Never Say Goodbye

Chapter 2

"That's better," he said reaching for his coffee

"You saving that choc sauce for later?" Ness asked, pointing to her own cheek to indicate where the sauce was

"I thought I might"

"Well eat it before you put the crash helmet on again, that will smear" she smiled

"Oh, are we leaving? I was enjoying hanging out with you again, it's been a while" Zach responded, wiping the sauce away, a sad smile on his face

"I got stuff to do but it's not urgent; just hanging out with an old friend sounds kinda great actually" Ness replied "You're right, it has been a while, but I reckon we could find somewhere better than a café to catch up"

"The Pier?" Zach suggested and Ness grinned

"The Pier" she agreed, "do you want to pick up your car first or you happy on the bike?"

"Car's good where it is, for now, let's hit the road." Zach loved riding pillion with Ness, she was a crazy rider, but he'd always felt safe, she knew her capabilities and she was always watching for stupid drivers, so she almost never had a crash, well, not anymore. Ness stood and slung her jacket on as Zach downed the last of his coffee; they were on the road minutes later, weaving through the Saturday morning traffic, Zach's arms wrapped around Ness's waist, not strictly necessary but he figured it was a reasonable excuse to hold her tight and he wasn't one to miss an opportunity. All too soon, they were pulling up at Santa Monica Pier and Zach reluctantly let go and hopped off the bike. They strolled along the pier for a while in companionable silence but eventually, they found a bench where they could watch folks and chat.

"So, where've you been the last few months Ness? Last night was the first time you've been in Jon's for a while" Zach asked

"Wow starting with an easy question huh!" She laughed "I had a boyfriend, it didn't work out" she added simply

"You never took him to Jon's?"

"No. That's my place, I don't want to share it with new guys, maybe I will do eventually and then I'll know that I've found the right guy, but I'm not holding my breath"

"So, whenever you disappear from there, you have a new guy? I never realized that! It never crossed my mind to find somewhere else, guess I'm just a creature of habit"

"Yeah, a habit of leggy blonde schoolgirls!"

"Ness! I do have standards you know," Zach said with mock outrage

"Oh yeah? What would those be then? Legs, check; long blonde hair, check; empty head, check; did I miss any?" Ness nudged him as she counted through the standards. Zach let his mouth drop open in apparent shock but then spoilt the effect by starting to laugh.

"You'll never change Zach, you'll be like Hugh Hefner in years to come, but totally deaf so you don't have to listen to their laughs"

"If only they had a laugh like yours! I swear it's deeper than mine" Zach said with another laugh, Ness raised her eyebrow

"Oh, come on, your laugh can't grate on anyone's nerves"

"Well it pissed off the last guy"

"You're kidding? No way!"

"Well, I was laughing at him, we were on the bike, I thought he was ready and pulled away, apparently he wasn't ready, I kinda left him in the middle of the road"

"Huh?"

"He fell off the back of the bike as I pulled away" Ness explained, trying to keep her face straight, Zach whooped with laughter and that was it, they were crying before they got control again.