six months ago —before everything

    "THANK YOU SUMMER! Come back soon," Mrs. Young, the old lady who runs the bakery says, bidding her goodbye. "Stay safe. It's getting dark."

    "I will, you too," Summer says, taking a last glance before pushing the door open. The familiar sound of the bell resonating.

    She checks her phone to see the time 6:04 it read. She could still have dinner with him if she didn't go back home and instead immediately head straight to Twigs. Twigs is a respectable restaurant that almost everyone in Oakside knows. It's known to be minimalistic and divine, which easily makes it Summer's favorite place to eat out. It would be nice if this pushes through, it's been too long to remember the last time they had a proper dinner. Before she lets herself be completely lost in her train of thoughts, her ride has finally arrived, she pulls open the familiar Mercedes car and steps inside.

"Ms. Hart, where to?" Dennis, the family butler, who was in his usual uniform, which by the way, Summer finds really tacky, asks once she closes the door.

    Dennis was in his 40's from what Summer remembers and has been in the family for a decade at the very least. His hair was black but with a few little peaks of white, showing itself. Not that it was noticeable, just if you look closely enough.

"Straight to Twigs," Summer says, fixing her black pencil skirt, as she tries to tug it a bit down that it reaches below her knee. She was always self-conscious like that.

"Right away, miss," Dennis replies obediently.

"Oh and give this to mum for me," Summer hands Dennis the paper bag filled with croissants that she was sure her mother would appreciate.

    Dennis nods in responds and places the bag in the front seat. Although her formal business attire would not be the most appropriate clothing of choice, it would do the part. Summer opens her phone to distract herself instead. She debates on whether she should just call him. After all, she also has no idea how late he was planning on arriving. Before she could decide, the name flashing on her phone decided for her and she was beyond relieved that he called.

"Hello?" she says, quite unsure. She was nervous beyond words.

    "Hey, I'm already at Twigs, the meeting ended earlier than expected, are you on your way?" His voice smooth as always calmed her. She nodded her head, but realized he couldn't see her. "Yes, just order the usual, I'm already near."

"Hmm, ok," he replies.

"See you in a bit bub," he continues using the very familiar nickname, and she whispers, "See you."

    She hangs up afterwards. Summer let out a sigh, she couldn't wait to finally spend some time with him.

Yes, it has been too long.

    There were the occasional good morning and good night texts and a couple of video chat here and there, but nothing over 15 minutes.

    This summer, Matthew had never been busier, helping out in the family business that is bound to be his. The Walters have decided that the moment he was born. He was basically the heir to their very respectable chain long companies of Walter Hotels and Suits.

    Something similar also goes for Summer, she had to obediently follow around and run errands for her father. Unlike the usual family tradition, the company would be split into exactly half for Summer and her older brother, Seth, which means, equal efforts are a must.

    She tugs on the loose strands of her light brown hair that is styled in a bun. It wasn't as neat as it originally was, considering the tiresome day, resulting in some loose strands here and there, but it still looked decent enough so she didn't bother. Plus, she felt like if she undid the bun, her hair would look like a mess. Summer finally arrived at Twigs. She walks in and a hostess greets her. She politely explains how her company is already waiting inside with her reservation and the hostess lets Summer navigate herself in.

    She spots Matthew on his phone, with his back hunched, clearly tired, still with his white crisp Hugo Boss polo, with the buttons on the top undid, and his usual black slacks. His light brown hair was neatly pulled back to style. To be fair, Summer was wearing a blouse and a classic pencil skirt, so they both looked like a young married couple having a meeting. Matthew glances around and spots her, just a few steps before she arrives at the said table.

    Summer sees him stand up and approach her, a smirk playing along his lips and God, those dimples, how she had missed seeing it.

"You look adorable," he whispers in her right ear, lips brushing a bit as he gathers her in his arm.

"Right." She rolls her eyes and steps back to look at him. Matthew hasn't changed as much, aside from the eye bags and paler skin, he was pretty much the same just how she remembered and liked.

    Matthew kisses Summer on the cheek. His warm lips leaving a tingling feeling on her. Summer blushes slightly and bites down her lips to keep her from smiling. At the same time, he undid the used to be messy bun she was just wearing. Her light brown hair spills and falls past her shoulders and just stops right in front of her chest. He then kisses her head before he drops his arms to his side and pulls back her chair for her to sit and he sat down across her.

    Summer didn't even care anymore as she broke into a grin. Her smile radiating the room. She chooses instead to busy herself with the menu. She didn't want him to know how happy he made her feel.

"Did you order yet?" Summer asks, flipping through a menu she found on the table.

He shakes his head, "I was waiting for you."

She blushes slightly at the very small gesture. "You should have gone first," she says instead.

"And risk eating without seeing you first?" he says, smirking.

    Summer rolls her eyes again, feeling butterflies on her stomach. It's been two whole years and she thinks it'll never go away; and the fact he occasionally low key flirts with her all time does not help at all.

    They called a waiter and ordered their usuals. After they handed back the menu, Summer hears Matthew's phone ring. He checks the caller ID from his iPhone. He mouths her to wait for a second as he answers it.

    Summer nods her head nonchalantly and chooses to fiddle with the hem of her blouse instead. She was so relieved that they were finally able to sit down and have a proper meal. Especially with summer ending soon, with only a week left, they could finally spend some quality time together. After all, from what they heard senior high should not be taken granted for even if you've finished junior with flying colors.

    When she no longer found fiddling with her blouse entertaining, she opens her phone to check the time. 6:53, it read. He still hasn't gone back. But underneath the time, she sees a message notification and her eyes widen as she read it.

"My dad's in an ambulance. He's in critical condition."

[ 1189 words ]

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I don't really know what to feel about this chapter, but I hope you guys are enjoying it!! I haven't prewritten anything so it took me a lot of courage to post this. I'm entering this for the Wattys2018 and hope to at least post 5 chapters as soon as possible so grammatical errors, spellings, etc. are inevitable so I'm sorry.

Don't forget to comment and vote 💕

all the love,