Just Friends

I got up at about half past five, the world still stuck in the gray sluggishness of morning. I started the coffee machine and put down the toast as I went to put on my swimsuit. It was a two piece, a bikini top and shorts with a t-shirt I threw over it for now. I checked in on Teal before I ate my breakfast.

Rob pulled up about six and I made my way to his green Jeep. It didn't have any doors and there were two surf boards sticking out the back.

“Morning,”he said as I climbed in.

“Morning,” I repeated.

“You won't drown, right?” he asked we drove down the street.

“Rob, I'm from here. It'd be sad if I couldn't swim.”

“Just making sure I won't have to save you.”

I rolled my eyes at him. A little while later I saw the ocean come into view. The sun peeked over the watery horizon as if greeting us. We parked where the asphalt met the golden sand, unloaded our boards, and made our way down to the dark water. We left our t-shirts on the sand and for a second I had a hard time not looking at Rob's muscular body. But then I remembered this was Rob, my best friend from high school that I'd hated for years. Get a hold of yourself I scolded, smacking myself on the forehead when he wasn’t looking.

We paddled out farther into the ocean and sat, waiting for a good wave. “You remember how to surf?” Rob asked.

“It’s a little late to be asking that, Robert,” I said flatly and he laughed.

The waves began to come and we got ready. The blue monsters came as I tried to recollect my times of surfing. I stood, getting ready to ride it...and completely wiped out. When I came up for air, Rob was beside me, laughing.

“That was awesome!”he said, after taking a breath.

I glared at him and got back on my board. “Shut up.”

“Get ready for the next one,” Rob said, turning back to the waves.

I'll save you the details of me completely kicking Rob's ass. There is one good thing in being short, gravity doesn't affect you as much as it does tall people. I'd been the one to introduce Rob to surfing, it'd only taken me a try to get my legs back under me, and I was on top!

Several hours later, we were floating on our surf boards out in the ocean enjoying the afternoon heat from our spots in the cool water. I was laying on my back, trying to get a better tan. Now that we were silent would be a good time to bring up the issue that had been nagging in the back of my mind all day.

“Rob?”

“What?”

“What do you think...of you and me?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don't know,” I answered honestly. “Like...where do you want us to be and where do you think we are now?”

He was silent for a long time until I heard a deep breath escape his lungs. “I'd say we're back to being friends.” He was quiet again. “But maybe we could be something different.”

Crap.

“Rob, I don't think that could happen,” I said firmly, opening my eyes to look up at him. “You're awesome, but maybe we could just be friends. I don't really think anything like that other thing could happen between us.

Surprisingly, he smiled down at me. “You know I was kidding right?” he said, sounding amused by himself. “That would be a bad idea.”

“Exactly,”I smiled, wondering if he actually had been completely joking. “Just friends.”

–

Whenever I wasn’t at my dream job, I was over at the studio doing my other dream job. I’d take pictures of the guys writing and whatever else, edit them, and post them on their website. It was a new favorite of the fans to see what pictures were coming up next.

In my “free” time, you’d find me down at the beach, surfing with Rob. I’d gotten a nice tan from it. It was safe to say Rob and I were best friends again and I was happy about it. With this new status as “friend”, I was constantly bugging him to cut his hair. Maybe a trim, but he just laughed at me. The only problem was that Rob possibly still liked me a little more than friends...

“Oh my God. Is that Orlando Bloom?”

“What?” Rob asked lifting his head from the sand.

I pointed to a guy jogging along the water. “That’s Orlando Bloom!”

It must of been the look on my face that betrayed what I was about to do, because Rob went, “Jen...”

“Hi, Orlando!” I called, waving enthusiastically.

The guy turned his head, smiled, and waved back.

“Oh my F’ing God! Rob, did you see that? Did you see that? Orlando Bloom just waved to me! I am so posting that on Facebook!”

“Oh, right. You can post the fact that Orlando Bloom waves to you, but you can’t post that you hang out with Linkin Park every other day.”

I had no excuse for that, but I mean, come on! Orlando Bloom! Legolas, Will Turner...hottest dude alive!

Rob and I were sitting on the beach, our hair dripping dry as we watched the sun sink down. The waves sloshed up on the shore, a rhythmic sound that made me want to lay back and fall asleep.

“Thanks for taking me to do this,” I finally said.

“No problem.” Rob swept his hair back from his face. “I just don’t want you to be mad,” he said slowly.

My eyebrows scrunched together. “What are you talking about?”

He looked over at me, a cautious look on his face. “Sam and I...sorta...started...dating.”

My mouth formed a little ‘o’ and then it broke into a smile. “Finally ” I exclaimed to sky then collapsed back on the sand.

“You’re okay with it?” he asked.
“Yes! You two are so cute together!”

Rob looked relieved and he chuckled. “Glad you approve.”

I scoffed at him, propping myself on my elbows. “Why does it matter if I approve?”
“Because you’re a close friend and you’re a girl. I didn’t want you to feel threatened.”

I rolled my eyes at him and got up. “Dude, I will not be ‘threatened’ by your girlfriend.” I grabbed my board from the sand. “As long as you aren’t threatened when I get my Italian male model.”

Rob shook his head and smiled. “Right.”