𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜. - 𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚢 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚐

brighton beach.

Andy has been driving for half an hour now so we can get to Brighton Beach. He said that I should come to the beach after these three days I've been working and taking care of Teri, now that we made amends. She's still pretty defensive though. And Andy doesn't know that yet.

Andy is having a hard time finding a place to park the car. I told him I could pay for the private parking space two blocks away but he denied.

After an eternity, we parked his car. The summer is gone and September is already showing its season - it's not a sunny day, but it is still enjoyable. I open the back door so we can take the stuff we brought for our beach picnic. Not bragging, I made the sandwiches Andy used to take from me in high school - and I would think that it was his way to flirt with me.

The sand is warm and people have their towels spread on it. He told me in the car that wanted to sit very close to the ocean, to feel like we were V.I.P. I can't deny that I laughed so much about it.

"I think we are in the perfect spot" he says, looking around him.

"If you think so" I throw my Chuck Taylor's on the sand.

He puts the basket on the ground and takes the big squared towel he brought from Jorma's and spreads it, so we have a lot of space to be comfortable. We sit on the back of it and he starts taking the food out of the basket and naming them in a funny sound.

"Today we have PB&Js, ice tea, chocolate chip cookies, strawberry pie and of course, beer. Oh... I almost forgot: your famous sandwich." he says, leaning everything on the big towel.

"You love my sandwich."

"You know I do."

He sits beside me and we face the sea. I unwrap my sandwich and I can feel the sand getting inside my shirt already. I've never been a fan of the beach, because of the sand, the salty water, and the people. Andy looks pretty joyful. He can't stop smiling.

"It's funny, you know, I used to do this sandwich because I knew how much you loved them and every time you would take it, I would pretend to get mad about it. I just thought that was your way to flirt with me." I take a bit of my sandwich after gazing it the whole time.

"It was kinda my way to flirt with you. I just didn't know that. I don't know, I was always trying to have your attention and loved when you used to get mad at me because that would mean I should be the one to cheer you up." he gives me a genuine side smile.

I am so overwhelmed right now. Everything seems so right and so true. He makes me forget the issues and the concerns, he brings so much joy that... makes me hesitant to tell him why I couldn't go out with him these past three days. I don't even know if I should tell him that Teri is pregnant because it is her matter. But we all know each other for so long, we are all friends.

"I gotta tell you something."

He crosses his legs and looks at me.

"Teri is pregnant" I say, very hesitant.

He doesn't say anything at first. His eyes are focused on something distant and his brows go up, while his mouth opens but nothing seems to come out of it.

"Wow. I'm happy for her. Really" he congratulates.

"I'm too, but she wasn't going to tell me. She told me that wouldn't tell me because there would be nothing to be found out." I say, expecting him to get the message. The face he does shows that he didn't. "She wants to abort the baby."

"Oh wow. Is she not happy?" he asks, naively. "She might not have planned it but she has a quite stable life, hasn't she?"

"Yeah but, she broke up with her boyfriend when she found out because it was not a real thing and that would make him stay in her life and she was already tired of him."

"That Chad guy you told me about?"

I nod.

"She has been dealing with it a lot better since we spoke, but I still worry about her."

He holds my hand. His cold hand touching my skin is still comforting.

"I love how you care so much about people," he leans towards me, supporting his head on my shoulder "and how you're always giving 100% of yourself to the ones you love. I love it."

That's the only thing he loves about me.

He gazes my lips. I can't help but smile at him and he knows what I want to do. His lips touch mine, making me feel the goosebumps. My eyes go from him to this young lady holding a phone towards us some ten feet apart and all I wanna do is shout. Give me privacy, give me my freedom, give me some time with my boyfriend. But all I do is a whisper.

"Andy, we are being watched."

"That's my fault."

He gets up, cleaning the sand off his shorts and takes this wood stick. He starts to write on the sand with pretty big letters. "Pack our things, we're going somewhere else" he says, while writing.

I get up quickly and seconds after he's done, our things are inside the basket again. He takes our shoes and with his free hand, he takes mine. "They have a message."

I look back and the message says. Mind your own business, you assholes.

After walking a while, we look back at where we were, and the lady is reading the message with such an angry face that makes us both laugh.