Assignment for the Sixth Week
Beth watched the man step off his boat onto her dock. He was younger than she expected. Over the phone, he seemed older, confident, as if he had the wisdom Beth was sure she lacked when it came to worldly things like land rights and the law. As he approached Beth, now standing at the edge of the beach, arms crossed and sunglasses hiding her eyes, she saw they must be of similar age. He was even good-looking: longish brown hair, shoulder-length, blowing in the salty wind. A thick beard encased a mouth that broke into a wide smile. He was tall, broad, and he pushed his black sunglasses back on his head, extending his other hand for a shake.
“You must be Beth,” he said. Beth shook his hand, firm and brief, like Aunt Isabella had taught her. His voice was warm, thick, amber; the resonance a deep comfort in her chest, like enjoying honey on toast on an early morning in the winter.
Beth nodded her head. “And you must be Mr. Diller.”
“Guilty,” he said, chuckling lightly, looking at Beth, squinting against the rising sun. “But please, call me Nathan.”
Beth remained quiet, crossed her arms again. Diller’s smiled dropped from his face and he let out a large sigh, his eyes scanning the beach and interior trees.
“It’s a beautiful island,” he said.
Beth nodded again. “And I plan on keeping it that way, Mr. Diller.”
Diller looked back at Beth, squinting his eyes, before thinking better of insisting she call him Nathan. If she wanted an adversary, he was going to oblige. “And we don’t want to change that. The beauty. It’s the draw.”
“No, the draw is the money you can make from putting a resort on this island.”
Diller calculated quickly that Beth would respond to the raw truth; if she sensed anything false in his answer, he’d lose her. “That’s fair.” A beat, a pause. Play it out, be pensive and considering, go for the schmaltz that attracts women like Beth. “But it’s also an opportunity to share this island with others. To make this beauty more accessible.”
“Don’t give me that shit,” Beth said, turning on her heel and walking away, toward the forest path to the cabin. Diller fell in step behind her.
“Look, we can all benefit. You get a nice, dare I say, sizable sum for this island. Vacationers get to enjoy the view and beauty. My client takes all the chance and has a decent upside. It’s truly a win-win-win,” Diller said, keeping pace with Beth’s pumping legs.
Beth stopped in the middle of the trail abruptly, her ponytail whipping around her head as she swiveled to face Diller, who almost ran into her stopped frame. “It’s only a win-win-win, Mr. Diller,” she said, the corner of her lip turned into a sneer, “if you’re looking at it in terms of profit. ‘Cause any other way I look at it,” Beth turns around and starts walking off again, “is lose. Lose. Lose. Lose.”