down by the water | @ellaykim
Music pumping through his ears, sweat dripping down his forehead – running in Eastcliff around this time of the year was easier said than done. Then again, it seemed like he chased warm climate since he was born. Running near the beach on a sunny day always reminded him why he somehow ended up in a town like this. He liked its quirkiness, but above all, it was beautiful. He couldn’t deny it…felt like home to him.
But what he unquestionably loved the most was the people. And he was reminded of that little concept when he caught sight of a familiar passerby. At first he overlooked it, his brain not registering just who it was in that quick glance. Soon as he figured it out, his feet began to run backwards. He jogged to her backwards in place until she could see his face. A bright smile found his lips and he peeled the earphones out of his ears. Even though he was the one who went out of his way to flag her down, he couldn’t help but to tease her.
“Oh, Ella. I told you a million times that you don’t have to stalk me, you know. A simple phone call will suffice.”
Without a doubt, Ella loved Eastcliff and the sounds of ocean waves she could hear outside the windows of her humble home. But, working in Los Angeles proved to make Eastcliff a bit of an inconvenient commute - especially during traffic hour. The woman didn’t really love to drive much of anywhere to begin with, and a couple hours of traffic made her miss the east coast’s reliable public transportation a little (or maybe a lot).
After finally shifting her car into park in the comfort of her driveway, she started pulling her things out of her car and balancing them in her arms - books, a stack of papers, her purse, her phone, the fast food she’d just picked up. She’d hardly paid any mind to the jogging figure that passed by her, only to see the figure return to her periphery with the familiar sound of Will’s voice. She rolled her eyes at his comment, but couldn’t help but smile a little too.
“Stalker?” She scoffed with a small smile playing on her lips. “Wow. Pretty strong accusation, coming from the sweaty man that’s standing in my driveway.” As she finished speaking, her smile dissipated about as quickly as it had appeared, as her books started to fall out of her arms and onto the pavement next to her feet. She tried to keep the rest of her stuff from falling, mumbling quickly to herself, “Son of a bitch -”
