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“I’m not nervous!” she practically yelled, her voice shrill.
“You’re doing fine. Let’s try it with your mask on, and that way you’ll be able to see. We’ll just keep our faces on the surface.”
Her face was on fire. He talked to her gently and encouragingly, like she was a skittish horse that needed to be calmed. Gritting her teeth, she soldiered on and replaced the mask.
“Now, lower your face again. All you have to do is get used to the water on it, so close your eyes if you want. It’ll be fine.”
“Ok. Let’s go.”
With a deep breath, Sara screwed her eyes shut and put her face in the water. With the mask over her eyes, she could no longer feel the water against them, which immediately settled her. She was able to leave her face in longer this time. Lifting out, she gave Alex a shaky smile. “That was better.”
“Good. Let’s do it again.”
“Did Hope have problems with this?”
“Hope had her own issues. Stop comparing yourself. I’m serious here—you’re doing great.”
Keeping her eyes closed, she put her face back in.
After a moment, Alex spoke next to her. “Sara, open your eyes.”
Shaking her head, she lifted and took a deep breath, then replaced her face. It was a little easier this time, but she kept her eyes clenched shut.
“It’s ok. Relax and open your eyes.”
Finally, she hesitantly opened them. In front of her feet, a small, yellow rubber duck lay on the bottom of the pool. It was wearing sunglasses. Sara immediately started giggling, lifting her head out as she stared at it. “Alex, did you toss a rubber ducky in the pool?”
He was grinning at her. “That’s Donald. He makes an appearance anytime someone is nervous. Just to remind them the cool kids hang out underwater.”
She straightened, laughing hard now. Still smiling, Alex softened his expression. “You’re doing fine, Sara. A lot of people get nervous about this. We’ll take things as slow as we need to.”
“Thanks.”
She returned her face to the water and watched the small duck roll back and forth on the bottom. Then, closing her eyes, she removed the mask and was able to keep her face submerged. After several rounds of that, she put the regulator in her mouth and took her first breath underwater, discovering that it was actually easier because she didn’t worry about her air supply.
Before she knew it, Sara was kneeling on the bottom of the pool facing Alex. Breathing with the regulator in her mouth, she observed the pool around her from a totally new point of view. By the end of the class, she was able to flood her mask with water, then exhale air through her nose to clear it, as well as remove and replace her regulator underwater.
Back on the pool deck, pride in her accomplishment rolled through her. She glanced at Alex as she unhooked her scuba gear. “Thank you. I know I sometimes give you a hard time—I can’t help it. But I really felt like I got the hang of it by the end.”
“You’re welcome, and you did great. What you went through is very common. You just needed to believe you could do it, then you were fine.” He grinned, his white teeth flashing. “Besides, Boss Lady would tear my ass off if you didn’t have a good time. She’s dying to dive with you.”
CHAPTER 16
“Bottoms up,” Jack said as he touched his beer to Robert’s. The two men sat at Breakers, once again at the bar. Soft reggae filled the night air, and a breeze kept the thatch-covered restaurant cool. “How was work today?”
“Same old, same old. How about you?”
Jack had spent the day at Ocean Surf, and guided the less experienced group, of course. “I had a bunch of newbies. They were ok, though there was one guy I had to keep hold of. He kept adding too much air to his BCD and shooting up.”
Robert grinned. “Never a dull moment with new divers.”
“I don’t mind. I enjoy teaching them and it’s fun when the lightbulb finally goes off.”
“How come you’re not an instructor, then?”
“Money and time. I’d like to someday.” A smile escaped. “But I need to figure out how to make a living with this first.”
Robert nodded. “That’s the rub. It takes a lot of dough to become an instructor. But then you can make more money. But you can’t save any money for the instructor course because you’re broke all the time.”
