Sara pulled up to the curb and brought the car to a slow stop. She looked around hurriedly, peering into the murky darkness. There weren't many cars along this street now. This was a popular stretch of Sunset Beach in Florida and during the day families arrived early and stayed all day enjoying the warm sunshine. But for now, the street was empty. She opened her phone and glanced at the time. 8:05. She was here, now where was he? She looked around again and not seeing anyone, started flipping through her old text messages to kill time.
Sara had met Zack a few years ago when she worked at her first restaurant job as a hostess. He was really friendly but they had never had the chance to get close because he had a girlfriend and she had a boyfriend at the time. There were definitely sparks - Sara was insanely attracted to his short crew cut and lean, muscular frame. He was a few years older and had served at the restaurant for the past two years to help pay for college. He was quick with a smile and she couldn't help but flirt when he wrapped his arm around her waist and teased her for giving him all the families with the annoying kids.
She had stalked him once on Facebook about a year ago and knew a little bit about what was going on with him. Finishing college, starting a new job somewhere - pretty standard. She was caught by total surprise when she was on a date with her current boyfriend Sam and got a text from Zack. Luckily, her phone was on silent, and when she went to the bathroom before their food arrived she saw four words that made her heart ache: I miss you Sara. She closed her phone and pretended it didn't happen but she couldn't help but think about him for the rest of the night. She somehow made it through dinner conversation and was glad when the lights dimmed in the theater so she could let her mind wander to what might have been...
One text turned into a flirtatious barrage of back and forth -- Sara had to be super careful to delete all messages and put a password on her phone so her boyfriend couldn't see incoming messages before she did. It all seemed harmless until Zack had requested they meet when he was driving through on the way to see his family. She gave in, her stomach doing flip flops just wondering what she was getting herself into.
There was a rap on the window and Sara screamed. She hid her phone and looked up to the sheepish grin of the guy she remembered. He was tan and looked like he had put on some weight -- mostly in his shoulders and arms. His hair was a little longer, but besides that he looked exactly the same as she remembered. She jumped out of the car and threw her arms around him. He pulled her in close and she could feel him breathe her in, his head tucked down into her hair and against her face. She felt a stirring inside her body like a firebolt running down her spine.
She pulled away and they stood admiring one another until he broke the silence.
"Ser, you look amazing! I can see you've still been doing quite a bit of running."