When Cassie's cell phone buzzed her awake, she groaned and opened one eye. She felt around on the nightstand and switched off the alarm. She hadn't slept well, given the excitement of it being her first night in her own apartment and the anticipation of her new job. Also, the mattress was lumpy, and the pillow had a slight mildewy smell. She figured she'd get used to it for the time being. After collecting a few paychecks, she would refurnish the place.

Cassie knew she woke with plenty of time since the dock was directly across the street. There was no use taking a shower until after work since they would be in the water all morning. All she needed was to slip into swimwear, secure her machairi sheath around her leg and grab a bite of breakfast.

A case of first day nerves left her stomach a bit queasy, so all she ate was some strawberry yogurt and a cup of coffee from the Keurig machine. Things had happened so fast yesterday. Cassie still couldn't believe she was suddenly independent.

After breakfast, she checked herself in the bathroom mirror. One of her braids had come undone at the end. She easily fixed it but realized her aunt wouldn't be able to help her with her hair anymore. Managing tight braids by herself would be a challenge but she'd make the effort. She liked the way she looked, and no way would she ever cut her long hair. It had taken too many years for it to grow to waist length.

The time passed until it was time to go to work. Cassie slipped a hoodie over her swimsuit and walked out, locking the door behind her. She glanced around making sure nothing looked out of place and nobody suspicious lurked nearby. She crossed the street and headed for slip twenty-two. That's where she was supposed to meet Ofelia, her boss and boat master.

The craft in slip twenty-two resembled a whaler with an enclosed pilot house and outboard motor. The dive deck was aft. A woman with wild, wind-tossed red hair was in the process of securing a storage bin.

"Are you Ofelia?"

The woman turned and looked at her. "You must be Cassie." She had green eyes and looked more Irish than Greek. She was fit and trim, her face dotted with freckles.

Cassie figured her to be late thirties, no more than forty. "Permission to come aboard?"

Ofelia laughed. "We aren't so formal. You can come and go without anyone's permission."

She liked her boss already. Cassie stepped aboard.

Ofelia gave her the once over. "You come highly recommended by Milos. He tells me you can swim like a dolphin."

Cassie shook hands with the woman. "Full disclosure, he is my uncle, so he's bound to be a bit biased."

"I'm aware of your relation," she said.

"Um...what do I call you, captain, boat master?"

"Ofelia will do. Like I said, we're not all that formal."

Cassie felt dorky about not knowing the protocol.

Ofelia entered the pilot house. "Follow me, I'll show you around." She led Cassie to a small compartment beneath the dashboard. "This is your locker. In it you'll find a dive mask so you can see underwater and foot fins. When we return to port, you should clean your gear and stow it so it's ready for the next day. While diving you can store your phone in your locker along with any other personal possessions you bring aboard."

Cassie couldn't help herself. She said, "Aye aye!"

Shooting Cassie a smirk, Ofelia went on, "The job is simple. We take the boat out to one of the reefs in the Gulf and use the skopos to locate a concentrated field of commercial grade sponges. We drop anchor. Then you dive in and get them."

"What's a skopos?" It hadn't been one of her vocabulary words.

The older woman picked up a bucket that had a glass bottom. "We hold this in the water to peer into. It works much the same way as your dive mask."

Cassie tried it to see how it worked. "Sort of an analog version of sonar."

Ofelia brushed windblown hair from her eyes. "Diver safety is paramount. I told you we are informal but not when it comes to safety. I'll expect you to adhere to my rules."

"Which are...?"

"There are four of us. I'm the boss, of course, and we'll be joined by two other divers, Corky and Mick." She held up her index finger. "One diver goes down at a time. The others keep watch in case the team member below gets into trouble."

The system seemed sound to Cassie.

"When you dive, you stay down for two minutes tops. Even if you think you can stay down longer, I want you climbing the ladder at the one hundred twenty second mark. Not one second longer than that. You go down, harvest your sponges and surface."

Cassie knew she could stay down longer but didn't argue...not yet.

"Since you're freediving, the maximum depth I'll allow you to go is thirty feet. Any deeper and we won't be able to see you through the skopos."

It seemed logical.

"When you surface, the next diver jumps in for two minutes, then the third. With four divers, that means two minutes under, at least six minutes of rest interval, and then back down you go. If you find you need more of a rest interval, always speak up. Don't ever exhaust yourself."

Piece of cake, Cassie thought.

"Those rules are firm. Follow them and we'll get along just fine."

"Got it," she said, "No more than two minutes and no more than thirty feet."

Ofelia grunted, "Attagirl."

"What can you tell me about Corky and Mick?"

"Here they come. You can find out for yourself."

Two men, both looking to be around thirty, hopped aboard. One had short curly hair, a medium build, and a gap-toothed smile. The other was taller and leaner and had a more serious bearing.

The smiley one extended a hand, "Hiya, I'm Corky."

She shook with him. "Cassie. Pleased to meet you."

The other guy whom she assumed was Mick, didn't offer to shake. He grunted and asked, "You ever done this before?"

She sensed he would be the more difficult one to win over. "Nope, but I'm a good swimmer."

Corky elbowed Mick in the side. "She's cute too. We hit the jackpot. Now we have two good-looking ladies to work with."

"Are you married?" Mick asked.

She scoffed at his boldness. "C'mon, I'm only sixteen."

"You're young, pretty, and single. That makes you a distraction."

Cassie felt her temper flare. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He laid a hand on Corky's shoulder and winked at her. "It means Corky here is newly divorced and on the prowl. He'll have his eyes on you instead of on the job."

"Hey, I won't let a pretty girl distract me from my job," Corky defended himself in mock-indignation. "Besides, I'm almost old enough to be Cassie's father."

"But that won't stop you from looking."

Corky eyed her in an exaggerated manner. "For sure, I'll be looking."

"Stow it, guys," Ofelia said. "Cassie might not appreciate your chauvinist brand of humor."

Now that she knew Mick had just been messing with her, she felt more at ease. "I'm new, so I guess I should expect a certain amount of hazing."

"Oh, hell, don't encourage them," Ofelia said.

Corky and Mick exchanged high fives.

While Ofelia piloted the boat to the dive site, Cassie sat with her two male co-workers. She found out both were long-time Florida residents who had worked on the sea most of their lives, primarily on fishing boats. Corky had been sponge diving for almost ten years and also operated a shop in downtown Tarpon Springs where he sold the sponges. Mick had been at it for four years and was a stay at home dad in the evenings with his two-year-old daughter while his wife waitressed.

When the conversation turned to Cassie, she felt awkward. It was always difficult to decide what to reveal. She stuck to the truth as close as possible but provided sketchy details. "Both my parents are deceased. I went to live with my Aunt Marnie when I was eleven. I graduated early from high school, and this is my first job."

Corky whistled. "You must be really smart."

She shrugged, "I don't know about that."

"Modest too," he added.

Cassie giggled. "Except, I have no modesty about bragging how good a swimmer I am."

Corky turned to Mick. "I bet you a beer that on her first day Cassie will collect her weight in sponges."

"No bet," Mick said, "I mean look at her...she hardly weighs anything."

"If that was meant to be a compliment, then thank you," Cassie said.

"Hey, Cassie," Ofelia called out from the steering wheel. "You're allowed to tell these guys off if they're getting too obnoxious. If you don't keep them in check, they'll become insufferable."

She didn't think they were obnoxious at all and enjoyed the attention. "I'll keep that in mind."

"I think Scotty would've enjoyed working with her," Mick said.

"Who's Scotty?" She asked.

"The diver you are replacing."

"What happened to him?"

Mick and Corky exchanged anxious glances. Corky crossed himself and said, "Best we don't speak about that. Not on your first day."

Question - How long will it be before Cassie breaks one of Ofelia's rules?

Photo Credit: Source = https://www.diversdirect.com/p/marine-sports-underwater-viewer-bucket