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Twenty One

"Some of the boys are gonna come over after work tonight. Come over. Bring Emma," Mouse texted.

"What time?" She sent back.

She was scheduled to be done with work around six pm, and even though she would likely be exhausted from her third twelve hour shift in a row, she jumped at the chance to see him. She had been busy at work the last few days and hadn't been able to see.

"They'll be here around 8. You come over as soon as you can."

Charley smiled slightly to herself as she set her phone back onto the table. The two of them had been spending as much time together as possible, spending nights together when she didn't have to work early shifts, and she would spend her days off at whatever beach he was working on that day. It had been a couple of weeks since Charley heard Mouse whisper that he loved her, and she was waiting for the day he told her while she was fully awake. She knew he loved her, and she loved him. There were times when her feelings almost spilled over, almost blurting out her love for him. Somehow though, she managed to keep it to herself and swallow those three words. She wanted it to be special when she told him again.

"What's got you so happy, Anderson?" Charley heard behind her in the break room. Looking up, she saw one of her coworkers, Nancy.

"Just talking to the boyfriend," Charley smiled.

"He's the lifeguard, right?" Nancy asked, sitting down. Charley nodded and Nancy smacked her lips. "Ooh you just know he's fit. Gotta be to work those beaches."

Charley chuckled and packed up the last bits of her lunch, "He for sure is."

"You love him. I can see it in your eyes," Her older coworker stated bluntly.

Charley stopped before walking out the break room, her lunch shift almost over. Turning to Nancy, she smiled. "Yes, I do."

***

"Central to South Rhino," Mouse spoke over the radio, "there's a head right in front of you. Might be worth a paddle."

"Yeah, I'm going in," Reidy radioed back.

Mouse watched from the tower as his coworker paddled out and saved the distressed swimmer.

"Charley gonna be there tonight?" Beardy asked Mouse through his own set of binos.

He has yet to tell his friends that he and Charley were officially dating again. He wasn't hiding it, it just hadn't come up.

"Of course," he answered, looking at his friend. "Speaking of Charley, you can stop giving me shit about it. We're back together."

Beards put his binoculars down and looked at Mouse. "I thought you two already were?"

Mouse shook his head. He knew it was a bit confusing, given their history.

"Central to Whippet," Beardy radioed, causing Mouse to cringe, knowing what was to come. Before he could protest, Beardy continued, "Weren't Mouse and Charley already together?"

Another voice came from the tower door before Whippet could respond.

"She wants to take things slowly, mate. They're not dating," Jackson said as he sat down at the desk.

The radio crackled, coming alive with Whippet's voice who echoed the same thing Jackson said, "Nah, not yet. Only a matter of time though."

Mouse groaned and rubbed his face. Sometimes his friends were worse than teenage girls when it came to gossiping.

"He's telling me they're together finally!" Beardy called into the radio, looking at Jackson.

"Thanks for that, Beards," Mouse replied sarcastically.

Jackson clapped Mouse on the shoulders. "Oi, mate! Congrats!"

Squirming out from under Jackson's hands, he focused his attention back on the water.

"It's not a big deal."

"So the Bondi Bachelor is no longer single," a voice spoke over the radio. Mouse recognized it as Harrison. He cringed again at the nickname he'd been called. His fellow lifeguards had come up with the name for him due to him being perpetually single. Most of them didn't know his backstory with Charley though. They all figured he didn't want to be tied down and enjoyed flirting with the beautiful beach goers. That couldn't have been further from the truth. While he didn't mind the harmless flirting, he wasn't against getting tied down. He just wanted to be tied down to only one girl - Charley. Now that she was back in Australia, he was happy to be off the market if it meant being tied down to her.

"Think you're still gonna ask her?" Beardy asked, pointing to his ring finger.

His close friends knew Charley was the only woman Mouse ever wanted to marry.  They also knew she was the only one he had ever truly loved, despite having many girlfriends in the past years.

"Mate, we only just started dating again," Mouse sighed, rolling his eyes.

Despite playing off like he hadn't thought about it, the thought had crossed his mind at least once as week since Charley came back. It seemed to be always on his mind now that they were dating again. They talked about what they wanted in their futures when they first met, briefly discussing the idea of marriage, but he wasn't sure where she stood in it now, being older. Back in the day, Charley mentioned that if she found the right man, maybe she wouldn't mind getting married. Did she still feel that way? Was he the right man?

"I wouldn't be surprised if you did," Beardy retorted, turning his eyes back to the water and leaving Mouse to his thoughts.