The Ringing (Very Slow Updates!)

Chapter Twenty-Six

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

SHAY'S POV

I have to give Cale credit on picking an absolutely perfect place to take me for a first date; I mean it was no secret that I loved water and all, but going to the aquarium just made me feel like a kid again. It's the first time in weeks that I have been able to fully and truly relax and be myself; not only was being surrounded by water calming but seeing all the beautiful colorful fish and aquatic life had me feeling so giddy that I wasn't sure if it was even possible to wipe the smile off my face. I'm so happy right now that Joey could show up and it wouldn't even ruin my mood; not that I wanted him to, the further he stayed away from me the better!

After making Cale take our third trip through the shark tunnel he finally decided he had had enough of that display and pulled me over towards an area with an open pool surrounded by bleachers full of adults and kids shouting; I couldn't see what was in the pool as we approached but from the sounds of splashing from below and cheering and laughing from above in the stands gave me a pretty good idea of what to expect, or at least what I hoped to expect to find when we got there. I was expecting to follow the flow of people mounting the stairs that led up into the stands but Cale surprised me by pulling me off to the side where he shook hands with an employee standing next to a door labeled 'employees only'.

"Mr. Reyes." The man greeted Cale with a smile and held out his hand in greeting; Cale shook the mans hand before pulling me forward to introduce us.

"Robert I would like you to meet Shay, and Shay this is Robert the head aquarist here at the aquarium." I took the mans hand in mine and gave it a quick shake in greeting.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." I offered.

"The pleasure is all mine." He replied with a smile, "If you would be so kind as to follow me I believe Mr. Reyes has a nice surprise lined up for you." Robert continued and flashed me a wide smile before opening the door and motioning for us to follow behind him.

"Surprise?" I asked Cale raising my eyebrows at him; instead of responding he just chuckled lightly and grabbed my hand as we followed Robert down a long lighted tunnel.

As we neared the end of the tunnel the splashing sound from the pool became louder along with the cheers from the crowd; an announcers voice could be heard over the loud speaker saying something about how 'Ruby has a bad attitude today and they would have to forgive her for her bad manners'; the announcement was quickly followed by a round of unmistakable whistle and click noises that I knew could only come from one animal. As Robert came to a stop at the edge of the tunnel and we took the last few steps to meet him there my heart almost stopped at what I saw.

"Dolphins!" I cooed, placing my hand over my heart as I took in the majestic creatures putting on a show for the crowd in front of me; their slick silvery bodies flowing in and out of the water effortlessly, their little pointed noses bouncing balls back and forth between each other, and oh my god, the cutest little kissing sound they made when the trainer asked for a smooch on the cheek. Nobody touch me, because if I'm dreaming I don't want to wake up.

"You might want to put this on." It took Cale nudging me to get my eyes to move from the beauties in the water to his and realize that someone was talking to me.

"Huh?" I asked looking back and forth between Cale and Robert to try and figure out what I had missed.

"The smock miss, you might want to put it on over your clothes." Robert repeated himself holding out a rubber apron looking thing; seeing as how my mind was trapped somewhere in dolphin land and my hands didn't seem to be working, Cale took the piece of material and tied it around my neck and waist for me.