The stranger struggles. ‘I don’t need your help,’ he yells.
A wave crashes over the both of us, making me gasp and swallow a mouthful of salty sea water. Shit. The sea is fighting back. I can feel the water swelling around us. A huge wave is forming. The sea is getting ready to settle things. All it needs to do is unleash one giant wave over us, robbing the human world of not just one but two lives.
‘You need to come with me,’ I say, through chattering teeth.
‘Please,’ he splutters, ‘I am… okay.’ Something flickers across his tanned face as he struggles to keep himself above water. He isn’t fine.
Using all my strength I grab him by the shoulders. The man tries to struggle free, but my hold is too strong.
‘I don’t need your help,’ he shouts, before erupting into a coughing fit.
‘Come with me, silly bugger,’ I yell, lifting him onto his back and heading for the beach. He thrashes his arms and legs.
Anger rises in me. Here I am risking my own life to save him from a cold and miserable death and all he can do is complain. If he carries on trying to shake me off, we will both end up in trouble. My foot lashes out, kicking him in the shin. He yelps and his body sags against me. The sea makes one last attempt for victory, pulling us away from the shore with a strong current. With gritted teeth, I tighten my grasp on the man and swim harder. ‘You will not win sea,’ I croak.
I shove the man out of the water and we stagger onto the beach. With heaving chests and wet bodies, we bend over to get our breath.
‘What did you do that for?’ he croaks.
Wiping sand and hair way away from my lips, I snap, ‘You were going to become fish food.’ His eyes wander over my black bra and pants. Oh God, I have rescued a pervert!
He straightens, stands up, placing his hands on his hips. ‘That was my business.’
Irritation at this silly man is making my cheeks prickle. ‘The phrase you are looking for is…Thank you for saving my life.’
‘You kicked me and then dragged me ashore.’
‘We were both going to drown out there.’
The man sighs before removing a clump of dark hair from his tanned forehead. ‘Look – I am not happy about this. I was doing my own thing out there.’
With eyes widening in horror, I stare at him. ‘Well – I wanted to save you and I will do it again if you pull another silly stunt like that.’ I am now praying he won’t make me enter the icy waters for a second time.
‘You should really ask people first if they want to be rescued,’ he moans, grabbing his jeans from the pile on the beach. Rolling my eyes, I run to my pile of clothes. He’s shoving his wet slippery feet into his trainers by the time I return fully dressed.
‘Who are you anyway?’ His dark eyes fix upon my pink café T-shirt.
‘Look, I don’t have time for small talk,’ I say, quickly. ‘You need to get warm, or you’ll freeze out here.’ His lips have gone a blueish colour, and his golden tan is fading fast. ‘I run the café over there and I’m happy to shout you a free coffee.’
‘I have things to do,’ he snaps.
My neck and shoulders stiffen, making me spin round. ‘Fine – freeze to death on the beach then.’
‘Fine.’ He shouts back as I march away.
As there is no time to go back to Dad’s I stomp to the café. I’m relieved Noah has not yet arrived. My long hair takes forever to towel dry, so I end up piling it into a loose ponytail. My clothes are damp, so I grab a new Love Café T-shirt and apron from the pile Frankie left us. After I plug in the heater and stand by it until I get warm. I should be looking at the booking log for today, but I am freezing.
Noah arrives and spots my damp hair. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine,’ I say. ‘How are you?’
He nods. ‘Good, thanks.’
He surveys the damp patches on my jeans. ‘Alice, have you been in the sea?’
‘It’s a long story,’ I say. ‘We have a café to run.’
At lunch I go home, shower, wash my hair and put on fresh clothes. When I return, The Little Love Café is busier than normal. There is a queue of people waiting to pay and more people waiting for tables to become free. ‘What’s going on?’ I ask Noah, who is frantically trying to make drinks for multiple tables.
