The morning started for Sean Cameron like nearly every other morning since he left the Army: bathed in sweat and shaking after being woken up by a recurring nightmare. The scenario was the same; he'd witness someone die right in front of him either from mortar fire or a roadside bomb, but the people always changed. On this morning, it wasn't his best friend in the Army, Jack, who died instantly right in front of Sean only days after being deployed. Nor his friend Dan, who died after a roadside bomb went off as they were patrolling the streets of Kandahar. It wasn't any of Sean's fallen Army buddies. This time, it was Emma Nelson.

Sean hadn't seen or heard from Emma in years, but he tried to keep up with what was happening with her. He thought of her as the one who got away. He knew she had married Spinner Mason, but he also knew that the union ended when the two of them came to their senses. Sean couldn't believe they even got married in the first place. He was angry about that for a long time and it was one reason he didn't let Emma know he had returned home. There were many others, of course.

Sean and Emma's last relationship ended a bit awkwardly, and Sean didn't think Emma felt the same as he did about her. He assumed she just thought of him as just some guy she dated in high school.

As for Sean and dating, he had been with a few women throughout the years since leaving the Army but couldn't commit to anything. He was always afraid he'd screw things up; a trait he had carried with him since childhood. The other problem was that none of them could measure up to Emma. No one ever would. He wouldn't go to Emma, but he still carried a torch for her. It was a miserable existence, and after a while, he stopped trying.

Sean had been single for three years. None of his previous relationships were long or meaningful enough to take the next step and after a while, he just gave up on meeting women. He worked all the time, and he didn't make time for anything or anyone else. These days, his relationship is with his job.

After a quick shower, Sean decided he'd start his day earlier than usual. He'd go out for coffee and eat some breakfast at the coffee shop instead of bringing them to work and sitting at his desk. Sean planned on hanging out while reading the papers and watching other people go about their days. He'd also get to relax a bit before heading to work for a change. It took a few years, but he opened up his own shop. Cameron's Custom Cars was finally a reality, and it was doing well. Sean had a team of five mechanics working for him, and he had a part-time administrative assistant who helped him organize the office and paperwork a few days a week. Toby Isaacs even helped him with the software system.

As he sat in the coffee shop, Sean got lost in his thoughts until he heard a familiar voice call his name.

"Sean?"

Emma Nelson was stressed out about her work presentation. It was going to be the first presentation she made at her new job and she was anxious about it. She knew all the information and could do the presentation without the help of PowerPoint, but this job was her dream job and she wanted to make a great first impression. Emma was so anxious that she woke up at 5 a.m, a full two and a half hours earlier than usual.

When she couldn't fall back asleep, she got dressed and went for a jog to de-stress. After coming back from her jog, Emma showered, got ready and was still too early to show up at work without looking as if she was panicked about the presentation. Instead, she decided to stop off at a coffee shop not-too-far from her new apartment. She only discovered it a couple of days prior. She went in to grab some breakfast and a latte.

Emma walked into the shop and went straight up to the counter. It wasn't too crowded so it didn't take her long to get her breakfast and a drink. As Emma was putting her change into her wallet and her wallet into her purse, she saw him. Sean Cameron.

Sean was Emma's first everything. Her first boyfriend, her first heartbreak, her first love, her first lover. Her mind flashed back to the last time they saw each other right before he went to Afghanistan. She flinched at the thought of that last weekend. She barely spent any time with Sean because she was busy with her boyfriend at the time and the weekend ended with an awkward picture of the two of them. Sean had been carrying their picture taken the night of their disastrous first date and wanted a replacement to show off to his Army buddies. While the new picture wasn't as awkward as their first date picture, it wasn't the picture Sean or Emma had envisioned.

Emma did a double-take to make sure her mind wasn't playing tricks on her. But it was definitely Sean. She hadn't seen him in over 10 years, but there was no mistaking Sean's face, his curly hair, his light eyes, his expressive eyebrows, button nose or his dimples. Emma watched as he sipped his coffee and took a bite of his breakfast sandwich. He was sitting by the window and people watching. However, there was no way for Emma to avoid him without looking like she was purposely doing it so she decided instead to go up to him and say hi. She took a deep breath then said his name, "Sean?"

Sean thought his mind was playing tricks on him so he ignored the voice calling his name and took another sip of his coffee.

"Sean, it is you!"

Sean looked over and he couldn't believe his eyes. Emma Nelson was standing just a few feet away from him, dressed in a light pink pants suit, with a dark pink blouse, and flats that matched her blouse, her blonde hair was straight and layered just below her shoulders. He thought he was dreaming again. He swallowed his coffee, looked her up and down then and said, "Emma?"

"Oh my God, I can't believe it!" She walked over to his table and Sean stood up to greet her. He wasn't sure what to do but Emma made the first move, grabbing him and hugging him tightly. "It's so good to see you."

Sean's arms remained stiffly at his sides but he inhaled the scent of her hair, and as she pulled away from the hug, he smiled and said, "It's good to see you too. What are you doing in this part of town?" Last he heard, Emma still lived near her parents.

"I recently moved over here. I'm just around the corner."

"Oh yeah?"

She nodded, "Yep. I only just discovered this place."

Sean smiled, "How long have you been here?"

"I got a job with an environmental agency a couple of months ago and figured I'd cut my commuting time down from 45 minutes to barely five. I moved in about three weeks ago."

Sean smiled and said, "Well, that's a good way to help the environment."

She laughed, "Yeah. So how about you? What are you up to?"

"I finally opened my own shop. It's about a 10-minute walk from here."

"Sean, that's so wonderful to hear!" She looked at him, "I hope this doesn't sound too condescending but I am really proud of you."

"It doesn't at all." He stared at her then snapped out of his trance and said, "Pardon my rudeness, would you like to join me?"

"Oh, I can't. I have an early morning meeting and was heading to the office to prepare the presentation. Why are you out so early?"

"I had some trouble sleeping."

"Sorry to hear that."

He shrugged and said, "Eh. It happens from time-to-time. I decided instead of rushing to work like I usually do, why not actually sit down and enjoy my coffee and breakfast."

Emma smiled then checked her phone and said, "I really have to go but I think we need to go out to lunch or dinner or something and catch up properly."

Sean attempted to sound nonplussed by the offer but inside he felt like he was 13 again, "Sure. That would be nice." He took out his phone, "What's your number?"

"How about we take each other's phone and put our numbers into them?"

Sean smiled and handed Emma his phone. She did the same and they typed in their contact info into each other's phone.

"This way, if you don't call me or text me, I can pester you until you do." She winked at him.

Sean laughed and handed Emma back her phone, "Here you go."

"Thanks," She handed his phone back to him, "It's really good to see you."

"Likewise."

She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "I'll be in touch soon."

"Okay."

"Bye," She walked out of the coffee shop and Sean was left reeling. He looked in his contacts and saw that she left her number with a pizza slice emoji next to her name. He laughed at the reference and watched through the window as she crossed the street. When she made it to the other side, she turned and waved at him. He smiled and waved back.

Emma attempted to set up her equipment but she couldn't concentrate, which was not ideal because she was about to give a 45-minute long presentation to about 100 people in less than 20 minutes.

"Emma, are you okay?" Her assistant Grace, who was helping her set everything up noticed that Emma was a bit flustered, "Because you know you've got this. You do this sort of thing all the time. It's why they hired you."

"Huh?"

"Wow, you really are out of it. Do you need me to help with the presentation? I can, you know."

"Oh, no. I'll be fine. At least, I think I should be fine."

"Are you sure? It's like you've seen a ghost or something."

She looked up at Grace and said, "I have."

It was the same for Sean. After he left the coffee shop, he walked back to his shop in a daze. Seeing Emma threw him for a loop, and his mind was elsewhere when he finally got to work. It was not in Cameron's Custom Cars.

"Sean, man, we're done with Mr. Robbins' car."

Sean stared at his computer screen.

"Hello? Earth to Sean."

Sean snapped out of his trance thanks to his right-hand man, Joe, "Sorry, what?"

"Where did you go just now?"

"Eh, I had a shit night of sleep again."

"I feel ya on that. Anyway, Mr. Robbins' car is done."

"Great. I'll be out in a second to take a look."

Joe was about to walk out then asked, "Are you sure you're okay, Sean?"

Sean nodded, "Yeah, man. I'm fine."

Joe smiled then closed the door. Sean immediately put his head in his hands. He was not fine. Not at all.

"Emma, your presentation was excellent."

"Thanks so much, Mark." Mark was Emma's boss and she was trying to impress him during her first full month at the agency so she was relieved that she was able to fake her way through her presentation. Even though she was showing slides of melting polar ice caps and glaciers, she couldn't stop thinking about Sean. She saw his face every time she clicked a new slide.

"It was really well-done." He smiled and said, "I definitely think we made the right decision hiring you." Emma smiled back. "And I'm going to reward you by allowing you to take a long lunch."

"Wow, thanks."

"The truth is I'm going out for the afternoon so you might as well be out for a while too. Just make sure you're back by 2:30-3:00 in case people call to rave about your work."

Emma laughed, "Okay. Well, thanks again."

He looked out the windows in Emma's office, "Looks like it's a good day for a long lunch too. See ya later." Mark walked out of her office and she took out her phone. She went into her contacts and stared at Sean's number. Before she even realized what she was doing, she pressed his name and then pressed the phone icon.

"Oh god, what am I doing?"

But it was too late. Sean would see her name pop up on his phone screen so Emma couldn't hang up. Damn 2010s technology.

Sean was inspecting Mr. Robbins' car to make sure everything was up to code and done correctly when his phone started vibrating in his pocket. He reached in, grabbed the phone, looked at it, and began to panic.

"Um, can you guys excuse me one second?" He walked towards his office, "I have to take this call."

Joe called out, "Sure, man."

Sean stepped into his office, closed the door, took a deep breath and answered the call, "Emma?"

"Hey there."

"Is everything alright?"

"Yes, everything is great. I was just wondering…" Her voice trailed off and she suddenly felt embarrassed.

Sean couldn't hear anything and thought the call dropped, "Emma, are you still there?"

"Yes, sorry. I was wondering if you'd like to have lunch with me today."

Sean was surprised, "Today?"

"Yeah, my presentation went so well that my boss decided to reward me with a long lunch."

"Oh yeah? Good for you."

"Yeah," Emma was hopeful but also afraid he'd blow her off, "So would you want to meet me for lunch?"

Sean fumbled a bit and said, "Um, yeah, sure." He shook his head and recovered nicely, "I mean, I'd love to."

She was relieved, "Great! Where?"

Sean looked around his office, "Well, I shouldn't really leave the shop today. We have a lot of jobs going on. I guess you could come here, we can order some food and hang out in my office." He continued, "Unless that sounds really awful."

Emma laughed, "It doesn't sound awful at all. How about I pick up some lunch on the way over?"

He smiled, "Sounds perfect."

"Great. I can probably be there by 12:10-12:15. I figure I can stop off at a deli or something so just text me what you want and I'll get it for you."

"Okay, I'll do that." Sean asked, "Do you know how to get here?"

"I can call an Uber."

"Ah, right."

"You gotta love the future." Sean laughed and Emma said, "So I'll see you later?"

"Yep."

"Okay. Bye, Sean."

"See you later, Em."

Sean hung up, pressed his phone against his chest and smiled. Emma did the same, let out a breath and smiled.