Page 30 of Saint
I’m not playing.
I’m for real.
Saint
Don’t you have work to do?
I’m in the office today.
Just paperwork
and labs.
Saint
Meet me somewhere public
…So I know it’s real
Send the location.
I’ll behave. I promise.
Saint
As promised, Saint and I met up for lunch. He did end up picking me up against my protests, however. Under the promise of good behavior and no sex, we headed to a sandwich shop in Adelaide.
“You’ve been all up inside of me. I live with you, and I still can’t shake the fact that I don’t know much about you. Tell me about yourself.”
Saint was positioning his silverware on the table, lining it up perfectly–something I noticed he always did before eating–and he didn’t look up until he had them arranged to his liking.
“What do you want to know?” He floated the question as his eyes scanned the shop as if he were looking for something or someone.
Hmm. What did I want to know?
“What does a marine biologist do all day? How did you even get into that?”
“I’ve always had an affinity for water. The ocean. I used the army to further my education in marine biology. I study the ocean and marine life. I collect data and report back to my superiors on my findings. We try to make the ocean more habitable for its residents.”
“So, do you work in a lab all day?”
“Some days, I spend hours underwater, diving and gathering data amongst my aquatic friends. The days I spend out in the field are my longest days.”
I’d noticed when he came home later than usual sometimes. I never questioned why, assuming he was granting me time away from him.
“Do you encounter sharks and stuff when you’re diving?”
“I do,” he grinned before taking another sweep of the shop as someone entered. “Great whites.”
“So they’ve never attacked you?”
“Sharks don’t typically attack humans unless you make yourself appear as prey. Thrashing and flailing around in the water is a sure way to get your ass eaten up.”
“Wow. So, you’re in the water all calm, and they just… swim away?”
“Nah, Beauty. They approach out of curiosity, but then they swim away once they realize you’re a predator –or have given them the appearance of a predator– like them,” he explained.
“Pardon my density. I guess I just want to get to know you better.”