Waves Of Passion

Eliza rolled her eyes.

“I am most definitely not overwhelmed,” she lied.

“Yeah, sure you’re not.”

She heard Christina let out a low chuckle.

“Seriously, I’m not,” Eliza said again.

“At this point I am not sure if you are trying to convince me or yourself,” Christina said, this time trying to stifle a definite oncoming laughter. “So, like I said, I have their schedules perfectly lined up. Apart from the Zimmermans, no other pro surfer is ever here while another one is here. Chrissie told me that they worked it all out with Wave Tide’s publicist.”

Eliza was impressed. A surfing company with a publicist? She had really struck the mother lode with this one. Most surfing companies were nothing more than a shoddy construction on the beach with a shave ice cart upfront at best. Wave Tide was definitely a notch above the best.

“So, I know that I just threw you in deep water on your first day without getting to know the rest of the team. But you can join us today. We get together every so often just to bond.”

Eliza nodded. “That sounds great.”

“Yeah, it does. We go the whole nine yards…beer, barbecue and some good old fried chicken.”

Eliza laughed. “Why do I suddenly feel like you just said that last part for me?” she asked and Christina shrugged.

“Actually, that was Chrissie’s idea. Maybe I should mention that Miss Christina DeLuca is biracial and she leans very heavily on her African American side. It was either the fried chicken or the good old Irish whiskey thanks to her mother’s side of the family.” Christina shook her head. “Those people can really throw them down.”

“I thought that was all bull…the whole drinking like an Irish thing,” Eliza said and her supervisor shook her head.

“I thought so too until last year when I attended Chrissie’s cousin’s wedding.” Christina shook her head. “Let’s just say that our version of open bar does not come close to their version of the same.”

Christina and Eliza laughed in unison.

“But seriously, when it comes to how we bond, we would have been having a good old Southern cookout every week were it not for the fact that she was outvoted,” Christina went on explaining.

“But she is the boss,” Eliza pointed out. “She could override the votes if she wanted to.”

“Override?” Christina asked. “You realize this is not some biometric lock we are talking about, right?”

Eliza laughed. “I know but I can’t really think of another word to put my point across.”

Christina tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear.

“Well, Wave Tide is more of a family than a work place to Chrissie. Her family is all over the world doing this or that…this is her family. So sometimes, all she wants to do is just spend time with her family.”

“So, I just joined a new family, huh?”

Christina nodded.

“Yup. A new family. The best kind of family…one that comes with a paycheck.”

Eliza took a sip of her water and laughed. She turned her attention back to the beach. It was not long before she caught a glimpse of Justin riding the waves with expert precision. The waves seemed to be getting bigger and angrier but Justin was staying strong. He was still riding every wave like he owned the sea. But Eliza was getting more and more concerned the bigger the waves grew. A good number of the surfers were headed to the beach but Justin was still in the water. At that moment, she was not sure if it was just her paranoia speaking to her or genuine worry as she sat back watching. Christina looked a little too comfortable and as far as she could see, all the other lifeguards looked comfortable too.

“Christina, I know you are my supervisor and everything but don’t the waves look a little wild?” she asked and Christina shrugged. “I mean, a lot of the people are getting out of the water.”

“Well, they do look wild but Justin has been known to ride on worse,” Christina said. “He’s fine.”

She sounded sure of herself but Eliza was getting more and more anxious by the minute. She was not sure if it was because her limerence was out there looking like he was about to be swallowed by an oncoming wave. She wanted to relax but she just couldn’t help herself. That wave was too big and it was approaching too fast. She climbed down her chair as she looked at Justin attempting to ride the wave. But at the back of her mind, she knew that there was something strange. She took off her sunglasses and whistle as she watched the water engulfing Justin. She gasped silently as she waited there with baited breath, waiting to see him resurface. But he never did. She knew that he was a good swimmer too but he was not resurfacing. 

Everyone seemed relaxed.

“Maybe a little too relaxed,” she thought as she looked at the water. The sea might have been a little rough but it was going on to five minutes now and Justin had not yet resurfaced. And by that time, Eliza was in full on panic mode. She did not need anyone telling her what to do. She pulled off her T-shirt and dropped it on the sand before she grabbed a buoy and began making her way towards the water. She might have been walking at first but as she got closer to the water, her heart seemed to be beating harder and faster and her feet were literally flying. Without even realizing it, she was running towards the water. Maybe Christina was calling out to her at that moment, but she just couldn’t hear anything. All that mattered was getting to Justin and getting him out to safety.

When she got to the water, she dove in holding her goggles in place and began swimming deeper into the ocean. Her heart was racing as she tried looking around under the water but she couldn’t see anything. She rose to the surface and looked around.

That was when she saw it. Justin’s surf board floating on the water. She quickly swam to where the board was before she dived down once more. She did not have to so far. She had just gone a few meters when she saw him. And she did not like what she saw. He looked…lifeless, at the very least. When she got to where he was, she held his head above the water but he was out. After securing the buoy around his neck, she began swimming to the shore as she pulled him along. By the time she got to the shore, Christina and another lifeguard, Ian were waiting for her. They helped her pull Justin to the sand and Eliza went to work immediately. She pinched his earlobe and waited to see him respond but he didn’t.

“His pulse is weak,” she said as she pressed her fingers to his carotid.

“Starting compressions.” That was Christina’s voice.

Eliza lowered her head and counted as Christina compressed Justin’s chest before she blew into his mouth. She kept on doing this in regular interval before Justin finally coughed up some water.

“Good,” Eliza said as they turned him to his side. “Very good. You’re okay.”

She stayed there gently patting his back as he coughed up all the water out of his lungs. It was a long minute before Justin’s eyelids finally fluttered open.

“Nice of you to join us, Justin,” Eliza said as she looked into his eyes. “You scared us a little there, you know.”

“You are a mermaid. A beautiful mermaid goddess sent to me from Poseidon himself,” he said and Eliza smiled. She was used to people being a little groggy after a literal close shave with death.

“It’s okay. I was just doing my job,” she said.

“I don’t know what happened,” he said as he tried to sit up. “I was riding the wave and…” his voice trailed off. She was not sure what he wanted to say. It was like he was still out of his element at that moment. But then again it didn’t really matter. He was fine. That was all that mattered to Eliza. He was alive.

He was safe.

And she had done it.