Lucas climbed down from the chair as his morning shift ended. It was lucky that he seemed to be never assigned the noon shift. [i]A perk of actually being able to function in the morning,[/i] he thought to himself. Plus, he loved seeing the beach open every day.

Looking down at his watch, which read 12:01, he got moving. Fortunately, Claire had only specified "noon-ish" the night before, or else he'd be in trouble. Taking a moment to locate the coffee shop amidst the string of shops adjacent to the beach, he took his bag and walked towards it. He kept periodically checking his watch on the way as he walked at a brisk pace, still sort of nervous both that she was going to be angry/worried about him not being there right at noon and that he was going to see her in the first place. By the time he reached the coffee shop, the watch read 12:06. As he had predicted prior, the coffee shop was exactly a five-minute walk from the chair. Seeing Claire in the window, he managed to smile and wave as his stomach did a little flip.

He opened the door and walked into the little coffee shop, pausing a moment to take it all in before walking over to Claire's window seat. [b]"Hey there!"[/b] he said with a big grin. Sitting down across from her and putting his bag down next to him, he explained itself. He had a hunch she'd be a little peeved that he wasn't there sooner. [b]"I got off as soon as I can. My morning shift ends right at noon."[/b] Pausing, he added, [b]"So, how have you been?"[/b]