Moving On [SwaggerSouls]

/Chapter Five/ Dinner

"So..." Eric starts as he takes a sip of his beer, "What do you do for a living? That's one thing we hadn't gotten the chance to cover this morning."

Yeah, no, we didn't. Also, I think we both kind of just realized the magnitude of what we were currently doing.

I'd just met this man this morning, knew literally nothing about him, and now I was out to dinner with him.

This is practically a blind date.

"Yeah. I'm a film editor," I say softly, "I actually just moved here quite recently. Or more specifically, two weeks ago." I shrugged sheepishly while Eric just raised his eyebrows in surprise and put his beer to the side. "I just landed a job a week ago here in Melbourne and it's been going pretty well so far. Fingers crossed it'll continue to be that way."

"Oh, wow. I really wasn't expecting that." He took another sip of his beer before once again setting it aside, "I moved here too, from America, but it was a few months back. How do you like it so far?"

"I'm from America as well," I smile, "Florida more specifically. But like I said before this, I'm fairly new to Australia, so I feel like it's way too early to judge. But for now, all I can truly say is that it's nothing like home. And that's why I came."

He tilted his head at me, "Needed change, huh?"

"Oh, yeah."

Please don't ask why, please don't ask why...

"Hello, are the two of you ready to order?" The waiter smiled politely at you as he took his notebook and pen from his apron.

Oh, thank god.

———

Swagger's POV

Who the fuck decides to move to fucking Australia of all places from Florida one day?

I'm all for change, but something this drastic? Did this woman even have a job lined up for when she got here?

Something absolutely horrific must've happened to her back in Florida for her to take action like this. And seeing how much she relaxed after the waiter came to take our orders practically confirmed my suspicions of it actually being that bad.

The waiter had left a few moments ago, and now I was just contemplating how to address the clear elephant in the room.

Why are you here Alyssa?

She must've caught on because before I could think of a proper way to address the awkward topic, she quickly asked: "So, what do you do?"

Clearing my throat, I begin to tell her the lie I came up with prior to the date: "Well, the reason behind me moving here was to work for my old friend, Ryan, who owns a plumbing company in Melbourne. After I finished up with college he asked me if I'd be wanting to move out here with him and a bunch of my other friends to help out with it." Motioning to her I continued, "Like you, I also needed change. I had connections and even if I was letting go of everything I'd known my entire life, I'd at least be taking the challenge on surrounded with people who were practically family to me, so it wasn't entirely terrifying."

Her smile seemed to fade a little, "Lucky you. I don't really have anyone out here except for the people I talk to at work, and now, well," Her smile falters even more as she speaks the last sentence, "You, and that's pretty much it."

She swallows and shrugs her shoulders, seeming a bit sad now, "At least I have something as compared to nothing though. I've learned to be grateful for the little things in life, no matter how small. Yeah, I may be super lonely here, but it's a lot better than when I had people back in Florida if that makes any sense at all."