It wasn’t good enough though. Justin needed to hold her in his arms again. He needed to run his fingers through her hair and breathe in her scent. He wanted to just be able to loose himself in her eyes again. All this would come with time though. He’d make certain of it.

What had started out as a seemingly harmless crush had developed into a strong attraction and now a full-blown obsession. It had got so bad that he couldn’t even go a minute without thinking about her. Justin spent many sleepless nights awake on the couch thinking about her.

Returning his face to the photo, it clouded over with disdain. Jessica wasn’t alone in the picture. Anger washed over him as he regarded their smiling oblivious faces. She looked happy. Too happy in fact. Jealousy ripped through his body as his gaze fell upon their intertwined fingers.

You loved me. You still love me. I know you do. “You have to!” he shouted out loud.

Suddenly Justin had an idea. A way to show Jessica that he was still around watching over her. A way to show her that she wasn’t happy with Nick. Feverishly, he rushed around the dingy apartment scouring it as he tried to find exactly what he was looking for.

He finally found the scissors and snatching them up, he began his handiwork. She still loves me. She still loves me, he repeated over and over as he busied himself with the scissors.

Mya sat in the sand, gazing out at the vast waters ahead of her. She had travelled all the way from London, England trying to forget. Thousands of miles later though, she still hadn’t forgotten. She was beginning to feel as though she never would.

Lying next to her on the sand was her well-worn sketchbook. Sketching was another one of her many artistic talents. She picked up the book gently and leafed through it until she found a fresh page. The blank page leapt out at her begging to be filled up. Grabbing her pencil, she began sketching. Her pencil began creating smooth, contoured lines as her fingers moved deftly about the page.

Whenever she sketched, she never usually contemplated ahead of time what she was going to draw. She simply let her fingers guide her about the page. Like now. Her fingers were doing all the work.

As her sketch developed Mya could see a face. Not just any face though – AJ’s face. She began working on his eyes going to great lengths to make them perfect. After all, the eyes were the windows to the soul.

A few minutes later, she was finished. She sat back, admiring her work. What am I doing? I’ll probably never see him again. She reached up to rip the sheet from the spiral bound book, but she couldn’t. She decided to keep it instead.

As Mya gazed down at her sketch a shadow appeared over it and she was suddenly aware of a figure behind her. Snapping her sketchbook shut quickly, she turned to face the shadow. Her heart skipped a beat as his face came into view. Crimson blush crept across her face as she realized that he must have seen her sketch.

AJ smiled inwardly at Mya’s discomfort. He had seen her drawing of him. He didn’t know whether to be flattered or taken aback. He decided that he wouldn’t say anything about though. Pretend as if he didn’t see it. She obviously doesn't want to share it with me. There’s no use in pushing her.

“Is this seat taken?” AJ asked with a smile as he gestured towards a patch of sand next to Mya.

“Be my guest,” she replied thankful that he hadn’t interrogated her about her drawing. For now, her sketchbook would remain closed.

“We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” AJ said with a laugh.

“I know what you mean. It’s like we’re drawn to each other or something,” she said smiling. Her smile quickly faded as her eyes locked with his. AJ held her gaze for a minute before she finally managed to tear her gaze from his.

AJ and Mya sat in uncomfortable silence for a while each unsure of what to say. They both sat wondering exactly what it was about each other that was so compelling. “So, what are you doing out here alone again?” he asked finally breaking the ice.

“The beach is great for inspiration. Plus I have a lot on my mind. Just watching the waves is a stress reliever.”

“What are you thinking about?” AJ wanted to ask. Instead, he kept from prying. He didn’t know her well enough for her to share her personal problems with him. Hopefully that will change soon, AJ found himself thinking.

They continued talking for almost two hours. They talked about everything and anything that came to their minds. There wasn’t a moment of silence between the two from then on. Mya had never felt so comfortable sharing her opinions with anyone before. Nobody had ever listened to her as intently as AJ did. Not even her parents.

As the sun began to set and the winds picked up, they decided it was time to part ways. “I had a great time talking to you. We should do it again sometime. What do you say?” AJ said grinning.

“AJ. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were asking me out on a date,” came her response.

“Well, I guess that all depends on if you’re accepting the invitation.”

“I’d love to,” she replied softly.

Brian and Lila lay in each another’s arms on Brian’s leather couch shrouded in darkness. They were supposed to be watching a movie, but it had long since been forgotten. They had found other pressing issues to attend to, such as each other.

As Brian’s lips made a trail down Lila’s neck, she closed her eyes tightly, trying to enjoy the sensation. She just couldn’t though. She couldn’t enjoy something that once used to feel so natural to her, but now felt so deceitful and contrived. She began wishing that Brian hadn’t asked AJ and Nick to leave. She wasn’t sure if she could go through with this after all.

Brian will never find out, she reassured herself yet again. In a desperate attempt to try to forget all her feelings of regret, she began kissing Brian feverishly. Their intensity deepened as Brian ran his hands up and down her back. His touch was so loving and so genuine that she began to feel sick. She tried to ignore the knots which were forming in her stomach, but each time Brian’s lips touched hers her guilt increased two-fold.

She broke apart from him gazing into his eyes. In his eyes, she saw honesty, passion, and trust. Everything she’d always wanted. She averted her eyes to ground afraid that they wouldn’t express the same sentiments that Brian’s did.

Brian gazed down at Lila, his gaze never wavering. Returning his lips to hers, he gently encircled her tiny waist. He carefully lifted her up into his arms, placing one arm around her back and the other around her legs. Slowly, he carried her towards the stairs his lips never leaving hers. He ambled up the stairs slowly pausing every few seconds to regain his balance. Once in front of his bedroom, he kicked the door open gently with his foot carrying Lila over the threshold.

As he gently laid her down on the bed, she could feel the knots forming again in her stomach. Even as their clothes began to tumble to the ground, she knew that what she was doing was wrong. I love you so much Brian, was her thought as the last of her clothes fell to the floor.
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