Deep Water by Mark Ayre (best free ebook reader txt) 📗

"What?"

"You have to fill it."

Abbie smiled and shook her head. Tried not to rise to the bait.

"I appreciate what you're trying to do."

"Do you? You're here to save my life, but why bother if you can't also have a good time?"

"This is my job," said Abbie. "Does every street sweeper and shop teller find happiness in what they do? No. They do it to put food on the table."

"Wrong," said Alice.

Abbie looked at her. "You think?"

"I know. People always put work and food on opposite sides of the equation. They talk about putting food on the table, but that isn't right. We don't work to eat; we work and eat to live. So we can enjoy our time on this Earth. If all working allowed people to do was to take in sustenance so they could have the energy to go back to work so they could take in more sustenance... well, suicide rates would skyrocket. We work to earn money with which we buy experiences. Experiences that become happy memories. Memories we relive when we're old and no longer able to galavant around doing what we enjoyed in our prime. If you're just working to eat, you're doing it wrong."

When Alice had started speaking, Abbie had been ready to reply with fire, regardless of what the older woman said. But the birthday girl's reasoning was flawless. It forced Abbie to think, and her consideration became a tidal wave of sadness. By the time Alice finished, Abbie was struggling to stay afloat.

Placing a hand on Abbie's elbow, Alice gave her a smile. "Wait there."

It was as though Alice's hand had kept Abbie above water. When the birthday girl let go, Abbie began to drown in depression. She should have forgotten the second coffee. Should have walked out when Alice went upstairs. Why hadn't she? Money was no issue; she could have grabbed a coffee at the nearest cafe. The answer seemed simple enough. She had wanted Alice to come back and to refuse to let her leave.

Alice returned with something clasped in her hand. Rather than showing Abbie the item she had gone to retrieve, Alice grabbed her arm and led her to the bar. From behind the counter, she extracted a key with which she unlocked the door to the balcony.

"Ah, you have to love that sea air," said Alice, stepping outside. "Don't you think?"

Yesterday, Abbie had fallen in love with this view. But that was on the other side of the glass. The moment Abbie stepped onto the balcony, the view stole her breath, and love became adoration.

As though drawn in by the sea, Abbie moved away from the house along the rock outcrop. It was around eight feet wide and maybe fifteen long. Two small round tables and four chairs, all made of heavy metal, stood by the window. Other than these items, the balcony was completely clear, lacking even a railing. Abbie kept walking until her toes were poking over the edge of the balcony, and she could observe the water hitting the rocks some thirty feet below.

"It's stunning," she said. "The perfect place, I'm sure, to make whatever point you want to make."

Alice laughed and came to stand beside Abbie. Right at the edge, she didn't seem quite so comfortable.

"Where's your diving board?" Abbie asked.

"Don't," said Alice. "Used to give me a heart attack coming out here when the girls were younger. I begged Morris to install a railing, but he wouldn't hear of it. Said it'd ruin the view. Not to mention, he loved to run and jump off the edge."

Abbie peered over again. The rock face was pretty straight. So long as you got a bit of clearance on your jump and hit the water in the shape of a pencil, angling away from the rocks, it wouldn't be too tough to clear the danger zone and swim to shore. But you had to get it right. A slight error in your jump or landing and the tide might smash you against the cliff.

"Sounds as though Morris was a bit of a daredevil," Abbie noted.

"Quite," said Alice. "I couldn't watch. Begged him to never jump in front of Ariana. I doubt he listened or even stopped her jumping when she wanted, but as I never came home to find she'd been crushed against the rocks and drowned, I tried not to think about it."

Alice smiled at Abbie but pulled her back from the edge. "Still makes me nervous."

They moved back and examined the sky. The cold air whipped at them, but they ignored it. Alice swiped her hand along the sky as though it were a touchscreen background she was trying to change.

"You joked about the point I wanted to make," said Alice. "And you were right about the view's part in it." She handed Abbie the frame from the living room. "Life has many beautiful things to offer, but the two that most interest me are the beauty of nature and the beauty of family."

Abbie examined the photo in the frame. Alice with Adam and Tony on her right, Angel and Alex on her left. Ariana stood just ahead, her hand on the bump of her mother's belly, where grew her little sister.

With the frame in one hand, Abbie noticed the other coming to her stomach and forced it away.

"I still don't know what you're trying to do," said Abbie.

"Except I think you do," said Alice. "You save lives, which is wonderful, but how often do you stop to enjoy the beauty of the natural world, and who do you enjoy it with? Because a life unshared is a life unlived. A life without companionship soon becomes blotted by depression, and depression is a black plague that can easily leave you incapacitated. How many lives will you save when the despair of your empty existence prevents you even from getting out of bed, let alone leaving the house?"

"My existence isn't empty," said Abbie. "I have Netflix."

Alice