2 Million Lies

Chapter 6

A week passed before Shane texted her. Cyrah had started to get worried that he wouldn't actually text her at all. She was actually about to text Matthias when a text from Shane popped up on her screen. She sighed with relief and quickly responded. Within a few minutes they had made a plan to meet at a coffee shop nearby on Saturday afternoon. Cyrah only realized five minutes too late that she had had plans with Lacy and Mallory that afternoon. Oh well, she could be a little bit late.

Cyrah spent way too long trying to get ready on Saturday. After all, two million dollars was on the line. She fussed with her hair for a bit, before deciding to just leave it undone. Clothes took even longer. She didn't have a clue what he was into. But eventually she decided fuck it. She would dress like she normally would. Two million wasn't worth sacrificing her individuality.

She dressed in a light blue t-shirt, jeans, black Converse, and the five or six bracelets she usually wore on her left wrist. She glanced at herself in the mirror again, and briefly considered makeup, but she knew she would be late if she spent the time on it, so she just headed out the door.

She arrived at the coffee shop before Shane, but she had expected that. She took the opportunity to order herself a drink and find a seat. He arrived a few minutes after she did. He looked a lot better than he had the week before. He had obviously caught up on sleep since then. He wore a black leather jacket over a band t-shirt with a logo so faded Cyrah couldn't make out what it said. Presumably he wore the jacket to hide the scars, California in June was plenty warm enough for short sleeves.

He glanced around until he spotted Cyrah, and waved at her before heading up to the counter to order himself a drink. After he ordered, he came back and sat down across from her. "Hi."

Cyrah smiled slightly at him. "Hi." She didn't have a clue how to start this conversation, at least not in a way that would catch his attention enough to get her a second date. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. How are you?"

"I'm good."

They lapsed into awkward silence for a few moments, until Shane spoke again. "So, tell me about yourself, I guess."

"I'm a photographer, but you know that."

He nodded, and took a sip of his coffee.

"I surf, I hike, I love nature and animals. I'm trying to grow a small garden on my apartment windowsill, but I keep forgetting to water it. I'd have a dog, but my apartment doesn't allow pets. What about you?"

"Oh damn, you're a dog person?" He made a face at her. "I'm a musician, but you know that. Music is pretty much my life. I surf sometimes when Eli makes me go, but I'm pretty terrible. I'd have a cat, but my apartment doesn't allow pets and there's no one to take care of it when I'm out of town."

"We'll clearly never get along, you awful cat person." She smiled at him, hoping she hadn't just completely misjudged him.

Shane laughed. "That's right. I'm a horrible cat person and this was a mistake."

Cyrah nodded, smiling. "Bastard." She paused momentarily. "What is this?"

"I dunno." Shane paused. "If I'm honest, I only remembered to do this because I needed an excuse to get out of an interview, so I told everyone I had a date."

Cyrah raised her eyebrows. "Oh, so this is a date?"

Shane shrugged. "Only because Eli tracks me and is totally doing it right now. If you ever see him again, you should tell him this was a date when he asks, and you totally agreed to it upfront. But otherwise it's not a date."

"Who says I wouldn't have agreed if you had suggested this as a date initially?"

"Would you have?"