Page 46 of See You at the Sunset

“Yes, please,” she whispered. “Just maybe not out here on the street corner.”

His shoulders moved up and down as he tucked his head into her neck and laughed. He kissed her once on the skin justbelow her ear and lowered farther to the base of her neck. She squirmed.

“Ticklish,” he said. She remembered he’d said the same thing to her the first night they’d been together.

It felt both fresh and familiar. And Jia could so easily give in to the desire for more. She liked him. She liked being around him. But it felt a little like the universe had put them at odds each step of the way since that first time. Were they meant to overcome the obstacles or just accept that the odds were stacked against them? She didn’t know.

And she didn’t think she was quite ready to try.

She stepped back out of his hold. He released his arms and let her go.

“Good night, Henry.” She held on to his hand for just a second longer, before letting go.

“Good night, Jia.”

“Thanks for watching the sunset with me.”

“Thanks for letting me. I see now why it’s so important to you.”

Jia wasn’t sure what he meant by that. How did he know how much she cherished this time each day? Had he seen her out here before?

Henry crossed the street, and the two of them walked parallel to each other, a road between them.

Just as Jia opened her front door, she looked over her shoulder to see Henry doing the same. He lifted his arm in a wave, and she waved back.

In her peripheral vision, Jia thought she saw the curtains of the house next door move. But she hadn’t felt a breeze, and since everyone was likely already asleep, she brushed it off to the night playing tricks on her eyes.

She walked inside and lifted her fingers to her lips, remembering the way Henry’s felt kissing hers. And wondered if the night was playing tricks on her heart as well.

He’d seen her out there every single night watching the sun go down. He wondered what it was she thought about in those few minutes of the day’s transition. He’d wanted to ask.

He just never had a reason to join her.

Henry saw the light on under his granddad’s door, so he knocked gently.

“Come in,” Dennis called out.

“Hey,” Henry peeked in seeing Dennis tucked away in his bed. “I checked outside about that crying cat you thought you heard? All clear. Not a cat in sight.”

“Okay, good to know. Thanks for going out there.” Dennis smiled and then let out a yawn. “Could you turn the light out?”

“Sure thing,” Henry said as he turned off the switch and shut the door.

Dennis:Got Henry outside. He came back about an hour later.

Mimi:Way to go. Jia just came in too.

Betty:I peeked through my window, and they were definitely together out there.

Mimi:And they don’t know ’bout us, nudging, meddling.

Betty:At this rate, they won’t even need us.

Gladys:Yahoo... it’s working!

Dennis:It’s definitely working.

Mimi:Night, everyone!