"Um… Calleigh? Can I ask you something?" Eric was nervous. Calleigh could tell.
"Yeah. Fire away."
"I was wondering if… well, would you like to go out for a drink tonight?"
Calleigh looked stunned. Did he really ask me out? Pinch me!
Eric was sure she was going to turn him down, again.
Calleigh opened her mouth to reply when Ryan entered the break room.
"Hey!"
Calleigh greeted him politely and avoided making eye contact with either of the men in the room.
Ryan seemed to be able to sense the tense atmosphere in the room but instead of doing the right thing and leaving, he made it worse by turning to Calleigh and saying, "Do you fancy going out for a drink tonight?"
Eric stared incredulously at Ryan. Who does he think he is?
The two had never liked each other. Ryan had replaced Calleigh and Eric's best friend, Tim Speedle, and Eric had never forgiven him.
Calleigh, on the other hand, didn't exactly dislike him or particularly like him.
"Ryan, I'm sorry." She looked at him and seemed to be genuinely apologetic. "I'm busy tonight. I can't."
Ryan's face fell and he blushed a deep red. "Oh. OK. Sorry. Maybe some other time?"
"Yeah, maybe."
Ryan left the break room, leaving Calleigh alone with Eric.
"I suppose that's a no to my question too then?"
"Well," Calleigh replied, a slightly mischievous grin on her face, "I wasn't busy until you asked me!"
Eric drove Calleigh into the centre of Miami and they stopped at their favourite bar. It was called "Arithea," and was in sight of a small beach that wasn't constantly swarming with tourists. They were in the part of town that tourists didn't know about and found it nice to escape to the quieter, less crowded neighbourhood they were standing in.
Eric ordered and Calleigh found a small booth by the wide windows that overlooked the sea.
They sat opposite each other and sat in friendly silence until their drinks arrived. Eric took a long sip of his before breaking the silence.
"Do you still think about him?"
"Who?"
"Tim. I always expect him to walk in with a DNA sample or something."
"Yeah, me two." She was staring out into the sea that was the same colour as her eyes. "You really miss him don't you?"
"You miss him as well. I can tell."
The finished their drinks and were going to head home. "Hey, Cal? Do you want to go and walk down the beach for a bit?"
"OK."
They were both quiet since their talk about Speed and walked in silence down the beach.
Winter in Miami was not really winter. They never had any snow, but it was cold enough to need an extra layer in the evening, when the sun had gone down.
The wind off the sea was cold and Calleigh shivered. She had only a blouse because Miami rarely got cold enough for anything else. But today was one of those rare times and Calleigh wondered why she was walking down a deserted beach in the dark without a jacket.
"I'm cold. Can we go back?"
Eric could see her shivering.
"Do you want my jacket Cal?" Eric, always the gentleman, offered her his black jacket. Without waiting for an answer, he pulled it round her shoulders and wrapped his arms around her to help warm her up.
"Better?"
"Yeah, thank you."
They continued walking, closer together than before so they could keep each other warm.
Eric was unsure what to do. Should I wrap my arm around her? Would she freak out or shout at him?
When she shivered again, Eric made his decision.
He slowly lifted his arm to her waist and pulled her right into his side. Her head snapped up and her eyes bore into his head. It was like she was reading his thoughts. "I'm not that cold!" she whispered.
Eric grinned but didn't let her go and Calleigh was happy. She leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder.
By this time, they had stopped walking and were looking out over the moonlit ocean.
The cool wind whipped Calleigh's hair and Eric thought that in the darkness, she looked more even beautiful so than in daylight. The moon shone on her features and the movement of her blonde hair made her seem unreal, like a character in a story or something. She was gazing at the sky, almost as if she was stargazing.
He moved in front of her and she came out of her trance.
A smile lit up her eyes as Eric leaned in closer.
Is this really happening? They both thought.
There faces were so close that you couldn't fit a piece of paper between them.
They both closed their eyes and enjoyed the kiss.
For so long they had kept their feelings about the other to themselves, both too scared of rejection to ask the other if they felt the same. Since the loss of Tim, nothing had felt right up 'til this point.
When they broke apart they stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like an age.
"I'm cold Eric. Let's go home."
Eric laughed. "You are wearing my jacket and you're still cold! We should get home."
"Your house or mine?"
They walked off the beach, hand in hand.