By the time dusk had fallen that night, Elena realized that Derk wasn't there at the facility, wasn't looking for them at all.  Either he hadn't gotten her message or... or he wasn't coming.  That meant that it could be another day, another two days... up to a week before Tiffany and Hans and Michael returned.  The security staff at the front of the complex never came down to check on them.  

They had passed the time in the afternoon by looking at the little shells of the sand.  Richard's tool bag had a few different magnifying lenses, and tweezers, so they scooped up piles, and showed each other the various tiny little twists of itty bitty snails and conches and stars.  Miniscule mollusks that didn't quite make it.  There were billions of them under their feet.  They collected a small pile on the table, sorting them by curve and spiral, and selecting their favorite pieces.  In all the time here, Elena had never looked at the sand.  She had scooped and scraped and sucked algae from the water, the coral, the rocks, the fish, and mounted it under the microscope week after week.  But she had never looked at the little shells under her toes.  

A short survey of the rainforest had indicated that there were bananas, though not in arms reach, and some ripe mangoes.  Both of them wore good tread shoes to prevent slippage, but neither had a machete handy to cut the fruits down.  Richard found a few large rocks in the desert area that he threw at the mangos, knocking two off the tree.  His swiss army knife made filets of the fruit, and they dined on mango slices for dinner.  Elena had refilled the water cups a few times.  She was totally drenched in her suit, and had unrolled it down to her waist as well.  Her brown hair curled around her face from the hot steamy air, and she had a shimmer of sweat and soil on her skin making her look bronzed.  She realized it would be her turn for a dip in the ocean soon enough.  

The evening came sooner than they expected, as there were no floodlights this time, and they didn't want to use up the battery in his flashlight.  Ozzy and Harriet had mostly kept to themselves all day, occasionally being spotted in the upper canopy of the rainforest, but generally out of sight.  Richard and Elena decided to camp out on the beach this time, the sand making a smoother bed than the wet leaves.  Richard found some matches in the tool bag, and lit a piece of dried wood he had snapped off from a dead branch.  Elena didn't bother to protest at this point.  What would be a little smoke compared to their human footprint?  The project would probably be scrapped this week.  Their little campfire emitted more of a cheery glow than any real light, and they took turns telling horror stories from their graduate programs.  

"I'm sorry about what happened Elena, I really am," Richard finally said in a low, raspy voice.  Talking in the thick warm air had made his voice even deeper, and sexier.  

"Oh, it's not your fault, it's mine. I should have paid more attention.  I am the supervisor here."  She said.  It was true, and she knew it.  He might have done some things that he shouldn't have, but she could have been stricter with him than she had been.  It was too late now.

"That's not what I mean, actually," he paused.  They were both silent a moment, there was only the crackle of the little glowing wood bits, as the flames were fading,  and the patter of soft waves hitting the beach. "I meant about the Christmas party three years ago."  So, he couldn't let it go, could he, she thought.  When will I ever live this down?  

"Oh, that.  Yeah, I've practically forgotten all about it," she lied, trying to sound all non chalant.  

"Really?  I thought that was why you've been so angry at me all this time." he said, rather quietly.

"Me? Angry at you?  Why would you say that?"  she asked. She hated it that he was being so sensitive right now.  She preferred to dislike him when he was a prick.  

"I've been trying to apologize forever, since it happened, and you've just given me the cold shoulder."

"Apologize?  You mean telling me "I'm still up for it" is an apology?"  She was flabbergasted.  How daft could he be?  He must be one of those high functioning autistics, she thought.  

"I've been trying to tell you I still like you."   

"Still like me?  When did you start liking me?  Right after you hooked up with that girl, whatsherface, Suzie Leonard?"

"Oh, you do remember."

"Of course I remember, you idiot, I was the laughingstock of the department the rest of the year."

"I said, I'm sorry. You don't have to call me an idiot."

"Yeah, well, it's done and a long time ago and good thing it never happened."

"I don't think so."

"Why?  So you could have had another notch on your post?  Don't you get enough women in the undergrad classes, or have you already slept with them all?"

"Hey, that's not fair, and it's not true.  Suzie was my exgirlfriend.  Is my exgirlfriend.  She and I had already been going out a long time when I met you, and I thought she had dumped me.  She hadn't.  She's just a little bit ... she likes to make a lot of drama happen.  I didn't do it to hurt you."  

"Well, you couldn't have done much better to hurt me if you had tried." Elena knew she sounded like a drama queen herself at that point, but she was glad she said it.  This wasn't how she envisioned telling him where he could stick it.  Well, she still hadn't said that, either.  She was just relieved that it was out in the open.  She had been carrying those words in her heart for a long time.

"I realize that now.  I just wanted you to know how sorry I have always been that happened.  I really thought you were a special girl."  He picked up some sand and threw it.  "I still do."

Elena was quiet and stared straight ahead into the soft green mist.  She didn't know what to say, and she was afraid to look at Richard.  She had created this idiot monster in her head, and she had gotten rather attached to that image of him, the guy she could push away.  It wasn't until she met Derk that she had stopped thinking about him.  And now she didn't have Derk to think of anymore.  Where was he anyhow?  Where was anyone?

"I'm going to sleep in my skivvies, and if you want, you can use my jumpsuit for a pillow," Richard offered to her after a few minutes of neither of them speaking.  She realized that that would mean the two of them sleeping closer to each other, side by side, flanks pressed together.  

"Okay," she said.  He put his hand on her hip and pulled up a little to her back.  This time she didn't pull away.  She felt his hand brushing her long brown hair into a fan across the sand, and away from his face.  She rolled towards him and found herself nose to nose with him.  So close, so very very close.  He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips.  

"Richard, I.."   she started but he interrupted.  

"Yes Elena, I know.  You like someone else.  Good night."  With that he rolled away, and was snoring within a few minutes.  She lay awake, staring off into space, under the glass dome of this little paradise.  The monkeys could be heard in the distance, clapping and calling to each other.  The waves lapped, and the mist poured out into the air enveloping the two of them.  Elena noticed his foot had crossed over by her ankle, and as he snoozed, she sank a little toward his warmth, towards his gently breathing body, and let herself drift to sleep.