Right Place, Wrong Time

20. Morning Sunshine

With a yawn, Lauren ran a brush through her hair and pulled it back in a clip, then slid her glasses on, not ready for contacts this early. It was only two days until class ended for the semester and she was desperate to catch up on sleep. The time Joey had suggested they meet for breakfast was way earlier than she really wanted to be out of bed, but she wasn't going to say no. They were blessed with a real spring day today, but cosy was the way to go at this hour, so she pulled the sweatshirt of Joey's that she still hadn't given back over her head. When she left her room, Julia's door was still closed, so she made her way out quietly, pulling her hands inside her sleeves when she got outside and felt the lingering chill in the air from overnight.

Joey was swimming that morning, a habit he tried to keep up though he no longer swam competitively, so she was meeting him at the pool so they could go straight to breakfast. Campus would be busy later with people out enjoying the weather or walking to their last classes, but this early it was deserted, and she enjoyed the peaceful walk, the sun slowly warming her body, birdsong in the air, colourful flowers beginning to bloom.

She reached the gymnasium and entered the lobby, pulling out her phone to check the time. With ten minutes until their arranged meeting time, she wandered through the double doors and past the changing rooms to the window overlooking the pool. For a moment the water was still, then the yellow M reflected in the water was distorted by ripples as Joey surfaced, and turned for one more lap. She watched his strong arms power through the water, the movement seeming effortless for him, somewhere he was at home. When he completed his length he stopped, running his fingers through his wet hair to slick it back from his face. Then he climbed from the pool, water cascading down his bare chest. Lauren was mesmerised.

For a moment she thought she'd gotten away unseen, then he turned his head and saw her there, his eyes widening in surprise before he grinned at her. She gave him a shy wave and he waved back, then pointed to the changing room doors and held up five fingers. She nodded, doubling back the way she came to wait for him.

He exited the changing rooms with the smell of citrus shower gel emanating from him, masking the lingering chlorine, and his hair still dripping wet.

"Morning," he greeted her. "I'd give you a hug, but..." He gestured to his wet hair and she laughed, hugging him anyway and feeling a few drops of water run down her neck. She scrubbed them away with her hand.

"Should we go then?" she said. "I need coffee."

"Yeah, it must have been hard to drag yourself out of bed to meet me," he said, smiling as he pushed the door open for her and let her lead the way to the closest diner.

"It's just early," she whined.

"I've been up since six."

"It's not my fault you're a masochist."

He rolled his eyes and didn't get a chance to answer back because they entered the diner, which was, predictably, close to empty, too late for the early hours party-goers and too early for most reasonable people. But it meant they were able to order right away.

"So how are you?" he asked, once they had drinks and were waiting for their food.

"I'm so tired," she said truthfully. "But I'm sleeping, like, four hours a night and wondering why I'm tired."

"So I really didn't help by telling you to meet me this early, huh?"

"I agreed to it," she said, pretty sure that if she'd asked to meet at a later time he would have been fine with that, but she'd been eager to see him. "Besides, it's better to at least be doing something fun with a friend than lying in bed hating myself for not being able to sleep."