Shark Lover (5 page)

            “Aren’t
you forgetting something?” He asked as he tried to pry open the jeep’s door.

            “Oh,
I am so sorry!” She hit the unlock button on the side of her door handle. “You
probably thought I was trying to lock you in here. How embarrassing.” Her
cheeks flushed red.

            “I
wouldn’t mind if you did, but no I wasn’t referring to that.” He moved his hand
towards the back of her head and brought her closer to him. He kissed her while
he ran his fingers through her hair. She kissed him back with passion and then
let his lips go.

            “The
goodbye kiss,” She said. “I knew I was missing something.”

            He
stuck his hand up in pure disagreement. “I wouldn’t call it a goodbye kiss.
Goodbye is a strong word. It was more like a see-you-later kiss.”

            She
laughed. “Alright, a see-you-later kiss it is then.” He opened the door and
hopped out, closing the door slowly. She realized that she missed him already.
She waved and started back on the road to get back home. She needed to do some
studying for a test coming up. After her great day with Marc, it was hard to
think about anything else. He had a way of sweeping her off of her feet. She
wasn’t sure if she was fond of it or not. As she drove down the winded road
back to her apartment, she couldn’t help but notice the bright rainbow in the
sky. She took it as a sign, a promise for new beginnings in her life that she
wouldn’t want to miss out on.

From
that moment on they were inseparable. Stand-byers could not tell where one
ended and the other began. From long walks on the beach to late night romantic,
candle light dinners; Marc never left Cathy’s side. Their love was marked by
holding hands, soft kisses and slight loving glances at each other. They had
become so interlinked they were one whole instead of two halves.

Cathy
had never felt so complete in her life. As she looked across the table at Marc
one night under the low light of candles, she couldn’t help but to wonder to
herself in amazement that she could have indeed found the one. She waited her
entire life to find a person who understood her better than she understood
herself and Marc was just that. He seemed to know what she was thinking just by
staring in her eyes. He understood her feelings when she spoke of troubled times.
She stared into Marc’s dark brown eyes thinking of the joy that she felt by
finding him and having been blessed by his presence in her life.

“It’s
so nice out tonight.” Marc stated, interrupting Cathy’s deeply provoking
thoughts as he looked across the bay at the Golden Gate Bridge. “I’m so glad
you could spend this incredible night with me.”

Smiling
back she laughed and responded, “It’s my pleasure. Nights like these are my
favorite. The water is calm, the sun sets beneath the horizon and nothing is wrong
in the world.”

Marc
smiled at Cathy causing her to blush as she realized she didn’t put her napkin
in her lap yet. She took another moment to take in the glorious surroundings
all about her. The waiters and waitresses all wore buttoned down white shirts
with little black bow ties accented at the top of the collar. The tables had
elegant white table clothes with sterling silver utensils adjoining them.
Looking at the guest around her, Cathy noticed they were all dressed
sophisticatedly with a professional class that suited her. Marc sure knew how
to treat a girl and she had surely taken notice.

Marc
had taken her to a restaurant on the bay that had a great view of San Francisco
that especially focused on the bay area. She could see the sun setting in the
distance and felt the warmth that it set on the ground. She remembered being
with her father as a child on the beach at the bay. He would take her down to
the coastline as the day broke and night began.

Her
hands covered a tiny plate of sand as she rushed them through the grains
looking for something special that she could treasure. All she could find was
sand and more sand. She sighed and set the pound of grains down as she kept
going along her merry way; looking intently for something that would be worth
her time. As she walked down the shore, she stole a glance at her father who
was staring deep out into the sea. She wondered if he was happy with his life
anymore. These days she couldn’t be sure. He was weak, he could barely keep up
with her as she ran along the beach. Under her foot, she realized that she had
stepped on something hard. Removing her foot from the space, she realized she
had found what she had been gloriously searching for. She ran back over to her
father. Her breaths came in short stances and her blond curly hair was all
tangled by the wind.

“Daddy,
Daddy, look what I found! It’s what we had been searching for!”

“Bring
it here Cat. Let me have a look at it.”

She
loved when he called her Cat. It was his intricate, loving nickname for his
eldest daughter. She had always been a daddy’s girl at heart, since she was
born. She looked just like him with her blue eyes and light curly blond hair.
They shared a special bond that only they could understand. They both loved the
ocean and felt at home when they walked across the shore. They cherished the
special creatures of the sea. In this moment, she looked up to him and felt
like she meant the world to him. By the way he glanced down at her ten-year old
self, she realized that she did.

“Cat,
you found a sand dollar. Do you remember what I told you about sand dollars?”

Cat
shrugged her head back and forth. “No, Daddy what do they mean? Tell me again
Daddy, please?”

He
held the sand dollar in his hand and ran it through his skinny, wrinkled hands.
His voice came out in a rasp as he spoke. “The sand dollars have an intricate
meaning. They are spiritual and their meaning is that the Lord is constantly
watching over us and he cares beyond what we as human beings can comprehend.
They are like the Lord’s eyes given to us at the sea.”

“Wow,
Daddy that is special. It’s so beautiful. Can I keep it? Please Daddy, pretty
please?” Cat whined as her big blue eyes helped beg her father by seeping into
his core; his heart.

“Yes,
Cat keep it, you found it. God wanted you to have it. You finding it was part
of his plan.” He smiled down at his daughter in admiration; proud that he had
given such a bright soul a life.

“Thank
you Daddy! I am going to keep it forever and ever and ever because we found it
together.”

He
squatted down to be at his daughter’s eye level. “Cat, do keep it always. Keep
it as a remembrance of God and the miraculous life that he has granted upon us
by dying on the cross for our sins. It holds the truth of life that there will
always be hope and love for you, no matter what happens in your life. Don’t let
the hope fade away, no matter how many struggles God puts you through he will
always help you find a way out.”

“Daddy,
it means so much to me. I could never get rid of it as long as I live. It is
the true meaning of God, hope and love.” She put it carefully in the side
pocket of her light pink shorts as she gallantly ran along the rest of the
shore thinking about the lessons her father had just taught her.

Her
subterranean thoughts were interrupted as the waiter set down her plate full of
salad that looked so utterly delicious that she could feel her stomach
growling. By the look on Marc’s face, he could tell that she had been in
another time and place. He had wanted to ask her about it possibly, but the
waiter had interrupted any intention of doing that. So instead he moved his
bread platter to make room for the wholesome steak he had ordered with a side
of creamy, buttered potatoes.

Marc
eyed Cathy’s salad with hungry eyes and started a conversation on a lighter
subject. “That looks like a voluptuous salad you have there. I usually don’t
eat salads often, not as much as I should.”

Cathy
smiled. “I am a vegetarian. I couldn’t stand the sight of eating what used to
be a poor animal. I went into marine biology to save the animals, not to eat
them.”

With
big eyes Marc looked down at his plate full of steak and chuckled. “Well you
must think I am a huge jerk then. Here I am eating a big, juicy steak while you
are basically saving the world.”  He looked straight into her eyes. “In an
effort to save my jerkiness, my mother was actually a vegetarian.”

“It’s
alright really. I’m not one of those vegetarians that hates people for eating
meat. I do it for the animals. That’s great your mother was a vegetarian. She
must have loved animals as well.”

            Marc
grinned as he bit into his steak. “Animals were like souls to her. She actually
connected to them more so than humans. She understood them, their feelings and
their existence. Growing up we had seven pets; three dogs, two cats, a turtle
and a fish. Whenever I was at school or doing an activity she would always take
care of them. I always believed that she connected with them on another level,
that’s why I am an only child. Animals were and are her life.”

            She
looked at him as her clear blue eyes showed understanding. “Wow that’s so deep.
She must have really had a profound desire and appreciation for animals. People
like that are my inspiration. Animals are my life as well. I could never hurt a
fly.”

            Marc
glanced down at his plate and realized he had already eaten all of his food.
Time flew by fast when he was with Cathy, he enjoyed every second of time that
they spent together. He skimmed over at Cathy’s bowl noticing that she had
finished her salad as well. He paid the bill, handed it to the waiter and left
a nice tip in the center of the table. The sun was making its way into the
ocean.

Marc
asked Cathy, “Would you like to take a walk on the beach as the sun sets?”

“Yes.
Of course! I love when the sun sets. It’s like a dream.”

He
grabbed her hand as they ran out of the restaurant and onto the boardwalk. Marc
held her hand with a tight grip, feeling the bones of her hand with a squeeze.
He didn’t want to let her go. The time of his life was now and he was excited
where this adventure would take them.

*
* *

           
The
light house was the only brightness shining down on the pitch black sky. There
were faint clouds warning of the rain entering soon. The air was rough as it
hit the crests of the waves crashing down into the sea. He could taste the salt
on his tongue and feel the smidgens of sand in-between his toes as he followed
behind his father. He could barely keep up with his father’s long strides.

            “Dad,
Dad! Wait up! Wait for me!” He exclaimed into the dark night.

            “Hurry
along Marc, the tide is high. We don’t want to miss night surfing in these
killer waves.”

            He
ran along and stood behind his father, mesmerized on the angry fury that the
ocean was spilling out. His father was a fearless man, nothing could scare or
haunt him from doing something he wanted. Marc didn’t understand surfing at
this time of night particularly when a storm was coming in. His father had
wanted to teach him about being courageous with the waves and conquering them
throughout all tribulations. He stood behind his father in fear and clutched
onto his legs. Afraid of facing the ocean, he let out a cry in desperation.

            “Dad,
can we please go home? I don’t want to do this! I am too scared! We could die
out there! Look how hard the waves are crashing!”

            He
looked down at his son with reassurance. “Marc, we aren’t going to go out very
far. We will stay close to shore. I want you to have the experience of night
surfing. Your skills will improve that much more. It will bring you closer to the
ocean.”

His
father grabbed his long red board and took a plunge into the ocean. Marc yelled
out for him and waded slowly into the sea. He held his board tight to his body,
closed his eyes and started paddling as fast as he could. He was only 10 years
old, but he had to be strong like his father. He prayed silently in his head
that he would make it out of this stormy night alive. He took hold of the first
wave he could find and rode it into shore. He figured the faster he could catch
more waves, the sooner they could go home. He saw his father in the distance
catching wave after wave, riding them in joyfully. Marc grabbed another wave
and rode it into the tip of the beach, it was so forceful that he took a plunge
into the sand.

            “Marc!
Are you okay?” His father yelled across to him as he paddled fiercely over to
where Marc had crashed.

            He
had landed hard on his stomach and his breath wouldn’t come out of the tip of
his lips. He tried to shake off the bad feelings and sit up. His stomach
lurched into panic mode as he moved to his side. He could feel his father’s
hands on his chest pumping him with life. As he lay motionless and started to
lose consciousness, he drifted off to a blank slate in his mind. His eyelids
were drooping closed as his father tried to shake him awake. He fought with all
of his might to keep out of the darkness.

            “Dad,
what happened?” He suddenly cried out.