Difficult.

Mid-stride, the anxiety that came from being, well, him, froze him in place. Wanting to talk to this oddly out of place woman was all well and good, but hitting up random women he found captivating wasn’t exactly the kind of thing he was an expert at yet.

“Do you think you’re being sly, sneaking up on me like that?”

The sudden sound of her voice made him jump, unfreezing him and causing him to sputter out excuses.

“N-no you’ve uh... got me a-all wrong! I’m simply passing by from this lame side of the beach to that great and cool beach over there!” He pointed dumbly towards the opposite side of the bridge. Her accusation made him start to walk away in a hurry, but she called out to him.

“A liar’s steps fall heavier on the sand,” she said, and turned to look at him as if she expected a response.

“I’m sorry, what?” He didn’t expect her to call him out.

“I’m calling you a liar. I was wondering why you were heading straight towards me, and then you went deer in the headlights mode for no reason and just stopped moving. I saw the whole thing.”

She wasn’t even facing me! How did she see me? Did she see me take the picture too?

“So. What were you really doing, coming at me like that?”

In the absence of another option, he went for the truth. Well, most of the truth. “It might seem a little weird, but seeing you fully clothed, alone under the bridge threw me off. I don’t know if you noticed, but everyone’s running around half naked rubbing suntan lotion on each other or frolicking in the ocean.”

“I don’t frolic,” she said flatly. He believed it. “Is that your thing? You see someone unusual and come gallivanting up behind them?”

“Not always. First time, actually. Probably the last, with how this is turning out,” he laughed, but she didn’t join him. Instead, she took a wireless earbud out of her ear that he hadn’t noticed her wearing before, and offered it to him.

“Come sit with me then. We’ll watch the waves,” she said. It wasn’t enthusiastic, seductive, or even all that inviting. She said it like it was the obvious next step after catching a stranger walking up on you.

Leon nervously checked his phone again. No new messages. It would make more sense to leave this odd person to her own devices and go check on Jessie. I might as well see if it goes anywhere. It wouldn’t hurt to recruit another model if I want to get things going with that modeling agency idea.

“I guess that doesn’t sound so bad, if it’s alright with you.”

She didn’t bother replying. Just stared at him plainly with the earphone in her outstretched hand.

He sighed, and plucked it out of her waiting hand.