentina, and she happily accepted to come with me. This cottage looks beautiful. I rarely pay attention to the rentals as most of them lack the warmth of a real home, but I can see myself living in a cottage like this. The door opens, and Derek stands before me.

"Hale! Come inside. Valentina is almost ready and will be with you soon," he smiles while moving aside for me to enter the house.

The living room and dining table are full of computer equipment. On the floor are many cables and the tables are littered with empty bottles of diet cola. Two guys hunch over their laptops. They seem not to care about anything else happening around them.

"I would introduce you to them, but it's pointless. Sometimes I have to look if their chests move to make sure they are alive," Derek looks at them and chuckles when one guy flips him.

"Are you cool with me asking Valentina on a date? You know, since she is covering the competition?" I ask Derek.

"I felt concerned when she told me. People might think we favor you guys. I have known her since college, and she is serious and ethical in her job. If you guys screw up, she will report it as well, even if she dates you."

"But tonight, I'm not a reporter, so anything that happens is off the record," Valentina comes from a hallway.

She looks stunning. Her crazy pink reading glasses and nose ring are not in sight. Her hair is neatly combed and held back by a hairband. She wears a simple white dress and floral sneakers.

"Oh wow! You look... like a girl!" Derek says, earning a punch on his arm. "Deserved. Well kids, behave and bring her back at a decent hour," he winks.

We get in my car, and I can't stop grinning.

"I know! I can look like a girl from time to time," Valentina laughs.

"So, you know Derek since college. Have you guys dated?"

"Derek and I? Oh no! He is handsome, but we are not interested in each other. We are best friends and Rip Curl partners. We've been each other's shoulder to cry during break ups and other disappointments in life."

"That sounds sad," I keep my eyes on the road.

"It was a bitch to get Rip Curl started. We did it in our spare time and had to work so hard. Getting an interview with anybody remotely famous was almost impossible. Who wanted to talk to us when we had at the most ten readers?"

"But now you have millions of followers. How did you manage that?"

"So this is how it feels then when I interview people," she chuckles. "Well, you know how charming Derek can be. He made friends and kept his promises. We featured surfers who were not well known and got the opinion of surfing fans who would follow every competition. Young journalists from around the world loved to submit posts about local events. These people know other people, and our number of followers increased."

"You should be proud. I have followed you guys for years. You always seem to be a step ahead in everything."

"Thanks to all the friends we've made everywhere. Most of them even collaborate for free. The real team is just Derek, me, and our two tech guys. We live from the ads revenue and sometimes small sponsors. It's a labor of love because the money is only enough to keep running the operation and not expanding it."