Page 54 of Absorbed

“No,” Stacey said. “But stay over on that end, okay?”

The girl held her brother’s hand and led him to the shallow end of the pool. They sat on the side and dangled their feet in the water.

Stacey returned to her chair, hands shaking. She left her towel in the puddle where it landed beneath the tower. Looking around the pool, she counted six adults. There were dozens of kids running, splashing, and jumping in the water.

Stacey’s ponytail dripped. Water pooled in her seat. She perched on the edge of the chair, terrified not to give her full attention to the water. Ready to jump again if needed. Her suit clung to her. Despite the heat, her thighs were covered in goosebumps.

Tiffany sat back in her own seat, and lifted her megaphone. “Good save.”

Stacey tried to smile, but shook her head instead. She sat on her hands and watched the swimmers.

At noon, when morning swim ended, Chad told Stacey to go in and get out of the sun. The water was cleared and no lap swimmers had shown up yet. He offered to watch as the final morning swimmers filed off the deck. She only had one more hour. After lap swim, Stacey was done for the day. It couldn’t come soon enough.

Inside the guard shack, Stacey smelled French fries. She was surprised to find a Carl’s Jr. bag inside her locker. She hadn’t eaten since dinner, and the salty, greasy smell made her salivate. “Where’d this come from?”

Mark smiled at her. “I had Tiffany go on a quick lunch run. Your first rescue warrants a Famous Star, don’t you think?”

“I did everything wrong. I wasn’t wearing my whistle. I wasn’t paying enough attention. I should have stopped him before he even got on the diving board. I didn’t use the Shepherd’s Crook like you told me to, or brace his neck or anything.”

“It’s fifteen feet deep; you knew he didn’t have a head or neck injury. And he’s fine because you got him out quickly.” Mark shrugged. “You know what to do next time, right?”

“How did I not realize we’re the cheapest babysitting in town?”

“It gets worse as summer wears on. People get sick of their kids. They need a break and drop them off.”

Stacey fell onto the couch, pulled three fries from the bag, and shoved them in her mouth. She unwrapped the hamburger. “Where is Tiffany?” she asked, then took a huge bite.

“She’s off this afternoon,” Mark said with his mouth full. He swigged from his soda. “She brought the food back, then I told her she could head home.”

Holding the bite in the side of her cheek, Stacey asked, “Who else is working lap swi–”

Melissa pulled open the lobby door.

Stacey finished chewing and swallowed her bite, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand before Melissa entered the guard shack carrying a Del Taco bag.

“Hey,” Melissa said to Mark as she closed the door behind her.

Mark nodded, his mouth full.

Melissa dropped her keys in her locker. “Oh! Hi, Stacey,” she purred.

Stacey didn’t trust Melissa’s enthusiastic greeting. “Hey.” She looked at the clock. 12:02.Only fifty-eight minutes. I can do this.

Melissa sat on the other end of the couch, turned toward Stacey, her legs crisscrossed beneath her. “How’s it goin’?”

Stacey felt like she was under a microscope. “Fine.” She used her tongue to clean her teeth while wrapping up the rest of her burger.I can play this game.“How are you?” She set the burger in her bag by her feet, grabbing a few fries.

“What’s up with you? Did you do anything fun after work yesterday?” Melissa asked, pulling a small burrito from her own bag and folding the wrapping down to expose the top half.

Mark’s chair squeaked as he turned. He twisted the straw in the giant soda in his hand, as if tuning into a soap opera.

“Not really.” Stacey’s eyebrow twitched. She bit the top of the fries off, watching Melissa out of the corner of her eye.

Melissa picked at her burrito. “Seemed like you and Jessie were pretty friendly at the movies the other night.”

“I guess…”

“Did you hook up with him?” Melissa snapped.

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