Life slips through our hands

Chapter 13

"Happy birthday Mom!", Nina exclaimed when her mother stepped into the house.

"Nina, that looks delicious", she said staring at the dinner table.

"Go wash your hands. Everything is ready", she hurried her mother.

They ate talking about Monica's day at work and a potential new client in Nevada. Nina listened to her mother attentively. She was more cheerful than usual. It seemed she had a good day.

"... so Rachel and I went for a coffee instead". She said.

"You had a bit of fun then". Nina smiled.

"It was nice. Oh, Nina... before I forget. Some friends from college invited me to Atlanta to celebrate my birthday next weekend".

"Are you going?"

"Do you mind if I go? I've been out a lot lately".

"No, don't worry. You don't get to see them too often".

Monica, Nina's mother, was born and raised in Atlanta. All the friends she had were there, except for Rachel, of course. Rachel was a friend from work. Monica's sister was the only relative they had; she lived in Atlanta too. So, it was an opportunity for her to get to see them all.

"I'll book a flight then". Don't you want to go with me?".

"Hm... I'd rather not. It's not that I don't want to but I already confirmed my shift to Mr. Bower this month". Her mother nodded knowing that if it was regarding work, there was no chance to make her change her mind.

After dinner, Nina helped her mother to look for a flight on the Internet. Monica was going to leave next Friday right after work.

"Nina, I'm late. There's too much traffic", said Charles over the phone.

"It's ok. I won't move from here".

"Thank you. See you soon".

Nina was waiting for Charles outside the bathhouse in Carson Beach. There were not going to the bathhouse but it was a good encounter point. She waited there another fifteen minutes and Charles arrived.

"I'm really sorry", he apologized again.

"It's not your fault, don't worry", she smiled at him.

"Let's go". He took her hand and walked along the beach.

They walked by the beach shore for a whole hour. They talked about work and laughed at a customer they had the day before. Nina told Charles that she celebrated her mother's birthday the other day. She also complained about Lara sending her a lot of texts asking random things about random subjects that she didn't understand. Her friend started to study right after their conversation about Stanford. Nina didn't mind helping her but did she need to spam her like that?

Charles mentioned that Jacky did something similar to him once when they were still in high school. Some funny anecdotes about them came up after that. And at a sudden call from his coach, Nina asked about his swimming club. Charles told her about the club and his training sessions. She was impressed because she didn't think that they had to do weight training and stuff like that.

When Charles started to talk about uni, she realized she hadn't asked much about it.

"Charles, where do you study?", she asked.

"Harvard".

"What?", she exclaimed. "Are you really that smart?"

"I'm not just a pretty face, you know?", she chuckled.

"I knew you're a good student. But I never imagined that you were that good".

"It was that or moving to another city so I just aimed at it and studied hard.

"You're almost amazing".

"Almost?", he asked.

"Almost". Nina repeated with a smile. "Don't get too cocky. And what are you studying?"

"I'm studying business and management. I have to take on my father's company when he retires so it's handy".

"Does it not bother you? The fact that there are no real options"

"Not really. I like it too".

"Oh, I see", she nodded.

"I have to admit that I was against it when I was younger. But one day, I went to my father's office for a day and I was impressed by his work. I've been looking up to it since then", he explained.

"You sound proud of him".

"Of course, I'm. He's a great man", said Charles with an affectionate smile in his eyes.

They walked a bit more until Nina said there was a good spot to sit. So, they placed the towels and both sat there eating strawberries that Nina brought with her. They were exchanging Instagram accounts when the wind raised.

"My floppy!", she exclaimed when the wind took off her hat. Charles stood up immediately and ran after it. "Thank you", she said when he was coming back with it.

Nina was waiting for him a few steps away from their belongings. Charles placed the floppy on her head and without taking his hands off of it, he pulled her closer and kissed her.

"You're welcome", he smiled.

Nina's cheeks blushed. They stared at each other for a few seconds. Nina licked her lips and bit her bottom lip. Charles's gaze went from her eyes to her lips and tilted his head towards her again. Nina pecked him back on the lips and went to sit again letting him standing there.

"It's getting hot. I'll open the sunshade", she said. Nina opened it and sat again. "Why are you still standing there?", she asked staring at him confused.

"You're quite funny". He squatted next to her and kissed her one more time. Nina felt his tongue asking for access and she pushed him gently. Charles stared at her at loss. "Sorry, I made something you didn't want to". He said after a moment and put on some distance.

"No, it's not that". She said quickly grabbing his hand.

"What's it then?", he asked confused.

"There are people around". Charles kept silent and understood after a good minute.

"We're just kissing. And they are like 5 meters away", said he. Nina turned around; they were indeed about five meters away from them.

"I don't feel comfortable doing that in front of other people. Sorry". Nina pecked him and turned away feeling a bit upset.

"Are pecks ok in public?", asked Charles. She nodded. "Hugs?", she nodded again. "Ok, then". Charles sat next to her and hugged her by her waist; she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Sorry", she said almost in a whisper. "I don't want you to get me wrong. It's not like I haven't been looking forward to it. But I get embarrassed easily, I know it seems stupid".

"It's ok. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable either".

Nina closed her eyes and heard the ocean. It felt strange to be like that with Charles but it was nice. She felt calm; she sighed and relaxed in his arms.

"Nina, would you be my girlfriend?", Charles asked after being like that for a long while. He waited. "Nina?", he called her out but she didn't respond.

Charles lifted her hat and realized she has fallen asleep. He slapped his forehead; he was the one embarrassed now! Charles turned to her again and stared at her sleeping face for a moment. Nina's long eyelashes were still, her cheeks slightly blushed and her plump lips rose pink. He really wanted to kiss her; he had been holding in for a whole week.

It was helpless. He sighed and stared at the sea, lost in his thoughts for what felt like a long time.