The Guy from the Bar

"This view is gorgeous, Ty." I smile and say.

Tyler leads me out to the warm beach sands, holding a picnic basket in his other hand. He stops and sets down the basket, letting go of my hand to take out the blanket he brought.

My hand feels cold without his touch, an odd feeling considering it's 75 degrees outside.

I look out to the water, at the calm waves drifting onto the shore. The sun is starting to set, casting an orange glow on a ship far out on the horizon.

I wonder where they are going; where their destination is.

"Do you want a sandwich?"

I look down and see that Tyler has sat down and is holding what looks like a lunchmeat sandwich with tomato and lettuce inside. It looks delicious.

I grab it from his hands and sit down next to him, folding my legs to my right side for comfort. "Thank you, this looks so good. Did you make all of this?"

There's macaroni salad, potato salad, sandwiches, a fluff dessert salad with marshmallows, and cupcakes. He really went all out, it's cute.

Tyler laughs. "I'm not that much of a cook, Annie. I did put together the sandwiches, but I've got to be honest...I bought the rest."

"Hey, you still put it all together in Tupperware containers in the picnic basket. I think that still counts as work." I point out. "Plus, you put this date together. A beach picnic as the sun is setting is a girl's dream date."

"It helps to live close to the beach so we're able to do this. I'm just taking advantage of the proximity. You being here with me is a bonus."

We sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes, as we each take a few bites of the laid-out food. I go in for another bite of the sandwich and unfortunately, bite down on the wrong spot of the tomato. Red juice and seeds squirt out onto my pale pink shirt, very obvious to the naked eye. My face heats up with embarrassment.

Always the klutz.

Tyler chuckles and grabs a towel. He sits up on his knees and reaches over to dab my shirt. He is very close, close enough we could kiss if he looked up at me.

We don't.

Tyler finishes dabbing my shirt the best he can and leans back in his spot next to me.

I brush off the feeling of disappointment I get when he doesn't kiss me. It's only our 3rd date, I shouldn't be expecting a kiss already.

Instead, I grab a cupcake from the basket and relish in the chocolatey goodness of it. There's some sort of cream filling inside that tastes delicious.

Tyler and I engage in conversation as we watch the sun set even more. The sky is now full of warm-colored oranges, reds, and pinks. I've never been more in awe of this planet than I am at this moment. Sunsets are a work of art.

It's starting to get too dark to see in front of us, so we pack up and trek back to our cars. We drove separately because we live on opposite sides of the beach. It just made more sense.

I turn towards Tyler once we get to the cars and smile. "I had a really nice time. Thank you for taking me here."

Tyler smiles back. "Thank you for coming, really. I've been enjoying getting to know you over these past few weeks. I'm glad I met you at that bar. Your date was an idiot for passing you up."

My cheeks warm up again, not from embarrassment but a feeling I can't describe. "Have a good night, Tyler."

He steps closer as he says, "You too, Annie."

I'm looking directly into his eyes now, that's how close he's gotten. Then, without warning, he sets his hand on my left cheek and leans down to kiss me.

The butterflies in my stomach go haywire. It's been a while since I've felt the butterflies. I like the feeling.

Tyler pulls away and leaves me wanting more. "I'll talk to you soon."

I nod and walk back to my car, which is particularly hard because my legs feel like jello.

I drive off first and wave to Tyler as I pass him.

I never would've thought my horrible first date would turn out like this, with me at the beach with a man who gives me butterflies.

Life sure works in mysterious, but beautiful ways.

**Yes, you asked for it! This is the official update from my fiction piece from the Dream Date challenge. Tyler is the guy from the bar at the restaurant Annie went to on her horrible first date.

I thought fitting that when I saw Vocal set up another creative fiction challenge, that I just go ahead and do my first date update story along with it!

I hope you all enjoyed it, it's always fun writing these fiction pieces.

Feel free to leave a heart or a tip, although they are never necessary! Feedback is always appreciated.

Thank you all.