Shannon couldn't take her eyes off Kailan and his blonde friend and as she watched, the blonde was laughing at whatever Kailan had said and had now placed her hand on Kailan's bare chest. Shannon was not usually a jealous person but watching the pair of them was making her feel sick to her stomach.
"Hey deaf ears" she heard Jamie say as he appeared behind her and tugged on her ponytail "What you looking.........oh" he stopped as he noticed what she was watching.
"Hmmm, yeah" Shannon replied
"I'm sure it's nothing for you to worry about" he assured her "I mean she's doing all the flirting, not him"
"He's not exactly fighting her off though is he" Shannon replied, turning her back on Kailan and the girl to look at Jamie who pulled her into a hug.
"You wanna go?" he asked her and Shannon nodded. Jamie called to the others to tell them they were getting out.
As they got out of the water, Jamie offered to go and grab some drinks and Shannon made her way back along the beach alone.
"Hey English" she heard Maxi shout as he ran from the bottom of the lifeguard stairs towards her. "Glad I've run into you.......whoa, you ok?"
Shannon nodded but kept looking down at the sand as Maxi fell into step with her and they walked together back to where they had left their belongings earlier. Shannon sat on her towel and Maxi sat opposite her. Shannon could feel him looking at her so she looked up at him and gave him a half smile.
"Everything ok?" he asked again
"It sounds so childish and I probably shouldn't talk to you with you being his friend and everything" she babbled.
"But?" Maxi responded with a frown
"There was this girl, blonde, gorgeous, you know" she continued "Well she was all over Kailan and he was kinda flirting back, I think, but I'm not sure coz I couldn't bare to keep watching...." She trailed off.
Maxi's face changed from a frown to a smile and Shannon wondered what part of this he was finding amusing exactly.
"That's Bianca" he said as he looked over to where Kailan was still talking to her.
"I really don't think I want to know her name" snapped Shannon
Maxi's smile disappeared and Shannon felt bad for snapping at him, it wasn't him she was upset with.
"Sorry" she added, quietly "I shouldn't take it out on you"
"No sweat English" he said, smiling again "You have absolutely nothing to worry about there though"
Jamie arrived with some bottles of water and handed one to Shannon as he sat down next to Maxi.
"Alright mate?" he said to Maxi.
"Yeah mate" Maxi replied, taking the bottle of water Jamie was offering him "Just trying to convince Shan that Kailan isn't doing what she thinks he is"
Jamie smiled awkwardly and nodded before he turned to face Shannon who was desperately trying not to cry at this point.
"Do you wanna go home honey?" Jamie asked her, concerned.
Shannon nodded and Jamie handed Shannon her sundress as Rachel, Darren and Tristan arrived back from their swim.
"Me and Shan are gonna head back guys" Jamie told them.
"Yeah, we'll probably dry off and follow you" said Darren
Maxi stood up and held his hands out to pull Shannon up so she was stood in front of him.
"Please don't think what I know you're thinking" he whispered into her ear as he pulled her into a hug "Honestly, she's always down here trying to flirt with all the lifeguards, we all just humour her, it's quite sad really"
Shannon released herself from Maxi's hug and put her sunglasses on.
"Thanks Maxi" she said quietly "I know you're only trying to help"
Jamie linked his arm through Shannon's and waved at the other three and noticed Rachel was sat up, looking at them with a frown.
Jamie mouthed "tell you later" to her and he led Shannon up the beach towards the road.
Rachel looked at Maxi for an explanation so he sat back down and began to tell her the full story.
Shannon and Jamie arrived back at the house and headed into the kitchen. Jamie flicked the kettle on and started making two cups of tea. The house was very quiet so they guessed they were alone.
"My advice to you, whether you want it or not, is to hold off worrying till you've spoken to him" Jamie said sensibly.
Shannon knew he was talking sense but couldn't get the image of Kailan and Bianca out of her head.
They drank their tea in silence and then Shannon decided to go to her room for a lie down. Jamie had decided to leave her to it but she knew where he was if she needed him.
As Shannon closed her bedroom door behind her, she sat on the end of her bed and tears started to roll down her face. She then got angry with herself for crying and lead down, resting her head on her pillow and closed her eyes.
She wasn't sure if she had actually fallen fully asleep when she heard a knock on her bedroom door and Rachel pushed it open, walking into the room.
"Hey buddy" Rachel said as Shannon sat up, propping herself and her pillow up against the headboard, smiling weakly at her friend.
Rachel sat on the bed next to Shannon and linked her arm though Shannon's.
"So I'm sorry but I spoke to Kailan" Rachel admitted as Shannon frowned at her.
"Sorry Shan, but when Maxi told me what you saw I just had to go and have it out with him" Rachel sighed.
"I think it's just hitting me that in a few months, I'll be gone and when girls throw themselves at him, he'll have every right to do whatever he wants" Shannon explained sadly.
"Well you can't think about that now, it will drive you crazy" Rachel said before pausing. "He's coming round when he finishes work"
"Thought he would" said Shannon "So what happened?"
"Well the blonde had gone by the time I got there" started Rachel "In fact, she was trying to get Whippet to adjust her bikini top straps but he was having none of it"
"Maxi did say something about her being there and trying it on with every lifeguard" Shannon replied, rolling her eyes.
"Apparently she's more or less stalking one of the surfers who regularly trains at Bondi" Rachel explained "So to try and make him jealous she flirts with whoever is on the beach at the time"
"Doesn't mean they have to flirt back though" Shannon replied.
"Did he actually flirt back though?" asked Rachel "I mean, think hard, how did he really respond?"
"I don't know" Shannon sighed.
"Do you think maybe you got a little jealous and made it into something it wasn't?" Rachel asked as there was another knock on Rachel's bedroom door and Darren popped his head round the door.
"Shan, errm Kailan's here" Darren informed her.
"Listen to what he has to say ok" Rachel advised her as she got off the bed and walked towards Darren "After talking to him, I really don't think he was doing anything dodgy"
Darren gave Shannon a wink as he and Rachel left the room and Kailan came in, closing the door behind him.
"So..." he said as he sat opposite Shannon on the end of her bed.
"So..." Shannon repeated
"I wish you had talked to me before you left the beach you know" he sighed.
"I didn't think talking to you while you were working was the right thing to do" Shannon replied.
"Maybe not, but if you had just waited, you would have seen me get rid of Bianca and get away from her" He said sternly.
"I just got jealous then ok" Shannon replied angrily.
Neither of them spoke for a good few seconds until Kailan got hold of her hand.
"I get jealous too you know" he said as she raised her head up to look him in the eye.
"You do? Why on earth would you get jealous?" She asked.
"Well firstly, you live in the same house as a guy who you kind of had a thing with and who clearly still likes you" he replied.
"Well I don't agree but go on" Shannon interrupted.
"Secondly, you are gonna be working in a bar where guys are in and out of there all the time and are gonna be flirting with you" he continued.
"I guess I never thought of it that way" said Shannon, squeezing his hand "I'm sorry, I guess I have no right to get jealous of you talking to other women when I'll be talking to other guys at work too"
"Exactly" he replied with a smile "I trust you though so I haven't mentioned it"
"I trust you too, I really do" Shannon smiled back "It's just I guess I'm thinking about the fact that you could be with any of these women around here, you know, ones that aren't from the other side of the world"
"And leaving in a few months" he added, squeezing her hand "I think about that part all the time you know"
"Me too" Shannon replied as a tear rolled down her face and Kailan gently wiped it away.
"Look, we both know that day is gonna happen but I don't wanna think about it until it does ok" he said, moving closer to her and cupping her face in his hands.
Shannon nodded and smiled back at him.
"We can't just pretend it isn't happening though Kailan" she sighed.
"Wanna bet?" he laughed quietly.
Shannon couldn't help but laugh back and she looked into his eyes and smiled.
"Ok, we won't think about it for a long time then... deal" she whispered.
"Deal" he whispered back as he leant in to kiss her.