Page 15 of Anyone But You

“We can’t stay in the open water like this. We’ll be sitting ducks for sharks. Hell, there might be barracudas or something in here,” I explained as I surveyed our surroundings. My heart fluttered with hope when I noticed an island in the distance. If we were lucky, we’d make it in one piece, and if God chose to show us a little mercy, we wouldn’t be met by a lost cannibalistic tribe.

I grabbed the back of his vest and swam with one arm towards shore.

Thank you, Mom, for the swimming classes at the Y.

My tears blended into the ocean, adding to the saltiness as I thought about my mother. Knox’s bribe money was there, and my salary was directly deposited twice a month. Her rent would be taken care of, but there was a possibility I’d never see her again.

What if no one finds us?

“Victoria…I’m sorry,” Knox whispered, voice thick with emotion.

I hadn’t realized I was sobbing as we approached shore. I abandoned Knox and crawled on shaky hands and knees on hot, white sand to safety. The beach appeared deserted, and the shock and reality of our situation began to sink in. I was stranded on an island with my boss from Hell.

Knox

“I hate you.”

My heart dropped in my chest. Victoria had said those three little words so many times over the past year, but never with such insult—never from the heart. And it stung like a motherfucker.

“Victoria, I’m—”

She held a hand up, halting my apology, forcing the words to die in my throat.

“I-I don’t want to hear sorry, Knox. Your sorry isn’t going to save us.”

She was right. I could say sorry until I was blue in the face, but it wouldn’t change our situation or how she despised me.

I nodded at the wound on her head.

“Let me bandage that up,” I murmured.

“How do you plan on doing that?” she questioned skeptically.

I held up the first aid kit I salvaged from the wreckage. I had clipped it to my vest before I swam us toward shore.

I had expected her to deny my assistance and tell me to fuck off and die, but to my surprise, she motioned for me to proceed.

“All right. Let’s see what we got,” I said, crouching and opening the kit. I was relieved to find that everything was encased in waterproof packaging. I moved efficiently, tearing open a package of antiseptic wipes and bandages. “This is alcohol base, so it might burn. Well, maybe not as much as the salt water.”

Victoria’s “I don’t give a fuck” face, mixed with the blood that was steadily pumping from her forehead, prompted me to shut the hell up and tend to her wound. She winced periodically as I cleaned her injury.

“What is that?” she asked when I cracked the lid off a small tube.

“Liquid stitches.”

She shook her head. “Don’t use that. Just bandage me up.”

“It’ll leave a nasty scar if I don’t.”

“We may never see civilization again. I don’t give a damn about a scar. We should save it for more serious injuries.”

I nodded and proceeded to work my magic. I tried to ignore how Victoria trembled like a leaf before me, but the shaking was so violent that I’d have to close my eyes not to notice.

This is all my fault. She could’ve been in Miami with her friends, having the time of her life, but instead, she’s wet, injured, and afraid for her life. I don’t even know where we are—somewhere in the Pacific if I had to guess. But how helpful is that? How many microscopic islands dotted the Pacific Ocean? We need a plan—water, food, shelter.

Locating a drinkable water source would be my number one priority. We wouldn’t survive long without it. If we were lucky, it would rain, but then we’d need a receptacle to collect rainwater.

“W-we need to find water,” Victoria stammered. I held back a smile. Did I hire her because I thought she was smoking hotand I wanted an assistant who was easy on the eyes? Yes, but I knew from how she domineered our interview that she was a competent woman with a take-no-shit personality.