Sienna

Joe - or Pool Hotty, or J.P. Quinn, you choose, they're all one and the same - picks up the pint with one hand and takes a sip. As I step forward, his eyes remain on his book but the corners of his lips are gradually curving upwards, and I know he knows I'm there.

My heart slams in my chest.

"Can I sit here?" I ask, doing my best to imitate our original meet-cute.

He puts the book and pint down and raises his head, looking up at me over those sexy wire-rimmed glasses. His bright eyes are sparkling, crinkling adorably at the corners in that way they do.

"I'm going to say what I should have said then, rather than 'if you must'," he begins, grimacing at the memory of his own words before pausing and gathering himself.

He continues: "I'd love that. I've not been able to stop thinking about you since I first saw you on that bus, and I'm desperate to get to know you better. I'm just not ready to admit that to myself yet."

I can't help but smile at that as I drop into the chair opposite him. "In retrospect, maybe your original response was better. The alternative probably would have been a tad too intense for me and scared me off."

"Agreed." He laughs. "Plus I'm trying to get the conditions as close to our first meeting as possible. Let's see . . ." He screws up his face in thought. "It's Scotland rather than Greece but we've got the sunshine - for a change. It's not a pool bar, but it's a beer garden so it's pretty close. I'm fairly sure you're wearing the same dress but that's just a happy coincidence." He adjusts his glasses higher on his nose, grinning ruefully. "But I'm not even wearing the same specs because I broke my other pair when I was drunk."

"How on earth did you manage to do that?" I ask, giggling.

Joe shrugs, a shadow briefly passing over those chiselled features. "For some reason last Wednesday evening I was feeling really lost, and lonely, and I ended up drinking a bit too much wine and whisky. I left my glasses on the couch and and sat on them. Wish that was a more interesting story but there you have it."

I stare at him, the expression on his face and his words absorbing into my brain as I realise, finally, that this really isn't one-sided. That he's been as miserable as I have at the thought of us not being together. He's just been better at putting a happy face on it.

"So . . . Why are we here?" I ask finally. I pick up the wine and take a sip. Oh goodness, that's refreshing.

"Kate told me chenin is your favourite," Joe sidebars. He pauses again, takes a deep breath, rubbing awkwardly at the scruff already darkening his chin again. "Like I already said, I'm not quite able to make all the conditions work to recreate our first meeting exactly, so forgive me if this doesn't make sense at first . . . But here goes."

It suddenly occurs to me that this isn't Dream Scenario A or B . . . But some sort of scenario is about to unfold and it's going to be a good one. Joe Quinn is about to make a romantic gesture. My insides twist in delight and anticipation at this thought.

He picks up the book he was reading, opens it to the inside back cover and passes it over to me. There is what appears to be a handwritten list scrawled on the blank page at the back, which reminds me of the list we compiled when we agreed to be holiday buddies in the first place.

"For a published author you're terrible for vandalising books," I tut, focusing in on the words. "And you really need to work on your handwriting."

"Just read it," he sighs, pocketing his glasses and running a hand through that messy quiff I love so much. "Well, if it's legible enough."

I start scanning the list in front of me.

"Picnic in the park? Glasgow Mural Trail? Trip to the Science Centre?" Puzzled, I glance up. "What is this?"

Joe looks nervous. "I thought I would put together a list of activities that we could do here in Glasgow. And maybe Scotland in general . . . And maybe outside of Scotland too."

I think I'm finally starting to understand as I return my attention to the list. "Subcrawl? Oh, I've never successfully completed one of those."

"And I've never got around to even trying one," he says hesitantly. "It could be fun?"

"Roadtrip - maybe Skye or the North Coast 500?" I continue to read, trying to contain my excitement as everything starts to become clearer. I really hope I'm not misinterpreting this list's intention.

"Thought we made pretty good roadtrip companions," he nods. "I don't even mind doing all the driving."

"Well, obviously. I have no idea how to work a passing place for a start!" I roll my eyes at him, smiling to soften my words.

I scan down the rest of the list: there's more Glasgow activities on there; there's a trip to the Edinburgh Fringe to watch comedy; a suggestion of another holiday abroad ("but maybe just the two of us this time?"). At the bottom there's one that really stands out for me though.

Rewatch all our favourite sitcoms. At my place, or yours. Doesn't matter as long as we do it together.

I finish reading the list and look up at him, my breathing uneven. My face questioning. My heart brimming with hope.

"So I have a new proposition for you," he says. "But first there's something else I need to tell you." Worry is evident on his face now and the hope is probably draining from mine. My mind is racing; I always think the worst, but I can't even think what the worst case scenario would even be this time.

He pushes something else towards me: a photo. "You accidentally handed me this with the currency," he explains.

I look at the photo of my younger self with my mum. "Told you I look better blonde," I joke. Unable to see where he is going with this.

"Do you remember when you said the girl in my book reminded me of you?" He asks. I nod. He taps the photo.

"It was you. I based Amy on you."

"W-what?" My hands fly to my mouth.

"We had a lecture together. At uni. I didn't make the connection until I saw that photo - like I said before, I've been great at compartmentalising parts of my life - but I changed the whole appearance of Amy after I saw you there. I was drawn to you somehow. The same way I found myself when I met you again two weeks ago." He hesitates. "So, in a weird way, it's always been you."

Oh.

"Hopefully that doesn't freak you out too much," he frowns, looking away.

I can't stop the smile that spreads across my face. "So it turns out the famous author I once had a crush on actually based his female character on me. And now, years later we've reconnected, neither of us realising we sort of had a history? That's pretty cool if you ask me."

Joe exhales, the doubt on his face clearing at my words.

"Can you get on with your proposition now?" I ask eagerly.

He fixes his eyes on me and I find myself, once again, taken back to that day in the pool bar. Less than two weeks ago but it feels like I've known him so much longer. I suppose, in a way, I have.

And suddenly I don't need to have mind-reading abilities to see he feels the same way I do about him. He has fallen too. I bite my lip to stop myself from smiling too soon.

"Sienna," he says softly. "Would you like to be Glasgow buddies?" He swallows hard. "In other words, would you like to continue our holiday buddy agreement here. . . But in a more permanent and definitely less platonic way?"

"We were never very good at being platonic," I nod, trying not to laugh.

"Can we give this a try? Being together? For real?" He finishes.

I repeat the words I did when he propositioned me previously. "Joe, I thought you'd never ask."

His face lights up. We smile at each other, slightly awkwardly, clearly feeling a bit out of our comfort zones. Whatever is going on here is new to both of us. But I'm beyond excited to see where it goes.

"So what happens now?" I ask, after realising we've been gazing into each other's eyes without saying a word for far too long.

Joe stands up and moves around the table to sit beside me. He pulls his new chair up close to me and strokes a finger lightly down my face, brushing his lips against mine softly before he speaks again.

"For a start, in order to continue the recreation of events that started this off, I'm going to take you to the Greek restaurant across the road for dinner. Then . . ." He pauses for dramatic effect. "I'm going to need to go and listen to my brother and your best friend have sex."

I can't help the snort that escapes at that followed by genuine peals of laughter. I'd almost forgotten how much this guy makes me laugh. "Maybe leave that bit out," I manage to say eventually. "How about we skip to the point where I came and rescued you from the lounger and took you back to my room?"

His smile is downright filthy. "Sounds good to me. Except this time I'll act on that little moment we definitely had."

"Not if I beat you to it." I match him dirty grin for dirty grin, wrapping one hand around the back of his neck and pulling his face towards me. He groans, lips sinking onto mine, fingers sliding into my hair.

We kiss for a long time, lost in each other, until eventually someone else in the beer garden eventually breaks the spell by shouting good-naturedly: "Get a room, for fucks sake!"

Typical Glasgow behaviour.

Joe pulls back, looks at me as we both shake with laughter again, the expression in his green eyes a gorgeous mix of tender and horny. "Shall we take their advice?" he asks softly.

"I guess it would be rude not to," I reply breathlessly, as he takes my hand and pulls me to my feet. We head towards the doorway, waving jokingly at our heckler en route.

Holidays are great; they take you away from your normal life, and it's amazing to have that level of escapism . . . but then you've got to go back to reality and the memories quickly fade.

In this case however, I think happily, as Joe bends to kiss me again out on the street, seemingly unable to stop, I've brought back the ultimate souvenir.

A permanent holiday buddy.

~~~The End~~~

So that's the end to another story, and I'm kinda sad to be done with Sienna and Joe. I'll miss them. 😢

I hope you enjoyed the story! Please like, comment and share if you do as it will hopefully get my story shown to more people on here, which I would love. This is definitely my favourite story of the ones I have written. 💜