I wonder why I never wondered why the easiest things are so hard...

[gotbottle]

Ah, Chicago. Such a huge city, with so many people, that the same dramas can't help but be played out time and time again. Sometimes, even within the same day. Today's flavor seems to be "when worlds collide."

Case in point: Ananya Chinnamalai is walking up to the entrance to the Main Gauche. She's never been the sort to avail herself of free

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[bemagnetic]

Jacob walks up to the railing of the pier. He finished applying at a job nearby and decided to take a look out at the water. Hello-o-o-o, hot woman in a bathing suit out in the water.

Wait, he knows that chick.

"Well, if it ain't Cleopatra herself surveying her kingdom," he says as he stops on the bottom rung of the railing and leans over to see how far a drop it is from railing to water. "How'd you get out there?"

[gotbottle]

Rachel looks up at the sound of his voice, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand. She breaks into a grin, and calls back, "William! Hey, how's the conquering going these days?"

She glances down at her makeshift surfboard and shrugs. "I swam out! That's what you do. Even when you're Queen or whatever."

[bemagnetic]

"Oh. You know." Jacob shrugs his shoulders, and then grins all confident as ever. "Same old, same old. It's my day off from the conquering thing so I thought I'd catch some rays."

He eyes her suspiciously.

"You just jumped off from here?" And is this entirely allowed? Not that he cares. Jacob can be a bad, bad boy when he wants to be.

Most of the time... he wants to be.

[gotbottle]

"Guess even the King himself needs a break once in a while, huh?" Rachel calls back, teasing.

She shrugs, grinning up at him. "I didn't exactly ask if it was allowed. I didn't see any signs saying 'No floating on a piece of wood on the water here okay', so I decided to take my chances. And yeah. I jumped. From up there."

There may or may not be just a little bit of a dare in her tone.

[bemagnetic]

"It's true. Tie on the blue suede shoes and have a night away from conquering for a change," Jacob says with a tiny smile.

Somehow he became Elvis and William. He is just that awesome.

He smirks at the tone in her voice. "No one can say no to Cleopatra. As it has been and so it will be."

Jacob slips his hand down to the bottom of his shirt and pulls it off revealing a nice set of toned abs underneath. He tosses the shirt over the railing. If he wasn't wearing jeans, he might leave the pants on, but wet denim is no fun to navigate in so he unbottons the jeans and wriggles them off. He climbs to the other side of the railing still holding on to it.

"For England and Rock & Roll, baby," he says, and then jumps into the water.

[gotbottle]

Rachel watches Jacob divest himself of his clothing with no small amount of appreciation. He hits the water, splashing in and sending some small waves her way, which makes her shift on her wooden board to keep her balance.

She waits for him to surface, and then she beams at him, clearly delighted. "Awesome. I think this thing'll hold both of us, come on over. I won't go all Titanic on you and make you float in the cold water holding the edge of my door, dude."

[bemagnetic]

Jacob swims over, and then pulls himself up on the other side of the plywood. His side is going to sink in more. All those abs give him all the weight in this situation. It's probably holding her above water a bit.

"As long as you never let go, girl, I think this situation will work out just fine." He looks at her and raises an eyebrow. "So you still got a boyfriend?"

Yeah, he'll probably check on that every time he talks to her. It can't be helped.

[gotbottle]

Rachel shifts again to keep herself from toppling off the side of the board. "I wouldn't let go. I'm not that kind of girl," she declares. "But yes. I still have a boyfriend. We're actually about to move in together."

There's no hiding the delight in her eyes as she says that.

"But we can still be friends. And hang out here on this board."

[bemagnetic]

"Didn't think you were, Cleopatra," Jacob says with a smirk, and then he holds one hand up to express his innocence and smiles. "Had to check. Congratulations on the moving in together that's one hell of a step forward. It means it's serious, doesn't it? Or that's what I hear that step's about."

Jacob never quite makes it that far.

He flashes her another smile as they bob in the water. "I think I can handle that. You got a hot, mother fuckin... board. After all."

[gotbottle]

"Thanks. I... guess, yeah." Rachel laughs softly, glancing out over the water. "I sure did freak out like it was. But we had a little heart-to-heart about a few things, and I calmed the hell down... and it's good. It's gonna be great. I can't wait."

She raises an eyebrow, casting a glance Jacob's way. "Well good," she teases back. "I love a man who can appreciate a good board. In fact, I see you have rather a nice one yourself," she says, gesturing vaguely in the direction of her abs, a mischievous grin turning her lips. "So I appreciate the compliment. Clearly you're in the know."

They sit there for a few long moments, the water gently nudging them up and carrying them back down. "So, how's Chicago treating you? Everything going okay?"