Wet: Part 1 Read Online Free

shop seemed impressed with her gear, and as Tracy had predicted, a few were possibly jealous. Claire, in a detached, business-like manner, showed her around, explaining where things went and the penalties if she were to get caught putting anything in the wrong place.
    “The students get lazy and think it won’t hurt to put this here, or that there, just this once.” The inflection in her voice changed to mock the other people at the shop.
    Rhees began to realize the students were a constant annoyance to her, and she wondered how long it would take before Claire lumped her in with the rest of them.
    “How many students are there?” Rhees finally dared to ask. “I’m having trouble distinguishing who works here and who the other students are.”
    “Paul owns the place.” Rhees detected a hint of resentment in Claire’s tone. “Randy’s the boat captain, I manage the office. Dobbs is Paul’s right hand, an instructor, and my husband. Mitch is also an instructor, but I honestly don’t understand why Paul keeps him on the payroll. The man’s a bloody muppet—nice, but a bit daft. Everyone else pays for the abuse.” Claire laughed as if being sarcastic, but Rhees wasn’t really sure.
    Claire was fairly pretty and though she was only a little older than the average person at the shop, she came across more like a mother figure. She wore her ash blonde hair in what would be a bob cut, but with unruly waves. Claire spent most of the day in the office and no one questioned the orders she gave in her British accent and cynical tone of voice. Rhees had the impression she wasn’t the only one a little intimidated by Claire. 
    “You can put your BCD on this rack with the others. Your reg goes on those hooks.” She pointed to all the regulators hanging on pegs on the other side of the room.
    “BCD?” Rhees asked.
    “Bouyancy Control Device.” Claire pointed to the black vests in the room.
    “Oh,” Rhees let her relief show. “The store where I bought it just called it a buoyancy compensator, a BC.”
    “Same thing.” Claire sounded grumpy about having to explain it. 
    Paul appeared from the deck and walked through the gear room toward the office. As he walked by, he told Claire he didn’t want Rhees to mix her gear in with the shop’s. Claire didn’t seem to think it strange that he knew what she’d been saying before he even entered the room.
    “Just where do you suggest she keep it then?” Claire snapped. “I’m not a magician. We’re bursting at the seams here and I can’t pull a bigger storage room out of my arse.”
    Rhees didn’t like Paul escalating Claire’s already bad attitude when she still had to spend time with her. She couldn’t tell if he was concerned someone else might try to use her equipment, and he didn’t want the confusion, or that it might get stolen.
    “Put it in the closet with mine.” He walked out the other door into a short hallway they called the tunnel and turned right into the office, leaving Claire with her mouth hanging open.
    “That’s a first. I’ve never seen him offer his private closet to anyone.” Claire had a thoughtful look on her face for a second and then slowly turned to look at Rhees. “Ah, bugger. I think that makes you one of the special ones, Duck. Surprise,” she muttered under her breath and turned her attention back to the business at hand, leaving Rhees feeling a little dazed about what just happened.
    oOo
    Rhees spent the day lounging on the deck, watching everyone and reading her assignment—three times. That morning, the deck bustled with what seemed like organized chaos before the dives. Randy, Dobbs, and six of the fourteen students boarded the boat with gear and tanks, and pulled away from the dock before Randy hit the throttle and they raced south.
    The boat came back about three hours later and again, everyone seemed to know exactly what to do—docking the boat, dismantling gear, rinsing gear, schlepping tanks, and putting