The Summer Deal

Eight - The Summer Deal

Noah and I ended up at the beach together. The afternoon sun was high upon us, but the calm waves of the sea gave a mild, cooling effect. Too bad it didn't work on us. We were sweating profusely from our run. My legs finally gave up on me, and I dropped on my knees, supporting myself on my hand, with Noah right behind me. 

"Oh... my God," he roared with laughter, rolling on the sand with no care for his clothes. "That was incredible. I think we lost them."

I couldn't help myself but laugh with him, half panting. "Lost them? I think we scared them—no. You scared them after you screamed like a girl in the lobby."

"I did not. I think it was that security guard you grabbed as a human shield on our way out." We burst out laughing again. "By the way... what did you do to that kid? His mother was going to burst that vein on her forehead."

I was the worst person living on this planet. I knew I never should have called Quincy and spilled everything to her. Instead of being a supportive friend, she acted the entire opposite of it. Make a child cry? Why did I agree to her nonsense—scratch that, why do I keep her around in my life? 

"I... I ate his pastry," I cringed at myself. My actions reminded me that I was not a fan of chocolate. "I did try to convince him that I would buy a big cake for him, but he wouldn't listen. I took one bite, and the waterworks began!"

"I think it would be better if you don't go back there." Too bad that could not happen. Noah crossed his arms over his head and exhaled loudly, looking up at the clear blue sky with a huge smile on his face. God, that smile. "And you just made my day."

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes and sat up straight. "But thank you... for helping. Even though it was unnecessary."

His lips tugged into a frown. "Do you always have something sticking up in your ass? You did your ridiculous job. I helped. We had fun together. There's no need to add any hurtful comments. You keep hurting my feelings."

"Oh... um..." I felt guilty. I realized I shouldn't have acted rude to him. Noah was just trying to make up for his actions. "I, um, I am sorry. I shouldn't have said those awful things to you at the table. It was wrong of me."

He spared me a glance and saw the genuineness in my eyes. "It's okay. I forgive you. And I'm sorry too. For calling you self-obsessed, rude, and everything else that happened before that."

I sighed. I was not the type of woman who held grudges against anybody for long. "It's fine. Can we start fresh? Let's just forget everything that happened in the past 24 hours and never talk about it again."

"Yeah, I think we can do that." Noah stuck out his hand. "Hi. I'm Noah."

My face broke into a smile as I grasped his hand to shake. "I'm Sarah."

"What brings you to one of the most expensive cities in the world, Sarah?" 

It would be nice to have a friend, or an acquaintance at least, in this place. Noah seemed my best option. I decided to come clean. "The place I worked at threw me out because they thought I worked too much and didn't take care of myself."

Noah was shocked. "They fired you? For being hardworking?"

I shook my head. "No. They'd just put me on a long leave. What about you?" I didn't want to dive deep into my life now. My life was boring with nosy people everywhere. I elbowed his arm playfully, trying to create a common ground between us. "You're from here, aren't you?"

He scratched his hair, shaking off the sand from it. "Yeah. Kind of, actually. I haven't been back here in a while."

Then I remembered him saying that he worked in the military. "Oh. A couple of months shouldn't be that bad. I mean, it's all part of the job, right?"