Taken By The Shark

“Well, that’s very true,” he agreed. “And I don’t want them to ruin things between us with that kind of behavior. Because I have to tell you, Chelsea, I’m really feeling like there’s something special going on here.”

Blushing softly, Chelsea squeezed her arm around him a bit tighter just before he opened the door. Smiling, he bent down to kiss her again. “I feel the same way,” she said. “But you need to remember that I have nothing to compare it to.”

“That’s another reason I don’t want any interference in this,” he said. They stepped outside and began to walk, holding hands as they went. “I want you to be sure about things before all that happens—which in my experience it’s very likely to do.”

“Thanks,” she said softly, smiling up at him.

“Now, one more kiss before we have to let go,” he said, his eyes darkening as he pulled her into his arms again. Chelsea bent her head upward as he leaned down, and their lips clung together once more. Then he let her go, and the two of them tried to compose their faces as they broke free of the row of huts and stepped out into the field beyond.

“Nobody’s here yet,” Chelsea commented, the two of them standing at least a foot apart.

“I’m here,” said Erik with a smirk as he stepped out from another part of the row. “Where did you two wander off to?”

“Oh, Mark was showing me where a good place to eat was, that’s all,” she said with a shrug.

“Really? Where’d you go?”

“Actually, it’s not a restaurant, it’s a little inn,” Mark explained. “There are only three in the whole place.”

“Yeah, I went to one too,” he replied. “Some place called Martin’s. So, how many people actually live here anyway?”

“Maybe a hundred if you are lucky,” Mark shrugged. “And about another fifty people visiting at any given time. That’s about it.”

“I was looking for Chelsea,” Erik said then. “I hoped she might like to join me, but as usual she seems to prefer spending her time with you.”

“We have a lot in common,” Chelsea pointed out. “We’re both marine biologists.”

“So ecology’s not your thing?” he nodded, smirking speculatively.

“I guess not,” she said, shrugging again. It was obvious to the three of them exactly what they were really talking about. He was conceding that she preferred Mark over him. However, it didn’t follow that he would accept the fact. He looked like he was somewhat upset, and she cringed at the face he made. She hoped he wasn’t going to cause any trouble.

Thankfully, Ross showed up right then, so the subject was dropped.

“So, where did you go?” Erik asked him.

“Some café,” he shrugged. “What’s going on here? You could cut the tension with a knife.”

“What? Oh, nothing,” Erik replied, casting Chelsea and Mark a disgruntled look. “I’d just like to get back to the boat and call it a night. I’m feeling a bit tired now.”

“Yeah, it’s been a busy night,” Chelsea agreed. “We really should get some sleep.”

Most everyone else who was coming back, minus Steve and Gayle who were headed home, showed up within the next few minutes, and they all walked together back to camp. Everyone parted, the women heading for their cabins and the men to theirs, and the rest of the men to the boats.

Chelsea was just snuggling up into her blankets when her communicator beeped. She glanced over at Nancy, who smirked at her knowingly. As she picked it up, Angel flopped onto her own bed and gazed at her expectantly.

“Come on, you guys!” Chelsea laughed as she picked it up and turned away from them. I had fun tonight, Mark had written. Can you talk?

They’re looking right at me.

Damn, he commented. I guess I’ll just go to bed then. Keep that image in your head?

Definitely. She probably shouldn’t have told him that, but she wasn’t lying about it.

Good night then, he wrote back, and she told him good night as well.

“Okay, spill,” Nancy insisted. “What’d he touch?”

“Oh, damn, Nancy, that’s a terrible question to ask!” Angel protested. “What did he kiss? That’s much more important.”

“Yeah, really,” Melissa giggled.

“Come on, you guys!” Chelsea protested again. “I’m not supposed to tell you anything because it might cause friction between team members.”

“So something did happen?” Nancy chuckled.

“I knew it!” Angel shouted, jumping off her bed and sitting beside Nancy on hers. The two gave each other a high five.

“You guys just aren’t going to leave this alone, are you?” Chelsea complained. “Okay, we ate dinner and watched the news. Is that what you want to know?”

“What?” Melissa scoffed, wrinkling her nose. “But that’s so—boring!”

Chelsea smirked. “Well, he might have decided to kiss me, too,” she said.

“Oh,” Nancy grinned. “And how did that go?”

“Very well,” she admitted with a heady smile. “Very, very well. All the way down to the toes well. But don’t you dare tell anyone I said that.”

“We never, ever would,” Nancy insisted.

“Pink-swear we won’t,” Melissa added, holding out her hand. The other three girls moved beside her bed and linked their pinkies to hers, and then they all giggled as they each went to their own beds again.

“You know, something I think we’re witnessing a real-life forever about to happen,” said Melissa with a dreamy smile. “I really, really do!”

“Go to sleep,” Chelsea told them with a laugh. But as for herself, sleep took its sweet time before she finally drifted into the world of dreams.

*****

Over the next couple of weeks, Chelsea’s life was all about intensive training by day and stolen moments with the teacher by night. Mostly, they just texted each other on the communicators and although they made no attempts to distance themselves from each other they also made sure not to act too affectionate around the others. It was starting to really grate on Chelsea’s nerves. She was a mature woman, and she was ready to find out how the other half lived.