Waves Of Passion

Eliza looked at her as if she was trying to get her support or something of the sort. But Celia was definitely not in her corner.

“Go on. I’m almost done here anyway,” she said.

“Celia…” Eliza started but Celia was hearing none of it.

“Go on. I’m fine…got my pepper spray and taser and everything.”

Celia noticed Justin smiling from the corner of her eye.

“Alright then,” she said as she grabbed her bag from under the bar. “Guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said as she began walking towards the door.

Justin was a perfect gentleman. Opening the door for her and respecting her boundaries. At the back of her mind, she kept on waiting for him to bring up the whole Allan thing but he never once brought it up. Before she knew it, Eliza found herself feeling relaxed around him. It did not even matter that she’d been crushing on him for the longest time. She was unusually silent as Justin’s Wrangler pulled up in front of her apartment building.

“So, here we are,” he said. “At least according to the GPS information you gave me.”

“Yeah, it was accurate,” she said in a soft voice.

“I hate to sound like I am imposing here but to be honest, I am really concerned about that guy you were with that night at the party,” he said as he turned around to look at her.

“Allan,” she said in a soft voice. “And I was not with him that night. He just happened to find me there.”

“Is this a serious thing? Is he a danger to you? Should we maybe call the cops?” he asked.

She smiled. He sounded genuinely concerned. “I’m fine. I can handle him.”

“Would it be too much to ask what happened between you two?” he asked and she shrugged.

“Let’s just say that when I met him, he presented a version of himself that was very…” her voice trailed off. “I fell in love with a lie. That’s the simplest explanation.”

“So he is an ex then?” he pointed out.

“Winner, winner. Chicken dinner,” she said smiling.

“Well, good riddance to the past,” he said and she nodded.

“If I had a drink in my hand I would raise my glass to that.”

“Speaking of raising glasses,” Justin started as he shifted his weight to look at her. “I would like to see you again and not on the beach…maybe dinner sometime?”

She looked at him and shook her head.

“Why?” she asked and Justin was a little surprised. Clearly he had no idea how he was supposed to answer that question.

“Can’t a man just take a beautiful woman out for dinner and just…wine and dine her?” he asked but she shook her head again.

“No, I mean why me? Why do you want to wine and dine me?” she asked. “You can have anyone you want.”

“Well, you are the one I want.”

She shook her head, unsure of what she was supposed to say.

“Alright maybe a drink then? Maybe dinner is a little too…formal,” he said and she nodded.

“A drink sounds better.” 

There was a long silence before he finally spoke again.

“So, are we going to do this drink thing soon?” he asked and she nodded.

“Of course,” she said. “How about you come to the bar tomorrow? Seven okay?”

“Seven is perfect.”

She nodded again.

“Good,” she said before she exhaled loudly. “Look, if this is about the day you almost drowned…” she started and he put a finger up.

“Actually, I did drown and this has nothing to do with that. I know that you were just doing your job.”

She nodded. “That’s true. I was.”

“I know that and there is just something about you that I can’t seem to shake off.” He took a long deep breath. “I guess I just want to get to know you better. After all, I have noticed you watching me on the beach.”

She felt her cheeks flush.

“You have.” It was more of a statement than a question. “I thought I was being discreet.”

“I hate to break it to you but your discretion leaves a lot to be desired,” he said and she laughed.

“Yeah I guess…and I am sorry. I didn’t mean to stare…it’s just that…” she made a fist so tight that her knuckles turned white. “I don’t know how I am supposed to justify this without sounding like some deranged stalker.”

“I would never think of you as a deranged stalker.” He reached for her hand. “I can’t wait for our drink tomorrow.”

She looked at him for a long minute before she sighed loudly.

“Me neither,” she said, her heart racing. She was not even sure how she agreed to a date so fast. She was about to open her car door when he reached for her hand again.

“I’ll get that for you,” he said as he opened his car door. She looked at him as he walked around the front of the car to the passenger door. He opened the door for her and for some reason, she tightened her grip around her bag strap before she climbed out. He was looking right into her eyes as he reached behind her and pushed the door shut. Her pulse began racing once again as she stood there with him so close to her that she could feel his breath on her cheek. She wanted to move but she just couldn’t. It was like for some reason she was his prisoner even though he did not mean to hold her prisoner. She was thinking of inviting him in for a night cap or something. Anything so he wouldn’t leave but at the back of her mind she knew why she really wanted to invite him in. But she had to be patient. It was just a few hours before she got to have a drink with him.

*****

Needless to say, Eliza spent the next day on edge. She was not sure what it was that made her feel so nervous. It was just a drink. She had done this so many times before. She literally used to do this for Allan almost every single day for the last two years. It was all about dressing up, looking cute and sipping on cocktails. There was nothing more to it than the obvious. But as she waited for the hours to go by which seemed both slow and fast at the same time, she began thinking about that evening. All she had was just her swim suit and the pants she came in. She was not even sure if she was supposed to dress up that evening. The thought had not even crossed her mind. She was suddenly panicking and before she knew it, it was time. Time to meet up with Justin. The day had literally flown by both at Wave Tide and the Hump Bar. She suddenly wanted to call the whole thing off. But as she sat at one corner table of the Hump Bar, she realized that it did not matter anymore especially when she looked at her phone. Whether she was freaked out or not was futile at that moment because it was finally time. Justin would be walking into the bar at any moment.