Love Will Tear Chad Apart

The blue ocean shimmered and sloshed against the underwater hotel room’s window.

Brooke Goodmane’s heart trilled hard and fast. Chad had been gone for a few minutes now, giving her time to think. The holiday, the fancy hotel, it was all too much. She felt like she couldn’t breathe. She needed time to find herself and discover what she wanted from life. But she didn’t want to hurt the man who loved her. If only she felt the same way about him. And now this? Whatever ‘this’ was? Brooke paced back and forth, her hand rubbing a red spot against her collarbone. ‘Oh God,’ she whispered to the empty room as the reflections of light rippled across the ceiling.

A blur of movement and a flurry of bubbles exploded from the corner of one of the windows.

Brooke flinched away and screamed, hands raised.

It was Chad. He descended from above, grinning through a regulator mouthpiece and waving at her. He was in a red Cupid-styled swimsuit. He also had fluttery angel wings drifting behind either side of his oxygen tank. Even his mask was heart-shaped. He held a sheet of paper wrapped in plastic in one hand and something else hidden in the other.

Heart slowing down from the shock, Brooke gathered herself. She hadn’t even known such tacky scuba equipment existed. Who on earth – besides Chad – would buy that crap? She forced a smile and a wave, hating the way the grin felt fake on her face. ‘Hi Chad,’ she said, knowing he couldn’t hear her.

Behind him, the endless ocean waited, blue and beautiful and full of possibilities. Chad swam to the window and clung to the side, his red fins treading water. He revealed what he had in his other hand – a ring box. He popped it open for her to see and slapped the paper against the tempered glass. The message read: ‘Brooke, without you, I’ll sink like the Titanic. So I got you a rock like the one that crashed the boat and killed all those people. I’ll never leave you high and dry. That’s why I’m now deep and wet. Baby, will you marry me?’

Brooke gasped, and her hand went to her heart. And it was a rock, too. How he’d managed to swim whilst dragging along that monster was a mystery. But could he buy her love – forever – with a flashy ring? Was that what she wanted? Was that indeed who she was? Brooke realised the answers to those questions were ‘no’, ‘no’, and ‘hell no’. She deflated and shook her head. ‘Oh, God, I can’t believe I’m actually doing this. But no. I’m so sorry, Chad, the answer’s “no”.’

Chad frowned. He clung to the window, the sheet of paper with his proposal fluttering in the ocean’s currents. The ring shined in the sun’s rays, which had begun to fade as afternoon became evening. The diamond sent light flashes through the nearby waters like an SOS beacon. The question was evident on his face: ‘Why?’

The tears started to fall. Brooke couldn’t do this – not whilst she was looking at him. She turned her back and leaned against the window. She slid down to the floor and bared open her heart. ‘I’m so sorry Chad, but I can’t marry you. I need to leave, to go see what life has to offer. To find out what lies in the hidden corners of the ocean. And I don’t think I can do that with you.’

Behind her, Chad sagged. A flurry of sad bubbles escaped his mouthpiece. The hand holding the ring box drooped. He didn’t see the shark coming.

‘You’ll see, today is what’s best for both of us. We can’t go on like we are, drifting like a liferaft in the ocean, waiting for some sign of rescue. I have to do what makes me happy. And so do you. You’ll find something after me. The type of girl who makes you feel frightened yet alive, someone who makes your heart race and your blood pump.’

Chad banged against the window, screaming around his regulator mouthpiece. Bubbles streamed away from his face; his eyes were wide and white like the shark’s. The water changed from blue to red.

‘No, Chad. I need to say this. It would be best if you heard this, too. Well, I mean, I know you can’t hear this. But I hope you can understand me. I know this is tearing you apart right now. Your heart feels like it’s ripping out of your chest. But one day – some day soon – you’ll pick yourself back up and put the pieces of yourself back together again. Trust me, you’re going to wash ashore someplace a completely rearranged man. Nobody will recognise you.’

Chad thrashed back and forth in the mouth of the predator. He’d lost his mask, and his air tank spiralled away, punctured, leaving a trail of bubbles. Ribbons of blood streamed away from his gaping injuries, and red froth foamed from his mouth. He slapped against the window, but weaker than before. The shark shook him like a dog with a chew toy, making his hair sway like seaweed.

‘A lot of people will tell you that this is the result of a maneater, but that’s not true. I—’ Her voice hitched. ‘I do care about you. But I can’t see a future where you’re in it. I’m so sorry that I left it until now to say something. I was too scared. Scared of life without you. Scared of hurting you. But seeing you out there, with that ring and those words…’ She sobbed. ‘It was the epiphany I needed to make a change.’

The shark banged the window with her caudal fin as she turned and swished away. She left blood and gore in her wake. The plastic-wrapped paper drifted off, destined to become more rubbish in the seas.

The tears slowed, and a sad smile surfaced. God, she should have done this ages ago. It had felt like an anchor was dragging her heart down to the ocean’s depths. But now, with the ties cut, she felt light and free. Brooke rose to her feet. She did not look back. You made your choices, and then you moved forward. That was how you lived. She all but floated out of the room. ‘Goodbye, Chad.’

Chad’s severed arm – still holding the ring box and twitching like a fish – drifted past the window into the abyss.