As I sat down onto the taut fiber of the deck chair, I heard a faint high-pitched creak emanate from the wooden floorboards beneath my feet. The sound reached my ears just as the low rumble of the ocean waves did - their echoes like a song carried to me by the soothing sea breeze. Seabirds whizzed across the sky, their spotless-white bodies creating the distinct V-shape I've only seen in countless media. We awaited the return of our clients, who urged us to wait on the balcony of their lovely abode, one I adored from the comfortable seating I found myself on. The house stood high - stilts of sturdy maple formed its foundation upon the greens of the ground below. The tall wooden pillars held the entire house and sundeck at an elevated position, providing a stunning view of the pale-cream shores and glistening blue waves. My dear partner was equally taken in by the sights, leaning far into the metal railings of the patio. Her ash-gray hair perfectly matched the metallic sheen of the barrier. I then turned my attention to the actual house itself. While the support beams and frames surrounding the home's exterior were a dark shade of brown, the walls that made up the house were a light beige, resembling what I presumed to be pine. And even then, those were the walls not bearing wide, transparent windows, the sun's beams reflecting off them as I tried to peek into the interior. It was absolutely charming, resembling nothing like an average young couple's residence and seeming more like a getaway for a middle-aged pair trying to mend their relationship overseas.

If we offered that kind of treatment to struggling matches, our success rate might skyrocket.

I told myself with a content smile, closing my eyes and placing both of my arms behind my weary head.

"As pleasant as it may be, we're still on duty here. I take it you remember that as well, don't you?" The warm atmosphere swept away as my dear partner's remark reached me. I opened my eyes to see her leaning on the railing, pushing a bit of her hair behind her ear as the flowing winds hit her face. While she denounced my laid-back mood, she gazed upon the backdrop of our conversation, the roaring but relatively calm waters - and with a soundless exhale, I could tell she was beginning to enjoy the atmosphere as well.

"Myla, Myla. While I enjoy our usual dynamic of the underappreciated funny man and apathetic straight woman - we're at the beach today." I replied, pushing myself forward from my seat into the shade of the umbrella surrounding the seating of the raised terrace.

"Yes, to aid in a couple's request."

"While chilling on the balcony of their everyday-vacation house." Myla could only sigh in disappointment after my remark - but her sense of duty wasn't too off-time as the transparent sliding door behind me squeaked open.

"Hey, dudes! Sorry for the wait. Lily had to get dressed. And, well, I'm just a big mess in general." The large man in front of me declared with a slightly embarrassed smile holding a tray of drinks and happily stepping towards us, quite a disparity with his outward look. Nash Newland was the name of this young man in front of me. The short spiky hair he carried was only slightly disturbed by the steady wind passing by. And his well-built features were visible through his summer-ready attire of a polka-dotted yellow open shirt and black shorts. Finishing my observation on the fellow, he anxiously snickered and sat on one of four basket chairs next to a round table covered with an umbrella. Realizing the job was about to begin, my dear partner glanced at me and subtly nudged her head towards the table, commanding me off my comfy position.

I'll miss you, humble deckchair.

I stood up and chose the chair in front of the young man, Myla taking her place beside me. Once I begrudgingly found my new spot, it was then that our second client made her entrance. From the sliding door came the siren of the waves, a soft tip tap accompanying her movement towards us - Livia Linville, the other half of our equation and a stunningly gorgeous woman. She walked with a grace that made the wooden patio look like a catwalk, and her long, curly hair, while black, glowed with radiance as a few droplets still clung to her mane. While she now wore a loose, light-blue tank top, her many features continued to stand out. From the strides, she made with her long yet alluring legs - to the way her arms gently swayed along with her hair. Or even just the minute movements her lips made to breathe in the sea-salted air, she was, if nothing else, truly eye-catching in every sense.

That and she has...excellent eyes.

The battle to keep my eyes from following my carnal desires continued to rage when I felt a slight kick to my leg. I turned to my dear partner, who quietly whispered something to me while holding up a cold beverage to obscure her mouth.

"We're here to aid in their troubles, not gawk." I jumped at Myla's keen intuition sensing my perfectly reasonable admiration but immediately retaliated with my own hushed quip.

"Could it be you're just intimidated by the presence of this clearly superior woman?" I replied, taking a swig of the sweet drink.

"I could say the same for you." My eyes widened at the follow-up, and I stopped myself from choking on my juice.

So if she's going down, she's taking me with her, huh. I always knew she'd do that if she had the chance.

With that, I realized that the beautiful young woman now sat beside her partner, still carrying the withdrawn expression she had on the beach. I cleared my throat to signal the start of our operation, wearing my customer-service smile and readying the script in my head.

"Good mornin', we're the surveyors assigned to you guys. My name's Bridger Blaithe, and my partner here is Myla Marika. Sorry if we arrived at a bit of an inconvenient time."

"Ah, don't be sorry. We should've kept the schedule in mind more, and besides, you guys had to come all this way." The cheerful fellow replied, gesturing with his hand to reassure me before continuing.

"My name's Nash Newland, and my better half here is Livia Linville, but you guys probably already know that since we're registered - but, then again, you were introducing yourselves, so it just felt natural! Call me Nash, by the way."

Oh boy, this'll be fun.

I silently told myself before maintaining my smile and getting the conversation moving again.

"It's quite alright, now to start wi-"

"Please, call me Lily." The young woman who had stayed completely mute spoke up, a seemingly random statement from her monotonous but silvery voice. It was then I noticed that Nash was lightly nudging the woman who'd I'd now have to honor of dubbing Lily.

If only it were that easy to make mine speak up.

I maintained my smile and gave a quick and cordial nod before brushing off the comment and resuming the discussion. From my tone, it might seem like I'm impatient, but from my own experiences, I know not to rush and make it feel like we're just here to collect their data and leave. Making sure each of your clientele feels important is an essential trait that separates the good and bad of not only surveyors but a variety of different professions.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"To begin, I'd like to know your current job status since your files were a bit old, and I just want to make sure I have the most up-to-date information. Heck, I didn't even recognize you based on your photos!" I structured my question as a way for us to both collect necessary data and approach them in a friendly manner. All the while, my dear partner would maintain her composed demeanor to reassure the pair we were already formulating a plan. There was a certain fun in glimpsing these kinds of things - that gave me a sense of accomplishment when I would look back on our earlier excursions. I smiled to myself with that thought awaiting the couple's answer.

"That's where the problem lies, actually. I'm a commercial photographer for a company. I specialize in sceneries. And that means I get to travel a lot. This time though, it sorta backfired. Long story short, I got a call that they were offering a trip to different cities in Europe for a shoot, and I was one of the lucky few to get picked for the job." Nash finished, compelling me to turn to Livia with a hand to my chin.

"Congratulations on the opportunity, though I know that's only half of the story, Miss Linv- ahem, Lily?"

"I work as a model for a local clothing brand. It would be difficult for me to leave both that and this house." Comparing it to her partner. The beautiful young woman replied concisely and impassively. The answer was so short that it took me an awkward pause and the lingering sounds of Myla's writing to indicate to me that was all she wanted to say.

Is this how it feels to be on the other end of the stick.

"I see quite the conflict in that aspect. When are you scheduled to leave?"

"A week from now," He sighed, "We've been optimistic for the most part. And even with this problem, neither of us wants to constrict the other's work lives." The cheerful fellow answered, the glowing figure beside him subduedly nodding in accordance.

So it's not like they're too bothered by the trip. In that case, what's the issue here?

With that, I felt something prod my arm to see my partner's pen dug into me. Fearing the sudden threat to my life, it took her cold sigh of exasperation to bring my eyes to the clipboard she was currently writing on, a piece of printed paper atop it. Inspecting it closer, I saw that she had encircled a small line of text to which I directed my attention and realized her suggestion.

"I swear you'd do anything to avoid talking, will ya?" I whispered jokingly. I exhaled a sigh that communicated What am I gonna do with you? in a manner as clear as the shoreline waves. I returned my attention to the pair with a few short Hmms to reengage myself in the discussion.

"I actually recall something from your file. It came to our attention that you have another pressing issue. If it at all relates to your current dilemma, we would love to know anything about it." My statement surprised Nash, who until earlier was all cheers with a few moments of anxiousness. To that end, he faced his partner, whose unemotional expression changed to a tiny but captivating smile. She was, of course, aiming to reassure her counterpart, but I'm pretty sure if you told me to jump into the nearby sea and drown myself with the backing of such a face, I might just agree. That feeling was mutual between the cheerful fellow and me as he collected himself and began.

"Well, if you didn't already notice, neither of us is the best at handling others. We've gotten a bit better ever since we started going out, but not having each other around turns me into a nervous wreck - and aside from work, Lily would probably stop talking altogether."

"So that's your biggest worry over the trip?"

"It might seem insignificant. But, yes." He replied a bit downcast, to which I shook my head to reassure him it was an understandable concern. I was to begin tossing ideas at them when I heard the distinctive click of a pen sheathing its tip.

"We'll conclude this for now," My dear partner, at last, spoke to the couple directly, standing up from her seat and taking one last look at her clipboard before placing it on her side and continuing, "Usually, we would take this time to examine possible solutions, but unfortunately we have a schedule to follow,"

"Ah, shoot, you're right. Time flies when you're in such a scenic area. Still, we'll be right back in touch with you soon enough, and we'll see what we can make of your trouble, considering everything you've told us today. Alright, we'll visit again. Take care." I took Myla's cue and stood up, sweetening my words to contrast with the rather blunt tone my partner spoke in.

"No, it's alright. We're still at fault for all that. Thank you for your time today. We're happy just having you guys around. We'll look forward to hearing from you again then." And with their hands waving farewell, looking almost synchronized with the waters behind them, we made our way down the maple steps of the house onto solid ground. Before I knew it, the view I had become so attached to in the span of an hour and a half slowly disappeared from sight as the car weaved through the asphalt sections of the highway.

"Hmm, you got any ideas?"

"I've worked on similar cases. And there were equivalent concerns to those I've noted here." We started to get the ball rolling, and even with what little information we had, it was wise to lay the cards in our hands before making a play.

"It's unreasonable to make Miss Linville-"

"Lily."

"...Lily, travel as well. She's actually a familiar face, one I've seen in a few malls and stores for some time. It's safe to assume she's well-situated with her work, and if Mister Newlan-"

"Nash."

"Do you want to add anything useful to the conversation?"

"Later, for now, I get to have fun." My dear partner then took in a breath while pulling her head back, looking as if she was ready to hit it onto the wheel out of frustration.

I'll be good later, I promise.

"And if Nash was also given the position, I doubt he has qualms with the idea itself." I gave Myla a curious Uhuh to let her continue.

"It's also a costly venture since only Nash would be supported by the company. And although they seem more than well off, just from their house alone. It may be difficult to leave such assets without their care."

"I see. Practically speaking, it's already a doozy. If I had to chip in, the two seem more than willing to continue the relationship overseas, though." My dear partner didn't expect that comment at the end and tilted her head a bit to sign to me to elaborate.

"We definitely need more time with them, but from what I glanced at, they're more or less worried about leaving each other to deal with people, ya get me?" I finished as I stared out into the moving landscape, the sun still high above us and the rolling hills. I realized that it was a simple problem and a common one too. That being said, what I first assumed to be a side quest was shaping up to be the core of our dilemma - and I wondered if our equally unconventional methodology of work would match well with it.

Even so, you gotta go back to the basics eventually, especially in territory like this.

"Back then, what did you guys usually do with these kinds of couples?" I asked, turning to face my dear partner to catch her attention and shield myself from the cosmic blaze.

"We were in a similar spot two years back, actually. When Alexandre and I asked a veteran surveyor, they said they set up special dates for the two. It was to create as many memories as possible and relieve any built-up stress and anxiety between the couple to ensure an adequate send-off." I nodded, agreeing with the idea but wondering if that would be sufficient for the task at hand.

"I guess even with our unorthodox methods, sometimes we have to look at the manual too, huh," I remarked, now considering the many options for a final face-to-face date for the pair. It had to be memorable but also had to answer their worry regarding their social lives. To that end, I started thinking of gatherings, parties, and other scenarios where they could be romantic in a crowd of people.

Still, it's not like a chance is going to appear at the drop of a hat.

I supposed, lowering the visor of the passenger's seat to protect my eyes from the morning star. It was at that moment that stacks upon stacks of papers and cards fell into my lap, causing me to recoil and pause for a moment to stare at the mess made. I gave an accusing glance to my dear partner, who I've at times seen use my visor as a repository for the random advertisements we get on our travels. I started picking up the small articles when I found one that coincidentally may have been just what I was after.

The drop of a hat, huh. I guess a visor is a kind of headwear, after all.