A Single Second

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 8

DESTINEE

Destinee hadn't planned on running into Daniel. Actually, she'd planned on avoiding him as long as possible. He'd forgotten about her, so she'd forget about him. That had changed when she ran into him just outside Gambiller.

Now, the two were walking down the sidewalk, Daniel pointing out interesting buildings and things, Destinee eagerly listening.

"And that" said Daniel, pointing to a huge building, "is where I work."

Destinee looked at the front. The words Phantom of the Opera caught her attention.

"You work at a theatre?"

Daniel smiled. "Yeah. I mean, it's not a Broadway theatre, but it is a good one."

"Is that how you met my mom?"

"Yeah."

"What exactly do you do?" Destinee asked.

Daniel cocked his head a few times. "I'm working my way up to directing, but at the moment, I'm just a stage hand. Sometimes I co-direct. It depends who directs. I have this buddy, Tom Ritz. Whenever he directs here, I help him out. Otherwise, I help with props and things."

Destinee smiled. She never imagined Daniel Parker was into theatre. She'd imagined him as some big wig executive who wore suites and ties and went to meetings with other big wig executives. But this... she never even imagined it.

"Maybe one day you'll direct a show," she said with a smiled.

Daniel smiled. "And maybe one day you'll star in it."

If anything could have surprised Destinee more than finding out her father was an aspired stage director, it was finding out that he also had taste in clothes. Zeke Williams had had absolutely no taste at all. Every dress looked the same, and when buying shoes, you went for color, not design. As long as they were black, they were the same shoe. But Daniel was different. He had an eye for the best stuff, probably because of years working back stage at a theatre.

Though Daniel was far from rich, he was still well-to-do. This meant that Destinee could shop like she never had before.

After a quick lunch at a small Italian place that Destinee couldn't pronounce, Daniel hailed a cab and they set off.

"We won't actually be shopping in New York City," he told her.

"Why not?"

"Outrageous prices on everything. Nah, we're heading up to New Jersey. It's not that far, and we'll get a whole lot more for our money. Plus, you've never truly been swimming until you've been swimming on a Jersey shore."

Destinee smiled. Shopping and swimming; now she could get use to this.

Daniel was right, it wasn't far. Soon, they were out and wandering the streets. They stopped at a little shop, The Broken Hanger, and Destinee found a ton of clothes, most picked out by Daniel.

Next, they headed to Goldsmith's, which was amazing. Destinee found some more things and even persuaded Daniel to get a few things.

Around four, clad in their new swimsuits, Daniel's blue with cream Hawaiian flowers, and Destinee's yellow and black zebra stripes, the two

headed down to the beach. The first things Destinee noticed was...

"It's so busy here."

"What did you expect?" Daniel asked with a small chuckle. "It's the greatest beach in the world, on a Saturday, at the hottest time of day. Of course it's busy. But trust me, we'll have fun," he said when she hesitated to follow him.

Finally, Destinee followed him. They set their towels and shoes on the beach (their bags were safe in beach lockers Daniel had rented.) and set off.

It was amazing, the feeling of sand between Destinee's bare toes. She smiled and trudged on.

"Come on," Daniel yelled from far away.

He was already in the water, but Destinee was having fun just feeling the sand. Still, she walked on, careful not to step on anything, though the

beach was surprisingly clean.

Suddenly, everything went hazy and Destinee found herself on the ground, a tall figure standing above her. Then two figures.

"Man, is she okay?" said the first.

"I don't know," said the second. "You hit her pretty hard."

Destinee sat up slowly, her vision swimming before her eyes.

"Are you okay?" said the voice of the first.

Holding her head, Destinee stood up. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She swayed slightly.

Someone grabbed her and helped her to the ground again. "No, you're not."

Destinee looked up into the face of the boy who had collided with her. "Hey, you're that guy."

He smiled. "Well, that's specific."

"You're that guy who was playing the guitar. On the sidewalk."

"Yeah," he said quietly, "that was me." There was a slight pause, then he said, "My name's Sam."

"Destinee."

"Are you going to be okay?"

Destinee was feeling better. The initial dizziness had subsided and she could see pretty straight again. "Yeah," she said slowly. "I think it just knocked the wind out of me."

Sam smiled. "Well that's good. I mean, it's good that you're alright. So, I guess I'll see you around?"

"Yeah, I guess."

His smile grew. "Bye Destinee."

"See you."