I Met Your Mother One Weekend In Shark Infested Waters

What were they thinking? For that matter, what was I thinking? I was a design engineer and while designing this marvel of luxury and extravagance was fun and certainly lucrative, staying in one of these things certainly was never on my bucket list. When Jim Halburn came to me with the proposal, why didn't I just say no? I surely could have explained to him that I had other projects to work on, family commitments, even a girlfriend that needed me. Here I was, however, living twenty feet below sea level in one of the world's premier underwater hotels. I would have rather they not chosen the name Atlantis, however. That was an awful choice of names for a place to put up to five hundred people.

Atlantis Bay was nearly five miles inland from the Atlantis hotel. We all had to check in there before being shuttled out to the hotel in a deep-sea submersible. After a thirty-minute trip in a mostly see-thru expedition sub, we arrived at the hotel. Getting through the airlock was easy, getting my ears to depressurize was the tricky part. Even at one hundred feet, the cabin pressure in a mini-sub made your head feel like it was in a vice, and then the rapid change to the pressurized hotel atmosphere forced the popping and ringing in your ears. But, for those that want the vacation of a lifetime, there really is nothing as grand as Atlantis. I was about to see the design I had drawn up for the hotel chain for the first time, and even though it was my design, be astonished.

Atlantis came with plenty of views as it held a lit aquarium inside the structure. Sealife could come and go as if traversing through ocean caves, but these caves contained their own lighting. The water inside the aquarium was at a density that was greater than the sea around her, giving off an almost surface-like appearance as it never mixed with the rest of the ocean. How the aquarium staff managed the mixture was beyond me, but it was a sight to behold.

I checked into the hotel and was given the key to one of the sea view suites. Now, not only was I underwater, but my private quarters were translucent. I could see everything around me, including the larger sea life that dwelled at one hundred feet down. Literally being this deep was making me nervous enough, but to be sitting on the edge of my bed, seeing sharks swimming around our temporary home away from home, made me want to shriek like a child. I was deathly afraid of them. Something I believed might be because my mother let me watch Jaws way too young as a small child.

The view right beneath my window was of one, then two of the steely-eyed beasts. I called the front desk and asked them about the lights that kept the waters so luminous. It was an attraction that the hotel worked on with the scientists in charge of the habitat outside the hotel. Why would anyone want to stay here if this was the habitat they were going to see every single day of their stay? I knew I needed to relax, to try to get into the spirit of the adventure. So I went down to the restaurant and found a table. The waiter brought over a whiskey and a menu. I wasn't surprised to see that the menu was mostly seafood. What I wouldn't have given for a steak?

So there I am, sitting at a table when a woman comes down. She looked around the room and as I was the only one she saw, came strolling over to where I was seated. I was amazed to see someone like her visiting the hotel alone. Immediately scanning her for signs of a wedding ring, I found myself mesmerized by her beauty. She had gorgeous green eyes, a soft cocoa-colored skin tone, and long curly brown hair that cascaded down her shoulders, framing her features seductively. She wore a snug black mini-dress that accentuated her features. Most of all her smile warmed the empty room and made it feel more inviting as the various aquatic creatures swam over the glassed tube the restaurant was built within.

Her name was Isabella and Isabella was part of a contingent of VIP guests that were invited to the opening weekend of the Atlantis Under The Sea Resort.

"May I join you, sir?" she asked with a soft, wispy voice.

I stuttered out an excited yes before remembering my manners and getting up to offer this wonderfully interesting woman a chair. Once I sat down she explained that eating alone didn't sound like much fun and that I, myself, looked like I could use the company.

"I'm Jackson, Jackson Dane," I told her, introducing myself.

"Well, Jackson, Jackson Dane, what brings you to the Atlantis?" she asked, putting me at ease with the slight humor.

"My company was responsible for the design. My boss wanted me to be here for the opening weekend."

She playfully smiled at me, "Thank him, or her, for me. You're the only other single person that is staying here this weekend. Every one of the men has brought a wife, or husband in the case of a couple of them."

After ordering lobster and enjoying both the drinks and each others' company, Isabella and I were sitting around when I noticed another shark through the glass. It distracted me from the exotic beauty sitting in front of me. She was quick to notice my preoccupation with the massive predators.

"Are you worried about them getting in here?" she laughed. "I'm quite sure the designer kept this place safe from the toothy beasts."

"They're just not my favorite creatures to be so close to," I explained. "I'm sorry."

Isabella grabbed a hold of my hand and looked into my eyes. Neither of us spoke for what felt like forever. She just held my hand and rubbed her fingers against my palm, causing me to forget all about our aquatic friends outside.

"Then what happened, daddy?" my little one asked as her mother and I kissed.

"Well, princess, mommy came into my life and we all lived happily ever after," I told her, because that was what had happened.