Surfer's Paradise. A high-end hotel that attracts patrons of all sorts, with the majority of said patrons being surfers, for the beautiful beach and its surroundings that the owner had picked out. In the summer time, most it would say it looked like it was at its best, especially to five of the workers at the resort. Most would love more than anything to use their time to ride the waves than work, something that they were doing as much as they could get. Despite the group of friends working there for the last two years, this third year that they would be working seemed the be the start of what felt like something new, as they were full time workers, at least for a couple of months for some.
"The work sucks, but the money is good. You have to admit that." Fin McCloud said. "A ritzy place like that can afford it."
"If only one person could ease off of us it would be a whole lot better." Added Broseph, feeling that he didn't need to say any names.
"And, like give us less stress and hours. You-know-who is the LAST type of person I wanna become." Said Reef "We all know that the sun and waves wait for no one around here."
The three of them arrived at the hotel a couple of weeks prior and managed to find a place in the small tourist town not too far from the hotel. A few days later the fourth of the group of friends arrived; Emma Farlie, the Alberta girl who two years earlier, did not know the first thing about surfing. Slowly learning how to be a part of the surfing community in the small couple of months that they were together, slowly getting much better as the years got on.
"Hey guys! What's up?" Emma said chipperly, running up to the others.
The four were standing outside what looked like a small theater, waiting for Kahuna to pick them up in the very tacky killer whale bus.
"Finally. What kept you?" Fin asked
"I lost track of time." Answered Emma
"You lost track of time?" Asked Reef, an air of disbelief in his voice. "Out of everyone here, you're the one that's the early bird."
A snort came from Broseph and Fin merely rolled her eyes, while Emma gave a small blush and looked down at the comment that was made. The past couple of weeks definitely taught them that Emma was an easy natural early riser.
"Even our girl Emma has nothing on Johnny." Commented Broseph "That man was up at the crack of dawn, I swear."
"Only because he's a crazy person." Reef brought up. "He's pretty uptight, you've gotta admit that."
The group sighed in agreement at what Reef said. He wasn't that far off, they had to admit. Like the group, he got a house in the small town and got up very early and drove himself into work every day. Getting that job as the front desk guy, for lack of a better term, didn't have too much room for promotions, and less chance of raises, but they admitted that Johnny was dedicated, much too dedicated for their liking. The group was silent for a few moments, seeing the tacky bus roll around the corner to pick them up for their first official day back and orientation, despite their 'seniority' and experience at this point. Mostly admitting that their relationship got somewhat better with most of the other senior workers, although the most senior worker, Rosie, was the probably the most on their side since the start, other than Kahuna. More than likely knowing that they were going through a really at the start. When the bus's doors opened, the tried to flash Kahuna a smile as they boarded the think for their metaphorical doom, feeling the smiles coming off as a smirk as Kahuna gave a worried eyebrow raise. Turning to the group after they took their seats, mostly near the back.
"Hey there my dudes. What's the matter?" Kahuna asked
"Doom and it's master for starters." Fin offered.
"As well as facing a potentially stressed out friend of ours." Reef added
"I see." Said Kahuna. Instantly getting who was who from those brief answers. "Start of a third year of some downer things brings the spirit down I know, but I have a feeling that this year will be the most interesting time of your job lives here."
"And you would know this how?" Asked Broseph with extreme doubt.
"Dreams." Kahuna stated as if that made all the sense in the world. Turning to the drivers' wheel "Trust me on this one gang, this one gave me some good vibes."
The four flashed each other a questioning look as the bus threw itself in reverse and took off towards Surfers' Paradise and their well payed grief of a job.
"Just so you know my dudes, I got word that we're getting a new grom." Kahuna announced, trying to alleviate the mood.
"Really?" Reef perked up as he heard the news. "Finally, new blood, and someone for us to pick on!"
Fin snickered as Emma scolded him. She knew that nothing that was said to him would change his mind or attitude. Both he and Fin would completely team up to pick on anyone new that would come through the doors.
"Just one? Thought we would get more." Brosephs said out loud to no one in particular. Not overly caring if no one responded to his statement.
"And a new Head of Management." Kahuna said with a sombre voice.
A collection of 'Whats!' came from the four when Kahuna brought down the new to them. A waterfall of various questions came at Kahuna at a rapid pace, Kahuna giving a sour face and he shook his head a bit as well.
"Slow down gang! One question at a time!" He said
"Is it a he or a she?" Fin demanded
"She, last time I checked." Kahuna answered
"Is she gonna boss or something?" Asked Reef worried.
"Yup. Bummer was gunning for the position for years when he heard that the previous one was eventually retiring, and she came up and snatched it up." Kahuna exposited
"No way!" Emma said in a barely audible voice as the four gave each other surprised looks.
A few moments later of silence came on the bus before another question came again.
"What's she like? What's her name?" Emma asked
"Don't know, I have to pick her up with the other workers." Kahuna replied "I'll be picking all of them up in a few hours and bringing them up front."
"Yikes, this lady could be worse than Bummer." Broseph said
"Another Bummer? One is bad enough!" Said Reef with a worried tone. As if just realizing that fact. "Another is gonna be a nightmare!"
"Unless she shatters all notions of our expectations…" Emma offered hopeful.
"But that doesn't always happen." Fin finalized
Emma frowned when Fin said that, leaning back in her seat. Fin flashing her a sympathetic look as she did so, as she really did not want to burst her bubble, other than to be realistic with the situation. Again, the group went silent as the bus made its way through the town, the four getting the feeling that Kahuna was taking his time in driving to Surfer's Paradise. Probably to help them digest the situation that was ahead of them at said hotel when arrived there, even though the bus drive was somewhat long enough drive to get there.
"Cheer up, like I said, this year is gonna be a lot better and more interesting than the last one." Kahuna said, the hotel officially making its appearance around the corner, while still being a good few minutes away. "This won't be your worst."
The four didn't seem to believe him as the bus zoomed down the toad. Kahuna giving a defeated sigh as he got no reply from the four after what he said. Eventually the bus stopped in front of the hotel and letting them out to let them greet one very long work day. The first person that came from the hotel itself was the one and only Andrew Baumer looking more furious than ever. The four looking him over as he approached the bus.
"All right people, let's get going and fast." He barked "We've got a lot to do today and a new Hotel Manager coming as well. So, this place needs to be in perfect condition before she arrives."
The four looked at each other with semi surprise. Everything that Kahuna had said was true, not like they had any reason to doubt to him about anything he said, or really had any reasons to do so in the first place after all these years.
"Go! Now!" Bummer snapped as the four jumped into gear.
Instinctively getting into the staff changing room and quickly changed into their respective uniforms in time to see Bummer marching in as a few familiar faces as the group put the final touches to their appearances. Emma gave a sigh to herself as she braced herself for the rest of the day.
"All right people, we're getting some new workers later today and a new manager, so I don't want to repeat myself." He announced "I expect you all to be on your best behaviour when she arrives."
A muffled sigh came from the group after he started, Andrew shooting them a warning glare as he continued.
"No funny business from anyone! This day has to be absolutely perfect to get the best impression to everyone and to our new manager." He continued
"And to save his ass." Broseph muttered to Reef, getting a snicker from him.
As usual, the two were at the back of the group, but not too far back as to gain any suspicion from their boss. Soon to be a potential ex boss if his speech was any indication. The two continued to ignore said speech as it went on for a couple of minutes as he droned on before dismissing the group to get to their work. The people scrambling past Bummer to get to their places around hotel. As the group dispersed to their various areas of the hotel, Emma fairly tensely walked to the Pirate Ship restaurant, she saw various people beginning to move around to start their own days, kids were screaming as they ran on by. Emma smiled as she eyed the very familiar yellow fish and the wannabe shark, Sonny and Buster. As she continued she heard a voice from behind her.
"New groms means newer 'blood' to torture." Said Kelly LeBlanc, the two of them arriving into the Pirate Ships' kitchen. "If there's more than one at least."
"We don't have to torture them." Emma offered
"After all these years you still haven't changed Emma" Kelly replied "There's always some fun doing something to new people."
"I really don't want to make people really hate an already bad job." Said Emma
"It's a good way to relieve stress, and I thought you would have wanted to take out something on the new guys." Kelly Said
Both eyes met as Emma fell silent and giving Kelly a questioning look before the conversation continued.
"Anyways, a couple of tables need to be finished set, then help me out with taking orders." Kelly ordered
"Will do." Emma replied grabbing the necessary supplies and moving on into the restaurant.
Meanwhile, up with Finn McCloud, she gave a groan of annoyance as she stepped out of one of the guest rooms. As usual, it seemed that no one knew how to clean after themselves. If she had to rate this particular room, it was more or less a five. Not the first room she wanted to clean on her first day back to the hotel, but she clearly didn't have much of a choice. Moving the cart of cleaning supplies, she let her training slip through; knock on the door, announce her presence, wait for a response (if any), then go on in and clean. Lather, rinse, repeat.
And from the looks of things, the next room was pretty clean looking. Not too much had to be done with this particular room, so she was done with a few minutes. Fin gave a smile as she finished off the very clean room.
"You look happy for once." Rosie Reid, the most senior housekeeper of the hotel commented as the two met up in the hall.
"Oh really? Clean rooms apparently do that I guess." Fin said, furrowing her brows, feeling older than she normally did.
Rosie only gave a chuckle as she said that. "Work here long enough and that will happen." She replied
"Right…" Fin said bluntly then adding "Hey, hear about the new Day Manager coming today?"
"Obviously." Said Rosie "We could use some new blood around here."
Fin gave a frown at what Rosie told her, not liking the term 'new blood' too much.
"Oh what?"
"This one's probably gonna be worse than Bummer."
"Says you."
"It could be true!"
"Or not, this one could be the breath of fresh air we needed in a very long time."
Fin only groaned and rolled her eyes, feeling her good mood disappear as she pushed her cart on by Rosie. Who only gave her a victorious smirk, knowing she was completely right on this one, pushing her own cart on ahead in the step of Fin to help out with the clean up, despite not too many people at the hotel, also knowing that the crowd will pick up in the next week. And with people comes mess, that of course was inevitable. Reef on the other hand was probably the most bored of all. With no real crowd at the hotel of course meant no people who wanted any surfing lessons and no money or anything to kill his boredom. Any person for a lesson was better than sitting down and doing nothing as he learned the past couple of years. What made it a lot more worse was that dear old Bummer had to stuck around the surrounding area so he had to at least act like he was busy to avoid his wrath. But knowing his luck, that could be a very short calm period before the storm, especially if he gets caught doing nothing.
Giving a quick look around the corner to see if he was in the clear, Reef snuck around and made an attempt to sit down, Reef snuck around and made an attempt to sit down for even a few seconds. But it only took that couple of seconds for Andrew Baumer to find him.
"Ah hah! Slacking off on your first day back I see!" He snapped, making Reef jump.
"Cuz there's nothing for me to do!" Reef snapped back, getting up to look him in the eye. "No one wants to surf right now! The right crowd's not here yet."
"Then find someone!" Bummer ordered
Reef struggled to try not to give the man in front of him the worst kind of 'What's wrong with you' look he could have given. Not wanting to tell him off at that moment, no matter how much it would make feel better.
"Fine! I will!" Reef said, the spite gritting out of his voice, not wanting it to be noticeable.
Marching off as Bummer's eyes were drilling into the back of his head as he walked around the corner. Waiting a few seconds to see if his boss would follow. Continuing to walk as he felt the stressed-out presence literally a few seconds later, Reef eyeing a relaxing hotel patron on the beach, marched over to said person and announced in a loud, over the top voice.
"Hello there! Interested in a surfing lesson?"
"Um… not really?" Came the reply
"Are you sure? The waves are great and the sun is high in the sky!"
Looking around, the duo saw that only the sun was the correct part of that statement.
"Not interested."
"Don't be ridiculous." Bummer said, jumping into the situation "Reef is right! Seize the day!"
"I said; not interested!" Said the person, gathering their items and walking off in annoyance.
Reef reeled an 'I told you so' look before merely walking off in the same direction as the annoyed patron did.
Broseph on the other hand, didn't even try to hide his yawn at the slow first day that he was having. There weren't too many people that made their way through the door and the temptation to find a hidden place to doze off was all too real. He was currently hanging out at the front door to make sure he didn't miss anyone, although he got the feeling that it would be a colossal waste of time. Thoughts turning to the others in his group of friends and how their days were going compared to his. Giving a small humph as those thoughts crossed his mind, jumping down from the perch that he found himself on inside the hotel to help out one of the few very rare people that decided to show up that day. He did appreciate the fact that he did have some down time when it came to this, compared to the hectic summer period that was ahead him with people coming and going in every day, or going out even, frowning at the idea of that.
It didn't take long for the duo that came through to get booked at the front door when Broseph was called to work again. What they brought with them amounted to two backpacks that they were thankfully carrying as well as two descent sized luggage bags. From the looks of the two, they were travelling across Canada and this was one of the final stops that they were taking. Following the two to elevator, the guy hit one of the buttons and they went up. Broseph thinking into his own mind as they went up a few levels and the elevator doors opened to break him out of it for him to follow and carry their luggage.
"Right here." Said the lady, stopping at a door not too far from where they had come from. Taking out a card key that Johnny gave her and opened the door.
"Thanks man." The guy said as the trio entered the room.
"No problem dude." Broseph answered, putting down the luggage at a decent part of the room.
The two nodded at each other before Broseph left to go back at the elevator to go back to the front door. And back to not much of anything to be honest.
"Maybe I should bug Johnny or something." Broseph thought, giving a smile at that. It was something to do at least, not like there would be enough people to keep him busy to do anything else.
Rounding the corner from the elevator he slid over to the front desk where Johnny Pinnok glanced at him to the computer, to him again.
"Slow day?" Johnny asked
"Big time." Broseph replied "Was it always like this?"
"This early? Mostly yeah, the first-year you guys were here being a fluke." Explained Johnny "Last year was all right. Then this year, slow as anything."
"What's up with that? I would think some rich people would rush in at this point of the summer, before a whole swarm of people." Broseph mused
"Who knows." Replied Johnny
It was then that Reef very angerly stormed in, attracting the attention of both Johnny and Broesph.
"Woah, who brought in the angry tsunami?" Broseph asked.
"Bummer." Reef said
"You just missed him when you were getting those two backpackers upstairs." Johnny informed Broseph "He was pretty angry too."
"Like he had any reason to be angry."
"What happened?"
"He wanted me to get a person to surf and when he insisted the person to go surf, they got annoted and walked off."
"Harsh bro."
"He caught you sitting down, didn't he?"
"Cuz no one wanted to surf! Have you seen the place? It's empty!"
Broseph and Johnny gave each other a worried glance before glancing at Reef, who got the message after a few seconds, and decided to take a seat on the front desk counter to try and calm himself down. Giving a sigh to also try and ease the tension as well. Today was going to be a long day, he could just feel it.
Lo Ridgemount on the other hand, was just finishing off one od her morning exams and from the looks of her schedule, this one was the last of the year. As of recently, she was doing fairly well in her school, her dad getting on her case about it to get better grades and make a better effort in her school overall. And in the past couple years, they did seem to go up quite a bit to impress her dad, even tough he did tell her to do better than the previous year. Recently, Ty seemed to have no interest in running the hotel, going around and doing his own thing across the country, angering their dad big time as not only his first born child and first born son on top of that, he naturally thought Ty would be on board for taking over the family business when he finally retired officially. Lo rolled her eyes at that as she continued to answer the rest of the questions, thinking about how wrong her dad got about quite a few things, like just assuming that his first-born son would take over the family business simply because he was just that. Thinking that she could easily fit into the role of the big boss if given the chance and hoping that the past couple of years could at least catch his eye, somewhat. Skipping up from her seat, handed in her final exam and confidently walked out of the room. Being happy that she had the rest of the summer to finally do what she want, a smile gracing her face, with her large group of friends, she knew she wouldn't be bored, though admittedly that was difficult to balance with the two wildly different personalities of the two group of friends that she knew. One loved the outdoors, surfing and bonfires, the other group loved the mall, fashion and makeup. She loved both groups and may again have a difficult time picking a group and splitting time evenly with the two groups, even though it was leaning more towards the first.
"Now that I think about it, the surfing group must be back together again." Lo thought "It'll be great to see them again since I got a lot of time with the other group during the school year."
"Lo! How are you girl?" Came a familiar voice from behind her, and joined her side "Those exams were sooo bad!"
"Yeah, they were pretty bad Roxanne." Lo replied "Glad to get those things over and done with."
"Wanna go to the mall later today? I wanna pick up a celebratory outfit." Roxanne asked
"Sorry can't. Dad's expecting me at the hotel for a family meeting." Lo answered.
"Oh, that is such BS!" Said Roxanne "It's the first official day of our short freedom and your dad wants a meeting with you? You should be totally be hanging out with us!"
"Yup. That's what it is. He was really adamant about it too."
Roxanne continued to complain about how unfair it was for what her dad was doing to her, though to be honest Lo wanted to do something else at the hotel. Yes, her dad wanted a meeting with her, just her, and it would have probably been about five minutes, tops. What she really wanted to do was meet up with her surfing friends later on that day and catch up with them face to face. And from what she got from Reef, the group of friends got a house in the town to get well away from the death trap that was considered a staff house. Which was a massive good step for the five with Johnny getting his own small house in the same town, of course, and got it in the same town as the others since he had more of a permanent job placement at the hotel.
Watching the trees pass by in her car, her mind obviously continued to wander. Thinking about what will happen this summer compared to the previous summers. The first was exciting, new and troubled in a lot of places. The second was straightforward and mundane in comparison and more than a little boring if she had to be honest. It took her dad a while for him to trust her with driving a car, since she seemed to be a little too reckless for his liking, and the fact that they have their own personal drivers to do any and all driving for them. Lo pointing out that one, she needed some independence and two, a driver's licence would be a good idea for emergencies and identification. Eventually studying in secret until her dad let up and let her get at least her learners and the next step in the process. Following all of the familiar paths to where the major highway, a smile came across the on her face. She was happy at the thought of seeing her friends, though assumed that they would be stressed as anything on their first day. So, she had to pick her timing well when it came to talking to them. But first, her dad.
Driving into a more private corner of the parking lot to park her car, Lo looking over at t he hotel as she exited. The same old hotel, with loads and loads of memories for her. She gave another smile as those thoughts rolled through her mind, making her way towards the front door, keeping in mind to at least keep her eyes open or at least try to, for any signs of her friends. Getting no luck when she entered the main lobby, not even Johnny, the front desk guy as everyone oh so affectionately called him. She made strides to the elevator with no major hurt to her outwardly confidence.
"Penthouse, here I come." Lo muttered, hitting the button reading forty-one, pretty happy to go there though.
Her own personal top of the line 'house' or at least her family's house to put it correctly. The highest point, so far, and the most private as well as the perfect place for her dad to get his work done without leaving the hotel. Unless a business trip came up and called him away to whatever is needed. With a lot of renovations, there may have been a good chance of adding some more floors, making the private suite no longer the tallest point of the hotel. Not the end of the world, just a mild hit of pride that the Ridgemounts are no longer the highest point in the area, but that may have been just her personal preference. His personal office itself was a little more out of the way from the house itself in it's own offshoot hallway.
But from the sounds of it, the likelier of renovations that will happen and have been started first would be the bar that would potentially he just finishing up the next couple of days, if not the end of the week, the major renovations by the looks of things, the roof was not even touched. At least at the angle Lo saw it at anyways. It may have had a fifty-fifty chance of a more vertical build of the area. The doors opened to the forty-first floor, and Lo gave a small sigh. The penthouse Lo was making her mission to get to was on the next floor up, and needed a more out of the way elevator to get in order to access it so some random people wouldn't accidentally wander into the penthouse unless invited as a first way of protection. A very familiar walk for her, and of course the past several years. A lot of crazy memories happened both in and out of the penthouse not only with her surfing friends and her high life friends. The second group seemed to have somewhat dropped off the past couple of years as well, Roxanne being one of the few that stuck around. Lo figuring that the surfing friends that she made 'stuck around' due to her being in the same situation as them and having a good understanding of what the others went through.
Wheeling around the corner to the 'private' elevator that was oh so familiar to her and hit the button beside the door and waited a few seconds that it generally took to open. Her heart beginning to pound as the elevator seemed to be taking its sweet time to open. When it did, a small bit of relief came over her, for whatever reason, Lo thinking that the elevator would break down for whatever reason.
"Level Forty-Two, here I come." Lo again muttered, hutting the only button on the display.
Perhaps it was the lack of people that were not in the halls of the hotel that contributed to her nerves of meeting her dad out of all people, which would probably be a simple conversation in the end. The elevator opened up to the very familiar area and she made her strides to her dads' personal study, which most family meetings took place if it was on the more serious side, and the most recent one she had to go to for whatever reason. The big imposing doors looming over her, as the knock on it echoed it seemed through the small area.
"Come on in Lo." She heard her dad say loud and clear. If surprisingly casual.
"Hey daddy, you wanted to talk to me?" Lo said brightly as she could, opening the door and walking on in.
"Yes, I did, come on it. It's about your current grades." He answered
Her heart froze. She did better than last year, the both of them knew it, so why the meeting? Did she somehow manage to do worse?
"My grades?" She asked nervously
"Yes, and I have to say I am really impressed." He said, making her heart start again and more freely, the weight going away. "It's great to see that you are taking these grades a lot more seriously as of late."
Lauren grinned "It's great isn't it?"
"It is."
"So… there's a good chance that I'll be taking the next couple of steps for the next year and eventually university with how I'm currently going." Lo stated
In all honesty, the Lo of two years ago couldn't have cared less about her grades, but since her dad made her work at the hotel, she wouldn't have gradually taken other things more seriously.
"I couldn't agree more! It's great that your taking the family business more seriously." Came the reply.
Lo had to really try not to give a frown at the low-key disappointment at Ty. Since he left at while back, the place felt a lot emptier without his presence and everyone felt it, something they couldn't deny.
"Sooo… is that it? You wanted to talk about my grades?"
"Not yet Lauren. There is one final thing that I want to say."
Lo looked at him quizzically. What else was there he could say? What it even important?
"You know we have a new manager coming today. And we also have some new higher up staff coming up to Surfer's Paradise, right?"
"Oh right!" Lo said, remembering that conversation from a few nights ago. The bar renovations being something of a clue in due needing new staff and a new manager to do their thing. "Do I have to do anything?"
"Nothing spectacular, just a quick meet and greet of the new staff members."
"That's it?"
That seemed easy enough for her to do, and she gave a smile.
"Will do daddy." Lo said
"That's my girl, make me proud."
And with that, she spun around on her heel, with the rightful assumption that the conversation was over and done with, leaving Mr. Ridgemount to more of his work. Remembering the conversations, at least part of it, about the new head manager and how they pretty much yanked it from the one and only Andrew Baumer, making her smirk at the thought as she backtracked her way down the halls. He was one major source of misery for her group of friends and the thought of him being mad just made her feel utter joy. Practically skipping down the main lobby, she eyed Johnny at his usual spot she saw him at so many times. Then again, he was looking incredibly more in the dumps than normal.
"Was I too late in picking up the new manager?" Lo thought, stopping in her track. "Crap, I thought I was on time, dad thought so too probably… what's up?"
There didn't seem to be anyone around, at least no one new and important, or friends anyways, despite the low amount of people in the hotel at the moment and retracing all of the small steps that she took when she got there. It didn't make too much sense that the manager was missed, but somewhat did in the long run. So, she shook her head slightly and marched right up to Johnny.
"Johnny!" Lo said with a happy tone in her voice. "How are you? It's been so long!"
"Lo? You've grown!" Johnny observed looking up, happy to see her of course. "Good to see you too and yeah it's been too long… And you must have heard about the new manager."
"Yeah I did. My dad told me to go meet them." Lo replied "Did I miss…"
"No you didn't." Johnny jumped in.
"Then why so down on the dumps?"
"Bummer."
Lo mouthed an 'Oh' as silently as she could. Him. That would be a downer, with the mental dance that she was doing earlier, that she could work out. This guy, not so much. She didn't really have to deal with him since her first year of working at the hotel. And it looked like nothing changed with him after all of this time.
"Johnny!" Came a sharp voice.
"Speak of the devil." Muttered Lo, turning to see Bummer, very angerly marching towards the two, Johnny wincing as he quickly approached.
"Has the new manager arrived yet?" He demanded
"No, not yet sir." Johnny replied
A swirl of questions clearly went though Bummer's head, trying to decide what he wanted to ask first.
"Well, come and get me immediately when they do." Andrew ordered.
"Yes sir." Johnny said dejectedly
"Excuse me, Andrew. Why are you so worked up about this new manager?" Lo asked innocently
"None of your business." Snapped Bummer, eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"You never know, this new manager could be like you." Lo pointed out. "There's really nothing to worry about!"
Andrew's eyes brightened at this, while Johnny looked completely scared at this idea, Lo giving her psudo boss a look that said 'stop worrying'. Johnny giving the both of them both a freaked out look, despite trying to keep it under wraps, Lo on the other hand knew what she was doing. Somewhat.
"That's right!" Andrew admitted "I really don't have anything to worry about!"
Lo just smiled and nodded at this as he gave a leveled look at her.
"Johnny, as you were." He said before leaving.
Johnny just gave a low chuckle as his boss left, checking to see if he was clearly out of earshot.
"Lo, what are you thinking?" He demanded
"Trying to defuse a situation." Lo replied
"And get his hopes up?" Johnny asked
"Better than an angry Bummer." She pointed out.
Johnny hummed at this, not liking the situation on that Lo brought up.
"Oh what?"
"I don't know, we'll get a worse manager than Bummer, or we get an even angrier Bummer."
"Not unless the manager tells him off on that."
"There's a very slim chance of that."
"Better than none."
Johnny just frowned at Lo's current nugget of optimism in the situation, not fully believing the line she just delivered. Even though she did a lot more. Albiet just very little bit more, giving a weak smile, more so for herself than for Johnny in the long run. Neither really knowing what was going to fully happen in the future.
During this time, Reef was having a hell of a time trying to hide from a very angry Bummer. Not knowing about the conversation with Johnny and Lo. Looking around the corner of a semi run down to see if there were any signs of the one he wanted to avoid. When there were no signs of you-know-who he made a mad dash for the hotel, as the last time Reef saw Bummer, he was closer to the beach area, for whatever reason. With the hotel being pretty sizeable, there were quite a few places for him to hide in, even the lobby, and at lease one person in that lobby will cover for him in the case of hiding. Good Old reliable Johnny. Breathing a sigh of relief as he got into the lobby without getting caught by the higher up, he eyed Johnny with what he thought was someone new, until said new person turned and revealed themselves to be Lo. Wondering why he didn't recognize her at first, Reef made his way towards the two of them with confidence.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Reef asked, keeping said confidence in tact.
"Hey Reef!" Lo said in surprise, as if she had to take a few seconds to recognise him at first.
"Hey Reef, not a lot. What's up with you?" Johnny asked, giving an eyebrow raise, wondering why he was there.
"A lot better for dodging Bummer, thanks for asking." Reef answered
"Huh, well you did just miss him like a minute or two ago." Said Lo
A genuine look of surprise and relief came over his face.
"Finally, I'm having some better luck." Reef said as he brightened up a bit more.
"I dunno, there's still that new manager to worry about." Johnny said "Lo had the grand idea to tell him that the new one may be just like him."
At that moment, Reef's face fell.
"In an attempt to make him feel better." She informed in defence "I could be wrong."
"I hope so." Was all that Reef could say.
"Hey guys, Lo it's so great to see you!" Emma said, coming onto the scene.
Lo smiled back "You too Emma! On a break?" Adding that last bit of the sentence in a bit of a rush.
Emma nodded as Lo gave a small chuckle, the two of them giving each other a hug.
"Wow, looks like the gang is all here." Another familiar voice came, revealing Finn "And yeah, I'm on a break too."
"Hey Fin!" Lo said happily, with the others joining in as she came down into the lobby with Broseph joining the others as well.
"Hey dudes."
"Broseph! Hey man!" Reef replied first, the two of giving each other a high five.
The six happily catching up with each other, loudly and forgetting the fact that they were technically not suppose to get caught not working at the moment, especially one person in particular. Several minutes passing as they chatted away, not bothering to look at any sort of watch of clock as they just enjoyed each other's company. Getting from how some of them managed to snag a nice house who would rent to four crazy people, some of the crazy things that they saw during the school year, to Lo and her sudden interest in school and how Ty had left for a cross country left that seemed to have come out of left field.
"Daddy hated that he left." Lo said. "Especially with how he announced it when he just did."
"That's pretty harsh man." Broseph said
"Is that why you're suddenly gung ho about uni?" Finn asked
"Yeah." Said Lo "Kind of a scary thought to be honest since it's me out of all people saying this."
A brief pause came on the group. Fin deciding to be the first to speak up.
"Listen Lo, if it's worth anything…I was thinking on going to university too." Fin admitted
"Same here." Johnny piped up as well.
Emma merely nodded in giving the fact that she was going to leave as well after the summer had somewhat ended. The group falling silent as most of them were in shock at this news.
"When were you gonna spring this on us?" Reef asked
"I dunno about everyone else, but I was gonna do it on the bus, but the news of the new manager swayed the conversation to a different direction." Finn said
"I was gonna do it in a situation like this." Johnny said. "It's the perfect time to drop something like this on you guys, just didn't think that two others were gonna leave too."
"To be fair, we can't stay like this forever." Emma pointed out "We do have to move on to different, and probably better, things."
The group again fell silent, as they sat down and thought about the situation. This is their last summer officially together for who knows how long. Months or years, who really knew. They were of course ways for them to keep in contact with each other, phones clearly made sure of that, despite life wanting to get in the way as they kept thinking about it. Until one certain bus came across the groups' line of sight, getting their attention almost immediately, forcing the six of them to be quiet and stand still, even if it was for a few seconds. The group standing up to get a better look at the outside of the hotel and the tacky bus that had just pulled up.
"You don't think…" Fin said first
"That's the manager?" Johnny finished "Has to be."
And almost immediately the six charged out of the door to get a better view of the bus and whoever was going to come out of it. The door opened and the group seemed to hold their breaths, awaiting the first person to make their way out seeing five people get up and move around to get their bags and move to the front of the bus to get out and to see a hotel.