Ocean State of Mind

Realizations

And we're back in Richard Bowen's POV
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I sighed in annoyance as I looked around the nearly deserted beach that was trashed from Lily's party. She had one too many beers last night and left with a bunch of her friends, so I was left to pick up the mess.

She was also extremely annoying when she was drunk, which she seemed to be quite a lot, lately. I mean, was she always like this or did I just notice? Nini is never that annoying. Speaking of Nini, I can't believe I kissed her! What the hell was I thinking? I know I told her that we should just forget about it and pretend like it never happened, but I can't... and I don't want to.

She's the most amazing girl I've ever met.

She's the first girl to leave me absolutely speechless. She's so beautiful, too. I know I had to stop thinking about her in that way though because she was happy with Ej and I had Lily. Who am I kidding? You don't want Lily. My subconscious told me and deep down, I knew that was true. Lily's a great girl, but she's not the girl.

I finished cleaning up the small section of the beach and decided to take a stroll along the water to clear my head. I was perched on top of some large rocks just looking at the water, trying my best not to think of a certain brown eyed brunette when my phone rang.

"Mom, hey! What's up?" I asked.

"Hi, honey. Do you think you could come by the cafe and help out today? Lily didn't show hp for her shift and we're already short staffed." She said.

"Yeah, for sure! I can be down there in like 15-20 minutes. I just gotta run home and grab my extra uniform. That okay?" I asked as I hopped off the rocks.

"Of course. I'll see you soon, honey. Thank you." My mom said before hanging up.

****

I ran to my car and drove home as quick as I could. I changed quickly and checked my hair again before running out the door. When I walked into the cafe, I saw wait staff running around and cooks looking panicked along with many frustrated-looking customers. I noticed Nini trying to give about five people their money while they were yelling. I sighed and decided to step in.

"Hey, calm down people! She's not an octopus! In fact, she's one of the waitresses so she shouldn't even be up here!" I said, walking up to the counter.

"Oh hey, Ricky!" She said, smiling. "Hey there. You look like you could use a bit of help." I said as I walked around the counter to stand next to her in the small space, not that I minded. "Pfft, what? No, I totally had all this under control!" She said as she grabbed a bunch of dollar bills before dropping them. "Ow!" She said grabbing her finger. "Are you okay? Here, I'll take over being the cashier and you go back to what you're best at." I joked and Nini smiled. "Alright, thank you!" She gave me a hug before walking back over to grab a notepad. I smiled back, ultimately getting lost in my thoughts of all things Nini. "Um we're waiting here!" a man said, snapping me back to reality. "Right, sorry... here you go sir- a dollar and seventy two cents is your change. Have a great day." I said, handing the man his money. I looked out of the corner and saw Nini looking at me so I turned around and stuck my tongue out at her which made her laugh.

I spent my morning giving people their change and saying, 'having a great day'. "Alright you guys are done for the day!" My mom said to Nini, Gina and I. "Are you sure you won't need any more help?" Nini asked. "I'll be fine, hon." She said smiling and shaking her head. "Go get changed and let's go!" I said walking over to Nini. She smiled and nodded. "I'll be like five seconds!" She said, running into the back of the restaurant.

"One, two, three, four, five. Nina Salazar-Roberts, you lied!" I said, sitting next to Gina.

"Shut up, Bowen or I won't go anywhere with you!" Nini yelled back, making me to laugh.