Date with a Stranger

7:00 am Saturday

7:00 am

"Where are we going?" I ask as Marcel drives onto the freeway.

"It's a surprise," he says then begins looking for a radio station.

"Come on tell me," I ask one more time.

"No, I told you it's a surprise."

"Tell me, or I'm going to jump out." I reach for the door handle threatening to open it.

Marcel grabs my wrist laughing, "Heather, what the hell? Could you just wait and see?" He places his hand back onto the steering wheel.

"For all I know, you could be a serial killer or something," I half joke again. I still don't know him too well.

"If I wanted to kill you, I already would have. Like during our walk to the diner this morning."

I look at him with both shock and amusement.

He turns to look at me, "Now would you calm down. All I'm going to tell you is be glad you wore pants and not one of those short dresses like the other girls at the party last night.

I relax in my seat and trust my gut to believe what he is saying.

7:30 am

"Heather," Marcel lightly taps my shoulder waking me up. "We're here."

I open my eyes and look out the window. Still half asleep, I yawn, not realizing where I am. I soon remember that I am in Marcel's car and quickly turn to look at him a little embarrassed. "Oh my gosh, I fell asleep."

He is quietly giggling in his seat. "It's fine. I think it's adorable when you snore."

I slap his shoulder, "I do not snore."

"Okay," he says sarcastically, dragging out the word.

I frown, but unable to keep in my smile. "Whatever," I say. "Where are we anyways?"

"Come on, I'll show you." He says, signaling for us to get out of the car.

We walk out onto a sandy lot. There are absolutely no other cars around.

I hear seagulls in the distance and by the cold gusts of wind, I know that we are at a beach.

My hair whips onto my face as I turn to Marcel who is now standing beside me.

"This is your surprise? The beach?"

"Yes, a secret beach." He says holding a hand out to emphasize the empty lot.

"Should I be worried that you keep taking me to isolated places?" I tease.

"If you want, we can just go back to the house and sit around the pool doing nothing."

"Fine, sorry. Come on, show me around your secret beach," I say as I walk towards the trail.

There was a small hike down to get to the shore and I slipped a couple of times, but luckily Marcel was there to catch me before I fell.

We find an empty lifeguard station, so we sit up there.

"How did you find this place anyways?" I ask as I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.

"My mom used to take me here when I was little." Marcel says looking out at the water. His demeanor has slightly changed, it's as if he is deep in thought. It's the first time I've seen him like this. "I actually haven't been here since--" he pauses momentarily. "Since she passed away."

We both turn to look each other at the same time. He has a sympathetic smile on his face and his eyes are slightly pink and watery.

I don't know what else to say, but "I'm sorry." I put an arm around him and rest my head on his shoulder.

Marcel sniffles, "Thanks." He quickly wipes at his eyes, not wanting to let his tears continue to fall. "You know, today's actually her birthday. That's why I was up so early. I was planning on coming here. Every year on her birthday and mine, she and I would go here to watch the sun rise. We'd watch as the sun rose up like a glowing fireball, turning the dark blue sky brighter. It was so beautiful. One side the sky was dark blue and the other had bright pink and orange and red streaks," he uses both hands to gesture up at the sky and I lift my head to look at him to show him I am listening. "She said to her, the sun rising symbolized a new start and growth, just like every year when we turn older."

"She sounds like she was a great mom."

"She sure was," Marcel sighs. "Too bad it's so cloudy today. I wish you could have seen it."

"Me too," I say. "But I'm sure there's going to be plenty more sunrises in the future." I try to lighten the mood.

Marcel smiles, turning to look at me. "Yeah, I guess now I have a reason to take you back here."

Before I can answer, a cold gust of wind blows at us and I shiver as I try to fix the mess the wind made of my hair.

"Here," Marcel says as he takes off his long sleave flannel, leaving him in a white t-shirt. Before I can refuse, he places in onto my shoulders.

I push my hands into the sleeves and smile at him, "Thanks."