Bondi by request

Chapter 10

Poppy changed into her pyjamas and got into bed but just couldn't sleep so she decided to see if Sarah had replied to her email.

To: Poppy

From: Sarah

Subject: Re: Pics attached!

Oh My Damm!!!!! That Harrison is a hottie aint he! :-D You go for it babes, you deserve to have a bit of fun. Just don't do anything silly like fall in love with him and stay there ok! Drinks with Mark were a disaster! Turns out he has had a girlfriend for years and only asked me so he could tell me that slimy Steve apparently likes me and would I be interested! Errrrrr NO! Am out tonight with everyone from work and slimy Steve is coming too unfortunately so I'll just have to avoid him I guess. Your piccs are fab though, making me very jealous, keep me updated on the Harrison situation too – if he got you surfing he must be pretty ace!

Miss you xx

Poppy decided to wait till she had more to tell Sarah before she sent a reply so she posted some of the photos she had taken at Jake's party on her Instagram page instead.

She still couldn't sleep so she decided to go and sit on the small terrace balcony of her apartment with a cup of tea. The surrounding area was quiet and empty so she sat down and just listened to the waves. She must have dozed off as she awoke with a jump from a noise outside but she couldn't work out where it came from. Looking at her watch, it read 5:00am and she could just about make out someone opening up the lifeguard tower. She decided there wasn't much point trying to get any more sleep so she had a nice long bath.

About an hour later she thought she had better get out before she turned into a prune. She wrapped a huge fluffy towel around herself, put the TV on and sat on her bed. Flicking through the channels she realised it was either cartoons or the news available at this time and she stopped channel hopping when she saw the news headline SHARK SIGHTING AT BONDI

She threw on a t-shirt and sweatpants and ran back onto her balcony to see the beach was now very busy and there were camera news crews everywhere. She could just about still see and hear the TV from the balcony and she saw a surfer being interviewed. He had been paddling out and saw a very large dark shape and thought it was just a seal but then realised it was actually a shark as it swam right under him. The reporter said how lucky the surfer had been that he had managed to get back to shore without being attacked and he looked terrified. Turning back to look at the beach, she saw a jet ski go out but she couldn't work out who was on it. She did see Chapo and Whippet arrive and run down onto the beach but couldn't work out who anyone else was due to the amount of people now stood on the beach watching.

Hearing a knock on her door, she went to open it and saw her Dad on the other side

"I wondered if you would be awake with all the commotion on the beach" he said

"Shark sighting according to the news" she told as he followed her back onto her balcony

"It's all a bit exciting though isn't it" he said

"Not really Dad" she replied "It's pretty scary I think"

"There hasn't been a shark attack in a long time love don't worry" he reassured her "Fancy heading down there for a closer look?"

"What about Beth and the girls?" she asked

"They can sleep through anything" he laughed "Come on"

They walked down to the beach and maneuvered around the mass of news crews and stood with other members of the public who had gathered there. Poppy's Dad saw another English family they had met and he went over to talk to them while Poppy stayed still, looking out towards the jet ski terrified for whoever might be on it.