by Theo Shapiro
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Verne woke up at 12:30 on the dot. He looked next to him and saw Shelly was in a deep sleep, lying on her side facing away from him. Her seep breathing indicated that she was in a deep sleep. It would take a lot to wake her because whenever they stay in a hotel she took Ambien to help her sleep. When she took those pills before gong to bed Verne could have a football match without waking her.
After leaving the pier Verne hadn’t said a word about the conversation he had with the old man. It wasn’t because he was hiding it from her, it was because it was so crazy he thought it would be pointless to waist his breath on, or so he told himself. For most of the day Verne was able to push the conversation from his mind, but as the day drew to a close he could se Hammerhead sharks swimming in his head. Verne felt like he was in one of those cartoons where a devil pops up on one shoulder and an angel on the other.
For every reason he found not to go, a reason to go came into his head just as quickly. It would be against the law. Gervis was right and he would just get a slap on the wrist even if they were caught. It would be stupid to pay $600 for one dive. All the other dives were cancelled for the week so in the end they would be leaving with more money than they planned. Shelly would kill him. She didn’t have to know.
That was the final thought Verne had before going to bed and he felt disgusted with himself. He and Shelly had been together for 15years and he had never had any thoughts of cheating on her or told her more than a little white lie. The worst secret he had ever kept from her was that he hated her chicken Parmesan. Verne knew he could make all this guilt disappear by just lying back in bed, but he didn’t. Even as he stood over Shelly and watched her sleep he thought of how she would never know. Verne was an avid runner and would go for a run every morning before Shelly got up. Even if Shelly woke up in a few hours and saw Verne was missing she would just assume he went running and was still out. As long as he was back by 8 am everything would be fine. That’s more than enough time for one night dive. There was no risk and Shelly would never know.