harrison reid // maxi // bondi rescue

7 harrison

there we a massive swell today and thumping waves which made the conditions quite dangerous for swimming. it was a fairly slow morning with rescues and people at the beach but as the heat picked up at midday it became busier. as we rescued more and more people the heat kept rising and peaked to 43°. down the southern end people were just getting pulled out because of the strong current and rips down there. even where the flags were wasn't even safe anymore as there was a rips either side of the flags which made it a dangerous narrow passage where the flags were. at about 2pm, over the radio dean pops the question of potentially closing the beach. harrison and ryan are back at the tower and harrison radios back. "yeah mate, it's getting worse out there, people are just getting sucked out. i'll just ask hop" he says and we wait for a reply. "yeah, if everyone's happy we'll close it" he confirms a minute later and we all radio back that we are happy with it.

the next half an hour yatesey and i drive up and down the beach, moving people out of the water and putting up the 'beach closed' signs. the process takes a while and i even have to jump on the rescue board a couple of times to help people in. eventually everyone's out of the water and people start heading home to escape the sun.

we continue to patrol the beach making sure no one is in the water and others are up at the tower treating the continuous flow of people for heatstroke. eventually sunset rolls around and we pack up the beach, removing the signs and announcing to everyone who's left on the beach that we are leaving and it's not safe to swim.

"el, jesse and i are hitting the pub tonight, wanna come?" he asks and i shake my head. "no thanks" i say and show a small smile. i thought he said this morning that he was going to come back around and we were gonna 'finish things off'. well obviously not anymore. "okay well, i might swing by tonight if that's okay" he says and i nod. "yeah sure thing, i'll see you later" i say and we both wander off in different directions. as him and jesse head to the pub i start walking home, listening to music through my earphones.

i always enjoy the walk home. it's a way to make me relax after the hectic day at the beach. and it means i don't have to concentrate and focus on anything what is really good. i feel my phone buzz and i look at it to see a text from harrison. "i'm behind you, can i walk with you?" it says and i turn around and he's about 10 metres behind me. i smile and nod and he jogs up to me. "didn't want to interrupt cause you had your earphones in" he says and i chuckle. "it's fine, it's better talking to someone anyways" i say as i cool my earphones up.

we walk home and he invited me over for dinner and i accept his offer. "what do you want? we don't have much so i'll go down to the shops and grab something" he says and i shrug. "i really don't mind" "how about i make you my favourite salad in the world?" he asks and i laugh at the voice he put on when he said that. "sure, im excited to try it".

i tell him i'll meet him in an hour- enough time for us both to shower and for him to go to the shops which is just across the road. i change into my plaid mini skirt and a white singlet. before leaving i grab a hoodie, my phone and a chocolate bar and head off to his apartment.

as soon as i knock on the door it opens, revealing harrison cooking something. shirtless. oh god. okay but not to cheat on maxi or anything - harrison is the most tanned person i have ever met, and his build is quite spectacular. "hey, come in" he says and i walk inside and take a seat on one of the bar stools. his apartment is exactly the same as mine, apart from he has an extra bedroom squeezed into the corner. he's cooking chicken for the salad and as he does so we chat about things that even i don't talk to maxi about. not that any of it's a secret, it's just that maxi doesn't ask or he won't hold a good conversation because he would rather be kissing me which i'm not complaining of. so it's good to have a chat like this once in a while.

once he finishes cooking the chicken he chucks it in the fridge to cool and we decide to play some mario cart on the playstation because why not! of course he wins all three games but hey - it was still fun. it's good to have some competition that's not surf related. since it's 7 now he puts together his favourite salad which consists of spinach, cabbage mix, chicken, peas, hard boiled egg, kumara, apple, walnuts and pumpkin seeds.

"i really did not expect anything near this good" i day and he adds the finishing touches. "did you underestimate me?" he asks and i smirk. "maybe just a little bit" i say and he shakes his head and laughs. "well, try it and see. let's see if it's up to your standards" he says and set the plate in front of me. "well i know it's reaches reidy healthy standards" and say and he laughs and sits next to me on the bar stool.

"okay this is actually so good" i say surprisingly. "well, what can i say" he says and i giggle. we finish eating and i help him with the clearing up and dishes then we sit on the couch and just chat. "so how are things between you and maxi?" he asks me. "yeah, things are good after ya know, last time i came here" is ya and he nods. "that's good, i had a bit of a chat to him" he says and he tells me what he said to him.