Crashing Into Blue

Chapter 34

It's the end of my shift when I finally get to sit down and rest my feet, walking out of Sea Breeze and into the fresh evening air. I drop down onto a bench not too far from the gift shop, where I let out a small sigh while stretching my legs. Standing all afternoon behind the cash register is enough to make anyone feel aches and pains throughout their body, but throw a bunch of nagging customers on top of that and you're one step away from collapsing on the spot.

August is a busy time around town; you have the people who are getting ready to pack up and head back to their year-round homes, with the reality of work and school and normal life hitting them hard. You see them ferociously cleaning their beach houses, sweeping out every last grain of sand and tucking away the beach paraphernalia. Then you have the others, the people who stay around until the Labour Day weekend, trying to squeeze out every last drop of summer from their vacations. They get up early, stay out late, sun tan long, and enjoy merrily. They're not too anxious about returning to their daily routines, and who can blame them, I think to myself while looking out over the water. Who would want to leave all of this behind? With a laugh, I admit that I do, and that I am. In a few short weeks, I'll be in the Big Apple, trading in the surf and the sand for the concrete jungle. I take a steadying breath to calm my now racing heart, but it doesn't help much since someone runs up from behind and grabs me by the shoulders.

"Lia!" yells Bingo into my ear. I flinch viciously, almost throwing myself off the bench and into the fetal position on the sandy boardwalk. When I recover, sitting back up straight on the bench, I see that Bingo has made himself at home beside me, laughing his ass off at my reaction. But the thing about Bingo and his floppy beach hair and big brown eyes is that he's like an adorable puppy dog; you never stay mad at them for long.

"Bingo, you nearly gave me a heart attack," I say to him while holding a hand over my racing heart. He replies to that with a good natured laugh, shaking it off.

"Are you just getting off from Sea Breeze?" he asks me.

"Yeah, I'm just resting up before I bike home," I say as my rub my calves, working out the tension from the muscles.

He pushes himself off the bench. "I'm just about to head home from Blue Barrel, let me give you a lift. It's the least that I can do after my jump scare on you."

He grabs my hand and pulls me up from the bench.

"That's very true," I say to him. "Let me just get my bike from around back and I'll meet you at your car." He gives me a grin and holds out his hand for a fist bump. After returning the gesture, he walks away and I make my way to my bike.

As I'm making my way behind the shop to grab my bike, another figure darts out from behind a tree and runs at me.

"Lia!" Jasmine yells as she jogs towards me. Again, I'm caught off guard and I nearly topple over into the lunch table out back. Just a few doors down, I can hear Bingo laughing at me as he starts up his Jeep.

"What's with everyone today?" I say while wiping my now sweaty palms on my shorts. "Is there a memo that I missed about how today is scare the hell out of Lia day?"