With that thought, I locked my phone, slid it in my pocket, picked up my tray, and headed to the galley.
Granger was walking step for step with me, and at the sound of running feet, I growled.
Granger chuckled, “She has it bad for you.”
“I’d rather swallow bleach followed by a shot of... nah, five shots of vinegar than even get within ten feet of her.
“Guys, wait up.” I heard her say.
Thankfully, someone up ahead was going to provide our escape route.
“Yo, Marshall?” I called out.
Then, almost immediately, she breathed out his name, “Marshall?”
I fought like hell to hide my smirk, but I managed to do it, just barely.
Marshall turned his head, jerked up his chin at us, looked around us, then narrowed his eyes at me as he mouthed, “Payback is a bitch.”
We had passed Marshall and left Susanna behind with Marshall.
“Man, that was epic,” Granger said.
My smirk came out full-blown then.
***
Marshall’s payback came in the form of a blow-up doll with a Susanna nametag standing beside my station.
I shook my head and then flipped him off from where I knew he was in the control room.
Then with Granger, George, Kyle, and Phillip, I got on my gear and then headed into the ocean to get to work.
***
Deep in the water, one hundred feet deep, I let that little light I always saw guide my way.
Her light.
Leading me home without ever knowing it.
***
Whispering Falls, North Carolina
Population – 3,738
Corrected Population – 3,739
For years, I have been trying to figure out who maintains that sign.
Just as everyone else that I knew had also been doing that.
But whoever it was, they were being quiet.
Man, I was fucking tired.
I had just gotten done with a three-month contract.
