Page 7 of The Expiration Date

I huff, half-catching my breath, half-exhaling out of mere shock to be in this position at all. “Um…yeah.”

“And…what is your answer?”

I nervously fumble with my earphones. Am I really about to do this? Am I about to crawl out of my introverted safe space of anonymity and be exposed for the world to see? To criticize? To completely laugh at the idea that I could ever get a man like Aidan Stone to date me? I squint as I look to the ocean and my stomach clenches at the many scenarios and outcomes going off like fireworks in my brain.

Out of nowhere, a frisbee hits my shin and breaks my chain of intrusive thoughts. Before Ginny can completely destroy the poor toy, Aidan grabs it from her line of fire. A couple of little kids, maybe around eight or nine years old, run up to Aidan and are completely star-struck. I have witnessed this happen many times before, but always from a distance. This time is different. I am inches away from what can only be described as the magic that is Aidan Stone.

“Oh my God! You’re Aidan Stone! We are huge fans! Can you sign our frisbee please?”

Aidan squats down to their level and smiles. “Sure, guys. Do you have a marker?”

“I think my mom does! Let me go check!” one of the boys excitedly yells as he runs back to his mom. She lowers her sunglasses and looks over to where we are standing. She smiles and rummages through her large, straw beach tote and finds a black Sharpie. Her son grasps it from her and joyfully bolts back toward me and Aidan.

Aidan stands back up and leans into me slightly. “Can you hold onto Ginny real quick?” When he places the leash into my hand, his fingers brush against mine and goosebumps appear all over my body. And I don’t hate it. Instead my body is betraying me and craving more. More of his voice. More of his touch. I watch Aidan as he basically creates a core memory for the boys. I can see their eyes light up at the sight of their favorite superhero signing their frisbee. In the three years I’ve known him, Aidan has never turned down an opportunity to meet and interact with his fans–no matter how busy he is. Especially when it comes to children. I smile at the pure happiness emitting from the boys’ faces, and that is more than enough for me to make my decision. That and the fact that Aidan is the nicest guy on this planet.

“Have a great day, guys! Have fun!” Aidan clasps the black cap onto the marker and hands it and the frisbee to the boys.

“Thank you so much! You too!” The boys run towards the one boy’s mom and resume throwing their frisbee.

I look down at Ginny and see that she is also beaming at her owner, almost as if she is completely captivated by his presence. Join the club, girl.

“Sorry about that, Hales. I just…”

“Couldn’t say no to a couple of sweet kids? How dare you.” I jokingly smile as I give Ginny’s leash back to him. He holds onto the handle of her leash and scratches the material. He really thinks I am going to say no. I need to put him out of his misery: “My answer is…yes…”

“Oh Hales, you are such a lifesaver! Thank you.” It appears he is closing in on a hug. Absolutely not. I’m afraid of what might happen to my body if he touches me with half his clothes off. It’s possible I would spontaneously combust.

I stick out my arm to stop his advancement and my hand collides with his bare chest. His rock-hard, glistening bare chest.

It’s confirmed. Definitely not photoshopped.

I retract my hand as if I just touched a hot stove. “But I think we need to talk about this more. Can we go somewhere before we head to the studio, to discuss the terms of this whole… deal? I don’t really want to talk about this with eyes glaring at us everywhere we turn.” I know this is going to be my new reality soon. I’m just not quite ready for that attention yet. I open and close my hand to hopefully dispel any remnants of Aidan Stone’s body from its memory. Not sure it will really work, but it’s worth a try.

“Sure. There’s a nice diner close by that I like to stop at some mornings. The owner of the diner is a sweetheart and she is very protective of me and respects my privacy. Plus, I usually go early in the morning and all the old folks in there don’t know who I am, so we shouldn’t be bothered. I’ll drop you a pin so we can meet there, if that’s okay?”

“Sounds good. Meet you there.”

“Great. See you there, Swann.” Aidan smiles at me and turns his hat the other way around, covering his dark brown locks again. He says, “Come on, girl,” causing Ginny to happily follow her best friend.

Apparently, I am more than willing to follow Aidan’s lead, too. Otherwise I would have said no to this absolutely preposterous proposal.

5

The door chimes as we walk into this old fifties-style diner located on the pier. It smells like fresh coffee, buttermilk pancakes and bacon. Probably my favorite breakfast combination, with the exception of pancakes. Waffles are the better choice.

“Welcome in! Sit anywhere and we’ll be right with you.”

“C’mon.” Aidan nudges my elbow. “Let’s go to that table over here. It’s my favorite. And the waitress will be discreet. I’ve known her for years.”

I follow Aidan to a small booth in the corner. He’s turned his baseball cap around so now the bill half-covers his face. Although I don’t think anyone would recognize him anyway. Most of the demographic here are elderly people probably upwards of eighty years old. One of the diner patrons at the bar reads a newspaper. At another table, two men bicker about the upcoming NFL season and which one of the L.A. teams is superior, the Chargers or the Rams.

A sweet lady, probably in her sixties or seventies, walks over toward us with a huge smile on her face. “Why hello hun! How are you doing? I was wondering when you were going to stop in. Haven’t seen you in a while, sugar.”

Aidan flashes the widest smile and gets up to bear-hug our waitress. She looks miniscule and frail compared to him. “How are you doing, Mabel? It’s nice to see you. I know, I’ve been very busy.”

“Yeah, very busy sleeping with every hussy in LA.”

Damn, the gumption on this woman to call him out like that. She is my hero.

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