Four
Clarity said the name of the team without hesitation.
“Sun on the Rocks.” She smiled at Cynthia and Taimi, who smiled back. “I got the idea from a woman I met this morning, her name is Shazaiah, she had this aura that was just so…inspiring, so natural. And she was wearing these earrings which I loved.”
“I like the name,” said Cynthia, “and it moves us closer towards performing in Vegas at the Bellagio as opening number to Cirque du Soleil.” The three girls laughed.
“It´s an alternative to performing at the World Championships. We need swimsuits, though,” said Taimi.
“White with a pink stripe, I was thinking thongs with a matching tank top as the top part of our outfit.” Cynthia and Taimi nodded their approval enthusiastically.
“Lanai is working until nine tonight, I told her we could meet at the entrance at nine thirty.”
“Bring your laptop Cynthia,” said Clarity, “we can look at some clothing gear companies on the web, it´s the perfect way to spend my birthday voucher.”
They watched the sunset together on Surfrider Beach and had a quick dinner together before heading back to SGP to meet Lanai. Clarity asked Charlie, the security guard on duty to give her three additional security cards for their friends, and they all rode together to the top floor on the reflective glass elevator overlooking the Malibu Lagoon State Beach. Clarity enjoyed the night view of the city very much and she often came to SGP after dinner just to take the elevator and have a drink in the terrace with Charlie.
Sitting comfortably on one of the terrace chairs with the other girls, Clarity turned on Cynthia´s computer and wrote the words sports wear using several search engines. After several minutes, she convinced the others to buy their performance gear from a high technology clothing company which was offering a discount to the first one hundred customers who bought their flagship product, Thongstene Ultra Wear for Active Women. They ordered four white thongs with matching tops and selected the quick delivery option through the only available courier service Slothtrack Express, which offered a unique money-back guarantee paying three hundred times the price of the items bought in the event of late delivery.
“We have the pool, we have the team´s name but we don´t have the equipment, what do we do now?” asked Taimi.
“We need a coach,” said Clarity, “the woman I met this morning, Shazaiah, seemed to be very good at gymnastics. I say we look for her and make her our coach. We have to return her thong in any case, and she did give us inspiration for the name of our team.” She checked her pocket and felt the fabric of the thong, clean from a wash in Clarity´s worn out washing machine.
“Let´s train naked in the pool, it´s a beautiful night, there´s a full moon,” suggested Cynthia. The girls looked at each other for several seconds, with a look which reflected both anticipation and slight apprehension.
“I´ll do it if you do it,” said Clarity, looking at Cynthia.
“I can do it, but I´ve never done it,” said Taimi.
“What if Charlie comes?” asked Lanai. “I really don´t like the idea of him finding us here like that. And Taimi can get fired if he finds out.”
“We´ll all do it together and I´ll say it was my idea,” said Cynthia. After a few minutes of deliberation, Clarity convinced Lanai that swimming naked at night was a good experience at that point in her life. They stripped quickly and within minutes, they all dove in naked, swimming and talking and laughing for several minutes. Even Lanai was relaxing.
“This is fun!” said Taimi, “let´s do a cartwheel together.”
“Our first choreography,” added Clarity, “wow! Wait, I want to see how the city looks first.” The girl with the auburn hair stepped out of the pool and let her eyes float in the distance, watching the city lights of Malibu and the moon´s reflection on the sea less than a mile out. She walked towards her pile of clothes and took out a camera.
“Anybody for a posterity shot?” asked Clarity. She saw Cynthia and Taimi raise their hands but before they could answer, she heard a loud bang behind. The emergency door slammed open and Officer Packwood emerged from the shadow of the staircase.
“You´re all under arrest for indecent exposure,” said the officer. Clarity remained speechless for a few seconds, covering her upper body with her hands, looking at Cynthia and Taimi who were also astounded by the officer´s presence. Lanai sped in less than five seconds to her pile, put on a blouse, pants and socks which were wet like her immediately.
“You´re stepping on private property,” said Cynthia, “you can´t arrest us.”
“Stevenson Garden Products has been on police watch since this morning,” said Packwood. “I have an arrest warrant signed by the District Attorney right here, I knew some of the people here would break the Law. Now, put on some clothes and come on over to the Police Station, you will have to do a deposition.”