Lifeguard

5. Questions

That day was a terribly hot day. The sun was shining down on the whole coast, giving the quiet breeze absolutely no chance to cool down the tourists and people who worked at the beach. It was hard to breathe from how high the temperatures were, and the thermometers hadn't even reached the maximum they were forecast to.

Sydney was sitting under the big white lifeguard umbrella, scanning the left side of their beach area. She had predictably taken her sunglasses, so the sunrays didn't feel so harsh to her eyes. Kyle had gone to his lunch break and after 50 minutes, he was still absent.

Sydney couldn't help but wonder where he was. She wasn't interested who we went to see, or what exactly he did while he was on his break. For all she knew, he may have fainted from the high temperatures or their prolonged sun exposure.

She was also starving and hoped Kyle would remember to buy her lunch. It annoyed her how often he changed the schedule in the last minute, leaving her without her lunch break. However, Sydney couldn't change a thing because he still was her superior, regardless how much she disliked that.

''No drowning people on your watch, you're finally getting better at this job.'' Kyle's deep voice had a mockery tone in it. He pulled his chair under the umbrella, putting it closer to Sydney.

''If I were someone else, I would get offended, you know,'' Sydney watched him drop his backpack on the ground, his muscles flexing, ''but I'm a tough cookie to break.''

Kyle chuckled as he took two boxes out of his backpack, ''what makes you think I want to break you?'' He opened one box, inspecting its contents. He put it aside – obviously that was his lunch – and handed the other box to Sydney.

''Thank you. Do I owe you any more money?'' She instantly opened the box and smiled at her boiled vegetables and chicken breast. She could eat that every day.

Kyle shook his head, ''no, don't worry about it. Enjoy your meal.'' Sydney glanced at him, and they shared a small smile before they silently emptied the lunch boxes.

Sydney was curious where he got their lunch from because it was always so delicious. She wanted to ask, but she had the feeling he wouldn't tell her; it was something like Kyle's little secret. Besides, he always deprived her of her break, so it wasn't like knowing the place would make much of a difference.

Sydney's favourite time of her shift was lunch, surprisingly. Most of the people had retreated to restaurants or their hotels, leaving almost no one at the beach. It was one of the calmest times of the day when she could just sit back and relax to the sound of the waves.

''You never answered me.'' Kyle interrupted Sydney's quietness, and she knew there was no way it would be restored again.

''Sorry, what?'' She narrowed her eyebrows, quickly searching her brain.

''I asked you why you thought I would want to break you.''

Oh.

How was she going to answer to that question? It was midday and Kyle was already inquiring for things which were usually discussed at late, intimate hours. Sydney blinked a couple of times, realising Kyle was the type of man to have deep conversations regardless the time of day.

''I was just joking.'' She shrugged her shoulders, having decided to go with the easier, shorter reply.

''You know that's not the real answer.'' Kyle pushed his sunglasses on top of his head and glanced at her.

Sydney sighed, giving in, ''most people outside my family have tried to break me, especially in sport.''

Kyle slowly nodded his head, taking in the information, ''but why do you think I would be one of those people? Because I push you too hard in the pool?''