Chapter Text
Maggie loved her job as a beach lifeguard; where else could she be out in the sun all day, chatting to people and feeling like her job was worthwhile. The last thing she wanted was to be was stuck behind a desk all day everyday looking out a tiny little window to the world. Most of the time she found herself marking out the safe areas to swim, giving info on tides and surf to beachgoers and making her way up and down the beach chatting to anyone and everyone, she especially loved being playful with the kids, challenging them to races, building sandcastles, but also educating them on why her job is so important.
She was a tanned, petite 28 year old, with long brown hair and an athletic body, she knew she turned heads on the beach, kitted out in her standard issue lifeguard red board shorts and yellow vest top and she enjoyed the friendly rivalry she shared with James, her duty partner, about who got checked out the most by the girls on the beach, neither of them had girlfriends, so it was just a bit of harmless fun between them, that had every so often landed them a date.
James was a tall, muscular black man who was turning 30 soon and certainly caught many an eye. Whilst Maggie was patrolling around the beach chatting and being the friendly face of the lifeguard team, James would be at the lifeguard station observing the whole beach for any issues, every half an hour or so they’d switch, which gave them both a chance to mingle with the people on the beach, whilst ensuring their safety.
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Alex had lived in Midvale by the sea all her life, spending all her summer holidays on the beach, she loved the views out into the ocean, but had definitely taken it for granted as she grew older, not getting down to the beach nearly as much as she’d used to, other interests and priorities taking over and just not having so much of a reason to get down there – it was always just full of families having days out, couples wandering hand in hand and dogs having the time of their lives with their owners, none of these situations currently applied to Alex.
At 29 years old, she was carving out a decent career for herself as a Phys Ed teacher at the local high school; she was highly regarded by her colleagues, especially her head of department J’onn. She was smart, had a few hobbies, enjoying soccer and tennis, both playing and watching and she also had a fairly active social life, spending time with her friends in the pub or going out dancing on the weekends, she was pretty happy with her life, but there was definitely something missing…. someONE missing.
Alex came out as gay in her early 20s, a very much non-event compared to many stories she’s heard, her sister Kara had suspected for years, may have even knew before Alex knew and was so pleased and supportive when she came out, not a surprise really, as she had been harbouring feelings for their neighbour Lena. Alex’s friends, well, they’d had their suspicions too and didn’t make a big deal of it. As for her parents, there was no big fanfare or emotional outpouring, just a very nonchalant ‘excellent, as long as you’re happy’. The Danvers family took everything in their stride.
Alex was a stunning woman, tall, lean, dark hair with a tinge of red and a light curl, she had found herself in several fits and starts of relationships throughout her twenties, however it was always the other girl breaking it off for one reason or another, but always with a ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ take on things, Alex began to wonder if she’d ever find someone who could love her and who would let her love them with everything she had. In those usually very fleeting moments, she felt lonely, but always quickly picked herself up, reminding herself that she actually had a fantastic life otherwise; great friends, family, job, nice apartment, prospects. It wasn’t something that weighed her down; she liked to enjoy life and make the best of what she had.
Recently, Alex had plenty to smile about with the return of her best friend Winn to the area, bringing with him his young kids Lois and Lucy and wife Lyra. Winn had known Alex since they were both 4 years old; they had grown up together, going all through school and getting up to all sorts of mischief and fun outside of school over the years. He was a relatively short man with dark hair who had moved away from the area to pursue a career in IT intelligence for the government, 10 years, several house moves, a wife, and two kids later he’d moved his young family back home to Midvale. It wasn’t that Alex had never seen him during those 10 years, they always made the effort to visit each other and chat on the phone, but it was another thing to have Winn back on her doorstep and able to see each other whenever they wanted.
Today, with Winn’s wife Lyra away on business, Alex had gone down to the beach with Winn and the kids in tow. She loved spending time with 6 year old Lois and 3 year old Lucy, she considered them her nieces, and absolutely played the fun Aunt Alex card. It was the middle of August and a super-hot summer day, they had packed their bags with plenty of food and drinks for the day and had an assortment of bucket, spades, bats and balls to keep the kids (and the big kids) entertained. They had set up camp on the pretty busy beach mid-way between the lifeguard station and the café at the end of the beach, not too close to the shore, knowing that the tide would eventually come in.
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It was Maggie’s turn to do the rounds on the beach, as James sat at the station, she had just finished up her conversation with an older couple and their cute dog, Maggie being a sucker for all things canine, when a family of 4 a few metres away caught her eye. Maggie didn’t remember ever seeing them on the beach before, in fact she can’t have, she would most definitely have remembered the woman, tall, beautiful and with fantastic smile. Maggie found herself smiling watching the woman messing around with her kids, whilst the man she was with, presumably her partner, snapped a selfie of them all. Maggie shook herself out of her smiley little daze and started to make her way over to the family to say hi.