Damaged Memories

Part 5

It was a sizzling hot Sunday afternoon in mid-July when Grace stepped inside the trendy air conditioned café in Venice Beach, scanning the place for Charlie. The café was full of patrons sipping oversized mugs of lattes and miniature cups of espresso, an addictive smell of freshly ground coffee hanging in the air. Grace couldn't understand why people consumed hot drinks when it was sweltering outside – it made much more sense to her to be sipping a chilled cocktail next to a pool on days like these, but she supposed it was somewhere cool to escape the unforgiving summer heat outside.

She eventually spotted Charlie in a navy blue Polo shirt sitting in a booth by the window that overlooked the beach, so she made her way over to him, almost reaching the table before he glanced up from his notebook.

"Grace! Hi!" he said, scrambling to his feet with wide eyes and an even wider smile. He raked one of his hands through his wavy hair then put both hands loosely on his hips, like he didn't know what to do with them.

Perhaps he was taken aback by the way Grace looked – it had been almost a month since they'd met at the bar and she was looking far healthier now. Her sun-streaked hair was tied up neatly in a bun and the white singlet she wore accentuated the tone of her skin, now glowing a healthy shade of olive. Her eyes were a brighter shade of blue and her face was sun kissed too, faint brown freckles now scattered over her nose and cheeks, like stars in the night sky.

After greeting him she boldly leaned over and pulled him into a hug and when he put his arms around her, embracing her tightly, she could feel the muscles underneath his shirt, toned and tense.

"It's great to see you again Grace, it's been a while!"

"It has," she agreed with a nod before she sat down opposite him, "far too long."

"Well hey, I did ask you a few weeks back if you wanted to go out and you turned me down."

Grace rolled her eyes. "I was sick! Honestly, I would have come but I didn't want to be coughing over you all night. I was so sick in fact that I missed out on the 4th of July celebrations with Sam's family. Trust me, I would much rather have been out with you than at home with tonsillitis."

He squinted at her, sceptical. "Hmm, well I suppose I believe you. But hey, you don't look sick anymore?"

"I'm not."

"So? What do you say then? Come out with me next week?"

Grace hesitated. She really didn't want to lead him on by agreeing to a date but felt so awful turning him down time and time again. If nothing else, she supposed it would be an enjoyable night out with a friend. "You're not going to take no for an answer are you?"

Charlie shook his head and grinned before she conceded defeat.

"Ok fine, I'll come."

His eyes lit up like lanterns and he puffed out his chest, clearly pleased with her acceptance.

"But just as friends though, that's all," she quickly added, hoping to reiterate her feelings.

"Fine by me," he said before he leaned back in his chair, his dimples prominent and his delight obvious.

Grace couldn't help but smile at his cockiness as she rummaged in her handbag and pulled out her diary, keen to get down to business. "So then, what do I have to organise for this book launch?"

"Well there's not a lot left to do really," Charlie said as he opened his notebook and flicked through it, stopping at a page of notes which he ran his forefinger over lightly. "I've secured the Genre Bookstore for the night as you know, and I've also organised two hundred copies of your book –"