Page 2 of Beyond The Break

I clear my throat and Gabriel returns his attention to me, his eyes going wide as he takes in my expression. I rub a hand over my mouth to cover my smile as I look down at my cameraagain, skipping through the photos. He totally has a thing for Zalea.

“She was amazing, wasn’t she?” he asks after a few minutes.

“She really was,” I agree, handing my camera over so he can look through the good photos. “And very photogenic.” I add. He hums in agreement as he looks through the pictures.

I feel my phone vibrate and I pull it out of my back pocket to see an email notification from my job. Quickly glancing up at Gabriel, and seeing him still focused on the camera, I decide to open it with hands that have started to shake.

All the air rushes out of my lungs as I stare at the termination notice. Deep down, I knew they would let me go, it was always the better business decision, but I held out hope thinking this time might be different. This isn’t the first time I’ve lost a job because of stupid small-town gossip.

Panic about how I’m going to pay rent and buy food are my first thoughts, followed by a hollow sadness as I come to the realization that I’ve lost my dream job – again. The sinking feeling of failure settles in my chest at being back in this spot of my life once again, at being unemployed with no backup plan.

“Eliana?” I look up from my phone to see that Gabriel has already finished looking through the photos. “You’re shaking, is everything okay?” he asks, his brows pinching together in concern.

“Yeah, everything is fine. I just…uhm,” I say absently, the high pitch of my voice giving me away.

“What is it?” He pushes, leaning forward and lowering himself to my height, his voice brimming with worry.

“I-I uhm,” I swallow back the lump in my throat and rapidly blink away the tears. “I’ve just been terminated from my job back home.”

“Is it because of this trip?” he asks, his expression stern.

I shake my head, inhaling deeply. “There are some articles from a few years ago that were written about me in the localpapers back home. They’re making their rounds on the internet now and bad press isn’t good for business.”

“Can I see these articles?” he asks.

I hesitate a moment before realizing I have nothing left to lose by showing him. So, I type my full name into Google and pass my phone to him so that he can read through the articles on his own. As he scrolls through them, his jaw ticks and a frown forms on his face. I watch as he texts himself the articles from my phone before he locks eyes with me.

“You know these articles aren’t true, right?” he asks, waving my phone at me gently.

I laugh bitterly. “The rest of the world doesn’t seem to see it that way or else I would still have a job to go back to.”

“Well, honestly, this works in my favor.” Gabriel says, looking back down at my camera with a small smile pulling at his lips.

“What do you mean?” My brows furrow in confusion.

“I think your photographs are some of the greatest I’ve ever seen,” he says, handing my phone and camera back to me. “I was planning to offer you a job as my team’s Social Media Manager after making sure you were the actual person behind those pictures on your social platform.”

My cheeks heat up in embarrassment. “You’re just saying that because I just lost my job. You really don’t have to do this, Gabriel. I can figure it out.”

He quirks a brow. “Eliana, I’ve watched you share your talent with strangers on the internet for free and your community has skyrocketed over the last three months. Do you really think I would have flown you halfway across the country, and paid for all your accommodations and food, and then also paid you on top of that if I didn’t think you had it in you?”

I look up at him quietly, studying his expression. He has a point, why else would he fly me out here for a week and upgrade my accommodation if he didn’t have a bigger plan? Hecould just be crazy rich and like to spend his money, but how much does a surf coach really earn? Surely, he isn’t trying to sleep with me, especially not after I saw how affected he is by Zalea. It can’t be this simple.

“Why would a surf team need a social media manager?” I ask, suspicion creeping into my veins.

“We’re a professional surf team aiming to get our surfers on the World Surf Association, and there are a lot of eyes on us right now. Our image could use some work.”

He clears his throat and looks out at the ocean with a slight frown before continuing. “We’ve had a tough time the last six months, one of our best surfers got injured and we haven’t won a competition since. We could really use the help of someone who is able to re-build our image in a more positive and fun way; showcase the talent on the team and bring in new supporters while retaining the existing ones.” His tongue pushes into his cheek before he returns his eyes to mine.

“I don’t know…” I sigh, deep and heavy, before I rub my lips together thoughtfully.

“I’ll double what your last job was paying you.” he says, grinning with a hint of amusement sparkling in his eyes.

“You don’t even know how much they were paying me; it could’ve been in the hundred thousand range.” I reply, flustered.

His grin widens and I swear his teeth sparkle in the sunlight. “Throw any number at me and I’ll double it.”

I stare at him, dumbfounded and speechless. I make a mental note to not only research his team, The Saltwater Shredders, but also a pro surf coaches’ typical salary.

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