Mina sits next to Marcel, opposite the yacht dealer acquaintance of his. Richard is a husky man with a balding head and drinks way too much coffee. It’s 3 pm and he’s getting another cup from the Keurig coffee maker in his office. He has an array of coffee pods on display of breakfast blends, and single origins like Arabic, Kona, and Java. Mina can use a coffee so Richard sets the Keurig to start on a pumpkin spice blend; her favorite.
When it's ready, she adds a bit of half and half he has in the mini-fridge next to the bottled water and Coca-Cola cans. She sits back down and sips while Richard gets the documents in order.
“You’re going to love this yacht.” His voice is firm but friendly and almost doesn’t go with his hard face. “I had another couple come in last week who bought one. They said they are going to the Bahamas in the spring with their kids. Cute family, they have two daughters in grade school so the little ones are all excited.”
Marcel shifts in his seat, apparently still unsatisfied with Mina’s choice. “You should pick something with more power,” he suggested earlier while they toured the Benetti.
“But this one is perfect,” she insisted back, thinking of all the fun she could have on that yacht.
“And it has a retractable waterslide for those sunny ocean swims. Fendi furniture throughout and plenty of entertaining space. It can fit up to twelve guests in seven cabins. Just wait til you see the master suite.” Richard said earlier, ignoring Marcel’s comments about speed and power. He then adds, “It has a cruising speed of 15 knots and can slice through the water with ease due to its sleek design.”
Richard doesn't need to impress Marcel. He only needs to influence the purchasing power of Mina, in which case, he's doing a great job.
“Here we are,” he says, stacking the papers in order and grabbing a Montblanc ballpoint pen. He places the stack in front of her. “Just need your signature in a few places, feel free to take all the time you need to review the purchase.” He places the pen on the desk next to the stack.
Mina can hardly contain her excitement. Buying a yacht was more fun than she thought it would be and she’s already making plans in her mind. She looks to Marcel who is sitting patiently watching her with a blank face. There are no words of encouragement from him, not even a glance of approval in his sky-blue eyes.
She sips her coffee while she reads over the agreement. Richard makes small talk with Marcel about a few bistros in the area where he can get a good sandwich. The conversation switches to beer and Richard recommends a few pubs in the area. The small talk seems to do Marcel some good because he’s smiling again.
Mina signs everywhere that there is a spot for the buyer on the documents and pushes them back toward Richard. He is beaming. Most likely salivating about the commission he’s making off this deal.
He puts his card in the folder along with all the legal ownership documents and hands them to her.
“Call me when you’re ready to move it and my team will be standing by,” he says as he shakes her hand on the way out. He gives Marcel a handshake as well. Marcel can hardly crack even the faintest of smiles, but his courteous.
“Whenever you want to move it, I can get someone who knows how to sail,” Marcel offers on the way to his Porsche.
“You mean, you don’t know how?” she teases as he holds the passenger door for her.
“No, can’t say that I do.”
He closes the door and hops in the driver's seat. The engine roars to life. “Did Ardan say how long it will take to get there? To this Eden Island place?”
She bites her bottom lip. “No, but I suspect maybe a few weeks or so. How long does it take to get from California to Antarctica?”
He drives them to one of the bars that Richard has recommended that isn’t too far away. The traffic light and there are very few red lights to stop at. Almost every light is green. Green for go, go go! Exactly how Mina feels and she hasn’t been this excited about anything in a long time.
“You are going to take sailing lessons, right?” He gives her a sideway glance and it's at times like this, that she feels him being fatherly. Marcel can be such a cautionary friend, always weighing the options before making decisions.
“No need, I’ve hired a captain. The only captain with the experience of traveling to the ice wall. Plus he comes exclusively recommended by Ardan, so-” she shrugs and leaves it as that.
“The ice wall? Didn’t know there was such a thing. I thought Antarctica was one big piece of ice at the bottom of the planet.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought too but then I started looking it up online. There’s this whole community of flat earthers, you know, people who think the earth isn’t round?”
He glances at her with a frown, “Um, what? You mean, that’s a thing?”
“That’s what I said,” she says with an elevated tone. She's surprised that he has never heard of the theory and that he has the same initial reaction as she did. “So, long story short, they think the part of the earth we live on is flat and that there is no curvature."
He looks confused. "So how does the water stay inside the planet if it's flat?"
"Because of the ice walls that surround it." She's enjoying the fact that she's baffling him. "Okay, rabbit hole time. It gets weirder than that.”
Seeing the look on his face is almost as exciting as the Grammy's. She gets into her story. “Apparently, there’s a whole nother part of the planet we don’t even know about. It's like someone wrote it all out of history. Only a handful of ancient maps still exists, maps that even show Antarctica as being tropical.”
She shrugs. "But who knows if they're even authentic? Someone could have made them in their mom's basement for all we know."
“So let me get this straight, we’re going to sail to Antarctica, a.k.a., the ice wall, to get to Eden Island. But this island is on the other side of the wall?”
“Exactly.” she pulls her lip gloss out of her purse and flips the visor so she can apply it with the mirror. The lip gloss makes a squishing sound as she pulls it out of the tube.
“Won't we fall off if the earth is flat?” He smirks as he asks the question and she knows he’s being sarcastic.
“No, because the planet is protected. Were you listening?” She applies a thin layer of nude lipgloss and smooths the outline with her fingertip.
“Protected by what, exactly? I don't get it.”
She puts the lipgloss back in her purse and flips the visor back up. “By the firmament. You know, that protective layer thing that God created in the beginning? It's in the book of Genesis, like the first chapter I think.”
"You actually didn't say anything about that part." He murmurs more to himself than to her. He pulls into the parking lot of a microbrewery. There are few other cars and Mina can tell they are about to beat the lunch hour rush.
“Ah, huh," he says unconvincingly. She knows he doesn't believe the conspiracies. She can't blame him because they're incredible. Unbelievable. Some of them are even downright scary.
“Look, I’m not saying I believe all that flat earth stuff. I’m saying that Ardan’s instructions said to go through the gate at the ice wall. I had to find the only sailor in Southern California who knew how to get there. The ice wall could be figurative for all I know. Maybe it’s a town in Antarctica or something.”
“Hmmm,” he says. It's the silent response he always gives when he’s concerned about something. It’s like he wants to object but can’t because he doesn’t have the full story or all the facts.
He turns off the ignition. “Why do I feel like I’m about to step into the Twilight Zone or something? Like the world is about to go black and white and nothing is going to make sense anymore.”
She opens the car door and stops, “I don’t know but I kind of feel like that too. Exciting isn’t it? I always wanted to go on a real adventure. Like Indian Jones style or Laura Croft.”
He gives her a quizzical glance. “Okay, Laura. If you say so.”
They exit the car and Mina feels rather cheerful and delighted like she’s floating on air. It’s a brand new high for her and she can’t wait to see what the future has in store for her. She wonders what Eden Island will be like and contemplates a 2-4 night stay. Most likely 2 nights since she’s sure Marcel will want to get back to his Salon. Plus she can’t let her business run itself even though Evelyn is capable of making Mina-type savvy decisions without her.
Then she realizes she has only a week to plan the trip. That’s seven days to stock the yacht’s bar with drinks and food. Plus, can she hire a personal chef on such short notice? Probably not but Yvette is a pretty good cook so she’ll invite her along. Mina knows her sister will love it. She'll also need to secure her maid, Lisette for that time too. There's no way Mina is going to wash dishes or clean up after the crew each day.
Marcel walks calmly beside her. She wishes he would take her hand in his, or wrap an arm around her like she’s his girlfriend but he won't. What he will do, is hold the door open for her, pull the chair out for her at the table, and pick a bottle of wine for them to share. He’ll kindly give her all his attention, and listen to everything she has to say. All while being emotionally distant and conversationally agreeable.