Page 9 of The Tides Between Us

Declan

What you guys are doing here is truly amazing. It’s people like you who can save our planet.

I read over his words four times before I looked up at him. He was staring down at me with a mixture of emotion washing through his irises. I hadn’t noticed the difference in our height until that moment. He was at least a foot taller than my five-foot-two stature and I had to tilt my head back a fraction to meet his gaze.

“You saved a turtle that was harmed from someone throwing trash into the ocean,” he spoke the words aloud and my eyes were glued to his lips.His perfectly plump lips. It was the first time in my life I yearned to hear the sounds that flowed from them. “People are destroying our oceans and its natural inhabitants and you’re out here fighting the fight, trying to save them.”

His words resonated deep within my soul. Growing up alongside the ocean, I’ve watched the way humans have been slowly destroying it, along with the rest of our planet. I didn’t go into marine biology to save the ocean, but instead to help do what I could to lessen the damage that was being done. There was so much harm done across every body of water and plain of land on earth.

Giana

Without our oceans, we have nothing. I may not be able to save them all, but if I can save a few lives that our kind hurts in the process, then what I’m doing is worth it.

Hues of golden brown swirled in his irises as he read my message and looked back to me. “What do you study, specifically? It seems like you do a lot here in the facility.”

His interest… it caught me off guard. When I told people I was a marine biologist, they never cared to ask about what I actually did. They just smiled and nodded, like it was a juvenile job. But Declan genuinely wanted to know.

Giana

I study the disease processes caused in marine life from human pollution. And then I help out wherever I can in the facility, whether it’s administering medications, helping with transports. Pretty much anything I can do to help.

He studied me with such curiosity. A smile played on his lips and he shook his head at me. “How can you be so humble, doing what you do? You are literally the last hope we have. If only others cared as much as you do.”

I scoffed.

Giana

I wouldn’t have a job if people actually gave a shit about the environment.

Declan grinned, revealing his bright white teeth. His eyes shimmered under the light of the sun and they were pools of gold. Pools I could easily drown in and never resurface from.

“What can I do to help?”

His question took me by surprise. It was another question no one ever cared to ask.

Giana

Do you litter?

His eyebrows pulled together and he shook his head. “Absolutely not.”

I mulled over his question, realizing I didn’t have the perfect answer. It wasn’t a problem that he could just solve. It was something that required spreading awareness to the masses. It had to be a collective effort and it was something that would never happen.

Giana

I don’t know if there’s really anything that can be done. At least you’re not contributing to the problem.

“There has to be something I can do.” He paused for a moment and my eyes rested on his mouth. “Is there anything I can do to help you guys here? To help with what you’re doing?”

I tilted my head to the side. He was a professional surfer who didn’t even belong on this coast. Of course I looked up his social media accounts—judge me.It left me partially perplexed as to why he would want to volunteer his time here, but we did need all the help we could get.

Giana

We can always use volunteers. I will have to talk to my boss and ask him about it.

“Perfect,” he said with another smile that made my stomach do a somersault. “I want to know what happens with Pop-Tart, so I would love to help with the process or whatever you guys need help with. In the meantime, keep my phone number so you can let me know what he says."

My eyes widened and I began to shake my head. My heart thumped erratically in my chest to its own jagged beat.