Chapter 24
AKASH'S P. O. V.
I jerked awake with a start as my alarm sounded on Saturday morning, and was confused for a moment as to why I had set it so early. Then I remembered that today included my long shift with an early start, and I had also intended on sending Carrie my latest chapter to proofread before uploading it. Dragging myself out of bed and disabling the music from my phone, I switched on my laptop and opened the document, skimming over it quickly once before sending it to Carrie. I knew she wouldn't be home yet but at least she would be happy to see it ready whenever she decided to check her email.
Getting changed and driving to work, I was surprised to see a note waiting for me in the guard office when I unlocked it. 'Hi Akash, there's been a change in the schedule. Alexis won't be able to work the Saturday shift any longer, so James will be covering from now on. Also today you will actually have to guard on your own for four hours at the start of the day. And finally I will need you to work until five today instead of two, sorry about the inconvenience.' I tossed the note in the garbage with mixed feelings; guarding alone or slightly longer didn't bother me in the slightest, but it was the first part of that note which preyed on my mind. I hadn't actually seen James since the day we all got our summer schedules and I highly doubted his opinion of me had changed. I didn't want there to be any tension between us, especially not in front of any other guards, but I realized I would just have to wait and see what the situation was when he came in to work. Dismissing it from mind I went about the regular morning duties before retiring back to the office until people arrived to use the pools.
I wasn't surprised that there was nobody during the first two hours, and I spent that time simply listening to the radio from the office computer and working on the puzzles in the newspaper. At quarter to nine some movement on the deck caught my eye however, and I looked up to see a couple of families emerging from the changing rooms and looking around as if wondering if they were allowed to go in. Grabbing a buoy as I stepped out of the office I waved to them to indicate they were free to use the pool. One of the adults nodded and passed on the message to the others while I climbed up on the lifeguard chair; I couldn't help chuckling to myself as I watched the parents from the two families gingerly test the water with their feet before shivering and quickly drawing back. I focused on the kids and recognized one of them from my classes; his name was Michael and from my experience he had been growing in confidence in the water over the last couple of weeks. I called to him and he left the little group of patrons to stand at the foot of the chair and stare up at me.
"Michael, show them how it's done," was all I said but he understood. Grinning, I watched as the little child rejoined the group and then, without so much as a word, ran a few steps before leaping into the water with a splash that was at odds with his small stature. His parents made exclamations of surprise and shock, but I wasn't worried and sure enough, he popped up a few seconds later treading water perfectly. "Good job buddy!" I said loud enough so that he could hear, and he grinned back at me before turning back to the other people there and yelling to them to come in too.
They stayed there for about an hour without anything eventful occurring, with the most major scare being a couple of mouthfuls of water swallowed by Michael's mother and older sister, who I noticed weren't very strong swimmers at all. A few other patrons reached too within that time, and I checked the time to see how long was left before the others would show up; the clock on deck showed there was still half an hour. I focused back on the pool and noticed Michael and his sister standing at the edge of the deep end, getting ready to dive. I did a quick head count and saw everyone was still accounted for, before fixing my gaze intently on the two siblings who were in position to jump. "Sabrina," I called to Michael's sister and she turned to look at me. "Are you sure you're comfortable with jumping in by yourself over there?" I asked dubiously. She nodded and smiled, but I didn't take my eyes off her as she turned back to face the pool and dived.
