L would never admit it, but she was saddened that she didn't see Julian. She'd been hopeful, planning to use the excuse that she was in town for another party when she would see him behind the counter. She didn't want to seem too desperate, but she missed him. She loved the way she felt when she was with him but knew they were nothing but a one-night fling.
Maybe he'd found himself a nice girl and was happy. He would have surely found someone by now. With the way he treated her that night, she was sure girls were throwing themselves at him.
"Forget the hotel," she said to the taxi driver who was driving her to the party, "Take me to the beach."
She wanted to relive that night even if it meant only imagining Julian there with her. Walking lightly through the sand, she looked back at the skyline, using it as her guide to find exactly where the two were that night. She plopped down onto the cold sand and ripped open the pack of tall-boys. She stared at the ocean as she drank, remembering how peaceful Julian had looked in her lap. She closed her eyes and listened to the waves — the same soundtrack that played for only them that night.
The slow crunching of footsteps in the sand behind her snapped her out of her thoughts. She downed the last of the first can and glanced over her shoulder. She squinted at the tall figure approaching her carefully.
"L?" his deep voice spoke up. She could feel the blood drain from her face, recognizing Julian's baritone growl.
After missing her earlier that night, Julian didn't want to go back home and sulk in his misery. Just the thought that she cared enough to ask about him lifted his spirits. He reveled in the feeling that maybe she, too, couldn't get him out of her head. He felt the urge to cling onto whatever he could from that night, finding himself walking towards the beach.
She stood up, suddenly nervous, "Jules?"
Julian's eyes widened at disbelief at the sight of her beautiful presence. He felt as though he was dreaming. He had imagined this moment so many times in his head, recreating it in different ways but always making sure they ended up together. He didn't imagine it to be as nerve-racking as this, though. They both stood awkwardly, not sure what they meant to the other but waiting to be accepted into each other's lives again.
"On your way to another party?" he broke the silence, sure she was dressed for another sleaze-fest.
She smiled, "You know me too well."
He breathed a laugh through his nose, as he motioned to the cans stuck in the sand behind her, "The tall-boys gave it away."
She laughed, walking back over to them, Julian following suit, "Care to join me?"
"I'd love to," he sighed with relief, blinking profusely as to focus on the fact that this was actually real. This wasn't one of his drunken daydreams. She was really there, and they were both taking a seat on the sand next to each other.
They talked as they sipped the beers, catching up on their lives. Julian had gotten a couple of raises, and L was stuck in the same boat — dragged into parties filled with scumbags.
"You're not actually going to the party, are you?" Julian squinted, looking over at L knowingly. She smiled as she kept her eyes on the waves. After all of this time, Julian could still read her like a book. He watched her, soaking in the beautiful features of her profile.
"No," she shook her head. Julian asked why she'd changed her mind. She turned to him, their eyes meeting, "Was hoping I'd run into an old friend." Julian was caught off guard with the realization that she truly just wanted to see him. He took her answer as her way of saying that she missed him too, and it took everything in his being to not lean in to kiss her right then. But, that could've been too forward. He didn't know where he stood with her.
