Page 68 of Escape To Paradise
“You’re in good hands. I used to dive with Maverick before. But the guy’s been busy. Barely has time for myself.”
“You could always visit me at The Flamingo, Joe,” Maverick reminded him.
“I’ll definitely take my next batch of clients there. And is your villa operational? A lot of tourists have been asking for lodging recommendations.”
“Yes. It’s not fully operational yet, but there’s a few villas that are available for rent.”
“Great. I’ll send customers your way. Just text me the link.”
Maverick texted him the link to his website. “That’s the booking site.”
“Okay. Now, let’s give Miss Harper her first scuba diving lesson.”
We followed Joe to his scuba store, which was by the waterfront. It had a lot of gears. In an hour, he was able to fit me with a wetsuit, scuba gear, and proceeded to give me scuba diving lessons by the shore. I was nervous at first, but Maverick assured me it was safe. After our lessons, we got into a boat. I was already questioning if I did the right thing.
Maverick, sensing my apprehension, said, “I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.”
Joe helped put the gear on me, and then I sat at the edge of the boat. Maverick put on his scuba gear too. He held my hand as we jumped overboard. With the weight of the scuba tank, it was easy for me to descend in the water. I followed Maverick as he led me to the sculptures.
The sculptures were shaped like humans and had different faces. Some of them had sea moss, and in some of them, I could still see the shape of the faces. There were many fish that were swimming around the sculptures. As we swam around, we found a sculpture of Jesus and of a man writing on a desk.
We were almost twenty minutes underwater, when Maverick pointed out that we should head back up. I followed him but stopped when I saw a shark. It was a twelve-foot, silver-colored shark with big eyes. All I could see was the sharp teeth. I froze and panicked when the shark started swimming towards me. Maverick suddenly came in between me and the shark, which I found very heroic. I held my breath until the shark glided past us, and only then I was able to breathe normally again. We swam back up to the surface; I couldn’t wait to get out of the water.
Joe helped us back to the boat. When I took off my gear, I asked Maverick what type of shark it was. He wouldn’t answer, but I kept on pressing him that Joe became curious.
“What kind of shark was it, Maverick?” Joe asked.
“It was a mako shark.”
“Shit, that’s scary! I’ve never seen them in these waters in a long time.” Joe shook his head.
“What’s a mako shark? Does it eat people?” I asked Maverick. Then I turned to Joe.
“Yeah, if it’s hungry, it sure will. You guys got lucky,” Joe answered.
“Maverick? You came in between me and the shark. Are you crazy?” I got mad.
“It’s better it eats me than it eats you. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something bad happened to you.” Maverick gazed at me, with a serious look on his face.
“Well, I’d be traumatized if it ate you too! Are you kidding me!”
“They don’t attack unless provoked. That’s why we didn’t move,” Maverick assured me.
Joe laughed. “Let’s get out of here!”
I was still shaking. I didn’t know if Maverick was crazy, or if he was out of his mind.
When we got back to the shore, we returned our gears at Joe’s scuba store. We invited him for lunch, and he obliged, saying he had to leave by 1 p.m. since he had a dive around that time.
We went to the restaurant bar next door and got ourselves a good lunch. Maverick got grilled fish, and I ordered fish and chips. We also ordered cocktails. I noted that Maverick’s cocktails were better.
“Are you a good bartender now?” Joe asked Maverick.
“Was I really that bad?” he asked.
“I know I’m your friend, but yes, you were terrible.” Joe laughed heartily.
“Glad I taught him.”
