Escape

by M. K. Elliott

  The buoyant spirit she had found after her first dive lesson had been replaced with a horrible, sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was the same feeling she got every time she left the house to go to work and it made her want to climb into bed and hide from the world.

  Leaving her food forgotten and growing cold, that was exactly what she did.

  Chapter Three

  The next morning, Lucy was the first person to arrive at breakfast, eagerly waiting for the diving trip to start.

  She knew she looked too keen, but due to a combination of jet-lag and excitement, she had been awake since five that morning. For once, nightmares had eluded her that night. She’d grown tired of waiting out on her little balcony, however beautiful the sight of the rising sun over the water had been. Instead, she managed to disguise her over-eagerness by ordering breakfast and dragging out her meal with her chick-lit novel in hand.

  She sat, peeping over the top of her book, people watching. She tried to pretend to herself she wasn’t looking out for anyone in particular, but part of her kept her eyes peeled for Rudy. Those dark eyes and tanned, strong forearms had stayed at the front of her mind, lingering in her thoughts, despite what she’d seen the previous night.

  Though she ordered banana pancakes and they arrived, hot and sweet and delicious, she was worried if she ate too much she would end up either getting sick on the boat or somehow drowning during the dive. Her mother’s ever-cautious warnings of not eating before you went swimming rang in her ears.

  Of course, she had to rationalize to herself that technically you were supposed to sink when you were diving.

  Lucy waited until a small crowd had appeared outside of the dive office, before paying for her breakfast and getting up to join them. Rudy still hadn’t appeared and she could feel the disappointment already weighing on her. She wouldn’t have admitted it, but she had chosen her favorite casual clothes and spent a lot more time than she normally would have perfecting her ‘no-make up’ make-up. She didn’t expect anything to happen between them—after all, clearly Rachel and he had some kind of relationship—but spending the day in close proximity to such a good-looking guy made her want to look her best.

  But it looked like all her efforts were wasted. It would be just her luck to have to spend the whole day with the bitchy Rachel.

  Lucy stood up and wandered over to the small group gathering outside the office. Both Leanne and Stacy were there and they smiled at her as she approached.

  “Yesterday didn’t put you off then?” Stacy called out to her. “The Aussie didn’t scare you away?”

  Lucy laughed. “It takes more than that to scare me.”

  “Yeah, anyway,” Leanne joined in, nudging her friend in the ribs. “She had that gorgeous dive instructor buddying up with her. I know I’d come back if he paid me that much attention.”

  “Someone talking about me?”

  All three women turned at his voice and Leanne’s cheeks burned red. She plastered a smile on her face and then turned back to Lucy and pulled a face that screamed ‘help me!’

  Once again, Lucy couldn’t help but laugh; she hadn’t laughed so much in ages. The good feeling gave her extra confidence as she turned to Rudy and said ‘hi’.

  Was she imagining the friction between them as he smiled back at her—an impossibly cute, lopsided grin? He was tall enough to tower over Lucy’s five-seven frame and his broad shoulders made her feel small and delicate, something she wasn’t used to. Fine blond hair covered the nut-brown skin of his forearms and glinted golden in the sunlight. The image of her fingers running down the ridge of muscle in his arm flashed into her head and she glanced away, embarrassed.

  “So you all ready?” he asked them as one of the SUVs pulled in beside them. Rachel climbed out of the vehicle, her slim tanned legs shown off in the tiny shorts that seemed to be her trade mark.

  “What’s everyone waiting around for?” she called out. “We’ve got gear to load up.”

  Lucy followed the rest of the divers as they all headed into the storage shed and picked up the pieces of equipment they had been shown the day before. She chose a mask, fins and weight belt, and then went to select her regulator and air tank. Hoping she remembered everything, she glanced around at the others, making sure she had all the same stuff. When she saw a few people standing around, looking equally unsure of themselves, she relaxed a little.

  Carrying the equipment outside, she dumped it all onto the floor of the truck with everyone else’s and then pulled herself in after. She took her place on the bench running along the edges of the vehicle, squashed between Stacy and a big, overweight guy who didn’t wear a shirt, named Paulie. A bar ran overhead, and she reached up and grabbed hold.

  The truck started up with a jolt and Lucy’s grip tightened on the bar. She hung on as the vehicle headed up the hill.

  The wind blew her hair back from her face, and the sunshine warmed her skin. Everyone either chatted to each other, or simply watched the beautiful scenery go by. The atmosphere was relaxed and happy, and Lucy felt good to be part of it.

  She clung on tight as the truck bumped and jolted over the terrible roads. A large bump jumped her right off the bench, and she screamed with nervous laughter, joining the rest of them.

  The truck headed deeper into the island. A canopy of lush green vegetation hung down around them, creating a thick shade, as though they were driving through the middle of the jungle.

  Eventually, the vehicle emerged from the thick island vegetation, rising over a hill and heading down into the port. The main street ran up from the dock. A small supermarket, a bakery, numerous diving shops, and several clothes shops aimed at the super-cool, back-packing, surfer-types that were attracted to the island, lined the street. This road, at least, had been paved.

  The port spread out before them and docked in the water, was a beautiful, sixty foot motor boat. The boat was all white, except for the name, Turtle View Resort, painted on the side in turquoise, and a tattooed turtle just above the name.

  It bobbed gently against the pier, inviting.

  Lucy’s smile widened. It almost seemed a shame to have to jump off the boat. She would have been more than happy to pay the same amount of money to spend the day sun-bathing on deck. Of course, she didn’t intend on letting anyone else know that, especially not the two dive instructors. She hated to look as if she was out of her depth.

  The truck pulled up in the small car park. Hauling the gear, they climbed out of the back of the SUV. Following Rudy, they all walked up the dock and climbed on board, each exclaiming out its size and beauty. The boat was as gorgeous up-close, as it had been from afar.

  Rudy took the helm. Lucy found herself a spot on the bow of the boat and pulled some suntan lotion from her bag. She tried to preoccupy herself with covering herself in lotion, but she couldn’t help sneaking glances at Rudy.

  He stared straight ahead, watching the expanse of water stretching out before them as he artfully guided the big boat. Wraparound sunglasses covered his eyes and Lucy took advantage of her own sunglasses to hide where her gaze landed.

  She willed him to turn his head and smile at her, anything to show he had noticed her existence. There was no reason why he should; she was no different than any of the other women on the boat, most of whom would also love to have Rudy’s attention for more than a minute. Yet she couldn’t shake the feeling he had noticed her.

  Lucy shook her head and tore her attention away from him, looking out to sea. It was stupid to be losing her head over some guy, but she found she looked forward to every glance, relishing every moment, every word he offered her.

  The shore grew further away from them and Lucy started to wonder if this dive was going to be in the middle of the ocean, but then Rudy swung the boat around and started to trace the coastline. All too quickly, they reached a quiet cove and moored the boat. The ocean seemed to change color, a line drawn across the water, from a light turquoise to dark cobalt, where the reef started and the sand f
loor finished.

  Rudy made sure to drop the anchor on the sandy part and then walked back around to the small group waiting for him. Rachel followed him around, but Rudy didn’t seem to notice. Lucy still couldn’t help the little sparks of jealously when they had their heads bent together over the equipment and they laughed at a shared joke.

  “Right, people,” Rudy said, straightening up from his equipment. “We’re in fairly shallow water and where we’ve moored is pretty close to the dive site. The reason we’ve dropped anchor here is because the dive site is a living coral reef and dropping anchor on it kills it. But there are other things that kill coral, such as divers breaking pieces off for souvenirs or standing on it. So keep your fins away from the coral, guys. The slightest touch can kill off whole colonies.”

  The group started to get their equipment together and Lucy began to feel nervous. She hoped she wouldn’t panic underwater; she was prone to panicking in confined spaces.

  Rudy approached her, a smile on his face. “Still excited?” he asked.

  She pulled the weight belt around her waist and snapped it shut. “Sure. And a little nervous,” she admitted.

  “That’s normal, but there is nothing to worry about—I’ll look after you.”

  A little thrill of excitement hitched her heart. Was he flirting with her? Surely he was flirting with her. Her cheeks flushed and she looked down, pretending to adjust her belt.

  “Do you need a hand with that?” he offered.

  “No, no. I’m fine,” she said, flustered. The thought of his hands anywhere close to her body made her head swim. How did he affect her so much?

  “So, do we have to do the whole ‘jumping off of the boat backwards’ thing?” she asked. “I’m definitely nervous about that.”

  He laughed. “No, not if you don’t want to. You can climb down the ladder or just step off the side.”

  She bent down and started to pull on the cumbersome fins, but he stopped her.

  “Leave them off until the last minute. It will make your life a bit easier when you’re walking to the side of the boat.”

  Rudy crossed the boat to get his own gear strapped on. Rachel was immediately by his side and Lucy snuck in glances, noting the number of times she touched his arm or shoulder to get his attention, and how she stripped down to her tiny bikini right in front of him. How could he not fancy her? She had curves in all the right places. Lucy was all arms and legs and her chest barely filled out her swimsuit.

  She forced herself to look away. She had no right to be jealous; she had no claim on him. The guy was just doing his job by looking after her. It wasn’t his fault she didn’t have any friends.

  The people around her started to pull on air tanks; their buddies holding the weight that would disappear once they were in the water. They all ran through the safety checks necessary before each and every dive. Rudy was strong and used to the tanks, and had pulled his own equipment on easily enough, but he took the time to run through the safety checks with Lucy.

  “We need to go first,” he told her as he guided Lucy over to the back of the boat, her fins under one arm. “That way one instructor is in the water and one is on board.”

  “Oh, okay. Sure.”

  She desperately wanted to look confident and elegant in the water, but it was impossible with this amount of kit on. Awkwardly, she sat on the edge of the boat and once again started to pull on the fins. Her feet felt tight and uncomfortable inside the rubber, but when Rudy asked her if she was ready she smiled and nodded.

  Lucy got to her feet and shuffled toward him. He held out his arm to help her onto the side of the boat, but as she tried to lift her right flipper, it caught on the edge and she stumbled against him.

  He caught her in his strong arms, her cheek resting momentarily against his warm chest.

  “Hey, you alright?”

  “Yeah, of course.” She straightened up, pushing herself away from him, still feeling like an uncoordinated penguin. His hand still touched her arm and it burned her skin like fire.

  Rudy supported her air tanks. She climbed onto the side of the boat and he climbed up after her.

  “You need to hold your mouthpiece in with one hand,” he told her, “and just step off of the side. Don’t feel you actually have to jump. Okay?” Lucy nodded, trying to be brave. “I’ll go first so you’ve got someone in the water.”

  Effortlessly, he twisted around and stepped backwards off the boat, plunging into the clear blue water. He submerged for only a moment, before bobbing to the surface again and he removed his mouth piece.

  “Ready?” he called up to her, beckoning her down.

  Not pausing long enough to have to think about it, Lucy took a deep breath, held her mouthpiece in with one hand, squeezed her eyes shut and stepped off the edge.

  The cool water hit her like a shock. Water rushed around her ears, loud and disorientating, and she thought she might just sink to the bottom. But she kicked her legs, using the fins, and powered back up, bursting to the surface.

  She pulled her face mask off and, treading water, wiped her eyes. Then she touched the top of her head, remembering the signal to show that she was all right after entering the water. Up above her, others were lining up on the edge of the boat, waiting to take their turn. Rudy nodded at her and motioned to the dive line about half way down the side of the boat. Lucy swam over to it, getting out of the way.

  The others splashed around them, all bobbing around in the water. To stop her mask clouding up when she was underwater, Lucy spat in the mask and rinsed it out in the water.

  Rudy was to go down first, with Lucy to follow. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest and she was aware of Rudy, face to face with the rest of her body, as he pulled himself beneath the surface and down the line. She braced herself, took a few practice breaths through her regulator, and then pulled herself under.

  Hand over hand, she went down the line and her head submerged. She concentrated on her breathing, taking slow, careful breaths in and out, once again fighting the natural urge to hold her breath. A sharp pain pierced deep inside her ears and she did as she had been instructed and held her nose, blowing against it to equalise her ears. Already, small colorful fish darted in front of her eyes and they weren’t even over the reef yet.

  At twenty-feet down, Rudy left the line and swam out. He turned back to her and held out a hand, beckoning her to follow. Behind him, the reef stretched upward, its tall coral structures protruding from the ground like some weird alien landscape.

  Lucy let go of the line and followed him. The fins gave her legs new power, driving her through the water. Rudy put his thumb and forefinger together, okay? She mirrored his sign back.

  Shoals of bright blue, tiny fish swam before her eyes. Angel fish elegantly darted back and forth. Bright pink anemones’ tentacles swirled in the current, clown fish peeping out of their bodies.

  The different shapes and colors of the corals mesmerized Lucy and she stared at her underwater surroundings in amazement. It was like a different planet down here, as though she had entered a new and magical world. Even Rudy’s presence was forgotten as she absorbed the sights of the reef.

  Other divers swam around her and Lucy looked around, searching for Rudy. With all the equipment, she struggled to tell people apart, but then she recognized his strong, swimmer’s body ahead of her and she swam after him.

  Rudy swam down, heading beneath an outcropping off the reef. He motioned for her to follow, pointing at something beneath the rock.

  The sinister black head of a conger eel peeped from beneath a rock, baring vicious teeth and evil-looking eyes. Lucy’s face was only a foot from the eel and suddenly the fish darted out at her.

  Lucy screamed into her regulator and thrashed to get away. She kicked out and her flipper caught a delicate fan coral. She watched in slow-motion horror as it snapped and slowly fell, sinking to the bottom of the reef bed.

  Even behind the Perspex mask, she could see the dismay in Rudy’s
eyes.

  She shook her head, her movements in slow motion through the water, trying to tell him through eye contact alone, that she was sorry.

  She couldn’t believe it. Why did this kind of thing always happen to her?

  The laughter had left Rudy’s eyes and he turned away from her, using just a nod of his head to tell her to follow the rest of the dive. She did as she was told, but she followed with a heavy heart, the pleasure of her surroundings drained.

  Lucy pulled herself up the ladder on the side of the boat, out of the water and into the sunshine. But even the warmth of the sun on her skin wasn’t enough to melt the freeze around her heart. She was so conscious of where Rudy was, of the tension that was now between them and she was hugely embarrassed. She wished she could take back what she had done, but that was impossible. All she could do was apologize.

  Rudy stood sorting through equipment on the other side of the boat and with a thumping heart, Lucy crossed the deck. He was bent with his back to her and she still couldn’t help admiring the narrowness of his waist and the strength of his shoulders. If only he wasn’t so damned good-looking, she would find this a lot easier.

  “Rudy,” she said tentatively. “I’m really sorry about the coral.”

  He turned at the sound of her voice, a frown on his face.

  “What were you thinking?” he said, shaking his head in disbelief. “I told you not to touch the reef, so what did you do? Knock down a whole damn branch of it!”

  She couldn’t look at him. “I’m sorry. The eel darted at me and I just reacted. It was an accident.”

  Rudy ran a hand over the top of his short wet hair and shook his head, his lips pressed together. Lucy didn’t think she had ever been so humiliated in her life. Even when the consultants at the hospital ran her up in front of patients, she had never felt as small as this.

  Then he seemed to remember himself.

  “It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.” Rudy seemed to be angrier with himself than her, but it didn’t make her feel any better. “We shouldn’t be allowed to take incompetent divers out onto reefs that are suffering from over-diving because people don’t know what they’re doing.”