Guardian Angel

First meeting

Beca:

It was a sunny and warm day in spring and as usual I was patrolling the streets with Luke. We had been police officers for 6 years now and over time, we became really close friends. Sometimes I still got the feeling that Luke maybe wanted to be more than just friends, but I wasn't into guys. Just like every other morning we would get coffee at a little coffee shop and then patrol the park nearby. I really enjoyed this little morning walk with Luke. There were always the same people- the old lady feeding the birds, a mom taking her baby for a walk in the stroller, the man on the grass painting something and always the same two people running, circling the pond in the middle of the park. It was a beautiful park with little pathways and some big, old trees under which many people would seek shelter from the sun in the summer. We took our usual round through the park when I noticed someone I had never seen in this park before. Luke and I were walking in her direction slowly and I took in the sight of her. She had red curls, tied up in a ponytail, she was wearing a pink tank top and grey running shorts. I watched her stretching at a bench and noticed her toned legs and figure. Her eyes were the prettiest I had seen in a long time. A shade of blue, kind of like the blue sky on a summer day. She was absolutely gorgeous. As we were approaching the bench, she tightened her ponytail and started running in our direction. She passed by my left side and smiled at me while greeting us. Luke and I finished our little walk through the park, tossed our coffee cups into the nearest trash can and continued our patrol with the police car. The day went by pretty fast and soon enough I found myself sitting in a little diner, eating lunch with Luke.

"Hey, uhm, since it's our free weekend coming up, I was wondering if you'd maybe want to go out with me. Have some dinner and some drinks after." Luke was shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"I'm sorry, but no. I just want to stay home and have some alone time." I knew he would be disappointed that I didn't want to hang out with him, but I wasn't the person to lie about not wanting to see people.

About ten minutes later we had finished our lunch and there were still four hours of our shift left. Nothing unusual happened during the afternoon, except for a few speeding or parking tickets. When I got home, I took a shower and my mind started wandering back to the stunningly beautiful redhead I had seen at the park this morning. I just couldn't get her off my mind. I turned on the TV and mindlessly let it run the whole evening without really paying attention. Before I went to bed, I decided I would go for my morning run at the park where I had seen her instead of my usual route through the streets, hoping that she would be there again.

I woke up at 7.30 the next morning. I took a quick shower, put on my long black sports leggings and the matching sports bra. I tied up my hair in a ponytail, put my phone and my keys into the pocket of my leggings and headed out. I arrived at the park about fifteen minutes after I had left. I walked over to the bench where I had first seen her and started to stretch. A few minutes after I had started, I saw her. She was walking in my direction and smiled when she saw me. She came over to the bench and also started stretching. For a few minutes none of us said anything, but I could see her stealing glances at me every now and then. She stopped and looked at me.

"You're officer Mitchell right?" Her voice was soft and friendly.

"Yeah, but just call me Beca. How do you know?"  I held out my hand for her to shake.

"Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Chloe. I saw you patrolling in this park yesterday and saw your nametag on your uniform when I passed by while running."

"I've never seen you here before. Did you just recently start running?"

"No, no I go for a morning run every day, but I just recently moved to this neighborhood after breaking up with my boyfriend." She sounded sad while saying this.

"Oh. I'm sorry." I didn't really know to respond to that.

"No, don't be. It's fine. He was a dickhead anyway." She waved it off while continuing to stretch next to me. "This guy you were patrolling with- is he your boyfriend? You guys seemed pretty close."  She was nervously looking around, avoiding eye contact with me.

"Haha, no. God no."  I started laughing. "We're simply good friends. I swing the other way."

"Oh, okay."  She answered and I thought I heard something like relief in her voice. "Hey, uhm, Beca? Do you maybe want to go for a run together?"

"Yeah, I'd like that."

We started running, circling the pond in the middle of the park, talking some more about Chloe's recent break up. She told me that she had decided to break up with her boyfriend because she didn't have feelings for him anymore and that he wouldn't really understand that they weren't a thing anymore. We talked some more about my job as a police officer, about the shifts and my colleagues. She asked some questions about how Luke and I met each other, and I told her that he had constantly been hitting on me during police academy and that I had always told him no and then eventually that I was gay. After that we talked about everything and nothing and got to know each other a little better. I told Chloe that I worked out every day, hated movies, but instead liked going for long evening walks or a picnic in my free time.

"Your girlfriend is a really lucky girl."

"I don't have one." I replied and I could see her face light up in surprise.

"You don't have a girlfriend?" I shook my head 'no'. "I don't understand... You seem so kind and which woman doesn't like evening walks and a good picnic? And also, look at you..." She covered her mouth with her hand quickly after saying the last bit. She was blushing and looked away.

That didn't seem to be the best idea because she somehow tripped and fell. I rushed to her side to catch her, but instead she took me down with her, both of us landing on the grass next to the path. Chloe was lying half on top me and we both started giggling. She rested her forehead on my chest for a moment still giggling, before lifting it up and looking into my eyes. She was almost staring into them. All I could think of was, that she had the most amazing eyes I had ever seen. I was staring back into her eyes. She moved her head closer to mine, our faces only inches apart, resting in this position for the smallest moment before pulling away.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what's gotten into me." She said clearly embarrassed while getting up and starting to run again. I quickly got up and caught up with her.

"Do you always run away after almost kissing someone you just met?" I chuckled a little bit.

"I'm so sorry, I don't know what I was thinking... I don't know anything about you, and you know nothing about me, I just..." She started rambling, but I didn't want her to feel uncomfortable with this, so I stopped her by her arm. When we had stopped, I stepped in front of her looking into her eyes.

"Hey, Chloe, you don't need to explain. It's fine." I rubbed her arms reassuringly.

"No, it's not! I mean what was I thinking?! That was so stupid..." She was looking at the ground once again.

"Chloe, stop! I swear it's fine. Nothing happened. Unfortunately." I whispered the 'unfortunately' too quiet for her to hear. She was still looking at the ground sadly. "Hey, uhm, I really like you so far, why don't we do it the right way. Let me take you out to dinner." I added.

"You want to take me out to dinner?" She asked surprised.

"Yeah. I mean unless you don't want to go." I shrugged.

"I do. It's just- I have never been on a date with a woman before." Her voice was insecure. She was blushing again, nervously fiddling with her hands. "Let me give you my phone number so we can text about the details?" She made it sound like a question.

I typed her number into my phone, and we continued our run after. About 45 minutes later we both came to a stop, heavily breathing. We decided that we were done and that we would meet up for a run tomorrow morning again. We said our goodbyes and headed in opposite directions.