Running About

Talia smiled and texted back "I run early because of that. How early can you get up? Want to meet at 7 am?" Just typing out that made Talia yawn. Ugh. 7 am.


The next morning, she got up super early. Partly because she wanted to be nice and awake for her run, partly because she wanted to look decent in front of John. She woke up, drank a quick few sips of gatorade and applied a few light bits of makeup. Nothing that would run while she was...running. Then she spent a good amount of time stretching. Ever since the surgery, she had always had to stretch her right leg a little bit more than the left. It never hurt, but it always felt tighter when running long distances. It actually reminded her of where she was only half a year before. It felt like a different life back then.

Talia put on a pink underarmour tanktop and black shorts. She skipped into her shoes and left her apartment. The meeting place was the very park John had showed her around their first meeting. He was kind and polite about it all even though she didn't deserve him to be. She idly waited by the bus stop, checking her phone very now and then. It was only 6:43 but she was already getting anxious. It was kinda important to her. She wanted to be normal. She wanted him to like her. All she had to do was run and hold a casual conversation. And she wasn't even sure she could manage to do that.

â€Thats about when I run sounds good to me.†Hmmm…He usually ran around 8 or 9 when he didnâ€t need to be up early, and AFW tended to let him do whatever he wanted in the morning. When he had to work, heâ€d run around 7, so this was no big deal to him.

John got up, and he wasnâ€t really too nervous. He put a slice of toast in the toaster oven and turned the coffe maker on while he checked his email and the news on his laptop. He never ran on a full stomach, but a slice or two of bread and butter didnâ€t usually bother him. It was something to burn, then he could have a real breakfast after. As for coffee, that was about the worst thing he could drink right now…but he shrugged it off.

After he finished his tiny food, he stretched a bit, but not wanting to over stretch and strain his muscles, he only did this for a little while. He then tugged on his workout clothes, a light gray, blank tee-shirt and a pair of nice, breathable black shorts which had the word ARMY on the side in white lettering.

John had two modes of transportation. Both were BEAUTIFUL antique WWII British motorbikes. The first was inherited from his grandfather and his father had given him before he left for Japan, and the second was one he had been VERY lucky to find in Japan and bought with the money he was SUPPOSED to spend on a car.... John never rode without all the gear, all the time, so the motorbike was out. That was a shame. He rarely took the old girls out, but he did like to show it off and not let it sit gathering dust.

Looks like he was busing it. He took a different bus than he knew Tali would take, and walked across the park to wait for her at her bus stop.

John wasnâ€t nervous, per se, but he was curious about this. What was Tali expecting? He guessed to talk while they ran, chit chat, catch up. John looked forward to that. Amanda had joked that she had a crush on him. He didnâ€t think that…but then again, she might. What did John think of her? He didnâ€t know for sure. She seemed like someone worth cultivating a friendship with…but was there more?

Talia kept looking around for John as the time passed by. She had moments of doubt on whether he would even show up at all. He didn't really have any good reason to spend time with her after all apart from just being a good guy. But her doubts about him lifted as she saw him walking towards the bus stop. "Good morning John!" she stated a little more excited than she meant to. "So...need to stretch at all or are you good to go?" Talia looked around the park and the city and slightly laughed. "I guess you're leading, I'm not really familiar with this place."

“Good morning!” He replied, smiling a bit. He didnâ€t have the same thoughts as Talia, he found her to be friendly and nice, if a little…confused. In general, he simply genuinely enjoyed the brief moments they had spent together and, more importantly, had found himself intrguied. The cell phone number thing only intrigued him more.

“Nope, Iâ€m good. Hate to over stretch, strains your muscles.” John nodded a bit, “Sure, I got a good route to take for a morning, pretty level terrain too. Leme know if you donâ€t like the pace I set.” John took a second to jog a bit in place, then made sure his small bag was adjusted right on his back so it didnâ€t ride up and annoy him. “Run run fun fun.” John chuckled, setting off with Talia.

As they ran, with Johns setting a fairly measured pace, moderate, not super taxing but definitely a decent morning workout. They began to move deeper into the park. “Back in New York, you gotta run in parks during this time of day. People, street vendors, hot dog carts, tourists, cars getting in the way of everything. Except here I always feel like a tourist, even when Iâ€m running.” He chuckled, his voice a little short, his words cut as he breathed. “Whereâ€re you from?”