"Liz, I thought maybe someday, I would get over you. That never happened," Todd told her intently, as his eyes locked on to her.
"Todd… I don't know what to say," Elizabeth said as she met his gaze.
"You don't have to say anything," he said, brushing a lock of hair back from her face. "I am willing to go wherever you want, even away if you'd rather, but I can't do that without having the truth out there on the table."
She was tempted by the idea. It sounded nice to throw herself into Todd's arms, and never leave. Especially when he was looking at her like he could see straight into her heart. But she knew better.
"Todd, the truth is I have feelings for you. Too much to let you get involved with me right now. I can be your friend, but nothing more."
"Friends is good," he said. "So, are we friends that can take a walk down the beach?" he said, offering her his hand.
"Let's go," she said, kicking off her sandals, and placing her hand in his.
They lost track of the time as they wandered along the beach, talking, and getting to know each other again. Finally Elizabeth glanced down, her eyes falling to her wristwatch.
"Wow," she exclaimed as she double checked the hour,
"What?"
"It's eleven-thirty. My jeep, the restaurant is going to impound it. We have to go," she exclaimed tugging him back in the direction of his car.
They laughed as they raced back up the beach to his gleaming Jag.
"Finally, a good excuse to show you how this thing can run," he said as his car squealed out of the parking lot, kicking up a cloud of sand in his wake as he kicked his car up to 80.
The restaurant was just closing, as she and Todd pulled up,
"Just in time, miss," the valet assured her as he took her claim ticket.
"We have to do this again," Todd murmured in her ear, as he swept her into a hug.
"It was fun," she agreed.
"Hold it," he said before she could get into her car, grabbing her hand.
"What?" she asked.
"If you think I'm going to let you go without getting your phone number, you are out of your mind," he said, with a grin.
As she drove back, she was surprised to find that she felt a little lighter, and a little happier then she had in awhile.
She opened the door to the condo she bought, Jessica had bought the one next door, but seemed to spend much more time at Elizabeth's place then her own. As she expected her twin pounced. "Liz, sit and spill," she demanded, ushering her to the couch.
"Jessica, we're just friends, for heavens sake," she waved her twin off as she wandered into the kitchen for a pint of rocky road.
"Baloney," Jessica declared. "You haven't looked this happy in a long time. It's been at least a year since you had a date, and you were out this late.."
"Jessica, knock it off," Elizabeth smiled as they settled into chairs with bowls of ice cream. "Todd, and I are just friends," Elizabeth reiterated to her mirror image.
"Wow, you and Todd are just as boring as ever," Jessica complained.
Elizabeth smiled as she thought of exactly how not boring the evening had been.
When Jessica had gone home, Elizabeth wandered upstairs to her bedroom. Her cat ,Muffy, meowed from the bed where she had curled up for a cat nap, as Elizabeth switched on the light. "Mommy got to see Todd tonight baby," she confided in her cat as she flopped onto the bed next to the fluffly, white feline. "Don't worry, you'll love him."
The article about Todd was finished by mid morning the next day. She could say hands down, it was the easiest article she ever had to write in her entire journalism career.
And she had the perfect excuse to call him. 'But do I call him now, or wait until it's published?' she wondered. She got out her blackberry and scrolled to where she had programmed his number in last night.
'Text or call?' she wondered as she toyed with it.
'Maybe I should just wait until he calls me,' she thought, and put her phone back on her desk, and got to work on her other articles. 'Play hard to get,' she thought with a smirk.
At that moment, her phone beeped, making her jump a mile. She picked it up to read the text message on her screen.
"What r u up to?" it read.
"Writing your article," she texted back.
"Good or bad?"
"What do you think?"
"I don't know"
"Bad of course, since you're so rotten.."
"Can I bribe you?"
"With what"
"Lunch?"
She cringed. "I can't. Plans with Jessica." she texted back. "Rain check?"
"Tomorrow?"
"Of course," she texted back with a smile.
Elizabeth decided she loved text messaging. There was no horror of appearing overeager when you couldn't hear the voice inflections. "Friends," she reminded herself sternly.
At that moment, there was a knock on her office door.
"Come in," she called.
"Ready to go…?" Jessica bounded in, trailing off as she looked at Elizabeth in astonishment. "Friends my foot!" she exclaimed.
"What?"
"That goofy smile on your face. Don't lie to me! You talked to Todd today."
"I haven't talked to him today. Just texted him," she mumbled as she turned to an email regarding a city council meeting she reported on.
Jessica snatched the black box. "Ohh, lunch tomorrow?" she squealed.
"Jessica Wakefied, you can be so annoying at times," Elizabeth grumbled as she held out her hand for her blackberry.
"I can't help it. I've always loved a good drama, and you and Todd are an explosion waiting to happen."
"So are you ready to go?" Elizabeth asked exasperated.
"I'm always ready," Jessica grinned, as they left Elizabeth's office.
