A Matter of Marine-Chapter Two: Bamboozlers!

Conrad is mad that Marine has upset Annie and Flora. Marine is mad that Annie and Flora have done such a terrible job cleaning the house and taking care of Mrs. Wright. Conrad asks if Marine had to accuse Anna and Flora of neglecting Mrs. Wright and if she had to fumigate Mrs. Wright's room. Marine pauses before answering. She tells Conrad that he gave her a trial week, and that she'd like to stay for the summer. Right. Southern hemisphere. Christmas happens in the summer in Australia. How long of a break does her school take in the summer?

Conrad stops yelling for a moment and she can see how tired he is. She feels bad that there's no one there to take care of him or his grandmother. Yeah, she's already got it bad and she met this guy three days ago. Conrad tells her that he can't afford to keep her. He doesn't say, anything about being on the staff, just keeping her. I know it's a common expression, but let's be real. He wants her to take care of more than just his grandma.

Anyway, he can't employ someone who's gonna stir up the staff to such craziness. Marine suggests firing them again since they suck at their job. Conrad replies that he can't. He depends on them to be there and it's apparently either Flora and Annie or putting his grandma in a home. Marine asks when Conrad last looked at his grandmother's room. From there we go to the built in kitchen, to how Mrs. Wright is being made to feel like she's a burden. Conrad asks why she stirred up trouble. Marine tells him that trouble was already there. Then she sees the lines on tension on his face and she wants to smooth them away.

Marine collects herself and tells Conrad, apparently in a gentler voice, that Grandma needs to be mentally stimulated, looked after, and feel loved. They argue about Grandma's food. She gets one hot meal a day from Flora and Annie, but last night's chicken had gone bad and the veggies had been blackened. Marine sent it back and made herself and Mrs. Wright omelets. Conrad says that he'll ask his grandmother about this in the morning. Then he pulls Marine out of her chair and, if she's lying, threatens to beat her. Excuse me? How would that even approach being appropriate behavior for an employer? Dump him before you even date him, Marine.

Oh, then we have the discussion about Grandma's sleeping arrangements. Conrad is infuriated that Marine let Grandma sleep in a room that had been fumigated. Marine argues that they didn't fumigate it; they sprayed it themselves and it's safe for her to be in. Conrad questions why she didn't tell him this before and she says she didn't get the chance to. Except she totally did. She paused just after he said something about fumigating that room. Also, Christmas is a huge worry to these people. I hope it's worth all of the stress. Well, whatever, they'll talk about this more after breakfast.

The next day, Marine wakes up at 5:30. And stays awake. Wow. Then Marine pulls her long legs out of bed to look at the day. Last chapter, she was petite and 5 foot 5 inches. Now she's got long legs? Marine sees the ocean and decides she's got time for a quick dip. She changes into her red bikini, double checks that Grandma is still asleep, and runs out to the beach. Marine ponders the previous day while she floats in the ocean. She and Mrs. Wright cleaned Mrs. Wright's room yesterday. Mrs. Wright had enjoyed it. Also, apparently servants are really hard to find nowadays so you have to cater to them in order to keep them instead of the other way around. Also, Mrs. Wright has a bad heart, so it's important that someone be there all the time. Therefore, they need at least two workers so that if one is out shopping, the other can be there for her. In theory, anyway. Marine makes noises about having her aunt find some new folks and Mrs. Wright freaks out. If Annie and Flora think they're being replaced, they might just leave.

Marine floats back to shore and settles herself to dry in the sun on her towel. Also, yesterday Marine and Mrs. Wright found one of Conrad's books in Mrs. Wright's room. She'd borrowed it forever ago, and Marine went to put it in his room. His room is spotless. Marine thinks that he's assuming his grandma gets the same care. Yeah, but what about the rest of the house? The ridiculously dusty and dirty house?

A shadow blocks Marine's face. Is it a sea monster? A deadly spider? Oh. Hello, Conrad. He smiles at her, and Marine stops feeling like she's doing something wrong. So, the sight of him makes her think he's going to tell at her. Yup, true love. Conrad is impressed that she beat him to the beach. He's oggled her at least twice, so now Marine takes a turn while he's in his board shorts. By the way, their swimsuits are the same color of red. They must be meant for each other! “He was by far the most exciting male specimen she had ever seen, or was ever likely to see!” Wow. Really? Something about that sentence just bothers me. Maybe it's the exclamation mark.

Conrad offers her a chance to ride his surf board and she declines. He laughs and says it's too large for her anyway. Then he oggles her. He's just gotta keep doing that, doesn't he? Oh, but it's totally fine. “[Marine] knew the difference between being leered at and being openly admired and Conrad was openly admiring her, making her feel glad and proud that she was a woman.” Isn't it a conflict of interest to screw your boss? Or your grandmother's caretaker?

Oh, hey! Look at those waves! They're large, which is caused by the King Tides that come to Australia around Christmas. (It totally is Australia. Good.) Anyway, these waves are huge and Marine is worried about Conrad riding one, but he's a wild bad boy. Of course he's going to! ...and it's the most perfect-est show of athleticism Marine's ever seen. He's so dreamy. Or something. Marie runs into the surf to hand him a towel, and he dries his face and hair a little. Then they start walking back toward the house. He's only going to ride one wave? Huh.

Anyway, they start talking about surfing, and they're both enjoying talking to each other and whatnot. Conrad taught himself how to surf, you know. Marine tells him how she bragged to a boyfriend that she could surf when she was fourteen, and almost drowned trying to show him. Now she can surf decently in calm waters, but not in crazy ones like Conrad. Then he gets all pissy and makes a comment about how “a girl like her” would have plenty of boyfriends. Marine asks what he means and it goes downhill from there. You see, he wants to bang her, but he doesn't want to have to fight anyone else for it, so the idea of her dating other people makes him mad. Not that Marine picks up on this.

Conrad tells her that she's outgoing, and got a beautiful face and figure, so she's probably dated lots of guys. He makes it sound like an insult. Marine argues that, yes, she has had her fair share of boyfriends. Then they stare at each other, holding their breath. Finally, Conrad tells Marine she should be getting Grandma ready for breakfast. She defiantly replies that she should be. Then she goes upstairs, showers, and dresses entirely in pink. Why, Marine? Why not wear more than one color? But it's okay, because the jeans are tight and the sleeveless top shows off her curves. Or something.

Marine goes to Mrs. Wright's room to find that Mrs. Wright is already down at breakfast. Annie helped her get to the bath and get dressed and such. Now she's changing Mrs. Wright's sheets, even though Marine and Mrs. Wright changed them yesterday. Oh, and they were gross yesterday! Also, Annie's got a vacuum cleaner and cleaning stuff in the room. Oh, side note of something I didn't think was important at the time. Apparently, Conrad doesn't spend a lot of time in his house. Because he works about 2 hours away, he'll stay in his town house or at the construction site most of the time. That's how Annie and Flora were able to get away with their lack of cleaning. Although, you'd think the dusty entryway would give them away.

Conrad is at the head of the table, wearing entirely beige clothing. Ew. Mrs. Wright is there as well, and Conrad is laughing at something she just said. Anyway, this breakfast is delicious and extensive. Once they've finished their meal, and are lingering over their coffees, Conrad begins asking his grandma about the kind of treatment she's been getting.

Mrs. Wright, not wanting to make a fuss, says that everything is fine. Oh, the omelet last night instead of the chicken that Flora and Annie made? That's because she wanted something lighter. Yeah. That. Well, now Conrad doesn't believe Marine that Mrs. Wright has been neglected and Flora and Annie are going to have it out for Marine now. Those bamboozlers! Also, Conrad is torn between desire for Marine and finding her an aggravating jerk. This must be a romance novel.

In the next chapter, I predict... Marine and Conrad will fight again. This time about tomatoes. Grandma will show Marine her knife collection. Marine will be awed that they're so well taken care of and Grandma will reply with something about how she cleans them every night. Just in case. Also, Conrad will be eaten by a sea monster while he's surfing.