A beautiful storm *COMPLETE*

The pier

After walking the two miles towards the beach, I chose a walk out on the pier. The weather was beautiful. The sun was shining. I could feel the tip of my nose and cheekbones starting to burn. I silently cursed myself for not choosing a moisturizer with higher sunscreen. I slowly walked the length of the pier, noticing a few families looking out over the edge, and a couple of fishermen checking out the fish they’d caught. I made it to the end, looking out off the side. I saw schools of fish fighting the currents, jellyfish floating on the surface, and bits of seaweed rolling on the bottom of the ocean. The sound of the waves crashing against the pier was so peaceful. I took a few deep breaths. I loved the smell of the ocean. Everything about it just calmed my soul. I noticed a pair of dolphins breaking the surface about 25 feet away. I excitedly took out my phone to snap a few photos. It wasn’t quite a ‘real’ camera, but it took clear pictures. I zoomed in just a bit, snapping a photo just as one breached the surface, spitting water out of its top. “Finally!” I yelped, maybe a little too loudly. A deep voice next to me spoke “Never captured a Dolphin shooting water out?” they asked. I turned to my right and saw a very tall man. He had tattoos covering the length of one of his arms and was built well. I blushed “Seen them plenty of times, never been able to capture one on camera,” I explained excitedly. He chuckled, “Mind if I see the picture?” he asked. I smiled “Not at all.” I pulled up the photo, moving a little closer to him. “Nice. That’s some incredible timing you had.” he said, turning towards me. He gazed down towards my top. I internally rolled my eyes. Typical. “Do you work at the SANDbar?” he asked. I looked down, remembering that I was wearing my work tank top. “Actually, yeah. I’m the assistant manager.” I exclaimed proudly. He moved the sunglasses he was wearing to the top of his head revealing the most striking hazel eyes. He smiled, extending his hand. “I’m Damien. Your new bartender.” I returned his smile “Nice to meet you, Damien, I’m Madeline. It’s kind of nice to put a face to a name.” Very nice, I thought. I looked over him. He was really handsome. Muscular and lord those tattoos. Screw handsome, he was sexy. Madeline, you’re his boss, I remind myself. He gave me a lopsided grin. Sh*t. I think he caught on that I was checking him out. “You as well. I look forward to starting training tomorrow.” he said. The ring of my phone interrupted our conversation. Gemma was facetiming me. “Girl, what are you doing at the pier? You need to get that se*y ass ready and in that dress for later!” she yelled at me. I bit my bottom lip and felt my face flush. I looked over and noticed Damien had an eyebrow raised. “Gemma, while I was out admiring the dolphins, I ran into our new employee, Damien.” I said, widening my eyes, hoping that she’d get the hint to tone it down. “Girl, hand him the phone!” she ordered. I sighed. “Damien, this is Gemma, our boss.” He smiled, taking the phone from me. “Oooooh, easy on the eyes. That’s going to go over well with the crowd. I’m Gemma, nice to meet you.” she said. I noticed a little blush from him. He chuckled “Nice to meet you as well. I’m Damien, as Madeline already mentioned.” “You know what, Damien. You should join Madeline and myself while we celebrate tonight. Since you’ll be a very integral part of our team, we should get to know you a ‘lot’ better.” Gemma explained. I didn’t miss her emphasis on ‘a lot better’. He handed me my phone back and scooted close beside me so that we were both in frame. “What exactly are we celebrating?” he questioned. “That’s a great question. Today happens to be Ms. Madeline’s 21 st

birthday.” she wagged her brows. Ugh. I’m going to kill her for this. I turned to Damien. “You absolutely do not have to join us. It’s just a birthday.” I silently pleaded with my eyes for him to decline. He just smiled “Alright, I’m in. I will get Madeline's number and meet ya’ll wherever you're going.” Yeah, definitely going to kill her. “Great, then it’s settled. I will see the both of you later.” She winked at me before ending the call. Not even two seconds later I received a text from Gemma. “He’s hot af.” I quickly texted her back “That may be true, but he’s also our employee!!” The blush that has invaded my faced cannot be mistaken as a light sunburn. “I apologize for her. She’s a firecracker.” He laughed, “No worries. It’s nice when a person can be direct. Do you mind if we trade phones? I will put my contact in and you can do the same?” I nodded, absentmindedly handing him my phone. My eyes went wide realizing that I hadn’t closed mine and Gemma’s text thread. He 100% saw it, but acted indifferent. I quickly handed him his phone back, “Good to go. We will be meeting up on the strip around 7pm.” I smiled. He returned a warm smile, “Great, can’t wait. It was nice to meet you, boss.” I chuckled, quickly heading back down the pier, and to my apartment.