the only one // h.s

chapter 7

Brooke's POV

Beautiful

One word with a thousand different meanings.

Does he actually mean it? Or is he just trying to seem friendly?

Either way, the words never fail to make my heart flutter.

I walk back to my bedroom with a goofy smile - like the one of a high school girl who just finished talking to her crush on the phone.

I lay in bed and fall sleep almost immediately. It's the kind of deep sleep where you have no dreams because your body is too exhausted to think anymore.

I wake up to the Tuesday morning sunlight splashing across my face. My phone says it's 8am.

I've settled into my new house so it's about time that I look for a job.

I peek into the living room to make sure Harry is still sleeping since the door to my bathroom doesn't have a lock. He's laying in a mess of twisted blankets with his eyes screwed shut.

I step in the shower and turn the water as hot as it will go. The beads of water relax my tense muscles and all too soon it starts to run cold. I hop out to grab a towel. It's not there. I forgot to unpack them.

My towels are still in the last box that needs to be unpacked...all the way in the kitchen.

I can't walk through the house naked with him here.

Then I remember the sight of him fast asleep on my couch. I was only in the shower for 15 minutes, he's most likely still asleep.

I run out of the bathroom and through the living room, not stopping to check if he is awake. Luckily my towel is the first thing in the box. I grab it and wrap the red fabric tightly around my body.

When I turn around, there he is, standing close behind me.

"That was quite a sight" he smirks.

My face heats up to a deeper shade of red than the thin towel that clothes my body.

"Why aren't you asleep!!" I hear the embarrassment in my voice.

"No need to be embarrassed, you're quite lovely"

I wrap the towel tighter around my body and hurry back to my room.

After getting dressed I head to the kitchen to grab my purse and shoes.

"Where are you going?" He looks at me curiously

"The aquarium, I want to apply for a job."

"Oh. Ok, good luck I guess"

With my keys in hand I walk out the front door and jump in my car. I've had this car since I was 16, and even then it was quite beat up. I couldn't afford a new car so I was stuck with this one. I would be lying if I said it hasn't grown on me. I've come to love this old thing. It smells like cinnamon and old coins - not the best combination but it reminds me of home.

It takes about 25 minutes for me to drive to the aquarium. When I walk inside I'm amazed at how big it is. From the outside you would never expect to see the vast amount of tanks. There are too many species of sea animals to even begin to count, but I know the names of almost all of them.

I walk over to the reception area. There is a small line consisting of about five people ahead of me. It moves fairly fast and in about ten minutes I'm talking to a sweet looking elderly lady with a name tag that reads Tricia.

"Hi sweetie, how can I help you?" She says in a cheerful tone.

"I was wondering if you have any available positions, I would like to apply for a job."

"Just yesterday a diving position opened up, but Jordan would have more information on that." As she says his name she motions to a tall guy around my age who has black hair.

He looks up as he hears his name.

I walk over to where he is standing.

"I'm interested in hearing about the diving position?"

"Ah cool, you're a diver?" I expected him to have a deep voice but it is somewhat high pitched. Not annoyingly high pitched, just unexpected.

"I have quite a bit of experience with it"

Every summer when I was in high school I volunteered at the aquarium in my town. When I was 16 I became a certified diver so I could work with the animals up close.

"This position is full time, you will be expected to arrive at 7am and stay until closing which is 5pm. You will have a one hour lunch at 1:00. If you get this job you will be working in our largest tank which does have two sharks in it. They are nurse sharks though, don't worry." He lightly laughs, then continues to explain the job.

"The fish are fed once a day, around 3:30. The tank needs to be cleaned very thoroughly, twice a day. Again, don't worry. Two others will be working alongside you so it's not too much work. I assume you already have your license to dive?"

"Yes, I have my lisence."

"If you're interested fill out a few forms and you can start tomorrow, we desperately need this position filled. We have all the equipment here so you won't need to bring anything."

This sounds like a dream job. It's what I've wanted to do since I was a little girl.

"I am very interested" I say with a smile on my face.

"Good. Go see Tricia for the forms. I'm looking forward to working with you." With that he turns back to whatever he was doing before I came to talk to him.

As I walk back to my car I briefly look over the forms I received from Tricia. It doesn't seem like too much paper work, so this will be easy to complete by tomorrow morning.

I pull out of the parking lot and onto the main highway.

After a few minutes of driving a familiar voice says excitedly "Did you get the job!"

Startled, I scream. I turn around and see Harry sitting in the back seat with his feet propped up.

"ALWAYS KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD" he screams the words.

I look through the windshield to see that I accidentally jerked the steering wheel and swerved over into the next lane.

A large truck located directly in front of my car is plowing towards us.