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For early March, the day was pleasantly warm, and we chatted easily as Aiden drove on the 101 toward Monterey.
“I can’t wait to meet Sully,” I said. Sully’s real name was Thomas Sullivan, but he told Aiden he went by Sully because that’s what he went by during his time in the Canadian Armed Forces.
“Me too. Although, the guy can talk.” Aiden was referring to his long, drawn-out conversation when he called Sully’s store, the Bay Area Dive Shop, to schedule our trip.
When Aiden called to let me know he had made our trip reservation, he mentioned he had a hard time getting off the phone call with Sully. Every time he tried to end the conversation, Sully would launch into a new story. Aiden said it wouldn’t have been too bad, but he was trying to get to a deposition. He finally had to interrupt Sully in the middle of a story.
“That’s true! Do you think all the stories he told you about diving with the sharks were true?”
Aiden chuckled and answered, “Probably not, but I think most divers tend to embellish their stories. Remember Drew?”
I frowned when I thought back to our time in Cozumel. Drew Markle was one of the divers in our scuba diving group. He liked to brag about how experienced he was and offended nearly everyone in the group with his “expert” advice.
“Yes, you’re probably right. A lot of divers do embellish their stories to make them more impressive.”
To prove my point, I extended my arms and said, “One time I saw a turtle THIS big.”
Aiden laughed and replied, “Oh, yeah? That’s nothing compared to the barracuda that was bigger than me!” Since Aiden was a little over six feet tall, there was no way that it could be true. We ribbed each other while trying to outdo ourselves with the most outrageous fish stories. I was wiping away tears by the time we pulled into the beach parking lot.
My eyes widened as I watched divers of all shapes and sizes laughing and joking with each other on the rocky clearing. San Carlos Beach, known locally as Breakwater, was the most popular dive site in Monterey.
“It’s a good thing this is a shore dive,” I said, observing two pair of divers assembling their scuba gear in a truck next to us. I hated to see all of us packed into a dive boat like sardines. The image of us standing shoulder to shoulder on a boat was symbolic, considering Monterey used to be known for its sardine industry.
“Yeah, we would need at least two large boats for this crew,” Aiden said as he tried to count the number of divers on the beach.
“All these people can’t be with Sully’s group. By the number of people I see, there’s got to be more than one dive shop here.” I scanned the people in the area who were in various stages of getting dressed. Some of them still had regular clothes on. Others were partially wearing their wetsuits, letting the top part hang loosely around their waist.
“Didn’t you say that Sully was bringing our rental suits with him?” I asked, hoping that I got the information correct. The last thing I wanted to do was abort the dive because I didn’t have the proper gear.
“Yes, that’s correct. He told me that he’d bring a few different sizes for each of us to try on beforehand,” Aiden said and gave me an excited look. “It’s going to be great!” He reached over and squeezed my hand. I smiled back, and I was about to comment on how much fun it was going to be, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw a woman wearing a full-length neoprene wetsuit. What made it so eye-catching was that the entire suit was neon pink.
“Wow. Who’s that?” Aiden asked as he noticed the same person. He blanched, taken back by the overwhelming brightness. It looked out of place among all-black or near-black wetsuits.
I leaned closer and rubbed my eyes to clear my vision. I gasped when I saw the person more clearly. “Oh my gosh, that’s Annisa!”
I was dismayed. She actually did it. She got her open water diving certification, and she was going to go on the dive with us.
Chapter Three
“Dear Lord! I love the color pink, but this is a bit much.” I burst into spontaneous laughter. The more I stared at her, the more outlandish her wetsuit appeared.
Shaking my head, I said, “It’s hard to believe a scuba diving company would make a 7mm wetsuit that was entirely hot pink.”
“Yeah, it’s interesting…” Aiden’s voice trailed off as he tried to think of something nice to say. When he couldn’t think of anything, he added, “I didn’t think there was a suit out there like that.”
Despite the initial sensory bombardment, I had to admit that the wetsuit flattered Annisa. The material clung to her body, and it managed to show off her petite figure under the thick neoprene. Only Annisa could pull this off. Everyone else I knew would look like a hot pink stuffed penguin.
Her usual long and glossy hair was parted into two French braids. From the car, I could see Annisa smiling at the attention she was receiving.
My amused chuckle caught Aiden’s attention. He looked at me and laughed. We didn’t have to say anything to know that we were both thinking about the same thing.
“Should we join the group?” Aiden asked as I continued to observe Annisa from a distance.
“That’s probably a good idea,” I replied. When I opened the car door, the smell of seaweed hit me full blast along with the barking of sea lions that were sitting on the rocky seawall. I took a deep breath of the salty air. The West Coast was so different from the tropical waters that I usually liked to dive in. There was something eerie about the deep, dark, and cold waters. I couldn’t see the kelp forest underwater, but I knew it was there, offering refuge to the small creatures that wanted to hide from their predators. The adrenaline kicked in, and I flashed Aiden a grin. “I can’t wait to see what’s under the water!”
He took my hand and squeezed it. “I’m excited, too.”
As we surveyed the beach looking for our dive master, I detected a smell that was out of place. “Oh… coffee,” I said with a longing sigh at the faint scent of espresso beans. I wanted to join the long line waiting to get their java fix, but I knew that if I drank more coffee, I would need to go to the bathroom later.
