SECOND CHANCES BY THE SEA

There was a cool breeze blowing with a hint of rain as Rick made his way down the street towards the cafe. He had his Monday morning breakfasts here. The cafe was right by the sea and Rick enjoyed listening to the waves splash against the rocks while having his morning coffee. He entered and made his way to the counter.

Rick ordered his breakfast and then started walking to the booth in the corner where he usually sat. He stopped a few booths before when he noticed something. A woman of about the same age as him was sitting in one of the booths. Her face was half hidden behind a book which she appeared to be deeply invested in. But half her face was enough for Rick to recognize who it was.

‘Jules?’ he said.

The woman continued reading. Rick cleared his throat and said the name again, a little louder this time.

She looked up as if she had been woken up from a deep sleep.

‘Sorry I tend to not hear anything when I’m reading...’ she stopped talking and stared at Rick for a second.

‘Wait a minute, its you RICK!’

‘Yes it is’

Rick was glad she had recognized him.

‘Isn’t this a pleasant surprise, its been so long’ she said and got up from her seat.

They greeted each other with a hug.

There was an unspoken tension in that hug.

‘It has been long, about ten years I guess’

said Rick as both of them sat down across from each other.

‘Probably’

‘So what brings you to this place?’

‘I’m on a book tour right now, apparently this town has a lot of teenagers who love my work so I had to come here. Also, yes, I’m an author’

‘ Well, I always thought you’d end up doing something creative so it’s not a surprise’

Jules smiled a little and then said

‘What brings you here?’

‘I live here’

‘You live here!’

‘Why are you so surprised?’

‘I don’t know, I always thought you wanted to live in some big city’

‘I wanted to do a lot of things’

‘Well, we all did’

Rick nodded.

‘Anyway what is it that you do?’ said Jules.

‘I’m a lawyer, don’t you remember me going off to law school’

‘Oh yes I’d forgotten’

The conversation was interrupted by a waitress bringing Rick’s breakfast to their table. The smell of freshly brewed coffee and bacon filled the air.

Rick looked at his plate and then at Jules

‘Did you have any breakfast?’

‘Yes I did, ate a lot actually’

‘I don’t believe that’

‘What? That I ate a lot’

‘Yes, from what I remember I used to be the only one eating during our dates in high school while you just sat there saying you weren’t hungry’

‘High school was different Rick, I do get hungry now and love eating’

‘You’re still as skinny though’

‘Well, you’re still all strong and stuff too’

Jules noticed Rick crack a smile as she said that.

‘I’d love to read some of your work’ said Rick

‘I don’t have anything on me right now. If you want you can come to the motel I’m staying at, it’s just down the street, I have everything there’

‘I’d love to come, when are you leaving?’

Jules hesitated a little and then said

‘Tomorrow morning’

‘Oh, I won’t be able to come’

‘Why not?’

‘Well I’ve got work till seven and then I have a date’

There was a brief silence.

‘I see’

‘I’ll still try my best, I got to run now though, work calls’

‘Yes yes, don’t let me keep you’

They exchanged numbers and said their goodbyes for if Rick won’t be able to meet her again. He then headed out while Jules continued reading her book, but this time she wasn’t completely lost in it as she had other things going on in her head. Things related to the man who had just walked out of the cafe. Things that were making her smile.

*-----*

Rick made his way to the only Italian restaurant in town. It had been a long day at the office. The morning had been good though. Meeting a friend after so long gave a feeling like no other, no matter what history one had with that friend.

Rick arrived at the restaurant and went and sat down at the table he had reserved. This was his first date with a girl named Esmeralda. His friend had set this date up for him. He had never seen her before so he was quite excited. But that excitement

faded away as time passed. Rick waited and waited but Esmeralda didn’t come. After about an hour he realized that he had been stood up. Normally he called when someone was late. But he wasn’t really in the mood for a date with her anymore and anyways he didn’t like people who were late. In fact, he wasn’t even thinking about Esmeralda anymore, he was thinking about someone else. He took his phone out and called Jules. She picked up after two rings.

‘Hello’ she said

‘Hey Jules it’s me Rick’

‘Yes I know’

‘Have you had dinner yet’

‘Um… no not yet, why?’

‘How about I pick you up in ten minutes, I’d see your work at your place and then we can have dinner’

Jules smiled as she heard this and was a little surprised too.

‘What about your date Rick?’

‘There is no other way to say this but, I got stood up’

‘So I’m an afterthought then huh’

‘I just thought I’d have dinner with an old friend now that my date didn’t show up’

Jules laughed

‘Okay loser, come pick me up’

Exactly ten minutes later there was a knock on Jules’s door.

She opened the door. It was Rick.

‘Well hello there’ she said

‘You look pretty’

‘I always do’

Rick laughed and then said

‘Won’t disagree there’

‘Come on in, I’ll show you my work’

‘Yes’

Rick walked in and Jules led him to a pile of books in the back of the room.

‘So this is all mine, poems and novels and short story collections’

‘You’ve written a lot’

Jules grabbed a book from the pile and handed it over to Rick.

‘You’d like this one, it’s a poetry collection’

Rick was about to open the book but then Jules stopped him and said

‘You know what, you can keep that book and read it later, let’s go get something to eat now I’m hungry’

‘Um...okay, but I want to check out your other work too’

‘You can do that later’

‘But aren’t you leaving tomorrow’

‘Not anymore, change of plans, I’ll explain later’

Rick raised both eyebrows

‘Is something up Jules’

‘No, now let’s go’

They walked outside. Rick took her to the same restaurant he had come from.

They sat down and ordered their food. And before long they were laughing and talking about their high school days.

‘...and that time when we got kicked out of Johnny’s cafe for destroying his boombox’ said Jules and laughed.

‘Those were good times’

‘Real good’

‘I don’t know if it’s weird to bring this up but, do you remember the first time we kissed’

Rick couldn’t help but notice Jules’s cheeks go a little pink.

‘We were by the river and then I had to jump in the water so that your dad wouldn’t catch us together’ said Rick.

‘My dad really hated you didn’t he’

‘Well, I did do a lot of things to piss him off, he didn’t want me anywhere near you’

They both sat still for a while, thinking about how much fun they used to have back then.

‘I can’t believe we dated for four years and then just left for college without a proper goodbye’ said Jules.

‘I can’t believe it either, we started dating as freshmen all the way till the end of school’

‘You know, it is a little awkward talking about all this now but to be honest I’ve missed you Rick’

‘I’ve missed you too’

‘We were good together, weren’t we?’

‘We were, we did have many fights, bad ones, but we always ended up resolving them and were good again’

‘Me meeting you in this town, might be a coincidence, but I’d like to think it’s not’

They both looked at each other and couldn’t stop smiling.

‘How about a walk by the sea?’ said Rick.

‘That’s out of the blue, but sure’

They both got up and walked outside and then headed towards the beach.

*-----*

The beach was empty at this time. The sounds of the waves coming in and the moonlit sky was ideal for the only two people who walked on the sand. Jules was wearing Rick’s overcoat now which he had generously offered a few minutes ago as a cool breeze had started blowing. Halfway through their walk, Jules hand slipped into Rick’s.

‘Your hands are cold’ said Rick

‘Your coat is useless’

Rick looked at her with a blank expression.

Jules just laughed.

‘Be thankful you idiot’ said Rick

‘I’m just messing with you, you gentleman. Also, I’m not leaving tomorrow, I never was, I just said that hoping that you’d decide to spend time with me, your town’s really boring’

‘Well I did end up spending time with you so you won’

‘I always win’

she smiled

Rick stopped walking and looked towards Jules.

‘I hope you don’t have any boyfriends’

‘Obviously I have hundreds of them that’s why I’m standing here with-’

Jules was interrupted as Rick placed his index finger on her lips.

And then he kissed her.

And they kissed for long.

Long enough for the moon to get covered behind the clouds and for it to start drizzling.

Finally, they came apart.

‘Oh, how I’ve missed you Rick’

‘You meeting me here, was no coincidence’

‘The universe really did give us a second chance’

‘You could say that’

‘Doesn’t get more cliched than this’

‘You should write a book about it’

‘Maybe I will, people love cliched shit’

‘And I love you’

‘I love you too loser’

Everything from the waves to the rain to the moonlight coming through the clouds made a perfect night even more magical. Happy and in love, they walked on into the night.

*------*