TRUE COLORS

“Congratulations! You are now advanced divers”, Virginia’s smile is happy and genuine.

“Yeah, congrats!”, - Mike is making his way towards Bobby. “listen, guys, there is this Monkey Park; it’s really important to me that you go there, ok?”

“Sure, we will see how the itinerary goes but we will try”, - the answer slips off my lips on its own. Mike’s tone is still nice but borderline pushy. Both, my mind and body are too exhausted to deal with it right now. The pain drained whatever energy was left... … “Mike is insisting that we go to the Monkey Park.”, “It’s kind of weird, don’t you think?”,- Bobby’s voice slightly echoes in the spacious room as we’re getting ready for the dinner. It’s been a long day. Diving didn’t go as seamlessly as I wished it would. Some serious ear pain, a hospital visit after and a few medications after, Bobby is finally feeling a little more alive. My mind tries to make sense of his words. It definitely is weird. Eye are glancing through work email box that filled up to the brim during the day. An email catches my attention.

“Bobby… he emailed the team too. And.. “, - eyes quickly scan through the text, “he is being kind of aggressive. Actually, really aggressive.” A nagging heavy feeling that almost disappeared during the diving certification days started to creep back up. Why so persistent? And this aggression? “And… he is now texting me too.” - a large block of text appears on my screen notification. “He is pulling the guilt trip move. Why is he obsessed about this Monkey Park?

Another message from Mike makes my jaw drop. “I forgot to tell you... regarding Casa Giving Tree, please do not highlight/mention the company Vacation in Costa Rica. The owners of that company were one of the people who did not want to be a part of my project, so just don’t mention it at all when you write about Costa Rica”.

The all-alarming feelings of caution mixed with fury take over my conscious mind. Eyes focus on Bobby’s face in front of me without really seeing it. All the attention is inside. My brains is aligning all the details from the last few days. “So, the dude flat out lied. The wife and Covid story is a lie then, too? Bobby, let me actually make a couple of calls”.

My fingers start to dial a number as the last words slip off my lips.