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Thank goodness the last five or so people get the hint and head out too. The majority of us are lifeguards and don’t ever party too late because we have to be on the next day. Mollie and I are lucky because we can practically roll out of bed five minutes before work and still be there on time, the exception is Mondays and Wednesdays when we have morning workouts with the rest of the guards.
I love every minute of the job though, even when it’s boring. Especially, when I’m sitting next to the most beautiful girl on the beach. After I finish cleaning, I lock up and check to make sure Mollie’s house is dark then head to bed. I wasn’t lying when I said today was eventful and the best and biggest part was kissing that girl next door. I can barely wait to do it again.
The next morning, I meet Mollie outside at our usual 9:50 in front of her house. I hand her an iced latte I picked up for her and her face lights up even more when I hand her a bag with her favorite powdered donuts from the bakery down the street.
“Yay, caffeine and sugar!”
“I’m sure you’ve already had your healthy breakfast so I thought I’d corrupt you a little.”
“Ah yes, the culinary dark side of coffee and donuts.” She holds up the bag and cup. “All hail Satan.”
“Okay there, my little devil worshipper, let’s go save some lives!” I direct her to start walking and she dissolves into giggles.
“Ugh, today is going to suck. I feel achy from yesterday and the tiniest bit hungover. I almost wish it was a training day.”
“Hush, that would suck right now. I’m definitely hurting and swimming a mile in the bay would blow.”
“Would it suck or blow?” she asks squinting at me through her sunglasses.
I lean down and kiss her nose. “Stick around to find out.”
“Oh my goodness, what is wrong with us? You get the board today and I’ll get the flags and buoys.”
I nod and head to the small shed where we store all the things we need for our day. I grab the longboard and heft it up to balance on my head. Mollie grabs our other items, juggling her coffee and bag like a pro.
We drop all that stuff down by the edge of the water then jog back to the dunes to get our lifeguard stand. It’s a high and wide chair made of wood and painted yellow. It’s a bitch to drag back and forth and it’s so not comfortable to sit on all day, but it serves its purpose.
When the chair is set up, Mollie heads out to plant our flags, and I make the stand comfortable for us to perch on so we can keep the beach safe. I take our towels and fold them for us to sit on, set up the umbrella and then write the water temp and tide times on the small chalkboard on the back of the stand.
I bury our buoys in front of us so we can grab them if we need to jump down and run in the water. Then I grab my hat, whistle, and our coffee and sit my ass down. Mollie joins me and I hand her the bag and her drink.
“Thank you, kind sir, what’s the report?”
I take out the plastic envelope they slide into our shed every morning and read all of the information we need for today to her.
“Water temp is a balmy 74, winds are coming from the southeast, low tide is at 2:12pm, and there have been two shark sightings this morning.” I hate that they include shark sightings, one, because there’s at least one every day, and I’m convinced it’s surfers fucking with us anyway. I’ve seen a total of zero sharks this summer but I’m convinced we are overrun because of this stupid report.
“Only two? Must be a slow day for the surfers, those fake ass fuckers.”
“Ooh, dirty mouth today,” I say, nudging her. There’s no one in the water right now so we can joke around a little.
“I have no filter when I’m tired and hungover. Dirk was right,” she says waving at a mom with her toddler.
The beach is not crowded for a Sunday but it will fill up by lunchtime.
“While it’s slow, I’m going to go for a little swim if you don’t mind,” I say jumping down from the chair. “I need to wake up and the coffee isn’t cutting it.”
“How late did people stay?”
“Everybody was gone about a half an hour after you left. I had a hard time falling asleep, thinking about my neighbor,” I say and wink at her like some sleazeball.
“Oh yeah, I can wait to hear about that when you finish your swim,” she says, her eyes perusing me in my lifeguard shorts. “Dang, are we just checking each other out now?”
“Now? Are you saying you haven’t checked me out until now?”
“I meant like out in the open, not on the down-low,” she says with a laugh. I turn and bend over, giving her the full show. When I turn to put my sunglasses on the bench, her mouth is open.
“Watch out for drool there, Hatchet.”
