Mr. Winter.

They spent around an hour at the restaurant having lunch. She wondered why he had taken her to lunch instead of dinner. When she asked him about it he simply said that the place wasn’t as crowded at lunch as it was at dinner. He had said that he wanted to talk to her not yell at her. They pulled into her driveway a few minutes after they left the restaurant; it was a fairly short drive. He opened her door for her and walked to the front door of the house with her.

“You wanna come inside?” she asked as she unlocked the door.

“Sure,” he smiled and followed her through the door. She kicked her shoes off at the front door and went to the kitchen. She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and offered Shaun one as well. He took it with a smile. “Do I get a tour or what?” he asked with a smirk.

“If you want one,” she laughed and he nodded his head with a goofy grin. “Ok well, come on then,” she sighed. He followed her down the hallway; she walked past the music room not wanting to show him that for fear he’d beg to hear her play or something like that. “That’s the guest room,” she said pointing to the door on the right, “and this is my room. My favorite part of the house is out here though,” she told him and led him out onto her balcony.

Her bedroom faced the beach. When you stood out on the balcony the crash of the waves reached you without becoming overwhelmingly loud. You could see the line of the horizon with ease. You could watch the surfers ride the waves like they were born to do only that and in the early mornings and late evenings you could see dolphins jumping in the distance. She loved sitting out on the deck in the morning and watching the sunrise or the sunset turn the sky every shade of pink and orange you could think of.

“I can see why this is your favorite part of the house,” he said quietly.

“It’s better at sunset,” she smiled wistfully.

“Hey what was that first room that we passed?” he asked curiously.

“Oh um… that was the music room,” she mumbled.

“I want to see it,” he grinned. She sighed and led the way back inside and down the hall. She opened the door and pushed it open slowly. He walked inside and flipped the light switch by the door up. She had an upright piano against the far wall and an acoustic propped in a stand next to it. There was a desk with some notebooks and low tech recording equipment. There were a couple of music books as well and a couch on the wall opposite the desk. “Play something,” he said as he turned around and pointed a finger at the piano.

“No way,” she shook her head.

“Come on please,” he begged and walked towards her. He put his hands on her waist and pulled her against him. “For me,” he said softly. Her eyes locked with his and scattered her thoughts, tossing them to places unknown. She couldn’t remember the excuse she had planned if he asked her to play. She could only think that she had to play him something or he’d never let her go.

“Ok,” she breathed. He smiled a brilliant smile and kissed her forehead. She sat down at the piano bench and he sat next to her. She felt self conscious but pushed through it and thought of what she would play. She decided that she would play River Flows Into You. She took a deep breath and pushed back the cover revealing the ebony and ivory keys. She placed her hands in the right place and started playing. She was hyper aware that Shaun was sitting next to her. She didn’t know if he was watching her face or her hands but she stopped caring after a minute or so and just played. She missed playing the piano. She hadn’t done it in a while. When the song came to an end she put her hands in her lap slowly.

“That was amazing,” he told her with a smile.

“Thank you. I haven’t played in so long, it felt good to do it again… better than I thought it would,” she reflected. He stood up and took her hand. He pulled her out of the room and into the living room. He pushed her onto the couch and then walked to the TV.

“Where do you keep your movies because I know you have them?” he questioned as he searched the cabinets. She pointed at the little door where she kept all her movies and he opened it and picked one out. She didn’t see what it was but he put it in and came to sit next to her. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. She pulled her knees up and leaned against him. She missed just sitting and watching a movie with a guy. Most of the boys she had dated lately would’ve done this as an excuse to make out with her or try to get in her pants. It was a nice change of pace, something she could definitely get used to.