Into My Heart

By: Izabel

Chapter 4: Sweet Misery

*~*~*~*

The next morning, Max woke up and went to Baywatch, still planning on going through with getting this job. She wouldn't let a fluke with some inconsequential guy mess up her life. She loved the water, she loved lifeguarding, and she could put up with Jason if necessary.

Last night she had somehow managed to convince herself Jason didn't matter. He was a pothole in her road of life. OK, bad analogy, but it allowed her to sleep for an hour.

She opened the door and saw Jason talking to a brunette. He was laughing and smiling. Jealousy stabbed Max's stomach like an icy knife. Jason finally saw Max and excused himself from the girl. He was grinning as he came over to her.

Max braced herself, locking her jaw. Jason lightly touched her waist as he came to stand in front of her. Max lifted cool, uncompassionate eyes to him.

"Hey," he said warmly. "How was your night?"

"Probably less eventful than yours," Max retorted. A smile of satisfaction crossed her face as Jason fumbled for something to say. "Loss of words?" she snapped. "How about, 'It was fun, but hey, you're just another girl to me.' Sound about right?"

Jason drew back as if she'd slapped him. She wanted to. She didn't know why, but Jason had seemed different. And the fact that he had managed to break through part of the shell she had so carefully constructed was really bugging her.

Yeah, well, her track record with men wasn't that great, so why should he be different?

"Look, Max," he began. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm lost." He stepped closer and tried to get her to meet his eyes. "Something happened yesterday—you can't deny it anymore than I can."

Max looked up, tears in her eyes. She sniffed and leaned away from him. "I thought so, too."

Jason spread his hands wide. "Then what's the problem?"

Max pulled herself up straight, squaring her shoulders. "Go cry to Carrie." With that she spun on her heel and stalked into Sean's office.

She knocked on the door, hoping he'd open it quickly before Jason had time to come over and try to talk to her again. Luckily, a man pulled open the door. He smiled brightly. "You must be Max. Kekoa, JD, and Jason all told me you'd be by. Come on in."

Max smiled graciously and entered the room. She shut the door behind her. Sean motioned for her to sit on the couch.

Sean glanced at a file on his desk. "I had your résumé sent over from Tower Bay. Pretty impressive."

Max tried not to smile. "Thank you."

Sean set down the papers and looked her in the eye. "I'll be straight with you, we need the help. If it weren't against policy, I'd put you on the beach right now. But regulations say you need recheck first."

Max grinned. "I know. Recheck sucks, but if it's a must then I'll do it. When can I do it?"

Sean grimaced. "That's the problem. Probably not until next month. We do recheck once a month—the beginning of the month. Our recheck was last week."

Max sighed. "Oh, OK." She went to get up. "Thanks, Sean."

"Whoa-wait." Sean got up. He smiled. "I got it."

"Huh?"

"I'll just put you with the trainees for the week," Sean replied. "They cover everything you need to know. Between Leigh, JD, Kekoa, Jason, and myself, we'll be able to tell if you're OK."

Max nodded. "When do I start?"

Sean looked at his watch. "Fifteen minutes?" He gave her a reassuring smile. "There are a ton of suits in the locker room, ask Leigh or Kekoa to help you."

Max nodded and the door to Sean's office opened.

"Sean—" a blond said, but stopped as she saw Max. "Sorry," she apologized.

"No problem," he said easily. "Leigh Dyer, meet Max Stiler. Hopefully she'll be a regular this time next week."

Leigh nodded knowingly. "So you're the girl everyone's been talking up."

Max grinned. "Nice to meet ya."

Leigh handed a stack of papers to Sean. She smiled. "Letters from Jenna."

Sean groaned. "Why can't she give it up?" he grumbled.

Leigh laughed. She turned to Max. "Come on, I'll show you where to change." She led Max downstairs and showed her where her locker was and the abundance of suits the training center had stored in a closet. Once changed, she led Max back outside.

"You'll be with Kekoa and Jason on the scarab today." Leigh said, pointing to where Kekoa, Jason, and several other people were. Leigh waved and walked away.

"I can do this," Max muttered as she began her way over to the group. Kekoa waved and smiled as Max approached. Jason looked warily at her.

Max climbed on. Kekoa hugged her. "What was up last night?"

Looking at Jason, who she noted was listening, she replied, "I just needed a break."

Kekoa looked confused but Jason sighed and turned around. Kekoa shrugged and looked past Max. "Hurry up, Carrie!"

Max drew in a sharp breath. She saw a young girl with short brown hair running towards them. She noticed it was the girl Jason had been talking to earlier. She was cute, in a girl-next-door kind of way. Once on, she smiled at Max and held out a hand. "I'm Carrie. You must be Max."

Max looked at the hand as if it was ready to bite her. Lightly, she shook it. She remained silent. Carrie frowned, and went over to Jason. The two talked in quiet tones, glancing at her on occasion. Max was beginning to think this was a bad idea.

Kekoa tossed her the keys. "Let's go."

Max throttled the boat out of the dock. She took them out into the ocean, until the cliffs were specks on the horizon. Kekoa told her to stop. A boat full of people partying was about a hundred yards away. A yacht, Max realized.

She tried to ignore the people, but something was tugging at her insides. When Kekoa asked for someone to jump in the water, Max noticed the boat was nearing them. Probably going back in.

Max raised a hand quickly. Kekoa shrugged and Max leapt into the water as fast as she could. She huddled close to one side of the boat so the yacht people couldn't see her. The yacht paused near them. Max dared to look at them.

Her breath caught in her throat as she saw him.

Him.

The reason she left, and the reason she was terrified to come home. He was there, a blonde on one arm, a redhead on the other. He was drunk and probably couldn't see her. Jason was talking to them. Kekoa leaned over Max's side.

"Stay calm," she ordered. Max nodded, paralyzed with fear. She was shaking.

Finally, after five minutes, the yacht pulled off. Max sighed and sank under the water for a second. When she surfaced, Kekoa was eyeing her with concern. Max nodded and pursed her lips. Jason watched the exchange with curiosity. Max managed to meet his eyes; her jaw locked and eyes filled with fear. Jason looked confused. Max shook her head.

Max stared out at the water, oblivious to Jason's lecture at the other end of the boat. Her eyes remained locked on the direction the yacht had gone. Why now? she wondered silently. Can my life get any worse?