Beneath the Surface (GT) - Chapter 5 (Final)
With their two weeks together coming to a close, Galen and Leigh contemplate what things will look like for them moving forward.
This story was commissioned by @sizechuan
(( Beneath the Surface Tag ))
CHAPTER 5: RELEASE
On Thursday afternoon, the truck started honking in front of Galen’s house an hour earlier than usual. He hurriedly threw on his trunks and t-shirt and headed outside. He stopped abruptly when he closed the door behind him—Beth was leaning out of the driver’s side door, and Leigh was nowhere to be seen.
“What happened?” Galen demanded, striding as quickly as he could toward the truck. “Did something happen to her? Was it Bruce? I told her—”
“Slow down before you mess up your knee again.” Beth jerked a thumb at the cargo hold. “Get in. Leigh’s working a little late and I’ve got a meeting soon, so this is the only way it could work with getting you there on time.”
Galen frowned. “If she’s working late, why bother having a session today? She’ll be exhausted, won’t she?”
Beth gave him a long look, then rubbed her temples. “Why? Don’t tell me you had a head injury to go along with the knee.” When Galen couldn’t conjure a response to that, Beth heaved a sigh. “You know what? She told me about how you got in one of the sea turtle’s tanks.”
“Tortellini,” he said.
He could barely make out her expression with the way her sunglasses ate her face, but he could picture her rolling her eyes. “Tortellini. As I was saying… Leigh’s protective of the animals she takes care of. Like… mama-bear-who-will-claw-you-to- death protective. Frankly, I’m shocked she let you near the pavilion at all. But to let you share the same water as one of her babies? I’m flabbergasted.”
“Are you planning to get to your point, or should I pull up a chair?”
“I’ve seen the way you look at her, too.”
Heat rose to Galen’s cheeks. He scowled at Beth, part of him hoping she’d be intimidated, the same way people always were when he looked anything less than friendly. But she just stared right back at him, so much smaller yet just as stubborn. He braced himself for Beth to threaten him to stay far away from Leigh.
Instead, she lowered her sunglasses and looked more cross than murderous. “Don’t screw things up,” she said. “Against all odds, she seems… happy around you. You hurt her, you lead her on or break her heart, I will find a way to give you twenty-to-life. Got that?”
Startled, he laughed uncomfortably. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t… I mean, she and I aren’t…” He distractedly adjusted his beanie, wishing Beth and her knowing stare would just go away. He huffed. “We’re friends.”
Beth chuckled humorlessly. “Sure. Don’t make me repeat myself. Get in the truck.”
Desperate to avoid any further discussion on the matter, he did as he was told.
When they arrived at the sanctuary, Galen was almost unnerved to see that the pavilion had people wandering around. He shouldn’t have been shocked—Beth had finally explained that the sanctuary had been short on help lately and needed to extend their working hours so Leigh could add another tour.
Still, he was so used to the calm and quiet of the pavilion, he made it a point to hang back near the edge. It came as no shock to him that no one in there was his height. Rockrest wasn’t known to attract bigger visitors.
Leigh was in the middle of a presentation in front of the bleachers. She paced on the platform that circled Bruce’s tank, talking animatedly. He couldn’t hear her from so far away, but he imagined she was bragging about how good she was at not being eaten alive by sharks. When she circled around the other side, she spotted him at the edge of the pavilion.
Galen stiffened, expecting her to look away and ignore him. He would understand; she was working. But even from a distance, she could see the way her eyes lit up as she waved at him. He gave a half-wave, his face growing hot again.
Dammit, Beth.
When her presentation was over, Leigh welcomed the guests to roam around and look at the inhabitants of the tanks for fifteen minutes before the sanctuary closed. The moment she was able, she waltzed over to Galen and smiled.
“You don’t have to back yourself into a corner just because there’s people around,” she said.
He shrugged. “I didn’t pay admission.”
She shrugged more aggressively. “I don’t see security.”
Before he could quip back, a mother leading her kids around called out to Leigh. “Excuse me, miss? What kind of shark did you say was in that tank?”
Bubbling with as much energy as ever, Leigh ran off to join the family at Bruce’s tank. Meanwhile, Galen found himself feeling out of place again. Slowly, he allowed himself to walk around the outskirts at least. His goal was to get to the empty tank and wait for Leigh’s shift to be over.
On his way there, he spotted three little kids pressing their hands to the glass of a nearby tank. They were asking questions to each other, debating on why one of its flippers looked different than the others. Just when the debate about robot arms and plastic fins was getting heated, Galen found himself clearing his throat.
“His name is Tortellini.”
The kids flinched in unison and turned to him in surprise. There were two boys and a girl—siblings, by the look of it. They visibly stepped closer together, staring up at Galen with a touch of wariness.
He turned away, not wanting to see the moment they would run away from him. But he stopped mid-step when the girl piped up.
“Why does Tortellini have a robot arm?” There was uncertainty in her voice, but also a small giggle when she said the turtle’s name.
“It, uh… it’s not a robot arm.” Galen paused and looked toward Leigh. She was still busy with the other family.
“I told you it wasn’t a robot arm,” one of the boys said, elbowing his sister’s arm.
She shrugged him off and pointedly ignored him, still looking at Galen instead. “What is it, then?” she asked.
Hesitantly, Galen lowered himself to sit by the tank. At least that way it wouldn’t feel like he was talking down to them too much. “It’s called a prosthetic. His flipper was hurt in an accident, so the people here helped by making him a new one.”
He thought that would be the end of it, that the kids would simply nod at his answer and move on to the next tank. Instead, he was treated to a dozen more questions all at once. What did Tortellini eat? Did he ever share the tank with friends? How fast could he swim? Galen answered as best he could, managing to slow the kids down to one question at a time until they were satisfied.
From the corner of his eye, Galen spotted Leigh watching. She was beaming.
As the tour came to an end and everyone filtered out of the pavilion, he should have been happy to finally have Leigh to himself for the session. But as much as he hated to admit it, there was something fun about talking to those kids about sea turtles. He tried to ignore the feeling, only to wrestle with the bittersweetness that tomorrow’s session would be the last.
It was hard not to let it distract him while Leigh worked with him that afternoon, just as chipper as she ever was.
“Something’s off,” Gale announced the moment he got out of the truck at the sanctuary.
Leigh’s heart did a backflip as she shut the driver side door and faced him. “What makes you say that?”
“I thought about it the whole ride over. You hardly said a word when you picked me up.” He crossed his arms. “That makes me think you’re… up to something.”
She put a hand to her chest in feigned astonishment. “Well, I am shocked. Wounded. Just because I’m not talking your ear off means that I’m up to something?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Yep. You just strike me as the kind of person who’s not good at keeping secrets. So you decided that hardly talking would help. What is it? It’s our last session—how bad can it be?”
Leigh cocked her head, certain that she detected some faint somberness in his voice when he said that. Hope fluttered inside her, but she stifled it for now. “Okay, okay, you got me. I just didn’t want to tell you back at your place because I was afraid you wouldn’t come if you knew what we were doing today.”
She waved him over toward the pavilion. He hesitated before following, stopping dead in his tracks when he caught a glimpse of what was going on. A couple of other sanctuary workers were loading a large tank into the back of a truck.
“We’re going to the beach this evening,” Leigh said brightly. “We’re releasing one of our rescues today, and well… I’ve never missed a release before. Plus, I think you’re ready to work with the resistance of the waves. It’ll be good practice! So even though we’ll be done with our sessions, you can keep going out there to work on your healing, and—”
“Leigh, which rescue is being released?”
She smiled sheepishly. “I think you know.”
“Bruce?”
“Ding-ding-ding.”
He sighed heavily, lowering himself to sit on the pavement while the truck was latched up. Leigh inched closer, looking up to get a read on his expression. “You thought I’d say no to that?” he said.
“Well, you said you’d never get into the shark tank. And I am technically asking you to get into a body of water that contains Bruce.”
“I mean, it’s a body of water that technically contains most sharks.” He pursed his lips, and for a moment, Leigh thought he was seriously considering walking home from there. But finally, he said, “Fine. Should I get back in the truck?”
Grinning, she leaned in and tugged on his shirt. “If it’s walking distance for me, it’s walking distance for you. Let’s go.”
Releases were always bittersweet, but saying goodbye to Bruce in particular left Leigh misty-eyed. She stood on the shore while the other sanctuary employees carefully transported the tank to deep enough water to free him. It wasn’t long before he vanished from sight entirely, no doubt enthralled to have the whole ocean to swim in again.
“We weren’t sure if we were going to be able to release him at all at first,” Leigh told Galen. “His injury was so bad, we thought he’d have to be a lifer.”
“Like Tortellini?”
“Exactly.” She sighed and gave up on trying to spot the shark in the choppy waves. The rest of the team was already packing up. “I feel like a mother watching her kid go off to college.”
Galen chuckled. “Is that how you’re going to feel with me?”
She bit her lip and looked up at him, wondering if she should ask him now. But she held off. If the conversation didn’t go as planned, she doubted Galen would want to stick around for an awkward session.
“Well, I can’t tell you that until we’re done,” she said brightly. She strode to the lapping shore and walked backward to face him. “Come on, don’t be scared—Bruce is long gone by now, swimming off to find some food.”
“I’m not scared,” Galen huffed, hurrying to follow her and catching up in no time.
Leigh backed up until her feet couldn’t touch the sand anymore. Maneuvering the waves was easy at first, but they were soon battering her when they reached water levels that went up to Galen’s chest. She tried to look like this was nothing for her, but Galen only had to observe her for a few seconds before he reached out to steady her.
His hands clasped around her waist and kept the waves from sweeping her further away. She swore she saw color rose to his cheeks, and he was quick to justify himself.
“Just don’t want you to be carried off and turn into Bruce’s dinner,” he said.
She snorted, latching her hands onto his forearms. “How does your knee feel with the waves?”
“Sore, but…” He hesitated, glancing up at the darkening sky. A heavier wave crashed into Leigh from the back, inadvertently drawing her closer to him. “It’s so much better than before. I dunno if I’ll be one-hundred percent ready for work on Monday, but even being able to walk is progress. And look… I don’t know when I’ll be able to pay you—”
“Don’t worry about it.” Her heart began beating faster. She tightened her fingers on his arms. He frowned down at her, clearly about to ask what the matter was, so she spat it out. “In fact, I’ve got another offer for you.”
He squinted at her. “What?”
“I talked to the owners at Sealife.” She swallowed hard. “And they agree that we’ve been too shorthanded lately. You said you were unhappy with your construction job, so I want you to come work with us.”
He stared hard at her, another wave pushing her closer until she had to practically look straight up at him. He said nothing, so she babbled on.
“I mean, you’d still have to do some heavy lifting, but you also seem so comfortable around the animals—except Bruce—but he’s gone, and even if we got another shark, you wouldn’t have to touch it.” She cut herself off and held eye contact with Galen, who still hadn’t said a word. “Well?” she prompted.
For another beat, he said nothing. Then he shook his head like he was coming out of a trance. “Sorry, I got distracted—I always thought your eyes were brown. I just noticed they’re green.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you okay?”
The grip around her waist faltered before tightening. Not to a level of discomfort—almost like he wanted to make sure that she was real. That what she had said was real.
“If I take the job,” he said slowly, “do I have to deal with Beth supervising all the time?”
“Occasionally. But mostly you’d just have to deal with me supervising. Since I’ll technically be your boss, having seniority and all.”
He scoffed. “Now, that I’m not sure I could handle.”
She shoved his arm. “Rude! I’m an excellent boss!” But she still held a kernel of doubt. “So… is that a yes? You don’t have to decide right now. I figured it’d be a good place to start while you try to figure out what your passion is, so—”
“Yes,” he said, shaking his head exasperatedly. “Yes, I’d love to come work with you.”
“For me.”
“Don’t push it.”
“Is that any way to talk to your boss?”
“Do you want me to launch you into the sea?”
More out of reflex than any sort of rational thought, she pushed the rest of the way forward and hugged him around the neck. For a second, she worried he might pull her away. But to her shock, his hands moved higher and allowed a brief embrace.
Her heart was still pounding like mad. She hoped he couldn’t feel it with all the waves. But then again, she could feel his pounding like a drum, maybe just as fast.
((Author’s note: And that’s the end!! Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this little slice-of-life drama with these two cuties 🥰))
