“I’d love to.”
Another course arrived. This time the bowl was filled with an assortment of fish and shellfish with only a thin pool of broth beneath it. Richard dug into it without comment. Since the soup had come with both a fork and a spoon, I watched which he chose for what and did the same.
I tapped Kal’s thigh, leaned over, and said to him, “I can’t tell if Richard likes the food.”
Kal looked across the table and said, “Richard, what do you think of the soup?”
“This is not soup.” He threw his hands up in the air. “This is the best bouillabaisse I have tasted in my entire life. The best. And I make the dish. The chef has added an ingredient so subtle I can’t quite figure out what it is.”
A grandmother’s love. The words came to my mind, and I blinked back tears. It was probably something simple like a rare pepper, but that’s not what my heart told me.
To one of the waitstaff, Richard said, “I need to speak to the chef.”
A moment later, a somewhat frazzled Paul emerged from the kitchen. When he saw who had summoned him, he froze. For a moment I thought he might turn around and head back into the kitchen. He took a breath, smiled, and approached Richard. “Chef D’Argenson. I heard you’d like to speak to me.”
“Yes,” Richard said, as he removed his napkin from his lap, placed it on the table and stood. “This is the best bouillabaisse I have ever tasted, and I don’t give compliments lightly. Is it your inspiration or someone else’s?”
Paul was glowing as he said, “It’s my grandmother’s. She taught it to me and we would make it together whenever she would visit. This was her favorite dish and whenever I make it, I feel her with me.”
Richard’s face tightened then he said, “A grandmother’s love. That’s the ingredient that sets it apart. Intangible. Impossible to recreate. Perfection.”
“Thank you, Chef D’Argenson. It is an honor to have you enjoy it.”
Richard shrugged. “If it is okay with you, I will ensure I’m not the only one who will. Whenever bouillabaisse is mentioned, I will tell them there is only one place I would recommend and that is right here. I myself will return to enjoy it again. It reminds me of home.”
“Thank you.”
I turned to Kal and hugged his arm. “He loves it.”
Kal smiled. “We did good.”
“We sure did.”
“Ready to go home tonight?”
Home. Florida felt like that to me now—and so did Kal. “I am.” Then to lighten the mood, I added, “How about after dessert?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Kal
A few months later, seated on the couch with Jade asleep next to me, I turned off the television and picked up my phone. As soon as we’d returned to Florida, I’d gotten a job at a local gym to help pay the bills. With Jade at my side, I found the courage to finally call Sal and ask him how everyone at the old gym was. He was happier to hear from me than I’d expected him to be and that was humbling. My stubborn pride had cost me a lot over the years, but I was determined to not let it guide my actions again. I promised to bring Jade up to meet him soon then Sal passed the phone to some of the men I’d known most of my life. They asked a ton of questions. I told them the tangents my life had taken before landing me in Florida with a good woman and what I hoped was a solid plan. I’d made mistakes, let too much time pass without trying to make amends, but we started fresh that day and it felt good—so good.
I was still reaching out to production companies, but Netflix hadn’t called and so far, I hadn’t gotten past pitching my idea for a documentary. Meanwhile, Jade and I started volunteering every weekend together and filming it with our cameras. We bought some cheap equipment and began to film our dives as well. Our focus was to raise awareness of worthwhile environmental projects and encourage donations for them.
We posted those videos on our social media platforms and at first that hadn’t seemed like a wise choice. Videos of me on stage appeared on every post, often with a landslide of ridicule. Jade and I talked about the possibility of pulling the videos down but decided to face the trolls together.
We went live on one platform and brought up my dancing past. I told them that caring about the future of the planet doesn’t require a particular moral standing. I’d done plenty of things I wasn’t proud of. Videos of private moments at wild parties would probably continue to surface. Those mistakes would always be a part of me. So? Are people not allowed to evolve? Are we never able to be more than we were at our weakest moments? Is that what humanity has become?
Jade addressed those who mocked my lack of formal education in the field. She handled it with so much dignity and class those trolls fell silent. When she said that anyone who thinks an education can only happen in a classroom is either a fool or really a fool, I laughed. So did many of the people watching the video.
Steadily over the last couple of months she and I had built up a following for our videos. People had stopped asking me to take off my wetsuit and embarrassing video footage stopped appearing on our posts. More and more, invitations from well-known marine biologists would appear in the comments and we’d follow up on them.
With Jade snoring away beside me, I checked on the stats of our latest video. Three million views? That wasn’t possible. I checked the other videos. Same and rising. It was insane. I slapped Jade’s ass. “Look at this.”
She groaned and blinked. “What?”
I showed her the phone. “Can those views be right?”
“Holy shit.” She sat up. “Did you do something different?”
“No. You?”
“No.” She opened the app on her phone. “This is crazy. Look at the comments coming in. They love you.”
“Us.”
“I don’t understand. What changed?”
I did a search of my name online and what popped up was a quote that Jade and I were Aquaman’s favorite real-life heroes. I read the quote to Jade then found his post where Jason Momoa said he’d learned my name first when I’d stolen one of his suits but forgave me when he saw all the good work I was doing for the environment. He recommended our videos to anyone who hadn’t seen them as both educational and damn entertaining.
His post had been shared by several other big entertainers who agreed that Jade and I were some of their favorite influencers. Influencers? Is that what we’d become?
“Jade, my DMs are filling up.”
“Mine too.”
I checked. “Some of these are from sponsors.”
Jade snuggled closer with her phone. “What do we do? Should we answer them? I’ve never dealt with something like this.”
“Me neither.” I took a deep breath. “We should—”
“Ask Dominic,” she finished.
We both nodded.
I would never feel comfortable accepting money from him, but advice? Absolutely. Since Riley’s engagement, we’d kept in touch, speaking a few times each week. I hit his number. As soon as he answered, I said, “Dom, you know those videos Jade and I post?”
“Yes.”
“They’ve gone viral and sponsor offers are coming in. If you have time we’d like to—”