by Monroe, Max
“Just peachy,” I lied.
I wasn’t just peachy. I was confused beyond belief.
But I didn’t know any other way to deal with it besides picking up my fork and taking a hearty bite of pancakes, aka avoiding it all together.
“Allie called your phone last night,” he said after he took a sip of coffee from one of the white porcelain mugs. “I hope you don’t mind, but I answered and let her know what was going on and that you were doing okay. I told her you’d call her when you woke up.”
“Okay, thanks. I’ll make sure I call her in a little bit.”
“And, uh, Jordy stopped by your room…” He paused, and I turned to meet his gaze.
“He did?” I asked and noted the way his brown eyes appeared to narrow at the corners. “When?”
“Last night around eight or so.”
“Oh, was he okay?” I asked, and Ollie offered a curt nod.
“He said he was just seeing if you wanted to grab dinner,” he answered. “I let him know you had a pretty rough day and would be out of commission for the night.”
“Oh, okay.” I nodded and focused my attention back on the pancakes. “I guess I’ll have to call him later today.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” he said, his voice quiet but stiff, and then added, “I didn’t know you two were close…”
“Who?” I asked. “Me and Jordy?”
Ollie nodded, and I didn’t miss the awkward tension that spread between us.
But I didn’t understand where it was coming from.
So, I just shrugged it off with my shoulders and my words. “I guess you could say we’re good buddies.”
He didn’t say much after that, and I wasn’t too sure what he was trying to get at.
Was he asking if Jordy and I were friends? Dating? Fucking?
Oh God, just the thought of that made me cringe.
Jordy was more brother than anything else to me.
But I wasn’t sure if that was what Ollie was asking me in the first place, so I kept my mouth shut on the subject and reached for the TV remote on the nightstand.
“You mind if I change this?” I asked. “I’m all for staying up to date on the news, but sometimes, I need a little something else to watch while I’m eating breakfast.”
Ollie chuckled. “Have at it.”
I scrolled through the channels until I stopped on a rerun of Teen Mom on MTV.
“Shit,” he muttered beside me with a mouthful of waffles. “Janelle is crazy.”
My eyes went wide, and I turned to meet his gaze. “Seriously? You watch Teen Mom?” I asked and he shrugged.
“What can I say? I like reality shows.”
“Holy shit.” I giggled. “I can’t believe you watch Teen Mom.”
Ollie just laughed it off and continued eating his breakfast while his eyes stayed fixated on the screen.
A handsome surfer who had a penchant for wearing flip-flops and threadbare cargo shorts, yet he also happened to be a crazy successful businessman.
The man I’d thought was the biggest jerk on the planet when he’d picked me up from the Sydney airport, yet he had taught me how to swim and taken care of me for the last twenty hours or so after I’d fainted on the beach.
Not to mention, he was apparently an avid watcher of Teen Mom.
He was a conundrum.
And hell if that hadn’t made me more intrigued.
While Janelle and her mom argued about God only knows what, Ollie and I continued to eat breakfast together, sitting side by side on the bed, sharing bites of our food, and keeping up a steady stream of our own commentary on the show.
The conversation just flowed between us. Easy. Laid-back. Endlessly entertaining.
And the more time I spent with Ollie, the more I questioned my original first impression of him.
Was he really a jerk? I didn’t know the answer to that.
[silent pause]
But in that moment, all signs pointed toward the opposite…
* * *
Episode 13: “Fixated as f*ck.”
I’ll be honest, dehydration severe enough to require IV fluids wasn’t something you bounced back from quickly.
I’d spent the better part of the day prior lounging in bed, watching reruns of Teen Mom with Ollie and snacking on room service. And when he eventually had to leave my room to attend a rescheduled business meeting, I didn’t leave my spot in that fucking bed.
And when July 6th rolled around, I was still tired, still achy, but I felt strong enough to get my ass out on the beach and cover the first day of the Tahiti Pro Waves event.
Muscles and tanned skin and board shorts and colorful surfboards surrounded me.
I know, I know, it was a real tough job I had, huh?
[giggles]
The view was so delectable, I couldn’t stop myself from snapping a few pictures of the male eye candy on display and adding them to the group chat with my sisters.
Willow responded with three tongue emojis and Hot damn. Talk about living your best life, girl.
Even uptight Hazel joined in the commentary. Yeah, even I can’t deny I’m a little jealous of you right now…
But when my dad’s response filled the group chat, I realized I’d really screwed the pooch. He said something along the lines of Uh…You’re quite the photographer, Lucky Charm…
And I, of course, started a slow death of mortification.
[embarrassed giggle]
Yeah. Whoops.
It didn’t take long for me to realize I’d accidentally sent the muscly man photos to the group chat that included our father. Talk about epically awkward. I might’ve been a grown woman, but that still didn’t mean I wanted to send photos of hot guys to my dad.
Hazel and Willow were happy to join in on the fun with crying laughter emojis and never-ending ha-ha-ha’s.
[snorts]
Jesus. I’m still blushing with embarrassment from that awful mistake.
I sent a face palm emoji to the chat, and my dear old dad took it all in good stride with a simple LOL and a smiley face.
Rick Wright might’ve been tough as nails when we were teenagers, but with old age, he’d grown more easygoing and chill as fuck.
Thank everything for that.
After my cheeks had cooled down from the utter humiliation of it all and I’d sent an I’m sorry, Dad to our messages, I slipped my phone back into my pocket and left my embarrassment in the sand as I headed up the beach toward the area where most of the competitors and event personnel were located.
Immediately, I spotted Jordy rubbing wax on his board while he chatted up a familiar journalist from a California newspaper.
When his eyes met mine, he didn’t hesitate to shoot a playful wink in my direction.
[laughs softly]
Typical Jordy.
Always playful. Always teasing. Always a good time.
I responded with a dramatic roll of my eyes, but I followed it up with a friendly grin.
Once I made my way through the tent and stopped just outside of the judge’s area, it didn’t take long for my gaze to spot Ollie out of the bunch.
Okay, so it wasn’t so much an accidental spotting, but that’s just minor details, right?
[snorts]
Bottom line, whether it was by chance or a legitimate seeking out kind of thing, I found him.
He sat in the media section with a crew from an Australian sports channel, and he assisted with giving the play-by-play of the first day of the Tahiti event.
He grinned and laughed and cut up with the two anchors on either side of him, and I imagined all of the viewers back home were giddy over seeing one of their country’s biggest sports heroes.
There was no doubt about it, Ollie was enigmatic. And it kind of goes without saying by this point in the story, but my magnetic pull to watch him was strong.
But surely, I wasn’t the only one, though, right?
I mean, that first day he’d picked me up from the airport, he’d had a damn
harem of excited fangirls shouting I love yous and begging him for selfies and autographs.
[sighs]
Yeah, go ahead and laugh at me and my rationalizing. It’s okay, I definitely deserve it.
Before I could settle into a good old-fashioned gawking session of my brain’s current fixation, my phone started to vibrate in my pocket, and I pulled it out to find Incoming Call Allie flashing on the screen.
Quickly, I stepped out of the tent area toward a quiet spot in the sand and answered by the third ring.
“Well, hello, stranger,” I greeted, and she laughed softly in my ear.
“How are you?”
“I’m good,” I answered. “How are you? How are you feeling?”
“Still pregnant. Still puking. But all is still well.”
“That’s good to hear.”
I mean, the puking and stuff wasn’t good, but the fact that she could say the word well was reassuring.
[giggles]
I’ll be honest. Ever since I’ve had the pleasure of watching Allie suffer through the early months of her pregnancy, the whole idea of carrying a little baby inside of my belly isn’t as magical as I’d originally thought.
For all you moms and moms-to-be out there, you have my unending supply of sympathy. You are rock stars. You are amazing. You are so damn strong you might as well be a Kelly Clarkson song.
Okay, back to my phone call with Allie…
She dove straight into the conversation, asking me how I was feeling after the little fainting episode I’d had two days prior, and I let her know I was doing just fine.
“Well,” she added, and the relief in her voice was evident, “I’m glad my brother was there to help you.”
“Me too,” I said, and no doubt about it, it was one hundred percent the truth. “He was quite the gentleman.”
“I’m glad you two are getting along and he’s keeping an eye out for you. I think it’s the one time in my life being Ollie Arsen’s sister has come in handy.”
I laughed at that. Obviously, the cons of Ollie’s antics far outweighed the pros of his celebrity status, even with his sister.
“So, what did you end up doing yesterday?” she asked, and I grimaced when I realized I’d never called her back. “I was hoping to hear from you.”
Yesterday, well, it’d been a blur of my hotel bed and Ollie and reruns of Teen Mom.
But for some reason, I didn’t want to tell her that.
“Uh…not much,” I said, skirting around the subject. “Just kind of took it easy. Rested up. Let my body prepare for the long days ahead.”
“Oh, right,” she responded. “I guess you’re at day one of the competition now, yeah?”
“Yep,” I answered with a nod.
“Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better.”
All thanks to your brother, I thought to myself, but I didn’t dare bring the conversation back to those dangerous territories.
“Thanks, me too.”
“I guess I’ll let you get back to it. Call me before you head to California?”
“Will do.”
“Love you, Lucky.”
“Love you too.”
I hung up the phone and slipped it back into my pocket, but as I walked back toward the tent, I couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling that for the first time in our friendship, I hadn’t been completely honest with my best friend.
Why hadn’t I just told her the truth?
Why had I felt the need to hide the fact that I’d spent the day with her brother yesterday?
In fact, why hadn’t I told her anything about the time I’d been spending with her brother while I was on this assignment?
[deep sigh]
In the moment, I pretty much refused to explore the reasons for my lies.
But, yeah, I think we’re all aware it’s because I, well… I was starting to like Ollie a little too much…
[clears throat]
Was I falling for Allie’s brother?
That day, I would’ve told you no. I would have told a nun, a priest, and a rabbi no.
But right now, if I said that, then I’d just be lying to you too…
So, what did I do that day when Am I falling for Ollie? thoughts started to consume my brain? Well, I shook them off and forced myself to focus on the priorities of the day. I had an event to cover, and most importantly, I needed to figure out my next angle for article number two of the Surf Arsen-sponsored surfing series.
Can you say expert avoider?
[snorts]
Hell, I’m so damn attuned to it, I could probably give a TED Talk on the poor coping skill.
A word of advice? Don’t be an avoider like me.
Don’t hide from your feelings and emotions.
Don’t slide important shit under the rug.
Trust me, it’ll make your life a hell of a lot easier.
[pauses]
Anyway, with my avoiding skills engaged, I only allowed the writer part of my brain to take control.
I thought about the next article. I thought about the various perspective options, and instantly, I knew I wanted the angle to be more of an insider’s view of what it was like for a girl like me to be thrust into the world of surfing.
How I would manage that was still up for debate.
But ideas are fickle little things. They can’t be forced. They just have to come.
So, instead of beating my head against the wall and trying to force something that wasn’t there, I made my way through the tent with the intention of stepping out into the sand to watch the next surfer, Eli Chase, take on Tahiti’s version of big waves.
But by the time Eli paddled his way through the water and prepared to show the judges his wave-riding skills, my eyes were fixated back on the media section of the tent, locked tight on the all-too-familiar man with big brown eyes and one of the sexiest smiles I’d ever seen.
And just like that, an idea was born.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket again, tapped the screen, and added the title of my next article in my phone.
The Day Five-Time World Surfing Champion Ollie Arsen Taught Me How to Swim
Yep. I was fixated all right.
Fixated as fuck.
* * *
Episode 14: “A date?”
Today’s podcast is aptly titled “A date?”
And, no, there isn’t a grammar mistake.
The question mark is there for a reason.
[laughs]
I know, I know, I’m basically doing the podcast equivalent of vaguebooking right now, but before I can actually get to the meat and potatoes of today’s episode, I need to tell you something else.
Something that, well, made me see Ollie in a different light.
It made me second-guess my original jerk judgments more than I already was.
It made me open my heart up to him…even more than I already had.
And then, after that, the “A date?” won’t feel like a question hanging in the breeze.
[short pause]
It was the final day of the Tahiti Pro Waves Event, and the last surfer in the competition headed toward the sea for his closing run. He’d already had two misses on his first try, one that included a full-on wipeout and another where it appeared fear had crept into his head and prevented him from even attempting a ride.
I’ve never been one to get too invested in sports, obviously, but I was on pins and needles.
Braden Blanks is young, nineteen years old to be exact, and this was his first year participating in a competition like this. He’d yet to do anything spectacular, but I silently prayed this would be his moment. That this, right now, would be the exact perfect time for him to show the judges he was a surfer worth watching. An up-and-coming star shooting across the league of surfing’s massive sky.
I’d seen him in practice, and even though I was no expert on surfing, I was learning, and I’d seen this nineteen-year-old pull some impressive tricks.
[audible pause]
He was the underdog, no doubt about it, but even underdogs deserve a vote of confidence, you know? Hell, they probably deserve it the most.
Everyone gets their start somewhere, and I had my fingers and toes crossed that today would be day one of Braden Blanks pushing past the fear and anxiety that seemed to be holding him back.
His body became a blip once he passed the point of the small, little waves and reached the spot in the sea where the biggest waves waited for someone to challenge them.
The first big wave? Well, instead of turning and paddling with it, he sliced the tip of his surfboard into the water and dipped his entire body beneath it until he came up on the other side.
My heart dropped at the sight of it.
C’mon, Braden, I silently cheered him on.
But a minute or two passed, and then a few more minutes passed, and I prayed his ten minutes wouldn’t run out before another wave developed.
I held my breath and looked around the tent where everyone’s eyes seemed to be fixated on the sea, and it was apparent I wasn’t the only one hoping he could find some glory before the event was through.
Jordy stood at the edge of the tent, his wet suit pushed off of his arms and chest and resting on his hips, and his eyes stared out toward the waves.
“You got this, B!” he shouted with two cupped hands around his mouth.
I smiled at his words.
The men within the competition weren’t like most athletes.
Sure, they were all competing for first place and they all wanted to win the championship trophy, but that didn’t hold them back from cheering each other on and lifting each other up when it was needed.
If anything, it made me love the sport. Which said a lot, considering I literally love no sports.