Ch. 03: Jobs
Nicole slammed her locker shut and clicked the Stanley padlock shut. She spun the dial and tugged it twice to make sure it held. It was the same lock she had used at school, for her gym locker. There, she definitely needed to lock her valuables up. There had been plenty of cases of lockers being raided, both as practical jokes and to steal items. At the Woodview Country Club employee locker room, it was probably a little less necessary. The only people who used the locker room were the lifeguards, trainers, and the cleaning staff. At any given time, there would only be 6-10 lifeguards and trainers working, and the cleaning staff wouldn't enter until after she was off. So there was never that much danger of her locker being broken into. Still, old habits die hard.
This was Nicole's fourth year being a lifeguard at the WCC. The first three she had done it with her twin sister, Crystal, and Nicole was still getting used to not having her there. Crystal was preparing to go to business school in the fall, while Nicole was staying home to attend a local culinary college. Their father had used his connections to secure Crystal a summer job at an ad agency in the city, which he thought would be good experience for her heading into college.
They had always used to be on the same shift, which made their schedules and commute much easier. Last year, after they were well on their way to being fully developed women, there was definitely an increase in pool activity during their shifts. In fact, their manager had joked that club memberships were up as well. The drab navy blue, one piece lifeguards suites weren't very flattering (nothing like the low cut, high sided Baywatch suits) but they still couldn't hide the generous curves the girls had developed. While she had never considered herself an exhibitionist, Nicole would usually notice when guys were staring at her and definitely liked it, as long as it didn't get too creepy. Besides, this was a country club, so they were usually old rich guys, with aging or trophy wives at their side. No harm in a little eye candy.
Nicole donned her sunglasses and grabbed her tote bag, which contained extra sunscreen, a snack, some water, and her magazine. She climbed the stairs to the exit door and emerged, blinking, into the bright sun on the pool deck. She walked around the deck in her Tory Burch sandals, saying hi to Mike, who was working the towel and service station, on her way. It was quite a warm day, and she could already feel the sweat beading on her brow before she climbed the short latter to her station, and gratefully sat down in the shade of the integrated umbrella. She took a moment to scope out the pool area.
Randyll was on duty as well, and waved to her from across the pool. There were four lifeguard stations that they rotated through, with usually just two lifeguards on duty at any given time. It was the last shift of the day, which was generally the busiest time. Nicole only spotted 7 unoccupied chairs, it seemed like half of the members were at the pool. There was only one hour in the day during which kids were allowed in the pool area, and that had already passed, much to Nicole's delight. When there weren't any kids, it was usually a pretty easy job.
There seemed to be the normal type of members there; rich older men, women with far too much plastic surgery, younger offspring of the first two types, etc. Nicole loved to "people watch" and this job definitely offered plenty of that. As she scanned the people lying in the sun, she stopped at someone who didn't quite fit the mold. She knew immediately that he was European. Part of it was just a feeling and the vibe he gave off, but much more was given away by the Speedo and designer sunglasses he wore; two items that she never saw on the men at the club. She guessed that he was someone's houseguest or relative. He had dark black hair, that looked like it would hang almost to his shoulders were he to sit up straight. His skin was a deeper olive than her own. He had a very thick looking jaw, with stubble adorning it. His chest and stomach seemed to be sculpted out of stone, and the tight fitting swimsuit did nothing to hide his package. In short, he was breathtaking; one of the most stunning guys she had ever seen.
Suddenly, his glasses lifted up slightly and she was staring at his deep green eyes. His lips curled up slightly and, mortified, Nicole jerked her head away. She had totally been caught checking him out. Normally, she was the one to catch guys staring at her, she didn't like being on the other end of that. She must have stared at him for quite some time, without even realizing it. She swiveled the built in chair in the other direction, took a swig of water, and pulled out her magazine to try to distract herself.
Nicole managed to get engrossed in an article about how mascara changed one woman's relationship and didn't notice the European guy for about the next hour. However, by then it was time to rotate to the next lifeguard stand. Randyll had been trying to catch her eye, and finally did. He signaled that it was time, so they took turns moving, so that they weren't both out of their stand at the same time. She went first, and rotated clockwise to the next station. As she approached it, she realized much to her chagrin, that her European friend was situated right below that station. He lounged casually, and turned his head when he heard her light steps approaching.
"Ciao" he said. She didn't recognize the word, but something told her it was Italian. Always trained to be courteous to the patrons, all of whom spent small fortunes at the club each year, she responded with a rather timid "hi".
As she climbed the latter to her platform, she was acutely aware of his eyes following her. She shifted her tote to her back, in a vain attempt to block his view. She normally didn't mind when the men stared at her, even when they did it in an obvious or lewd manner. Perhaps it was the fact that she found him so attractive, and that he had already caught her staring, that made her feel uncomfortable. Luckily, on her new platform, they couldn't see each other unless she leaned over the side. She did that occasionally, just to check that he was still there. He always was, laying out flat on his back, his dark skin glistening with tanning oil. He only caught her peeking once, leading to another bout of blushing.
Nicole settled into people watching for the next hour. One middle-aged woman fell asleep and was building up quite a wicked sunburn. She saw a couple argue, presumably about the husband drinking too much. He ordered another drink after the fight. Watching the patrons of this club never got old. She had nearly forgotten the foreign stunner by the time they had to rotate once more. She was surprised when, upon reaching the bottom of the ladder, she heard his deep yet nasally Mediterranean voice.
