The Army Girl

8. Sammantha's Point Of View

I woke up this morning feeling terrible about my outburst last night, I climbed groggily out of bed and took a quick shower before getting myself ready for work. I slipped on a yellow polo shirt, that had 'lifeguard' written on the back in big red lettering, my red shorts and some plain black flip flops.

I walked into the kitchen and sat down to eat the fry up that Carmen always prepares for us when she's home. I made it halfway through my breakfast and coffee before I noticed that we were two members short at the table. I looked over to Fatima and opened my mouth to speak, but was cut off quickly.

"They left a note, they had to run some errands." Fatima answered my unspoken question and I nodded briefly.

"Hey sis, I start work at twelve, so I'm gunna hang out with Sonja and Sophie until then. Antonio finishes at twelve and he's going to take over until Lucas and Carmen get to the beach." Jay explained to me.

I glanced over to the clock realising it was half nine and I had to head to work. I put my dishes in the dishwasher before picking up my lifeguard jacket, my phone and sunglasses. I gave my mum and Fatima a kiss goodbye before leaving for work with Antonio.

As we were walking Antonio wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

"How are you holding up?" He asked, kindly.

"I feel s**t about last night." I replied, glumly.

"Try not to think about it for now, let work take your mind off it. You and my sister will fix this later, just forget about it for now." He replied giving me a comforting squeeze as we reached the lifeguard hut.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened while I was working, just the usual first aid things, people that burnt because they didn't know how to use sunscreen and a couple of lost children reunited with their parents.

I watched Jay teaching Sonja and Sophie how to surf and I ate my lunch with them all when Antonio finished work. I got back to work after eating and shortly after that Lucas joined everyone on the beach with his surfboard.

I looked around from where I was sat to try and spot Carmen, but couldn't find her. I spotted her car driving away from the beach and I slumped in defeat. I really did f**k things up with her if she wasn't even going to come and surf like she always did.

"Thought I told you to stop thinking about it, lady?" Antonio spoke, appearing beside me, "you know what she's like, she's probably blowing off some steam."

I got back to focusing on my work and once my day had finished Jay, Antonio, Lucas, Sophie and Sonja all headed home while I finished up some paperwork. Once I was done I pulled my jacket on and started making my way home.

As I neared the pub I could see that the gym section of our garage was open and there was a couple of girls sat at tables wolf-whistling and cat-calling. Looking past the girls I could see that Carmen was inside working out and my heart skipped several beats as my eyes took her in.

She was on the pull up bar, her back facing the ogling girls. She was wearing basketball shorts that sat low on her hips and a sports bra, her tanned skin was shining with a layer of sweat. The muscles in her back rippled as she continued doing her pull ups and a bead of sweat trickled down her spine.

I moved closer, dodging around the annoying girls, as Carmen jumped down from the pull up bar and moved on to the weight bench. I found myself biting my lip as my eyes roamed up her defined abs, as she lay down on the weight bench. I moved around the gym and stopped behind the bench so Carmen was then looking up at me.

"Hey." She said, softly, as she pulled her headphones off of her ears.

"Hey" I replied, offering her a shy smile, "Need a spotter?" I asked, she nodded and gave me a small smile.

Carmen lay back down and lifted the weights to start her bench presses while I spotted her. I thought back to the last time I did this with her and remembered how she had struggled before. This time she was lifting double the weight, with ease, and it took my breath away.

"How long has your adoring fan club been watching you?" I teased with a smirk.

"Since about half two? Three-ish? I think. Well, that was when I vaguely noticed them." She replied grunting a little with each lift she did.

We stayed in silence for a few minutes before I decided to speak again.

"Sorry, y'know, about going all crazy last night."

"It's fine, Sammie. I'd have probably done the same if the roles were reversed." She chuckled back.

"Still, I need to explain myself. I just....I saw the scar and every bad scenario started playing though my head and I just lost it. You're my best friend and my biggest fear is that I'm gunna lose you to the war." Carmen dropped the weights back in place and sat up as I handed her a towel.

"And I don't mean I'm scared that you're going to die, well, of course I mean that too but..." I trailed off as I poured her a glass of water while I gathered my thoughts to stop rambling, "people go out there and fight for years and when they come back alive and uninjured, they're different... The war changed them...destroyed them..... Made them forget who they were before the war. I don't want any of those things to happen to you." I finished taking a deep breath and kicking myself mentally for still rambling on.

"I don't know what you want me to say, Sammie." She spoke softly, "I can't promise you that you won't lose me in either way." Carmen sighed turning to face me, sad dark eyes meeting stormy blues.

"I just want you to talk to me, I don't want you withholding things from me because you think I can't handle it." I replied following Carmen out of the garage and locking it up.

We entered the pub, waved at our family and friends and went up to the apartment. Carmen stopped outside her room and turned to me.

"Okay, I will try and be more open with you. I'll meet you downstairs once I've showered." With that she entered her room.

I moved off to my room to collect some fresh clothes and shower. I put on a black ruffle skirt with a low cut, white v neck t-shirt topping it off with some black converse before I made my way down to the pub. I poured myself a glass of cider before taking a seat at a table with Lucas, Antonio, Jay, Sophie and Sonja.