“Why did we pick the beach again?” Angela asked quietly, watching her friend Danica expertly navigate her tiny Mini Cooper through the narrow, slightly deserted streets in the direction of Cocoa Beach. It was Danica’s favorite, but it was definitely low on her own beach priority list. She much preferred the pristine white sands of West Florida, not just because they were prettier--but there were less tourists, less memories, less...everything, really. But Cocoa was closer. Unfortunately.
It didn’t help that she had a nagging feeling about today. Perhaps it was the overcast sky approaching that was threatening the tanning session they were about to embark on, something not unsuspected considering the end of summer was quickly approaching. The vacationers and their summer vacays were long over, and the fall was starting to loom its dormant, sleepy head. Of course, that doesn’t mean much in Florida. But even the sunshine state has a dreary day or two.
“Hellooooo?” Danica repeated, knocking Angela out of her reverie. “Are you even listening to anything I’m saying to you?”
“Huh?” Angela shook her head. She obviously was lost in thought. “Sorry, I was just noticing the clouds that look like they’re about to ruin our day.”
“Oh, come on. They’re far enough away, we can at least get an hour or two of tanning in. What is it with you and this beach? You always throw a fit whenever we come here,” Danica scoffed.
She sighed. “D, you know that I like Tampa better. It’s not like this should surprise you.”
“Lord knows why...it’s so fucking far away!” she laughed. “Cocoa’s right here.”
“Whatever,” Angela mumbled. She sighed a relieved sigh when Danica pulled the car up on the beach and swiftly into one of the designated parking areas. The sooner they laid out, the sooner they could go home.
It didn’t take long before the young girls had set up their towels near the water. Angela pulled out her bag with the latest paperback novel from Nicholas Sparks that she had picked up at the only Borders in town on their way in. She was obsessed with the author, wishing that the fairy-tale romances he cleverly crafted would somehow actually exist in reality the more she read them. Unfortunately, we’re all acutely aware that entertaining that thought only leads to disappointment, especially in Angela’s case.
“What did you get at Borders?” D asked nonchalantly as she stripped down into here barely-there bikini. Danica was the fun one. She was the one that all the guys drooled over, the one that could have fun and party no matter the circumstance. Angela vaguely remembered what that used to feel like, although it had been a long time since she felt that way.
“Nicholas Sparks. What else?” Angela replied, laying down carefully on her blanket before getting comfortable enough to start reading.
Danica rolled her eyes. “You know that’s just bullshit, right?” she laughed. Angela wasn’t amused and she just sighed. “Fine, wallow in your fake romance. I’m going to go find a hot boy to lotion me up!”
Angela rolled her eyes with a slight smile as she ran off. As much as she wanted to hate Danica for being such a....damn girl, she couldn’t. She was happy. She was having fun, and she certainly couldn’t hate on that.
As soon as Danica disappeared, she flipped through the pages. She let her fingertips skim them ever so slightly, reveling in the feel of actual paper, considering how tech-obsessed the world was today. Just as she was getting lost in her romantic world, she heard a familiar sound.
Laughter.
Not just any laughter, but his laughter.
No. She must be going crazy. Cocoa Beach would be the last place on earth Justin Timberlake would be in early September. Surely he had some girl to bang, or some tour to be on. At the very least, he should be in Hawaii...not here.
Yes, not here. Justin wouldn’t be here. Surely, she was just imagining things.
Angela shook her head and stuffed her nose back in her book, but she could feel her heart pounding slightly faster. She could feel the faintness of her breath, and she couldn’t even pretend that she could stop her mind from wandering. She was so lost in thought that she didn’t even realize that she was about to get hit with a red frisbee until it had already happened. Right in the leg.
“Ouch!” she mumbled, slowly sitting up, her hand immediately going to the now sore spot. She went to reach for the red flimsy plastic when what she heard froze her in her tracks.
Staring up at her was a little boy, probably around 4 years old. He had a polite face, perfect skin, and when she got to his eyes, her breath nearly caught in its throat.
“Caleb!” a familiar male voice yelled from behind them. “You’ve got to watch out where you’re throwing things, buddy. You can’t hit people. It’s not nice.”
No, this surely wasn’t happening.
She stood up abruptly, getting sand over her in the process and accidentally standing on the red frisbee. She was too afraid to turn around, but either direction she turned, she was faced with something that she wasn’t exactly happy about.
“Caleb! Come on buddy, say you’re sorry to this nice woman who’s afternoon you interrupted.”
The voice was getting closer, and the closer it got, the more the shivers started to run down her spine.
No, this was NOT happening.
She was frozen, as everything played out in slow motion. Justin approached, picking up the little boy. She watched frame by frame as he threw him over his shoulder, looked for the frisbee, and then slowly, his eyes moved towards her face. His lips opened ever so slightly, his tongue reaching out to dampen them out of that nervous habit that he had. She felt like she was going to throw up.
“Justin...” she whispered.
He chuckled a little, not really quite getting a good look at her yet. “I get that a lot. I’m sorry, I’m here with my son. Not doing autographs today, although maybe I should since my son accidentally hit you with his frisbee.” His voice was light, a little more mature than she had remembered, but masculine. Grown up. Eerie.
“Did not, Papa!” Caleb laughed. “Jake did. I just ran over here to get it,” he laughed again, his voice sweet and cherubic as he started to laugh.
She fought for her voice. The tremors she was feeling earlier were slowly turning into anger. But she was frozen.
“Seriously, are you okay?” Justin asked again, putting the happy distraction he called his son down, and letting him run back over to his friend Jake. And that’s when he saw her. “Holy shit, Angela?” he smiled.
And that’s when she lost it. “That’s all you have to say to me? You don’t have time for an autograph, and holy shit, Angela? Really?”
“Hey, hey...calm down.” His cerulean orbs, normally a light happy blue to mirror his mood, turned rapidly into a darker blue, mirroring his confusion. “I’m sorry, I didn’t...I didn’t see you. I didn’t...I didn’t mean to...” he stuttered. He could barely get the words out.
“Calm down? CALM DOWN?” she threw her hands in the air and just took a deep breath. “OF COURSE, of course this happens to me. I knew we shouldn’t have come to Cocoa today. What the FUCK are you doing here?”
“Um...last time I checked, this was a public beach, and I’m trying to enjoy the day out with my son...” he finished, confused as to why she was being so angsty. They hadn’t left on the best terms, but he had always loved her. He had definitely moved on with his life, but he would always care for her.
“Did you follow me here,” she accused, her voice raising, along with her irrationality.
“What?” he asked incredulously. “Are you kidding me? No...why...why the hell would I follow you here? I just came to get away--it’s quiet here, you know. Anyway, how would I even know you were here...I haven’t even seen you in like four years, and could you please...watch the language. Kids. Everywhere. I”
“Oh, now you care about kids and are a picture perfect saint, huh?” she asked, a biting quality to her tone.
He sighed and rubbed his face. “I don’t...understand why you’re...reacting this way. Why we’re...even...having this conversation. Of course I’m not a saint, but in case you forgot....you left me with our son four years ago, so if anyone were going to be angry here, it ought to be me.”
She scoffed. “Please. I did NOT leave you with our son. You took him from me!”
Justin laughed, scratching the back of his neck slightly in a slightly awkward fashion, just completely baffled by this situation. “Seriously, you think I took our son? In case you forgot, you wanted nothing to do with him, or us. In fact, I distinctly remember following your ass around and BEGGING you to come home because I didn’t want our family to be apart. I didn’t want to raise my son without his mother, but you...” he trailed off. “You know what, this doesn’t matter. I’m not going to get into a heated argument out here, in front of our son, on a public beach. You...feel however you need to feel about the way this ended. I’ve got better things to do...”
She was about to say something, but Caleb came running over and clutched onto his Dad’s legs. “Dad, why are you yelling? Can we go get some ice cream!!?”
“Sorry, buddy. Of course!” he smiled at him. He slowly looked back up at Angela, his lips pursing in that way they always did when he was unhappy. “Nice to see you, I guess.”
She sighed as they both turned away. They were smiling, laughing, and she couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like if...if she hadn’t freaked out and left when she did. But just seeing them, it just brought up so many emotions that she couldn’t help but freak out and go off the deep end. She just felt so ashamed. What kind of mother just leaves her child?
“Hey...you okay?” Danica asked, walking up behind her. “Did you just get into a fight with someone?”
She sighed, tears coming to her eyes. “Not just someone. Justin,” she whispered.
“What?? Justin? Like...Justin Timberlake, Justin?” she saw her nod. “Holy shit...but...wh..why? How? What...what happened?”
She looked around, starting to feel dizzy. “I...I don’t know. Caleb...he...threw a frisbee. It hit me on accident. And...I heard his voice, and I just...I just started to get angry...” she whimpered, a panic attack starting to come on. “And I just yelled at him, and...I just...”
“Whoa...you yelled at him. Why?” Danica asked, gently wrapping her arms around her in a friendly manner. “Its okay, talk to me. Calm down, do your breathing.”
Angela just started to cry. “I. I don’t know,” she sniffled. “No logical reason. I guess...I guess I just...have so much...shit inside.” She wanted to explain, but she knew that she couldn’t. Justin had been the best boyfriend she had ever had, and he didn’t even freak out when they had an oopsy pregnancy. She had wanted to get an abortion, but he refused. He wanted to be the responsible one. And part of her ever since then held him in contempt, but the more time moved on--the more she realized that she was really holding herself in contempt.
“Well, how often do you see the man? Maybe it’s time to get some of that shit out. Besides...it’s about to rain,” she nodded.
Angela looked down at her Nicholas Sparks book and realized that Justin was the closest thing she ever had to a real life romance. “I should go after them, huh?” she whispered.
“Only if you feel that’s what you should do,” Danica finished.
“It’s what I need to do,” she whispered. “Don’t leave unless I call you,” saw her nod. In no time, she was running after the two people she had spent the last four years running from.
Nothing like an unexpected day at the beach.
Story Notes:
I had a bad day, felt like writing. This is just some fluff I wrote in an hour. For the day at the beach Challenge by Nik.
Completed
ninabina is the author of 15 other stories.
This story is part of the series, The Shorts Series. The next story in the series is Distance makes the heart grow fonder..
This story is part of the series, The Shorts Series. The next story in the series is Distance makes the heart grow fonder..
Story Tags: daddyj
