Abby stands out the front of her apartment, twisting her hair around her finger. She plays with the straps of her white satin top, pulls at the waistband of her jeans. The butterflies that have taken up a permanent spot in her stomach flap and flap their wings.
She hears an engine, and turns to see Mike's van approaching. She swallows and exhales, trying to calm herself down.
He pulls up, and jumps out of the van, his smile wide and infectious. Ah, that smile. It gets Abby, every time. Things just feel easy when Mike is in front of her. She can forget Tom, and Travis, and Tallahassee. She can just be Abby.
"How's my girl?" Mike says, as he stands in front of her.
"Better, now," Abby smiles.
Mike's grin grows wider. "Ready to go?"
"You haven't even told me where we're going."
"You know me. It's a surprise."
Twenty minutes later, Mike pulls the van up in front of an old building by the beach. It looks boarded up, deserted.
"You have a thing about abandoned places, huh?" Abby says.
"I like privacy. I spend all night in a club with screaming women—sometimes I just want some peace and quiet."
Abby smiles as Mike leads her around the side of the building. At the back, a long metal ladder leads up to the roof. Without a word, Mike climbs up the ladder to the second-story roof. He disappears for a moment, then peers over the roof and motions for Abby to climb up.
She raises an eyebrow at him, but she climbs the ladder. At the top, Mike takes her hand and helps her over.
Abby stands, dumbstruck. Although the building is abandoned, and there's no one for miles that she can see, the roof is like a secret oasis. There are plants in pots, flowering red and orange and purple. A table sits in the middle of all the plants, set with two places. Covered bowls and bottles of wine cover the table, along with a large bunch of flowers.
Little twinkling lights are wrapped around everything, glowing stronger in the twilight.
"Better than a noisy restaurant with a million other people?" Mike says.
Abby glances over at Mike. All of this, for her.
Feelings rush over her, more than she can even identify. Fear. Love. Lust. Terror. She pushes them aside. There's only one thing she wants.
Abby reaches up, slips her hands behind Mike's neck. He looks surprised for a moment, but he doesn't move. Abby stands on her toes, leans in close. She thinks of the drive in, where he took her the first night they met. He tried to kiss her and she pulled away. What was she thinking?
Abby presses her lips to Mike's. His kiss is strong and sweet, exactly like he is. She gets lost in it for a while, let's her mind switch off and her body switch on. This is how it should feel, she finally thinks. When Travis kissed her at the hangar it didn't feel like this, so comforting, and right.
She pushes thoughts of Travis from her mind. This is where she wants to be. This is what's real, right now.
They stand like that for minutes on beautiful minutes, Abby's hands softly slipping through Mike's hair, Mike's hands gripping her waist, venturing down to her hips. She can sense the light disappearing, the moon lighting the sky.
Eventually, they break apart. Abby looks into Mike's eyes, scared for a moment that he doesn't feel what she's feeling. But she sees it there, the same desire and connection she has.
Mike slowly shakes his head, his grin returning. He takes her hand and leads her to the table, sitting her in her chair. He pours two glasses of wine, and they watch the remainder of the day disappear in silence.