Choices. . .

The Beach

They agreed to meet mid-afternoon in the parking lot near Black's Beach. This was her first time in California and would be her first time at a nude beach. She still wasn't sure what the hell she was doing.

She had come to San Diego on business. She was trying to start her own production company and all the good venture capitalist firms were in California. So she was swinging by the smaller ones in the south and then going north hopefully getting to pitch to the larger ones. She was gonna knock on every door if she had to. And those who dismissed her as just a silly little cam girl would soon see their mistake. She was only 27 but lots of people her age had started and succeeded at big projects. She didn't really need a distraction (was that this was?), but she had been working so hard for so long that she figured a little relaxation might make her pitch more focused.

She had met him online. They had started talking and over time it had become more personal, thought they had both kept it within certain boundaries. They were on a different coasts, came from a different worlds, and more importantly, he was a client.

When she had mentioned her business goals he was always encouraging. But as her plan had started to materialize more and more, he had started hinting that he might be interested in investing. This led them to voice, and then video chat. Eventually, they came to know more about each other and communicated regularly. Early conversations when they had first met had included kinks, sexual history, etc. That was to be expected considering she was a sex worker with her own subscription website. But now they had grown to know each other well while still maintaining a somewhat casual relationship. He had never been married but had an 18 year old daughter. He was a cop. A pilot cop, in fact. They had discovered a shared interest in sci-fi and were both the babies of their families. He was an avowed nudist and often recommended that she try it, which intrigued her. She had no problem showing off her body. She had done it for years online and had made a career out of it, but had never tried it in a social setting.

He had told her if she came to California he would help her refine her pitch as he had lots of experience with public speaking. He said he would also seriously consider investing himself. He had invited her to the beach and she had accepted before really considering it. Even though she was grateful to him for whatever help he could give her, there was a reluctance to take this to a more personal level. She had met people online before but this was different. He had been a subscriber. She knew she wasn't supposed to meet people from the site. But she knew him, right? And it was only the beach. And he was potentially a business partner. That made it ok, right?

She was standing by the steps cut into the cliff leading down to the beach. It was July and the California sun was shining without a cloud in the sky. There was a cool breeze coming in from the ocean that cut the heat from the sun dramatically. This was much different from being in the Florida sun she had grown up with, which would bake you like a potato if you stayed outside for very long in the summer. But despite the perfect weather, she was anxious, but that was nothing new, was it? Sometimes it seemed like her predominant state of mind. Should she do this? She could call another Uber and probably be gone in a minute if she wanted. Was she really gonna get naked down there on the beach? With a guy she had never met in person?

While all these thoughts were swirling around in her head like so many angry bees, he was suddenly there, walking toward her. He smiled and said, "Hey there," like he always greeted her online.

She smiled and they gave each other a cursory hug. With a mental push, she was able to drive down the bees in her mind a bit and said, "It's nice to meet you in person. Finally."
"It's kinda weird, though. Isn't it?" he said with a kind of lopsided smile. "But I'm glad we're doing it." He was carrying a small cooler and wearing a backpack. He had told her when they met online that he was more than twenty years older than she was. But he didn't look it. His hair was cut short and was dark brown with gray sprinkled all over. He was taller than she was but then again, being 5'2" most everybody was. He was fit and obviously worked out but wasn't obsessive about it. He had a relaxed air about him and seemed genuinely happy to meet her.