Fantasize

Chapter Six

Ariana's POV:

I managed to find my way home despite losing my phone. It was nearly midnight by the time I did so, getting lost several times on the way. I let myself into my home, anxiety at its peak while I scrambled to find a way to contact my parents.

I found my MacBook in a couple of boxes containing other electronics that I no longer used.

Plugging it in, I powered it on and immediately went to message my mom.

She didn't reply instantly, only sending me further into panic.

My shaking hands sat on the keyboard, letting out a heavy sigh when I see bubbles appearing on the screen.

She replied, telling me her and my father were okay but shaken up, opting to sleep for the remainder of the night. We exchanged 'goodnight's and 'I love you's before I closed our chat and ordered myself a new phone.

I shut the laptop, prancing around my home with nothing to do.

It didn't take for long for boredom to kick in and an idea to pop into my head, I was going to go to the beach. I grabbed my keys, slipping on some more comfortable and warm clothes before heading out.

About 40 minutes on the freeway and I was there, the parking lot was empty as well as the beach, which was expected considering how early in the morning it was.

I sat on the sand, watching and listening to the waves, it was therapeutic.

"Ariana?" I heard from a distance.

I turned my head to see a man with a hoodie on, holding one of his Air Pods as he faced me.

"It's Ricky." He announced as he approached me.

"Oh, hey. What're you doing here?" I asked as he took a seat beside me.

He took his hood off, putting his Air Pods back in the case before giving me his attention entirely, "I was on a run and I noticed your car, I figured you were around here somewhere, and I wanted to say hi."

I nodded my head, looking back to the water, "What about you? What're you doing here?"

I shrugged, "I went to a Charity Gala that my parents hosted, and some stuff happened. I lost my phone and now I'm here." He stared at me mindlessly, "That makes sense. I texted you earlier asking if you wanted to hang, maybe get a coffee or something but it immediately got denied, I figured you'd blocked me."

I should do that, that's a great idea.

"No, I lost my phone. I ordered a new one a little bit ago."

A moment of silence passed before he spoke up, "Do you want to go get a coffee? I'll buy."

We simultaneously stood up.

"I'll buy our coffee's Ricky, I'm a multi-millionaire and you're..you."

He side-eyed me, waiting until I cracked a smile to begin laughing together.

"All of a sudden," He said with an eyeroll, "I'm a photographer and dancer Ariana, you've seen my work and came to my performances, stop acting different." He gave me a slight nudge as we walked to my car.

There weren't many open coffee shops at 4 in the morning in LA, so the first one we found we went to. It wasn't actually an indoor shop; it was a food truck that wasn't too far from the beach.

I ordered an iced black coffee and Ricky ordered something similar.

"When are we going out on our second date?" He asked confidently, sipping his coffee with a smile as we walked. I stopped in my tracks, turning to face him with an emotionless face. Shaking my head, I told him, "You think this is a first date? Ricky we're just friends."