Drowned

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Mr. Shark felt as though he was about to melt into the sand. His dorsal fin was wagging rapidly at the sudden contact that was brief yet sweet to his sandpaper skin. Blinking, he faced her with a shocked expression.

She had kissed him. She really kissed him!!

Inside, he was screaming with joy to the point he wanted to put on a broadway show to celebrate this moment. However, he instead lets out a high-pitched squeal and kicked his legs in the sand.

Mira covered her mouth to giggle but even he could see that she was blushing hard. "I can't believe that just happen. I-I don't know what to say but... I think I want to try something..."

He wondered if this was the first time he had heard his voice being this quiet. Seeing her confused yet guarded expression, Mr. Shark gestured toward the sand. "Ever tried making a sandcastle?"

Mr. Shark wondered if he had said something wrong when she looked away. Kneeling down to her level, he asked, "Do you know how to make a sandcastle?"

Reluctantly, she shook her head and brought her knees close to her chest. "I...don't know how..." There was shame in her tone, clearly something that she wasn't comfortable with. He rubbed her back gently. "Never got the time to do it?"

She shook her head. "They won't let me..."

Now it dawned on him. Mira's family must not let her go anywhere near some place dirty and yet they let her swim about? No wonder Rani left and was happy with Mr. Snake. Instead of giving her sympathy, he offered his fin out.

"Wanna learn how?"

There was hesitation in her body language but he could tell that her eyes wanted to try things that she wasn't  allowed to do. Seriously, what kind of family does that? Even the jail that he went to with his gang treated them better.

Thankfully, he brought his extra bucket and spade for her to use, guiding her on how to build a sandcastle. It was fun since they were the only ones at the beach after the sunset and Mira, for the first time, was smiling and laughing.

He hoped she could see that those little things were what made her cute.

However, that changed when the walls of their sandcastle crumbled down, causing a domino effect when Mira tried to place a sand dollar on it as a decoration. At an instant, Mira's demeanour from bubbly to stressed and ashamed of herself.

Concerned by this, he kneeled down beside her. "What's wrong?"

Mira glanced at the crumbled down sandcastle. "It's ruined...it's my fault it's not perfect..."

He noticed the waver in her voice, then the tears dripping down her cheek. Unlike most people including himself, she never made a sound as she cried. He could only drape a towel over her shoulders and held her close.

"Hey, hey," he soothed her. "No one is perfect. This is your first sandcastle, right?"

The young woman nodded and wiped a few tears with the towel. "I should have known," she murmured, pressing her knees close to her chest. "I have to be perfect at everything and I failed this...I'm a failure...I'm a failure..."

Growling, he lifted her chin up so that her eyes met his. "Look at me, Mira. You are NOT a failure. All of us failed at something. Have you watched any of our heists before the arrest? We got caught a lot of times despite my creative disguises! In fact, even our plan before the heists were off so we kept trying until all of us agreed to it, whether we like it or not."

Mira only looked up at him with those tearful eyes that made him want to cry as well. However, he pushed those thoughts aside as he continued to comfort her since that's what a good guy would have done.