Forgot to mention this before: I do not own these characters, just my own! Same with the storyline! Thanks, hope you enjoy!
II - Salvaging Mission Turned Rescue Mission
The sun had begun to descend; darkness would set in soon. Tatiana was thinking of telling the crew to call it a night. For safety reasons, they were told to stop salvaging when it got dark.
Max gave a loud yawn. "Another day, another day."
Another day, another failure, you mean, Tatiana thought. He might as well just say what he meant.
Max was the owner of the salvaging company she was working with on this job, who had inherited it from his father, who inherited it from his father, and so on. Max obviously didn't usually do the hands-on work like this (he kept telling her about his ocean-view office), seeing as he showed up in a dress shirt, dress pants, and nice leather shoes that looked like they would be ruined by a mere splash of the water that surrounded them.
"So, there's this new bar that I've been thinking of trying, right on the water. Apparently the fish tacos are amazing! Thought you might like to join me."
Again, she thought, just say a date.
He wasn't convinced in the least of the existence of Atlantis, she knew, but he never made her feel silly or wrong for thinking it did. He had his opinion, she had hers. She had been here for a week, and was going to be here for the next six months, so it would be nice to get to know people around here. Even if it was just as friends. She should probably get away from her work for an evening.
The crewmen were just beginning to hoist up the last net-full of debris, what Max called 'junk' and what she called 'potential treasures'. Tatiana didn't know what she expected to find, but there had been a lot of 'Atlantis action' around here, so that left her hopeful. Atlantis was nearby. Far below, but close. So very close.
Almost tauntingly close, teasingly.
The salvaging boat had already been docked back at the harbour, as the last load was being brought up onto the deck. Tatiana scanned the rocky shoreline, where sea met sand. She stood at the edge of the docks, watching the net, which was nearly bursting it was so full, come up slowly from below. She could already see a mix of plastic, rusted metal, rocks, and seaweed, remains of the masses of garbage that had washed up on shores around the world. The ocean was so polluted, stuff which got clogged around here by the shore, in amongst the rocks and sand.
The heavy debris shifted as the net carried it upward, and she caught a flash of something in the fading daylight - thank goodness for the bright lights of the harbour which had turned on as soon as the sun began to set.
The mess shifted again and this time she caught a better glance of it, what she had seen, and it came into startlingly clear focus: a human hand, attached to an arm, attached to a body...
Her heart leapt and she gave a yelp. Someone was in there, caught in the net!
Max was still talking to her as she took off running up the dock, waving her arms above her head to signal to the crewmen, who probably couldn't hear her shouting over the sound of the pulley and boat's motor.
"Stop, stop!" All the men turned to face her when she raced up on deck, Max now following behind her. "I saw someone caught in the net - someone's in there!"
They slowed the lowering of the net onto the deck, hoping to be as gentle as possible. Once the contents of the net spilled out across the deck, the rest of the crew saw.
"Oh my God-" She cursed in Greek. A man now lay splayed out across the deck, surrounded by garbage and seaweed.
After a stunned, silent moment, a few of the men moved towards him.
"Wait! Don't touch him-" You weren't supposed to move injured or potentially injured people. "Let's move all this." She grabbed a pair of gloves and began to help them move what had been salvaged away from the man.
Once the deck was clear around him, she knelt at this side, contemplating what they should do next. Oh please oh please don't be dead.
Although, he looked quite the opposite of dead. In fact, he looked remarkably well for someone who had just been found amongst a pile of salvaging. He was wearing a wet suit of some sort, though unlike any she had ever seen, and his hair, which was so blond it appeared gold, the blondest hair she had ever seen, was pulled away from his face and tied in the back.
Her first thought was, wow, he's beautiful, her second being, yikes Ana! We just rescued a man and you're smitten by him?! He could be dead!
Was he a diver? A swimmer? A sailor? It was hard to tell, but obviously something had gone wrong to cause him to end up in the shallow water and in a salvaging boat's net.
"This is bad," Max was saying, eyes wide. "This is really bad." Probably didn't want this to negatively effect his company.
"Shit," mumbled one of the men. "How the hell did he get in there?"
As if anyone knew the answer.
Everyone jumped and most cried out when, moments later, the man's body suddenly and sharply moved as he choked up a mouthful of water onto the deck and gagged.
"He's alive!" shrieked Max, as if they all couldn't see it for themselves.
Face set in a grimace and breathing heavily, the man now stared around him through a squint.
"Excuse me-" His head snapped around to look at her when she spoke. "Are you alright?" she asked him.
He heaved a breath and looked as though he was about to say something before he slumped back onto the deck, unconscious.
"Jesus," mumbled one of the other crewmen.
"Call an ambulance," she cried to Max.
He whipped out his cell phone. "What should I tell 'em?"
"We found a man unconscious by the docks. Almost drowned." Should have drowned. How was he still alive?
"I'm sure glad he didn't." He dialed and took the call.
"Me too."
The ambulance arrived quickly, thank goodness, and she and Max followed close behind in Max's car to the hospital. Once there, they filled out a report, the best they could, knowing nothing about this man.
Tatiana left her cell phone number, asking to be notified about how he turned out.
When Max dropped her off back at the seaside cottage she was calling home for her time here, she was exhausted. What a day! Sure, her various searches over the years had had their share of moments, but nothing like this.
She hadn't known what she expected to find here, if anything. This was definitely not what she had imagined.
I think we all know who the mysterious man is ;) Yay, they've met (sort of!) What can I say, I always love the bad boy characters ;)
Thank you all so much for so many follows, favourites, and reviews already! :D so glad you're enjoying this story so far!
I already have ideas for another 'Aquaman' Orm romance story in the works (I'm so obsessed with this movie!) so stay tuned for that! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!