Crimson And Clover

2

Frank was at the beachfront at sunrise.

He didn't expect that he was going to be there, but it was too early when he got up and so he decided to head to the seaside, his favourite place as a kid.

He perched himself on one of the tall, smooth rocks and looked over at the ocean, picking up a pebble and throwing it in, relishing in the distant 'splash' as it hit the water, and the echoing silence as he realised there was nobody else around.

There was just one person, he was sure of it. He could see a shape, and it looked vaguely human. He watched as it dipped into the sea and smiled softly. Probably a tourist going for a paddle. Hardly uncommon.

He sat further back on the stone, looking over at that guy. Wow, he could swim /fast/. He was instantly reminded of Graham, or whatever his name was, and he thought about the picture from last night, where the kid had webbed fingers. It was probably some weird medical phenomenon-it was rare, but could happen.

He looked at his watch and jumped off the rock. Grandma was probably cooking breakfast anyway.

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It was 10:30 by now. The café had been open for about half an hour now and Frank was in full swing, making coffees, teas and other assorted drinks and snacks and serving them.

"Plain coffee and bagel for table nineteen!" Lindsey, one of the regular staff, called. Frank nodded and grabbed the bagel, making the coffee and taking it out. He scanned the room. Table 19...Ah, yeah. It was occupied by the guy with black hair. He was wearing a grey jumper and blue denim jeans, and he was drawing in a sketch pad, hunched over it almost protectively, pencil scribbling furiously at something. Frank placed the coffee and bagel down and the guy looked up for a moment.

"Oh, hi." The guy smiled softly. "Thank you."

Frank smiled back. "No problem, just doing my job." He smiled before heading into the back of the store. The guy seemed nice enough, more polite than some of the other tourists. Earlier that morning, he'd had some coffee accidentally-on purpose spilled onto him by some preppy girl, all fake tan and even faker hair extensions, whose advances he had rejected. Holiday romances weren't his thing and neither were girls, really.

Lindsey smiled when she saw him.
"I see you've met Gerard." She beamed. Frank raised an eyebrow.

"What's so special about him?" He asked.

"He leaves us drawings occasionally." Lindsey smiled. "Mermaids and sea creatures and suchlike."

Frank smiled. "Cool."

So that explained why he was hunched over the sketchpad.

"He's kinda mysterious really." Lindsey smiled. "He's polite enough, but we don't really see him around town. He's mainly at the beach."

Frank smiled. "I'll keep an eye out for him."

He got up and headed back into the front area of the café, running a hand through his greasy hair.

He looked over. Table 19 was empty, freshly vacated from the look of it, but there was a piece of paper on it. Frank headed over and smiled when he saw the drawing.

It was of the beach. It was pretty accurate, actually, with seagulls and people and a small boat near the horizon. It was signed at the bottom, just that Gerard guy's name. Frank carefully picked it up and took it into the back, into the bungalow attached to the café, where he was living with his grandma and grandpa. He carefully stuck it to the wall of the room he was staying in with some pins he'd found in the kitchen and smiled softly, staring up at it for what felt like hours but were mere minutes.

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The waves rolled gently off the shore and Frank watched them as he strolled along the beachfront, looking at the sunset.  The tourists had all but gone, and Frank could only see only one person, perched on the rocks. They had a striking similarity to someone he knew, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Then he remembered.

"Gerard." He stated. It was obviously the guy from the café. The person on the rocks looked up and smiled, motioning for Frank to come over.

"How did you know my name?" The black-haired boy called.

"Lindsey told me!" Frank shouted. Gerard nodded and shuffled over when Frank got closer. Frank sat next to him and smiled softly.

"Lindsey's a nice girl." Gerard smiled. Frank nodded.

"She's worked at the café since two years ago. I come here for the summer because my grandparents run the café." Frank smiled.

Gerard smiled. "I just moved here. My dad used to have a holiday home here when I was little and my mom...Haven't seen her. Walked out when I was a baby."

Gerard sighed and picked up a pebble, throwing it into the sea, hearing it splash. He looked down at the piece of paper in his hands.

"Did you like my drawing?" He asked. Frank nodded.
"I put it up on the wall in the spare room, where I'm staying." He whispered. Gerard smiled softly and blushed lightly.

"Well, I'd better go." Frank mumbled. He got up and walked off. "Bye." He called and waved to Gerard, who waved back.

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Frank picked up the old picture book from on his bed and looked from where he left off. The next picture was of him, Patrick and Graham-kid, paddling in the sea with small nets in their hands. Frank couldn't remember that day.

The picture after that was just him and his mom. He remembered that day. They'd climbed the mountain by the beach and had a picnic. Then he'd headed down to the beach and paddled in the sea with Patrick, and they'd bumped into Graham-kid.

The picture after that one was of Frank and Graham-kid near a rock pool, looking at a crab, the sun shining down on them. Frank had a small remembrance of that day.

He sighed quietly and placed the book down, curling up in the bed.