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“Please, I need a ride to the beach,” she said

The driver lifted a skeptical eyebrow “You have money?”

Steph nodded “Of course I can pay you Please, just get there quickly”

The driver nodded and gestured for her to get in, which she did, sliding onto the leather seat as he peeled out onto the road and headed back toward the city Steph watched the sun sink farther under the horizon, and she feared she would be too late She had no idea how long Mehdi would wait for her, if he was even there

He had to be there He simply had to be

The cab sped up as it drove along a coastal highway, finallylot

“Thank you,” Steph said, giving the enerous tip

He grinned and nodded to her “I hope everything works out,” he said

“Me too,” Steph said, stepping out of the car and into a cooling desert dusk

The sun was nearly underwater by the tio with just a sliver of crea the beach There were still plenty of people there, and she walked at a quick pace as she tried to get a good look at therude

Finally, standing alone at the water’s edge, she found him

He had come

Mehdi stood, his shoulders slu sun He looked crestfallen, and Steph could hardly keep herself froh he continued to look out at the sea, totally distracted When she reached hiave herself a briefup next to hi out at the ocean

“Room for one more?” she asked

Mehdi’s eyes widened as he realized as standing beside him

“Steph?” he asked, as though trying to prove to himself that she was real

After a pause, his face broke out into a wide, delighted grin as he wrapped his ar in the lapping waves