Zoey clocking out

The evening sky shone a bright moon across the sands of the island’s ocean-side beaches. The crisp white gleamed in the glow of the full moon, and Zoey’s red one-piece suit shined as much as the sand below her chair in the moonlight. Seeing the sunset finish was confirmation that her shift had ended, so Zoey grabbed her radio from the cup holder of the cushioned, raised chair labeled “Lifeguard.”

The blonde bombshell pressed the button on the radio. “On the way back to the office. I’m gonna guess all of you did your jobs, so with that said if y’all want to clock out now go on ahead. I’ll be back to close the office up in a couple minutes. Over.” Zoey called out. A male voice answered back a simple “10-4. Loud and clear. Have a good night Zoey.”

Zoey sighed, as she hopped down from her lifeguard chair, and began her walk up the beach to the office. Given her station had been just a quarter mile from the island’s beach safety office, she had opted to not use the ATV in favor of a little exercise and costs saved. The short walk gave her time to reflect on her shift. Nothing too interesting had happened all afternoon or evening. A woman lost her dog, one kid had gotten stung by a jellyfish, and a man had almost lost his trunks in the ocean (but luckily found them hiding amongst some rocks near the shoreline. Other than that, Zoey found herself doing homework, jogging, staring at the beach, and overall enjoying a relaxing, boring shift. It was a sharp contrast to the shift a few weeks prior. She hadn’t finished changing, and had to go settle a dispute clad in just her underwear. Worse yet, she lost her clothes to a stray bunch of fishing line hooked on the jetty, and had been left no option but to streak naked back to her house. A couple of neighbors, beachgoers, and even her family had gotten a full view. Zoey shivered as she tossed aside the embarrassing memory, just glad to have a shift with no similar shenanigans.

Zoey strolled through the rear door of the office, which was really just an old converted post office with 2 changing areas, one for men and one for women, and an office space where Zoey’s boss did paperwork. The hallway passed by the two curtained off changing areas and Zoey raised an eyebrow as she noted an eery silence only permeated by the sound of the air conditioner. “Hello?” Zoey called out, waiting for a response.

No response came, telling Zoey she was alone. Grinning ear to ear, she realized that meant she could actually take a shower before changing! While by no means something she couldn’t technically do in the changing area’s makeshift shower area, she preferred to be sure of her solitude in order to use it at all. It was a rudimentary thing made from a single tiled corner with a drain, and shower head that looked to be a shoddy install on the back wall. There weren’t any privacy dividers, and no door, meaning the whole changing area had a view of whoever was brazen enough to use the shower.

But tonight, Zoey was alone. Everyone else had clocked out and gone home, leaving her to do some nightly cleaning and lock the doors. Zoey pushed through the curtained doorway, leaving the curtain open as she passed through. She briefly considered closing it, but decided that it would be meaningless. After all, the whole office was hers for the night!

Zoey unceremoniously removed the suit straps from her shoulder, and held the garment with her thumbs as she looked around one last time, to confirm her solitude. With a last check completed, Zoey shoved the suit to her ankles, and stepped out of the suit as she walked towards the shower.

The hot water soothed Zoey’s bare skin as it flowed over her back, face, chest, and legs. Every drop was instant relief to her lightly tanned, freckled skin. Zoey took her time just absorbing the water, not bothering to move on to actually cleaning herself. The relief was just too much comfort to pass up, and Zoey allowed herself to seep into the moment, not caring about a single thing other than the relief the shower provided.

Unbeknownst to Zoey, she was alone now, but would find herself not so alone in the near future.