The Pier

She met him first at the pier.

It was an accident, honestly. Her little brother Miles wanted a balloon, so she bought him one. But he was her little brother; it didn’t take long for him to let the red loop of ribbon accidentally slip off of his wrist. It started floating away in the strong beach winds, the red bulb of helium and latex sadly waving goodbye…

Until it was caught by someone else.

It was quite a sight to see someone jumping up and down for the balloon, but it was even more humorous to see that someone’s tall friend hitch a foot on the pier’s rickety, rusted guard rail and grab it just in time when the first person gave up. They were only a few yards away, both in striped tank tops and tight jeans despite the cloudy, post-storm weather.

When Miles saw his balloon in the boy’s hand, he pointed and yelled with delight in a language only understandable to other toddlers. The girl laughed in relief as she scooped up her brother and placed him on her hip. She walked the few yards separating them on the creaky pier and smiled up to the two boys.

The first boy, a reddish brunette twenty-something almost as short as she was, didn’t catch her attention much. The second one, holding out the balloon to Miles with a bright smile on his face used in an attempt to charm her little brother, did. Maybe it was his dark eyes, or maybe it was the different facial expressions he used to excite Miles. Or maybe it was the few blisters on the palm of his hand he held out that sparked her curiosity of him.

“Here ya go, little buddy,” he cooed, slipping the ribbon’s loop over Miles’s outstretched hand and tightening it. “Don’t you go losing it now, or I might not be able to catch it.”

He smiled again, and turned his gaze to the girl. “He’s really cute.”

“Yeah,” she said, hitching Miles up against her hip. He was getting heavier by the day. “Thank you…”

“Patrick.” He cleared his throat and stretched a hand to rub the back of his neck. “Pat, actually.” He nodded towards his shorter friend. “This is Garrett.”

“Hi.” She hitched up Miles yet again and brushed a clump of his bangs from his eyes. The winds around the creaky pier never ceased to mess up anyone’s hair. “Thanks again. Miles would’ve never stopped crying if his balloon flew away.” She looked back to the two boys and smiled. “That’s little brothers for you.”

“Not a problem,” the first boy mumbled, texting with his nose buried in his phone.

“See you around?” the taller one timidly asked as she set down Miles next to her leg. He latched on tightly and started sucking on his thumb, keeping a curious eye on the boy with the tangled hair of a girl.

“Maybe.” She ruffled Miles’s light brown hair and pried his little fingers from her jeans, letting him curl them around her pinky. “Thanks again, Pat.”

But once she was at the stairs at the end of the pier, Pat groaned and smacked his hand over his face, dramatically sliding it down and smothering his already quite flattened features. “I forgot to ask her her name.”

“Get over it, Pat.” Garrett locked his phone and slipped it into his jeans as he leaned his forearms back onto the guard rail. “It’s not like you’ll actually see her again.”

“But I want to.”