~
I'm lying in the dark and wondering where you are.
~
Ross had swung his bag down on Fish's desk chair as he walked into the light tower.
"Is Fish training you?" Maxi asked filling up his drink bottle from the sink behind Ross.
"Yeah, she is." Ross smiled and Maxi chuckled.
"Why are you all happy? Did Fish suck you?" Maxi asked and Ross looked shocked.
"No, but that was a funny joke. Because Fish suck, anyways. No she didn't. Wh-why are you guys together or something?" Ross asked unaware of her relationship status.
"Fish and me? No way. Oh god no." Maxi said laughing. "I've known her for years and years. I used to date her sister. Bro, that's so weird." Maxi laughed and grabbed his jacket from the coat hanger by the door. "Fish is probably waiting for you." Maxi said walking out as he took the keys from the desk. Ross walked down the set of stairs and saw Fish was stretching, folding her leg backwards and moving her neck side to side.
"So, are you suppose to show me around for something?" Ross asked shoving his hands in his pockets.
"You're late." Fish said rolling her eyes and stared to jog.
"Late? By like, two minutes." Ross said checking his watch and jogging with Fish.
"You've just delayed everything Blondie. Now we'll be two minutes late for debriefing, two minutes late for unpacking." Fish complained as she ran. "You better hope the Gods are on your side today." Fish said and ran a bit faster. Ross couldn't keep up with her speed.
"Could you maybe slow it down? Or can we have a break?" Ross asked as his breaths became deeper and louder.
"Death doesn't wait." Fish said running faster, now sprinting. Ross didn't have any adrenaline in him, so he just walked to where Fish was waiting for him. She was sitting on a rock by the water.
"Awesome, break time." Ross said sitting down next to Fish.
"So, how are-" Ross said trailing off as Fish got up and ran again. "You've got to be kidding me." Ross muttered and groaned. Fish smiled as she ran. It was probably the groan which made her smile.
"Come on Brady. You have to run." Fish said pulling Ross by the arm. "you are so unfit. Like a sack on potatoes." Fish laughed and have Ross a flirtatious smile.
"I am not." Ross said and started to run.
"There we go." Fish said once the two had made it back to the tower. "Drink?" Fish asked passing Ross a bottle of water and he sculled it down. "Whoa, steady tiger, that's your only water bottle for the day." Fish said seriously and then laughed when Ross' jaw dropped and the rest of the water dropped out, kind of like a fountain. "I'm kidding." Fish laughed and Maxi walked over.
"Can you patrol the beach this morning? I have to help set the chopper up. There's apparently a shark in the water." Maxi said scaring Ross on his first day.
"It's fine. They don't usually come close to the water's we patrol. Usually a couple of one hundred meters out." Fish said signaling to Ross to follow her and they made it to the shed. "Here, is where we keep all the equipment. Flags, signs, our boards." Fish said opening the shed door with one lift. Ross was impressed with Fish's strength.
"Do we have to carry it?" Ross asked Fish and she shook her head.
"Don't be ridiculous. We just have to load them on the buggy and then I'll drive them to the other side of the beach." Fish smiled and Ross helped loaded the signs onto the buggy.
"So, why did you become a life guard?" Ross asked as Fish turned the key in the buggy.
"Well, everyone does life guarding for a different reason. Maxi, for example work in the search and rescue team and Stevie does it because his a good surfer and wants to give back to his community." Fish said sitting in the buggy.
"Yeah, but why do you do it?" Ross asked and Fish glared at him.
"I just do it because it's fun." Fish lied and started to drive off avoiding the conversation.
"There must be a reason." Ross said elbowing Fish as she drove.
"Nope, no particular reason." Fish said shrugging.
"Oh okay then." Ross said as Fish stopped the buggy and hoped out.
"Here" Fish said as passed Ross a spade.
"What do I do with this?" Ross asked.
"Dig a hole stupid." Fish smirked and Ross bent down on his knees and started to dig a hole. "Quickly, move your hands before I drop the sign in." Fish said and Ross jumped away quickly and Fish dropped the pole in the hole. "Not bad for you first time." Fish smiled.
"So, has anyone been bitten or eaten by a shark on these shores?" Ross asked as they hoped back in the buggy again.
"Oh yeah. Heaps, at least a good ten every year. Although, it usually happens early in the morning or late at night." Fish said checking her watch.
"It's now eight thirty, so we should be fine. But you never know. That's what so good about this job, every day is different." Fish said parking the buggy back in the shed. "Have you eaten breakfast yet?" Fish asked Ross and he shook his head. "There's cereal and bread in the tower, and there's a little coffee place across the road." Fish said opening the door for Ross.
"Can I just ask, what hours do you work?" Ross said sitting down on a chair.
"Oh, five in the morning to seven at night. Or at ten am to 6 in the afternoon. It all depends on how many guards can work on that day." Fish said pulling out two bowls and filling them up with cereal and pouring some milk into them. "Would you like some toast as well?" Fish asked pulling out a slice of bread from the already cut up fresh bread.
"Oh no thank you. Maybe later." Ross said using his spoon to eat his cereal. Fish sat down on her chair and looked out her binoculars.
"There's so much rubbish on the beach from yesterday." She sighed and Ross looked at Fish. There was something so mystical about her. He just couldn't quite put his finger to it. She was like a unicorn. There was a knock at the door so Fish turned around and saw a little girl with tears running down her cheeks.
"Hi Honey. Are you okay?" Fish asked putting her bowl of cereal down and walking over to the little girl and crouching down.
"I-I. I don't know where my mommy and daddy are." She sniffled.
"Well, sweetheart. How about you stay here with my friend Ross here and I'll go find her mommy and daddy." Fish spoke softly and the little girl nodded.
"What's your name sweet heart?" Fish asked the little girl.
"L-Lilly." The little girl said cuddling her doll.
"Is that a barbie doll?" Ross asked the little girl and she nodded and then Ross gasped. "Is it the surfer barbie?" Ross asked and the little girl smiled.
"Yep. Look." Lilly said walking over to Ross and showing him.
"Whoa." Ross said and Lilly giggled.
"It smells of coconut." Lilly smiled and Ross picked her up and sat her on his lap. "Boys don't play with barbies." The girl said and Ross frown.
"I love playing with barbies." Ross said and waved Fish good bye as she left to find Lilly's parents.
Ross and Lilly played with the other toys that her in the tower to distract other kids from losing their parents to being stung by a jellyfish.
"Lilly honey. Look who's back." Ross said pointing to the door.
"Oh my goodness. Lilly, what are you doing up here?" Lilly's mom said hugging her daughter.
"I didn't know where you went so I came here. This is Ross." Lilly said pointing to Ross who was holding her barbie.
"As long as you're okay sweetie. I don't know what I would've done." her mom said and Ross passed Lilly's barbie to her mom.
"Bye Ross." Lilly waved over her moms shoulder.
"Bye Lilly." Ross waved goodbye.
"Mommy, can I get a ken doll for barbie and call him Ross?" Lilly asked her mom as the left the tower.
"Whoa. She didn't stop talking." Ross said slouching on the chair. "She reminded me of you. She's was strong and determined." Ross smiled and Fish blushed grabbing her walkie talkie.
"We have a fatal." Maxi spoke in the walkie talkie. Ross watched Fish grabbed the first aid kit and a deliberator from the cupboard and ran down to the beach. Ross followed her as quickly as he could. Ross really needs to get fit. If Ross started going to the gym then he could become more toned.
Ross noticed Maxi and Stevie remove the males family away from the scene. Thsi was bad. Ross tried to get a closer look. All he saw was blood running from the mans legs. He noticed many teeth hanging out from his limbs. Oh my god! Ross ripped off his shirt and scrunched it up and placed it at the bottom of the legs. Fish shook her head and Ross looked at her confused.
"It's too late." Fish said as the paramedics walked over. Fish stood up and wiped her hands.
"Fish. Can I talk to you?" A paramedic spoke to her and she walked off. Ross wanted to listen.
"Are you a witness? Or do you work here?" A police officer said as he tapped Ross' shoulder.
"I-I'm a life guard in training. Today's my first day." Ross said confused and the officer brought Ross away from the scene as white curtains covered the fatal lifeless body.
"Wh-what happened to him?" Ross asked the police officer.
"Well, that's why we are interviewing Fish." The officer said and I raised an eyebrow.
"I'll explain it to him officer." Fish said walking over glumly and gesturing for Ross to follow her.
"What happened to that man?" Ross asked once they were back in the tower.
"H-he got bitten by a shark." Fish stuttered grabbing a glass from the cupboard and filling it up with water from the tap and turned around shakily. "It's my fault he died. I should've been there to save him. I was suppose to patrol the beach but I got distracted by the little girl Lilly." Fish said full of sadness. Fish was shaking so much that the glass slipped from her hand and broke. Fish just broke down in tears.
"Hey hey. It's okay." Ross said grabbing Fish's hand and pulling her up into hug.
"No it's not. I should've been there. I should've been able to save him. I was too slow." Fish cried and Ross chuckled.
"You're faster than me." Fish pulled away from the hug and grabbed her bag and walked out. Ross sighed and followed her.
"What's the big deal? You made a small mistake." Ross said catching up with Fish.
"You don't understand." Fish said and paused.
"Tell me then. So then I can understand." Ross said holding both of Fish's hands in his. Fish shook her head.
"I could loose my job." Fish said walking off again down the street.
"There's something else, isn't there. I know you're not going to get fired. You're the best life guard here." Ross said standing in front of Fish. "Now tell me. What made you become a life guard?" Ross asked Fish. She gave a shaky breath.
"When I was seven, I had to look after my two year old brother whilst he was taking a bath. My sister needed me, so I left and my brother stayed in the bath. When I came back, his body was faced down and he wasn't breathing." Fish told Ross and Ross stood there shocked.
_______________________________________________________________
Please guys, comment your thoughts. I need some feedback.
Whoop, long chapter for you guys :)