Text Me Back

12. First Meeting

Today was the day Florence Washington had both longed for and dreaded: the day she was to meet the guy she had been talking to for little over a month. No, he was more than that; he was the guy she had been confiding in, built up a trust to and the guy who'd made her laugh so hard she couldn't breathe. To Florence this was a much bigger deal than she'd first thought and she wondered if Eric felt similar. She wasn't ready to announce why she dreaded it so much but as of last night she had decided to down play this a little. The dress and heels she'd picked out were way too formal and definitely sent the wrong message for what they were doing – meeting as friends. So instead she decided to wear something less sexy and far more relaxing, underwhelming almost.

Chloe had protested loudly when she'd seen the outfit Florence had picked for herself but without having to discuss it she let it go. She had let it go all day but the moment they had gotten in Chloe's car to head to Malibu she couldn't hold it in any longer. It was time for Florence to answer some questions.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on between you and this guy? The way you've been behaving the last month has been different. You've been all giddy and smile-y. What's up?" Chloe asked curiously while keeping her eyes trained on the road.

"Nothing is going on between us, that's the point Chloe! We met because he got dumped by his ex-girlfriend, a girlfriend he misses very much and still loves, so nothing will ever go on between us Chloe."

"But you want it to?"

"I'm not sure yet, that's why meeting him is making me sweat like crazy. What if I see him and I start to feel things that I shouldn't?" Soon they'd be out of Los Angeles and at that point it'd be too late to turn back.

"You need to discover if you're feelings are real or not and so does he. He might still have feelings for his ex but that might all change tonight, you don't know that." Chloe encouraged.

It was true, she didn't know that. Maybe she should've worn her heels after all?

*

Where are you?

Almost there, traffic has been a mess since we got on to the highway.

That's so typical! Well, let me know when you guys will be there.

*

It was 7:10 pm and Eric was getting anxious. He knew they just spoke last night but Florence hadn't texted him all day and now that it was getting close to their first encounter he was worried that she would bail. The Florence he had come to know would send him a funny text message about how much she hated traffic in Los Angeles and they would've at least spoke once today, if today was a normal day that was.

Travis had dressed up nicely and so had Michael, it was Eric who had chosen to wear a simple t-shirt and some jeans. He knew Florence would be nervous and he didn't want to pressure her or make this into a big deal – even though it was to him. He was finally meeting his friend, a friend that sometimes appeared in his dreams in a very risque way. Don't think about that now, he instructed himself.

"Hey Eric, let's head down to the beach now. The sun will set in a few." Michael motioned for them to go down there and reluctantly he came along, not wanting another comment about his eagerness to see Florence.

He was hoping she wouldn't miss the sunset.

A large crowd had begun gathering at the beach and it would make it far more difficult to spot Florence when she and Chloe would be arriving. He looked down at his phone and saw that it was 7:17 pm, the sun had started to set and the sky turned purple and pink before them. She's missing this, he thought, and snapped a photo for her to look at later.