Fabiola looked down at the cemented floor. She brought a hot hand up and wiped the sweat from her forehead, a deep sigh escaping her plump lips. Her camera hit the wooden table with a soft 'thud' before her hands sat on her hips, her body turning slightly to the side so that she could take another glimpse at the ocean.

“Nothing, Fabz?”

Fabiola looked up, a hand covering her eyes from the hard sun. Stood behind her was Max, a waiter at her favourite bar. He had a sympathetic look in his eyes, his mouth pursed and his arms crossed. Fabiola just shook her head and turned her gaze back to the water.

“Nothing.”

Max sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder, “The Dolphins will come soon, you've just got to be patient.”

“I hope it's soon, I'm not getting paid until I get at least six decent shots.” She sighed, biting her lip.

“I'm sorry girlie,” He gave her shoulder a quick squeeze, “I've got to go. It's busy inside. Come in when you call it a day, drinks on me.”

Fabiola turned back around and gave Max a soft, friendly smile, “Thanks Max.”

“No problem.”

Being a photographer definitely had it's down points. Fabiola hated taking pictures of animals, the photo never turns out like it should do. Her passion was with simple landscapes, but she was good at it, up close shots too. She loved nature. However, the photography firm she worked for wasn't patient, they tell her what shot they want and she has to get it on the dot and she was running out of time. Normally when she walked across the ocean front she would see five or six dolphins, leaping from the water and diving back in. Lately, nothing and it was getting her down. She wasn't happy with her job any more, she was too good for this.

Grabbing her camera she walked down the stone steps onto the beach. It was empty, around 5pm everybody left to get ready for the night-life, for that, she was grateful. At least it was peaceful, only the birds chirping and the simple sounds of the waves crashing against the rocks. The sand was too soft, causing her sneakers to sink a little too far into the sand and her white socks turn a brownish color from the crushed stone. She rolled her eyes and began to turn back towards the Bar. There was not a single point in her trying to take any more pictures today, she had been out in the boiling sun for a little over five hours, it was getting to her and the aching feeling in her chest was coming back.

Lifting her feet up a little more so that the sand couldn't get in her shoes, she made her way back towards the steps. She was surprised to see how many people now sat outside the bar and the bars that surrounded it, it had picked up quickly. She ran up the steps and ducked her head down as she pushed through a bunch of people, she didn't want to interrupt them or make eye-contact with any of them, she was too self conscious to look a stranger in the eye, it came with her depression.

She was just about to ask Max for her usual when he placed it in front of her. Vodka and coke with extra ice. She just smiled at him and put the straw in her both before sipping on the cold liquor. The bar was extremely busy, it always was this time of year meaning that Max couldn't sit with her like he used to able too. Fabiola didn't have any friends, only Max. She wasn't very social, it wasn't down to her personality. She was lonely, it wasn't a choice. Her posture was slump, her eyes dark and her hair always covering her face. She, in general, didn't look approachable.

Turning around in her chair with her drink clamped in her fists, she watched people passing by her. There was a lot of tourists present, all grinding up against each other to the music. Feeling awkward, she turned back around and bit her lip, she wasn't drunk enough to be able to watch that yet.

Fabiola brushed her hair from behind her ear. She had people either side of her and she didn't want them seeing her face. Her fingers nervously fiddled with her glass, flicking the straw from one side to the other.

“These are good.”

Startled, she jumped and turned her head to see a guy going through her camera. Her mouth dropped into a huge O as she grabbed the camera from him and placed it tightly between her knees.

“That's personal.” She told him in a whisper.

He replied by smiling at her, his dimples spreading across his beautiful face and his perfectly shaped eyebrows raising, causing the wrinkles in his forehead to appear. Fabiola couldn't believe a guy like him was even talking to her, maybe he was drunk? She blushed and looked down at her camera, hoping that the guy would walk away. He didn't.

“Are you professional?” He asked, moving her chair with his foot so that she had no choice but to look back up at him.

He was huge, at least 6ft 1, his arms were about the size of her legs, muscle bursting out from his shirt and perfectly drawn tattoos twisting through both of them. His hair was slightly raised from his head, a beautiful light brown color. But his eyes, something else... a sparkling hazel, memorizing.

“Yes.” She replied feebly, nodding her head as she did so.

“Cool, do you charge?”

Fabiola creased her eyebrows, “W-What do you mean?”

He seemed taken back by her confusion, “Do you charge money? When you take pictures of people?”

She shook her head from side to side, “I only take pictures of natural things, and animals.”

He nodded and picked his drinks up from the bar, “You don't seem too pleased about that.”

Fabiola looked down and grabbed her camera. She stood up and smiled at the strange man one last time before spinning on her heel and walking towards the exit. She wasn't in the mood to talk to strangers about her camera and photography, she was bored of it for today, she just wanted a drink and then to stumble back to her shitty apartment and flop down into her comfy bed but the beautiful stranger stopped her from doing so. The sounds of the bar got quieter and quieter as she made her way across the ocean front and the street lamps got dimmer.

“Hey!”

She spun around to see the same guy following her. Her teeth clenched together and her breathing got faster, what did he want with her so badly? She just kept walking, faster than before and muttered for him too leave her alone. Of course, he didn't. Was he seriously that rude? What did he want to know now, where she got the camera from?

“Stop!” He shouted, his voice this time a little rougher than it was earlier.

“What?” She finally asked, stopping when he started to run, “What do you want?”

The man stopped about 10 steps away from her and dropped his head to the side, then repeated the action but on the other shoulder. His eyes narrowed and then went wide. He must be mad, she thought, frowning and crossing her arms, feeling a little uncomfortable.

“Walk with me.” He told her.

“No, I have too get home.” She told him.

He chuckled at her, “You and I both know that's a lie. Come on.”

There was no budging him. Fabiola followed him as he made his way down the stone steps onto the beach, the ones she had not long ago walked up. It was dark now. That was something odd about Panama, the sky would be a bright orange and then the sun would completely drop, leaving the place with nothing but a few twinkling stars.

“So what's your name?” The man asked, looking behind him when he realised that she wasn't walking behind him, “I don't bite.”

She nodded and walked up beside him, “Fabiola.”

“I'm Matt.”

She nodded, “Are you drunk?”

He looked surprised at her question, “No. I wish I was, my band members are. I'm just merry.”

“Band members?” She asked, “You're in a band?”

He nodded, “We're here on tour. Our world tour actually, this is only our second gig. Filming our music video here.”

Fabiola looked shocked. On a world tour, and filming a music video? He must be in a pretty famous band. She didn't ask any more questions, she just dipped her head to the side and looked over at the ocean. She was getting suspicious. She didn't even know this man, yet he had managed to get her to walk on a beach with him, far away from any people. It was almost as if he was about to kidnap her.

“Why are you so sad?” He finally asked after a minutes silence.

Fabiola shrugged and ignored his question. She was getting annoyed with him now, who did he think he was? She didn't even know him! How dare he. She walked a little faster than him this time, heading towards the other steps on the other side of the beach.

“I'm not sad.” She finally told him.

“You're lying. Your eyes are terribly sad.” He spoke truthfully.

She scoffed, “I'm sorry, but I don't even know you, Matt. I'm not going to talk to you about this.”

“So you are sad?” He chirped in, completely ignoring what she had just said, “You just basically admitted it.”

She shook her head, feeling tears building up from behind her eyes. She was sad. He was right. She was more than sad, she was completely depressed. She needed to let it all out, she needed to cry, but she could do that in the comfort of her own home, not in front of some American rock star.

“I'm going home, Matt. It was nice too meet you.”

Matt stuck his arm out and snatched his arm into her. He looked down at her bare wrists and then looked back up into her eyes. She pulled her wrists anyway, knowing exactly what hazel eyed man was referring too. The scars that landed her in hospital the first time. She shook her head, and sniffed pretty loudly right in front of him. This couldn't be happening to her. All she wanted to do was too take some pictures, go to her local bar, have a drink and then go home but the night had ended in this man following her and demanding answers from her.

“I need to know.”

“This is really weird.”

He sighed, “What do you have too loose? Once you walk off up those steps, we'll never see each other ever again. Don't you want to get this off your chest to someone who you don't have to face ever again?”

His logic suited her, and it surprisingly made her feel a lot better about the whole situation. She exhaled deeply and pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes and thinking for a second. Finally, she nodded and took a step back from him, crossing her arms protectively over her chest.

“My brother drove into a tree. He was drunk, I should have drove. He died on impacted.” She told him softly, shrugging her shoulders, “I haven't been the same since.”

He bit his lip, “It wasn't your fault.”

“Don't lie to me, I know it was my fault. It made me insecure, depressed and over protective of myself.”

A soft whistling of the warm wind brushed past her hair, causing her bangs to fly out from her face. She sighed deeply and looked to the side, then back up at Matt who was rubbing the back of his neck.

“The reason I walked over to you tonight in the first place was because I have never seen something so beautiful.” He told her, lifting her head up by her chin and then shoving his hands into his pockets, “Your insecurity is lying to you.”

She blushed again, and copied his actions by rubbing the back of her neck and bringing her other hand up to play with the ends of her hair, “T-Thank you.”

“Just a strangers kindness.” He told her, with his dimpled smile coming back, “I'll walk you home, it's dark now.”

Fabiola accepted his kind gesture and allowed him to walk her home. For some strange reason, she opened up to Matt. In fact, she poured her heart out too him on their little walk. There was something about this man that made Fabiola want to tell him what was on her mind and her chest, maybe it was because he forced it out of her, no one had ever tried to do that to her. She found out that Matt was 24, single and lived in California in America. His band was in fact, very famous. He told her the name, but she forgot, it was something to do with the bible that he had his friend make up in high school. He asked her about the rest of her family, her house, her job. He seemed interested too.

“Here we are.” She told him with a smile.

“It's nice.” He smiled back.

There was an awkward silence until, “I was wondering, why don't you come to the studios on Maple street tomorrow. You could take a few pictures for the band, paid job, obviously.”

Fabiola nodded, “Of course I will.”

He gave her the time and wrote down the address, even though she already knew where it was. He said his goodbyes and began to walk away. Fabiola watched him, he was swaying from side to side and brushing a hand through his thick hair. She frowned, maybe he was kind of drunk and then, something very, very strange happened. He turned around on his heel and power walked back over to her and before she could even ask him what he was doing, he pressed his plump lips onto hers and gripped her face between both of his hands. Everything happened so quickly and before she knew it, he had pulled away and started to walk away again. Her mouth was wide open as she watched him turn a corner and her fingers came up to touch the corner of her mouth. Butterflies darted around her stomach as she turned the key too her apartment, only one question on her mind.

“What the hell just happened?”