Chapter 4
533 Words
Outside the fitting room, Ethan's phone buzzed for the third time in his suit pocket. He glanced at the screen. It was Leo again. Leo was the team member who had gone down with me. Four of us had entered the cave. Two stayed in the upper level to map. Only Leo followed me into the main channel.
When the current swept me away, I shoved him hard. Before I disappeared, I saw him clinging to the guiding rope, his headlamp beam shrinking into the distance.
When Leo surfaced, he must have called Ethan immediately. His voice cracked.
"Answer... please answer..." But the phone rang thirty seconds before a cold female voice said, "The number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable..." Because Ethan had hung up without hesitation and put his phone on silent.
Sophie was coming out of the fitting room in another dress, a rhinestone mermaid gown. She spun around, the train brushing against Ethan's shoes. "Ethan, was that Lena? You should probably answer, just in case it's important."
Ethan shrugged it off. "It's nothing serious. Let's finish with the dresses first. See any you like?"
Sophie's smile grew brighter. My soul hovered near the crystal chandelier in the bridal shop, watching this absurd drama.
Every time Sophie tried on a new dress, the sales clerk cooed with praise.
Ethan's expression remained perfectly mild that it made me want to laugh. But when he came with me, why was he always so impatient? "Lena, that's enough. You only wear it for one day." Sophie finally chose a train gown covered in tiny diamonds—one I had never seen. The dress she had made such a fuss about trying on lay abandoned in a corner.
I looked at that dress, and it looked like the love I had wasted all these years. She said, as if casually, "Do you think Lena will be upset? This one seems really expensive..." Ethan pulled out his credit card. "There's still room in the wedding budget. She won't care about something like that."
The clerk swiped the card and handed him the receipt to sign.
Ethan's pen stopped. Under "Emergency Contact," he had automatically written my name and number.
Five years ago, when I first qualified for Rescue Diver, I needed to fill in an emergency contact address. Ethan took my form and wrote his number next to my name. "Put me down. I'm your partner and your fiancé. If something ever happens to me, you'll have to take responsibility too." He smiled.
Then he drew a tiny heart next to "Relationship." After I passed all the tests and came ashore, he hugged me tight. "Lena, when we're underwater, I've got your back. Always."
Well, Ethan? Whose life was my life now? In the parking lot of the bridal shop, Ethan had just opened Sophie's car door when his phone buzzed again. This time it was the emergency hotline.
His face changed. He answered immediately. "Captain, a diver is missing in an underground cave on the east side. Need you to lead an emergency response. Missing diver: Lena Vance. Descent time: 5:00 PM. Report indicates snapped guiding rope, tank status unknown."
Time seemed to stop.
- Writer
