The other side of the world (Bondi Rescue Fanfic)

Chapter 14 - A night at the theatre

Shannon awoke the next morning to a very nervous household as it was finally opening night of the musical show her friends had been rehearsing so hard for. There was a loud crash and lots of swearing as Shannon walked into the kitchen – Tristan had dropped a whole tray of coffee mugs and the kitchen floor was now a mess of broken pottery and swimming in coffee.

"Trist babe, calm down and let me make the coffee ok" Shannon smiled at him as she patted his shoulder

Tristan and Jason cleared up the mess while Shannon brewed another pot of coffee and then took it to the table. They all sat down and Shannon poured out the coffee and smiled at her incredibly stressed friends.

"You are still coming tonight aren't you Shan" asked Jason

"Yep, wouldn't miss it for the world" she replied "I've said I'll come and I won't let you down"

"Ticket sales for tonight are terrible" said Jamie sadly

"You leave that to me ok" said Shannon

The group decided to head down to the theatre and have one last dress rehearsal so Shannon headed down to the beach on a mission but stopped off at a bakery on the way to pick up some cakes to help her.

As she arrived at the lifeguard tower, the door was open and she could see Whippet, Jesse, Yatesy, Deano and a younger guy she hadn't seen before sat inside.

"Hey Shannon, look at this great picture" laughed Jesse as he showed her a picture on his phone of the young guy she didn't know looking worse for wear with a traffic cone on his head.

"Meet Jake" said Deano as he slapped him on the shoulder

"Hi" laughed Shannon

"Hi" muttered an embarrassed Jake "Can I just say in my defence I was completely wasted last night"

"Happens to us all" smiled Shannon "Maybe these will cheer you up" she said as she put down the big box of cakes

"Oooh, good going" grinned Yatesy as he opened the box and grabbed the biggest cake "I can see what Kailan sees in you"

Shannon laughed and waited until they had all got a cake in their hand before started talking again.

"So, what are you all up to tonight?" she asked

Yatesy already had plans but the others all said they were free.

"How would you like an evening of musical entertainment while at the same time doing me a huge favour" she said hopefully

She was met with cake munching faces who all shrugged so she tried again.

"Basically it's the guys opening night tonight and ticket sales are a little slow, so I was hoping you lot could help them out" she explained

"What kind of music?" asked Whippet

"It's songs from lots of different musicals all linking together" she replied

Whippet thought about it for a second or two then asked "Can I bring the missus?"

"The more the merrier" Shannon smiled

They all agreed and Shannon told them to meet her outside the theatre at seven. She then headed down towards the water where Kailan and Maxi were keeping an eye on a small group of young swimmers.

Kailan gave her a quick kiss as she reached them and Maxi gave her a cheeky grin and a wink.

"Don't worry I'm not staying, just came down to convince you all to come to the guys opening night tonight" announced Shannon

"Oh yeah I forgot about that but you can count on me babe" said Kailan

Maxi agreed eventually, only with the promise of going to the bar after then Shannon said goodbye and made her way home.

As she had the house to herself, Shannon decided to choose her outfit while she had the time and eventually chose a turquoise maxi dress. She took a long relaxing bath and then applied some expensive looking body lotion she found on the living room coffee table. She threw on a vest top and shorts and combed through her long hair to let it dry naturally – besides, it was far too hot to use a hairdryer!

She made herself a sandwich and grabbed a nice cold beer from the fridge and sat outside thinking to herself that this was the most relaxed she had been in a long time.

After she ate, Shannon changed into her dress and started to get ready, going for loose curls for her hair and a smokey look for her eyes. Slipping on a pair of nude colour heels, she smiled at herself in the mirror, grabbed her bag and car keys, climbed in the little red jeep and set off to the theatre.  She pulled the car into the car park and saw  kalian and the rest of lifeguards and their dates were waiting for her by the doors.

"Wow, you look gorgeous" said Kailan giving her a kiss.

They found their seats and then the lights went down and the show started.

For an opening night it went well, except Holly sang the wrong verse in a duet she sang with Tristan and Shannon dreaded the argument that would no doubt kick off at home later. The show finished and the audience seemed to like it, they all clapped and cheered anyway.

Shannon leaned in to Kailan and said "I don't know what they were worried about, the place is almost full"

"I told loads of people on the beach about it today" grinned Kailan

"Well aren't you just a knight in shining armour" smiled Shannon as she kissed him

"I think I'll help out more often if I get a thank you like that" he murmured as he kissed her back

"Hey lovebirds, come on, the bar is calling my name" shouted Maxi

They headed into the bar and were soon joined by Shannon's friends

"Well done, it was great" yelled Shannon as she pulled Rachel into a huge hug and Kailan slapped Darren's shoulder and passed them both a beer.

They continued to drink till quite late and one by one the lifeguards went home until there was only Kailan and Shannon and her friends left.

"We better get out of here guys" said a very drunk Jason "Who is the most sober one to lock up?"

Holly offered to be responsible to lock up as she seemed to be the only sober one there and they all headed outside.

"We didn't think this one through did we" slurred Darren "We have all the cars here and everyone is too drunk to drive" he laughed hysterically.

Holly said she could drive but as not everyone would fit in one car, Shannon, Kailan, Rachel, Darren, Tristan, Jamie, Jason and Ryan all said they would walk back.

They walked along the beach laughing and dancing when Darren suggested a race and everyone agreed, except Shannon who said there was no way she could run in her heels. Shannon shouted "READY, SET GO!" and laughed as her friends all raced off while Kailan took her hand and kissed it.

"So are you heading home or would you like to stay at mine tonight" smiled Shannon

"I have a day off tomorrow so I was thinking I might stay at yours actually" he replied, moving a strand of her hair from her face.

They walked along hand in hand until they caught up with the others who were all still laughing but had stopped to sit on some benches, out of breath

"So who won then?" asked Kailan

Every single one of them shouted "Me"

They carried on walking home and Shannon smiled to herself as her friends bickered about who won the race and Kailan gently swung her hand back and forth with his, realising how incredibly happy she was