Chapter 478: Waste

Ian was not expecting Drax to throw Mina that far into the ocean. The depth of the water in that area was not marked, and with Mina shouting about not being able to swim, Ian was livid. He punched Drax, who shrugged before turning to chase after Mills, and just as Ian made it to the splashing and flailing woman, he heard Mills plop into the water on the other side. He pulled Mina into his chest, making it to an area where his feet could touch the bottom, but hers could not. She clung to him, struggling to catch her breath before breaking into tickled laughter.

"That would have been fun if I didn't start dying at the end," she said. Ian laughed then stiffened. He looked down at Mina's chest, which was completely bare. The woman followed his line of sight and pushed away from him, sinking right down into the water as she did. Ian pulled her back up and against his body.

"Calm down. Let me get you to a place where you can stand on your own," he said, while Mina was quietly whining like a baby. "I'm not looking," he said, closing his eyes. He heard Mina sobs soften and he assumed it was because she checked to see his eyes really closed. "Now; I can carry you out like this, or you can put my shirt on."

"Your shirt," Mina replied, and Ian instructed her to keep her body pressed against his so that other people would not be able to see her chest. He managed to undo the first few buttons of the beach-linen top but had to stop because Mina's breasts were pressed against him, causing her to whimper in embarrassment.

"You can take a step back, and I will unbutton the rest." Mina did as she was asked, lowering herself deeper into the water to avoid an audience. Ian took off his shirt and draped it over Mina the wrong way, but she was still too embarrassed to leave the ocean. He stepped closer to her, trying to shield her from the people who were splashing near them, and to his surprise Mina pressed her body closer to his. "You can't stay in here all day. Just let me carry you out. I will do my best to keep your modesty." Mina nodded and President Lee scooped her up telling her to wrap her legs around his waist but when she did, she looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Wha- wha- what is that?" she asked letting her legs drop back down to the sandy bottom.

"Mina, I'm a man. That is a natural biological reaction that I have little control over." Ian watched realization dawn on Mina, and she jumped back, once again sinking into the deeper part of the water. "Stop that. I already said I'm not looking at you, but the other thing is out of my control."

"What will people think if you walk out of the water like that?"

"They will think you are a lucky-" Ian's quip was never finished because Mina pushed away again, and he was sure she was considering allowing herself to drown. "Okay, bad joke. I will help you stay covered, and you can help me, deal?" Mina shut her eyes tightly, nodding her head as the man scooped her up again. He started to walk toward the shore, but Drax came splashing up to him holding something in his hands.

"I think this belongs to you," he said, Draping Mina's bikini top over Ian's head as he swam away. Mina pulled the top down, and Ian shielded her while she dipped low in the water to put it back on. She turned to face him, looking down toward his groin through the water.

"Do you still need my help?" she asked. Ian could think of many ways Mina could help him, but instead he shook his head, watching the woman make her way back to the shallow water before swimming away to cool off.

----

Mina was mortified, she could not get the thought of what happened earlier in the day off her mind, and she just wanted to go back to her room and sulk. Mills kept teasing her about the situation, saying that something similar happened between herself and Drax when they had first met, but Mina was not pacified. She only flashed a smile when she and Mills found an ice cream stall that had self-serve condiments.

The women, now covered with the shirts of the men they had come with, stood on the line, and when they reached the front, Mina sighed in disbelief. The price for the ice cream was beyond inflated, and she changed her mind on the spot. Mills offered to buy her one, but Mina refused, saying that she already owed her for the trip. The man working the stall muttered something about Mina being too young to be so cheap, and when she responded, both the man and Mills looked shocked.

"You speak Balli?" Mills said with awe in her eyes. The man behind the stall was also impressed, and he offered to give Mina a cone for three dollars instead of five. She took him up on his offer because she was planning to more than make up for the upcharge with the condiments.

With ice cream in hand, Mina and Mills found a vacant bench, and began to enjoy. Mina's cone looked like a monstrosity with how much stuff she put on it, but the look in her eyes told anyone watching that she was serious about the dessert. With each taste, the women looked at each other and smiled. Drax and President Lee had gone off to do their own thing, and Mina was genuinely enjoying herself despite being outside of her element.

Under the hot rays of the sun, Mina's cone was melting fast, and making a mess on her hand. She tried to salvage what was being wasted by quickly licking the cone from the base to the top, completely unaware of how others would perceive it, and Mills, not paying attention to anything other than her own melting dessert, did not say anything. Mina's tongue flicked out, ready to take another lick, but someone's hand swatted out and slapped the cone right out of her hand.

Tears welled in Mina's eyes as she looked up and saw President Lee looming over her like a deranged person. She opened her mouth, asking if the cone were poisoned, because that was all she could think of. When the man told her it was not, she quoted the price of the cone, now upset that he had knocked her food out of her hands without cause. Mina knew that President Lee was aware of how much she hated food waste.

"You really need to learn how to stop doing stupid things," he said, and Mina felt her stomach flip. She looked around at other people staring at her in concern, and she put her head down in shame.

"How come every time I am smiling, you do your best to wipe it off my face?" Ian flinched with the question, he had not meant for it to appear that way, but Mina had already gotten up and walked away with slumped shoulders before he could explain.

"You could have handled that better," Mills said as she watched the man follow Mina. Drax sat in the spot where Mina had been sitting and asked his girlfriend why they both had not gotten the cup. When she told him he shrugged, it was an innocent enough reason. He then turned to Mills, tucking a strand of her sun-dried hair behind her ear, and kissed her forehead.

"If you ever in your life eat an ice cream cone in public; I will kill you." Mills chuckled, leaning in to give Drax an ice cream flavored kiss, before offering him a scoop of her melted concoction.