I disclaim. This would have been up yesterday, but NaNoWriMo started. And NaNo is made of time-stealing magicks. I was feeling fairly sappy while I was writing this . . . enjoy!

XXXXXX

Divya loved the Hamptons. She loved the atmosphere, she loved the people, and she loved her job.

For the most part, she loved her life.

It worked for her—and she loved, loved, loved that she could do what she loved every day. The best part about not marrying Raj was being able to stay with HankMed. She could keep doing the job that was her life—and she was really, really good at it. One day, she would want more. Today, however, she was content.

She loved her friends too—some of which were more like family. She missed her family, of course, but all she could do was wait them out.

She sat on the beach, looking out at the sunset. It was ridiculously romantic, but she was alone. She had been waiting for Adam, but he'd called to say that he couldn't make it, that he was busy with something. He hadn't said what, but then again, she hadn't asked. She hadn't cared-but she didn't want to admit that to herself. She wanted to enjoy herself, she wanted to take a moment and just—

And with that a familiar voice cut into her train of thought.

"Are you okay?"

Divya closed her eyes. This was not what she needed. "I'm fine. Adam is running a little late, so I'm spending some time alone."

"Do you want me to leave?"

Divya opened her eyes in surprise. "If you want."

Of course Evan proceeded to sit down in the soft sand next to her, sinking down into a comfortable position.

Divya nearly laughed. Typical Evan.

Divya didn't question why Evan being there didn't interrupt her "alone time."

"I love this."

Divya turned her head slightly toward Evan, "What?"

"This. The perfect time of day, the perfect location, the perfect view, the perfect company."

Divya was grateful for the sun, there was a slight pink tinge to her skin. So when her face burned red in a blush at his statement made her feel a little less uncomfortable than it could have. She was sure he'd meant it innocently, in a friendly sort of way, but it still made her blush a little.

"You mean yourself?" She asked teasingly.

Evan smiled at her. "Obviously. And you too, I guess."

They shared a smile at that.

Evan didn't want to ruin the moment, but he had to wonder why it was easy to talk to Divya. Usually, she liked to bite his head off, but lately they'd been almost . . . friendly.

Things had changed the moment that Divya had ended her engagement to Raj. She had made the choice to live her life the way she wanted to, and it seemed like she'd let her hair down. She'd unraveled a bit. She was less intense, but still as stubbornly Divya as she'd always been.

She seemed like a huge weight had lifted from her shoulders, like she'd realized that she didn't have to fight all of the time to get what she wanted. And now, today, she was relaxing on the beach, waiting to see the sunset.

It was uncharacteristic, but Evan thought it was a good change. He believed, quite fiercely in fact, that she needed more of these moments.

These moments were soft and happy. These moments were the ones where she let her hair down—which she did, but not nearly often enough in Evan's opinion.

The breeze shifted at that moment, and Divya sighed—almost as if she were one with the wind—before speaking,"It's lovely."

Evan stared at Divya as she watched the sunset. "It's beautiful."

"Why are you here, Evan?"

Evan shrugged. "Went for a walk, and I wanted to watch the sun go down. I love the slight purplish tint of the sky. It's just so . . . random."

Divya smiled. "It's an absolutely gorgeous view."

"It is," he wasn't sure which view he was talking about, so he tried not to think about it especially hard. He noticed a slight shiver. "Are you cold? Maybe you should—"

Divya looked at him, "Do you really want to ruin this moment because the weather is a little less than perfect?"

"No." He really didn't.

"So enjoy it."

Evan turned back to the skies, and looked out over the ocean.

"It kinda makes you wonder."

Divya cocked her head to the side, "Wonder what?"

"If something that incredibly perfect just happens, or if there's some sort of logic behind it."

Divya ignored both the scientific and religious answers that sprang to mind. "I think I prefer to think it's just a perfect moment of serendipity, where everything just kind of comes together in some sort of beautiful accident."

"I like that. Beautiful accident." Evan almost seemed to whisper the words to himself. "I think the best things, the ones worth living for, the kind people write songs about and die for—that's the way they happen."

Divya looked at him with mild surprise evident on her face. She was surprised he was so . . . thoughtful. She decided not to ruin a beautiful evening with an insult, however, so she merely looked back at the skyline. The sun was barely visible.

Instead of ruining the moment now that the sun had set, Divya just stayed quiet.

They both just sat there, as if by some unspoken pact they'd decided not to ruin the moment, and watched as the day finally slipped away into night.

XXXX

"You didn't show up."

"Sorry, I had a—"

"I don't care." Divya said, practically stalking over to a cupboard and pulling out a box of chocolate. "Oh, chocolate. You don't ignore my phone calls or skip dates. You'll never leave me, will you?" The chocolates didn't answer, but it didn't matter. Divya knew the answer was that they would stay on her thighs until she exercised them off. The thing about chocolate though was that you could always buy more.

"Divya, let me explain myself. I called you, didn't I?"

"I know." She did, she really did. But lately he'd canceled numerous dates, and he was always busy with something or other. He would always have a perfectly reasonable excuse, but it wasn't just that. If it had been, she probably would have just accepted it. She had to cut short many a date because of her own profession, she had to give him the same sort of leeway.

But it wasn't just that.

It was the fact that for some reason he thought her elbow was an erogenous zone, no matter how many times she assured him that she hated when he kissed her right there.

It was that he always touched her stomach, and spoke to it as if he were imagining his child inside of her. It freaked her out, frankly. She wanted children . . . but she didn't want his children. At least not anytime soon.

It was in the way he kissed her. There was a spark, but instead of turning into a full-blown flame, it instead seemed to fizzle out. Some sparks didn't last if you didn't have a solid basis to build a fire.

They didn't even really have a flame, Divya realized, to continue her fire metaphor.

It was everything, truly.

In the moment when Adam began to explain to her his latest project, and how he'd just gotten carried away with something or other that she didn't truly care about in the least, she realized something quite pertinent.

You could always get more chocolate.

And there were always more men.

Divya, upon realizing this, stuffed a mini-chocolate bar in her mouth so that she didn't rudely interrupt him. Because if she had, she'd have broken up with him, then and there, over chocolate. And she didn't think that was particularly appropriate, it wasn't something she wanted to do in front of the chocolate.

XXXX

"I broke up with Adam."

Evan spun around at that. "Oh, took you long enough."

Divya raised an eyebrow. "That was sweet of you."

"Sorry," he said, obviously not sorry. "You did say that you broke up with him, which means that I don't have to hunt him down and do terrible things to him."

Divya looked at him in surprise, "You wouldn't really do terrible things to him, would you?"

Evan looked at her as if she were somehow inept, "Of course. How could you doubt that? Why? Did he do something?"

Divya fought between being indignant and amused. Amusement won out and she laughed.

Evan just stared at her. "Do I need to hunt him down?"

"No, Evan. No. It just had to happen. Sometimes relationships aren't right, sometimes people aren't meant to be together. Life just happens that way."

Evan smiled at that, "Well, then I'm glad you've come to your senses."

As Divya and Evan shared a smile and a laugh Paige walked in. She stopped dead in her tracks, staring at them as if they'd lost their minds. "What did I miss?"

Evan turned to Paige, "Nothing important."

Divya noticed a sting at his words. Nothing important. Ouch. She realized, of course, that he probably just didn't feel like explaining himself to Paige . . . but it still hurt a little. She tried not to dissect the reasons why that might be the case.

Paige smiled at that and walked over to Evan, kissing him full on the mouth. "Did you miss me?"

"Of course," Evan replied, his hands curving around her to get to her lower back.

"Good," Paige kissed him.

Divya cleared her throat awkwardly. "I should go."

"You should." Paige said briefly before attacking Evan again.

As Divya watched Evan kiss Paige, she felt something. A spark. A flame beginning to rage within her.

She didn't quite know what, but she did know that something was incredibly wrong with this picture. Meaning, of course, that Paige shouldn't be in it.

And with that Divya realized that she'd somehow managed to develop feelings for Evan. Inexplicably, strangely, it had happened. And she had absolutely no idea what came next.

XXXXXX

I, however, know exactly what comes next :) Review?