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MEMOIR
I Followed the Man I Loved Into Shark-Infested Waters
Apparently, I would do anything for love
“Yeah, I’m not going to do that,” I said to my boyfriend, Dan as I pushed my Ray-Ban sunglasses up the bridge of my nose.
“Come on!” He replied. “I want us to do this together.”
“You want us to get eaten together?” I asked, mockingly.
He rolled his eyes and swung his clipboard under his arm.
“Nothing is going to happen. They make you sign these disclaimers for everything now,” he said as though signing away our lives was nothing.
“So, Guys. What’s it going to be? Are we swimming with sharks today?” The diver asked as he stepped out of the white hut with the word “Office” scrawled on the side.
Dan raised his eyebrows at me.
I ran my hand through my hair, feeling the pressure of the Jamaican heat and Dan’s eyes. Turning my head to the left, I glanced down at the water beneath the wooden bridge we stood on. A nurse shark flicked its tail on the surface.
Butterflies filled my stomach as I watched a second shark glide a few feet behind the first.
“They aren’t big,” Dan said as he moved closer to me.
I tracked a third shark with my eyes, watching it move slowly and calmly through the water. A bead of sweat trickled down my forehead and my heartbeat quickened slightly.
They aren’t that big. They’re nurse sharks — friendly sharks, right? He’ll go on about it for weeks if I don’t do it.
The corners of my mouth turned up, faking enthusiasm, as I turned to look at Dan. He beamed back.
“Screw it. What’s the worst that can happen?” I asked with a smile as I felt my skin tingle under the surge of adrenaline.
“That’s great, just sign the papers on your clipboards and we’ll get you some snorkeling gear,” the diver called over his shoulder as he disappeared into the hut.
I lifted my clipboard to chest level and slowly unclipped the pen. Nausea waved over me as I paused with the pen in mid-air. I stared at the dotted line that awaited my signature as my ears sharpened at…
