Immobilized in Fear.

It seemed as if hours went by as Lindy sat on the beach afraid to move, when suddenly her mind stumbled back to a childhood memory.
You always need to have an escape plan in mind to find your way back in case you get lost, she remembered learning from her brothers when they played in the woods as kids.
But what good was that now? She didn't have a plan! But she couldn't just sit and wait, it might take hours, maybe all night for this monstrous curtain of fog to clear.
Gathering her wits about her, she forced herself to think rationally. Now if she followed the trail of shells back again along the beach, wouldn't she end up where she started from? She walked forward a few steps then panicked, was she headed in the right direction?
Don't panic, calm down, she whispered. She checked her watch and saw it had been an hour since she'd left her room. Think, she whispered again, now if I walk for an hour, I should end up back at the condo, or, if I'm going the wrong way, well, I'll figure something out then.
Her heart thumped and her breathing came out in short gasps as she walked along, feeling as if any mimutes she'd step through the wall of white. She checked her watch and ten minutes had gone by, then thirty, forty and soon an hour.
She stopped and listened now. Had she gone too far? Or had she just gone an hour in the wrong direction after all?
Totally exhausted and frightened, she sank down on the sand. She'd just stay here and maybe someone would find her. She couldn't go any farther and was just about to give up in desperation when she heard a car honking. A dog barked, and voices suddenly echoed through the billowing gray. Then a breeze blew in from across the water and the darn fog cleared and the boardwalk came into view. Crying hystericaly, Lindy ran the last few steps to her condo and collapsed in her room. She put on a robe and went out on the balcony to sit in the sun to get warm, and she began to relax. But suddenly, her life seemed terribly alien to her.
She was so alone, Mitzi and Mario were forgotten, and she missed her home! The way it used to be when her husband had been alive and the two of them were happily renovating that house. She lay in a chaise lounge, her thoughts far away.
What the hell was she doing here anyway!

On the Hilton Head beach.....

As the new day dawned, Lindy stood on the balcony of her condo in Hilton Head and watched the sun come up over the ocean. For a few seconds the world was cast in pink. Tiny clouds formed a network of while lace in front of the glow, then a long v-shaped parade of pelicans gllided by and gently tipped the white capped waves.
 She dressed  in new white shorts and halter, grabbed her sunglasses and hurried out to the beach for a walk. The sun warmed her bare shoulders and the soft sand cushioned her feet. The tide had been in leaving behind a line of seashells where it had crested, and then receded. She looked awestruck at the vast expanse of blue water and wondered what foreign country it reached to.  Probably Morocco, she thought. She walked on, the shells crunching under her feet, lost in the beauty of her surroundings and feeling the marvelous freedom. And caught up in the magnificence, she didn't notice the fog that had begun to roll in. She was several miles out when the sun suddenly dimmed and the curtain of gray caught up with her. In a matter of minutes it had enclosed around her. She stopped and watched in horror as it swept past her spiraling over the beach, then stood still as it smothered her in dampness.
Everything disappeared; the sky, the beach and the water. Then she realized the landmarks were gone as well. The silence was only broken by the crashing waves as the Atlantic Ocean seemed to be closing in.
Should she scream?  Would anyone hear her?
Her clothes hung wet and her hair in wispy strands. When she looked down she could see her shoes, but when she extended her arm out her fingers disappeared in the heavy mist. She dropped down to her knees in the sand, boxed in on all sides by the heavy drape. Her breath caught in her throat as she huddled on the beach, her hands splayed over the seashell. It seemed as if hours went by as Lindy sat immobilized in fear, afraid to move, lost and alone in a foreign world.

It was that first meeting!

Lindy and Mitzi lifted their margaritas to their lips and held their cigarettes arched smartly in their hands showing off beautifully manicured nails as they watched the two men approaching.  Their eyes met with school girl glee, reminiscent of their years together in college.
"Mi Amore," one said in a heavily accented voice as they hovered at the girls table.  "My brother and I would like to join you."
Lindy turned her brown eyes to him and lowered her glass.
"Well, I don't know---, What do you think Mitzi?"
Mitzi looked worried.
"You're just not adventuresome! We've got time for one drink," Lindy scolded Mitzi, taken by their foreign charm.
The two men were handsome; their dark feataures accentuated by their white linen trousers and bright silk shirts. Their bare feet were encased in Gucci loafers. One of them reached a hand out to Lindy and said, "My name is Mario D'Agustino and this is my brother Andre. We've been admiring your beauty. Our hearts are beating rapidly!"
Oh brother, Lindy thought as she took his hand, then had a minute to check out their gold watches and bracelets gleaming in the sunlight.
A waitress stopped by and Mario said, "We would like a bottle of Dom Perignon please!"
"Lindy," Mitzi started to protest, and Lindy kicked her under the table.
"Join us," She invited, then after taking seats, she asked, "Where are you guys from?"  She smiled demurely, always curious about people. She'd been accused of being just plain nosey from time to time.  But now she swung her sandaled foot out to display her bare leg.  Her long skirt was unbuttoned to just above her knees.  Maybe a little too high, she thought now as she glanced down.
She looked up as Mario said, "We're from Florida but originally from Europe." He brought a cigarette to his sensuous lips and snapped a slim gold lighter. "Have you ladies been here before?"
"Sure, many times," Lindy lied easily and smiled. "What brings you two here?"
"We're here to buy and sell," Andre said now.  He had been letting Mario do the talking and now he sat up and poured the chanpagne that the waitress had set down on their table.  "We need to celebrate, Senoritas!"
"Okay," Lindy said, "but what are we celebrating?"
"Something we've been working on for months!"  And everyone clinked their glasses together and began to sip the expensive wine.