| "Do I have to," Gerry whined.
"Yes," Sam and Carla said together. "It is your turn to get the margarita pitcher." They dozed until, kneeling in the sand, she sat the pitcher on the low table next to them. The crashing of the waves on the beach were soothing beyond belief, but the dripping of ice water on their bare breasts brought them to sudden consciousness. Gerry giggled and dropped an ice cube on their stomachs. The elicited squeals of protest but neither had the energy to actually get up and do anything about it. "Ok," Gerry said. "I'll pour too." She paused. "Sam, I can't believe you really bought the whole island." "Mmmmm, I didn't," she muttered. "Only bought half." "Yes," Carla added, "but she bought the best half, the deserted, unspoiled half." "And I'm keeping in it that way," Sam muttered. "Except," she said lazily sitting up, "for you two." Sam, Carla and Gerry were nervously waiting. It was an Academy meeting room, one of those ominous nondescript meeting rooms. It'd been years since Carla or Sam had been in one of those. Sam still felt like a little girl about to be spanked. She was the CEO of The Academy. She was the head of the Council. It was ridiculous to feel trepidation and fear. Mr. Howard and Liz were trusted friends, not feared, punitive despots. Mr. Howard breezed in, followed by Liz. He grinned. "You ladies are certainly looking like you've been through the wringer," he said. None of them could think of anything to say. "You also gotten twisted beyond belief, you scare the hell out of me and are almost worthless as agents." The three of them looked at each other wide eyed but really couldn't argue. "So," he continued. You are each directed to have a healing session with Liz and to take an extended leave. Sam, I'd suggest that you buy a deserted Island somewhere, take your two partners in crime and spend a couple of years sipping good drinks and making each other laugh and feel good. " "I really thought we were scheduled for termination when Mr. Howard called us in," Carla mentioned. About every two or three weeks, Carla would bring it up. Almost like she wanted to make sure this was real and she wasn't dreaming. Sam nodded. "Yea, me too. And, you know, I didn't really give a damn." "I didn't have a clue, but I knew I couldn't live like that. I'd never been so depressed in my life," Gerry added. Carla rubbed Gerry's arm and smiled. "Again, thank you for helping me. I wouldn't have made it without you." Gerry smiled at her. "You'd have made it, Love. You're a lot tougher than you let on. "Oh," she said, "Oh! Look what came in the mail!!" She held up an envelope. "Who sends anything that way?" Sam asked. Gerry grinned and Sam suddenly recognized the handwriting. "Kayla!" she squeaked with pleasure. She excitedly opened the envelop and a single photograph fell out. Other than that, there was nothing in the envelope. The picture was of Kayla. She was grinning as if her face would break and standing next to her, with his arm about her shoulders, was Adam. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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