Bondi Rescue//H.R

Change

Eirian Efa Jones:

Dinner with the boys was great, Jesse and Maxi were super positive and full of energy. Harrison was up and down throughout the night, having moments where he was really involved, then would check his phone and would take himself back to his room.

We'd head to the hostel at 10:30, heading straight for bed after a chat with our older brothers. The three of us were all on shift at 6:30 in the morning but again we'd be heading out for a surf early, my alarm was set for 5:00. Rolling out of my bed, I head to the shower room, finding Ella brushing her teeth in front of a sink. "Come surf with us before work Ells?" I asked, seeing her spitting out the toothpaste before nodding her head.

We braided our hair together before I changed into my favourite bikini which was plain black and had straps that crossed at the back of my neck and over my hips.

The walk down to the beach was peaceful, a gentle breeze blew towards the shore, slightly cooling everything it touched. All four of us had bags hanging over our shoulders containing our work uniform and a surfboard tucked under our arm. My brothers would be training today whilst I worked a short morning shift, then Harries would be driving the three of us to take a written test in order for us to have the correct set of qualifications to work for the council, meaning we'd brought all of our certificates from back home with us to help prove we could held the lifeguards and not cause any issues.

Arriving at the tower, we put our things in the changing rooms, using the lockers we'd been provided before heading up to check the schedule to find our who we'd be working with that day. Jesse, Maxi, Deano, Harrison and Hoppo were already there and other than the head lifeguard himself (Hoppo), the others looked like they'd be joining us for a surf before work. Harrison approached the schedule that had been written up on the large whiteboard above the medical bed at the back of the tower. He found his name and who it was next to then stormed away rather unhappy. Checking for my own schedule, I discovered it was my name next to the Kiwi's and became confused as to why his attitude towards me had completely flipped from the previous evening, where he was more than happy to hold at least a short conversation with me. Sighing, I walked out the tower, grabbed my board and jogged out towards the sea, excited to just be back in the water, even if the waves weren't as good as I'd like them to be.

"What's your problem Reid? She's just got here and you're making it so awkward for her!!" I heard Jesse asking Harrison who looked shocked that he was being confronted by one of his best mates. "At least you spoke to her last night...then this morning we're back to square one again!" Jesse didn't look impressed at all and before he grew too angry, he took a step back and walked over to join me in the ocean, apologising for his roommates attitude.

"It's definitely something to do with that girlfriend of his! He's had a complete personality change since she entered his life!" Maxi joined our conversation, the three of us paddling out further to escape the tense environment back on dry land.

Telling the two boys that it was fine, I turned and managed to catch the largest wave I'd seen that day back towards the sand, feeling all my worries leaving me in less than a second. Being surrounded by water had always been my safe space, even though some would argue that it was anything but safe, I'd just felt at one with the ocean and adored the feeling it gave me. Unfortunately, this didn't last long as I ended up right next to a frustrated looking Harrison who was currently glaring at me.

"Taking my mates now are you? They've been on at me about how I should treat you better but you're ruining everything especially my relationship with Becca!" What was he on about? How was I ruining a relationship I didn't even know he was in? He continued. "I just look at you and want you gone because you make me feel so...urgh!" And with that he paddled away from me and out to meet Jesse and Maxi, whilst I decided to head in and avoid any further confrontation. Bumping into Hoppo in the tower, he immediately knew something was up with me and after allowing me to change, he pulled me across the pavilion and to his office, away from everyone else, providing me space to discuss what was going on.

"It's nothing really Hoppo...Reid just doesn't like having me around, thinks I'm ruining things for him." Hoppo didn't push it after that and after having me fill in the form that would allow me to sit the exam that afternoon, he let me make my way back down to the beach. Finding Harrison was difficult, it was like he was purposely avoiding me to make my first day as awkward as possible so that'd I'd leave but that wasn't happening anytime soon. I eventually found him next to one of the Rhinos, eyes on the water as he searched for anyone in potential danger.

By the time Harrison and I were released for our lunch break, we'd performed around 10 rescues each with barely any interaction between the two of us, it was awkward to say the least. Harries rounded up my brothers and I before taking us over to the test centre with our belongings, Harrison glaring at me as I left the building and followed the three guys to Harries car. "What's his problem?" Harries asked as I got into the passenger seat, Ellis and Dai getting into the back seat. "Harrison told me I'm here to ruin his relationship, I didn't even know he was in one...", it honestly upset me a little, however, I tried to hide it.

Spending the rest of the car ride in silence, I sat and listened to Harries explaining what we were driving past, talking about the best places to eat, drink and hang out near to the beach, until we eventually arrived at the test centre. Harries took us in and helped us organise the forms we needed to show before leaving us and waiting in the carpark until we had completed everything, which fortunately, took less than an hour to do.

When we'd all completed the exam, been given our certificates back and been told we'd passed, Harries drove us to a local restaurant to grab drinks and some food, before he took us back to the lifeguard tower to help out with the afternoon shift. Ellis and Dai were kept back in the tower to help out with those needing first aid, whilst I was put on beach duty at the north end with Jesse. "Eiri! You're back!" He cheered, pulling me into a hug and pressed a kiss to my forehead. The two of us took a seat in the rhino, eyes looking out towards the sea not wanting to miss anyone getting hurt or drowning. We spent the afternoon performing the usual tasks -three missing children, four or five rescues each and a few people with allergies- before Hoppo called us into the tower to tidy things up and lock up for the day.

"Great first day today you three! You're all starting at 12 tomorrow, taking over from the morning lot when they go for lunch. Ellis with Jesse at North end, Dai with Harrison in the tower and Eirian with Maxi at South end." The six of us nodded our heads, half listening to the rest of the timetable for the following day as we packed up our belongings. 

Maxi invited us to Icebergs with the rest of the team and they began heading out. "I don't think I should come Max, I'm going to go for a swim with Ella instead." Making eye contact with Harrison as I turned down the offer to join the group, he sighed, looking conflicted but he said nothing and just walked downstairs to his locker. Unfortunately, that was also where I was heading and I hesitantly made my way down there to grab my things, accidently walking  into him as I turned the corner. "I'm so sorry!" I told him but he stopped me and pulled me into the locker room. "Harrison what're you doing?" He sat me down on the bench in the centre of the room before sitting down opposite me, his head in his hands as he seemed to argue with himself over what to say. 

"Eiri...Becca, she tells me what I can't do...tells me I can't be around these guys" He began to tell me, stuttering over his words as he tried to tell me how he was feeling, "She wants me to quit...doesn't like that I rescue girls in bikinis or work with them, so I'm sorry Eirian...for how I've treated you!" I didn't know what to say so just stood up and pulled the emotional Harrison into a hug, feeling him collapsing into me, a few tears dropping onto my bare shoulder. Sitting down on the bench, he pulled me onto his lap, cradling me in his arms as I wrapped my arms around his neck. "It's okay Harrison...I'm not angry with you, I was just confused! Becca can't make you do anything that you don't want to do..." I trailed off, unsure of what else to say to him.  

"How are you still so nice to me after the way I've treated you?" He managed to choke out through heavy breathing.

"Because that wasn't you Hutz...I knew that and so did the guys", Standing up, I positioned myself in front of him, his hands falling onto my hips, the grip tightening as he held me in place. "I'm going for a surf...you want to join me?" He nodded and we gave each other space to change into our spare swimsuits before grabbing a board each and heading towards the water.