Pied Piper

1. Babe Watch

"I told you once and I'll tell you again..."

The wind howled; almost drowning out his voice. She stayed focused on his face. Focused on the tears glistening in his almond shaped brown eyes. Focused on the desperation in his face; the way his silky brown hair swirled about it to kiss the tears away. Everything about him was magical. Perfect.

"Say it again so I can remember it..."

The smile that cracked across his face then was brighter than the thunder rumbling in the sky.

"Meeting you was the best moment of my life, and I will always..."

"Kora, can't you get your face out of the book for five seconds? We are at the beach, and you're missing the hunks."

Kora lifted her gaze from the book she was reading towards her two best friends - Eve and Adelaide - as they stood in front of her. They were wearing matching beach hats and leopard sunglasses. Eve had removed her sunglasses and had put them up on the brim of her hat. She had a pair of binoculars in her hand, taking them off her neck and handing them to Kora.

"Kora, look at the man flexing by the water!" said Eve. "It has to be better than what you are reading."

Kora chuckled at Eve as she thrusted the binoculars towards her, trying to rip the book out of her hand with her other hand.

"You are reading too much about fantasy men that you're missing the whole point of the trip!"

"Eve, you're going to rip it..."

"Yes, but Eve has a point, Kora," said Adelaide.

Kora momentarily turned her gaze towards Adelaide which gave Eve the edge she needed to take the book out of Kora's hands.

"The point of this trip is to get to know each other and to go people watching. Men watching in particular..." continued Adelaide.

Kora knew that Adelaide had a point. The three of them had never met before, and decided to all save up to take a holiday vacation at a beach resort together. They were planning on spending time together and helping each other finally find Mr. Right since all their separate attempts all their lives had led to nothing. So far they had been there for three days and had enjoyed spending time together in person for the first time. Today - the fourth day - they decided to head to the beach to start their babe watch since it was such a beautiful day. According to Eve, one of them had to end up with someone by the end of this two week trip. The probability was in their favor.

Kora tried to point out that math was not a subject that any of them enjoyed so none of them could figure out probability, but she was shot down immediately by Eve and Adelaide.

"What is this book anyway?" asked Eve as she narrowed her eyes at the title of the book she now held in her hand.

"It is called 'Wings of Desire'. It's a romance book," said Kora as she watched Eve scan her eyes over the dark haired dreamboat pictured on the cover, "But it's also an adventure..."

"You're not allowed to fall for this fictional character," said Eve as she thrusted the book at Adelaide's chest, causing her to let out a small 'oof' before grabbing it, looking at the back of the book to read what it was about.

"Again, you need to look at real men," continued Eve. "Like Mr. Flex and Bend over there by the shallows. I'm telling you it's worth the look."

"I'm going to look without binoculars," said Kora as she stood from her chair.

"Then he's gonna be a muscular little speck," said Eve. "Not as fun."

"In Kora's defense, this book sounds interesting," said Adelaide from behind Kora. "Kora, can I borrow this after?"