1.6 | Water

One day while at work, my boss called me into his office to have a serious discussion with me about my employment. I was afraid I was going to be fired and I didn’t understand why – as far as I knew, I was pretty much the best worker and the most well liked (not to sound braggy, but it was kind of a fact …)

Thankfully, I wasn’t fired. My boss had gotten a call from a buddy of his who worked at City Hall. Apparently, my reputation at the corporation had gotten me noticed and City Hall was willing to offer me a high level job with some really great pay. My boss wanted to know if I wanted to take it.

“Listen Jin, we’ll sure as hell miss you around here, but I really don’t think you should pass this up,” My boss, Gregori, said with a smile. “You said your wife always wanted you to have a steady job, right? How proud do you think she’d be if you went into politics and cleaned this place up?”

That sold me. I was sad to leave – I liked Greg as a boss, and I had made a lot of good friends around the office – but I knew this would be good for me. Plus, it wouldn’t be hard to keep in touch with people. We all lived in the same town, after all.

After I packed up my desk and said my goodbyes, I immediately rushed to the library to brush up on some new skills that Greg told me I would need around City Hall.

The day next day was an off day thanks to a holiday, and that gave me time to transition between jobs. It felt weird just up and changing my career, but I welcomed it. Change was good, right? I felt like that’s what Ginger would tell me if she was still alive.

I was heading into the library when I received a phone call from my new boss, inviting me to his house for a party. He wanted to help me celebrate the holiday as well as get to know me a bit before my first official day at work.  I couldn’t say no, so I agreed and once I got the directions, I headed right over.

I was surprised to see Sammi there, and she seemed surprised to see me. “Jin, what are you doing here?” She asked, giving me a quick hug.

“Well, my boss lives here.” I told her, and then explained what had happened.

“Jin, that’s amazing! Congratulations!” She beamed. “My husband, Morgan, is friends with your new boss, so that’s why I’m here.”

“Wow, small world.” I smirked. I was about to ask if she was going to finally introduce me to her husband when I noticed a lady walking into the house with a bathing suit on. I frowned. “Um, what’s with the swimsuit?” I asked in a low voice.

Sammi rolled her eyes. “Ugh! It’s a pool party, didn’t you know? I know, I know … what kind of nut throws a pool party in the middle of winter? Well, someone with a nice, indoor heated pool, that’s who!”

A pool party? I froze, felt sweat beading on the back of my neck. I couldn’t swim. Well, I could, but I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t step foot in water, not even the shallow end. I don’t think I could without getting physically sick.

“Jin? Are you okay?” Sammi asked, obviously worried. I nodded my head, but couldn’t bring myself to speak as I dashed into the house. I found the nearest bathroom and changed into swim trunks, praying that would be enough and that I wouldn’t have to actually swim. I could pretend I was going to swim all night, but I couldn’t really do it.

I closed my eyes and immediately felt cold. I felt like darkness was swallowing me whole all over again.

I forced my eyes open and took a deep breath. Why was this affecting me now? I lived in a house surrounded by water – sometimes at night, I woke up and could swear the damn thing was rocking – but I had been fine up until now. Was it the thought of water combined with a confined space? An indoor pool sounded like insanity anyway…

I forced myself to breathe calmly as I walked out of the bathroom. Thankfully, no one seemed to have noticed my mini breakdown. I looked around but didn’t see Sammi anywhere.

A nearby couple struck up a conversation with me. They seemed nice, but after a few minutes it became pretty obvious they were more into each other than anyone else. I excused myself and went to look for some other way to busy myself.

I let out a yelp when I felt someone grab me and yank me into a nearby bedroom. I turned around and came face to face with Sammi.

“Jin! There you are!” She said, sighing deeply. “Are you okay? You freaked out in there.”

“I’m fine.” I told her, though I still felt somewhat shaky.

“No, you’re not.” She raised her eyebrow at me. I considered storming off, but what good would that do? Having friends meant opening up to people, as much as the idea pained me. I sighed and looked at her.

“Alright, alright …” I began, sighing again. I couldn’t exactly tell her the whole truth, but I didn’t have to lie, either. “I … I hate the water, okay? And when I say hate, that’s an understatement. I just … I don’t handle it at all. The thought of it really freaks me out.”

“Well, why didn’t you say so?” She asked softly, “I would have helped you get out of here, no problem.”

“I just didn’t wanna make a big scene,” I said and then laughed. “A lot of good that did, right?”

Sammi giggled. “Come on, I’ll fix us a couple of drinks and we can stay as far away from the pool as we can get, okay?”

I smiled at her.  I was glad I told her about my hydrophobia, but even gladder that she understood. “Sounds good to me.” I told her as we walked out of the room and headed towards the bar that was set up in the living room. “Hey, how did your job interview go?” I asked. I was glad I remembered – I was slowly getting a bit better at this “friend” thing.

“I won’t know for sure until later this week, but I think it went okay!” She said with relief. “Hey Jin, can I ask you a question?”

I nodded. “Of course.”

“If you hate water … why do you live in a house that’s surrounded by it?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s a long, long story, Sammi.”

I finally met my new boss, but we didn’t have time to talk for very long. He told me he liked me a lot, but I had a feeling that was mostly the booze talking. Once everyone started heading to the pool, Sammi pretended she had an emergency and needed me to drive her to her house to get something. I was so grateful for her at that point.

I dropped her off at her house and said goodnight before heading home. I was too tired to do anything but rinse off in the shower, put on my pajamas and climb into bed.

I thought about some of the things Ginger had written to me about moving on, living life, and making friends. I wondered if she was looked down at me and smiling because I was listening to her advice. Well, some of it. I got the feeling that Ginger wanted me to move on romantically, but I just didn’t see that happening any time soon. Maybe one day, but for now …

I fell asleep thinking about Ginger’s handwriting, wondering what her next letter would say.