Friends with benefits

Elena, seated on her vanity stool, applied her favorite nude lipstick to her full lips. Once she was done applying her lipstick, Elena looked back in the mirror as she admired herself.

Her black eyeliner and nude eyeshadow which accentuated her almond-shaped and gray-colored eyes, a little pink blush on her cheeks which you wouldn't notice easily except if you looked closely, made her pointy nose look even more pointer coupled with the nude wet lipstick on her full lips. Everything came together to give her already perfect face a beautiful but natural look.

She dropped her long blonde hair to fall on her shoulders and then picked up a matching two-piece blazer to wear on her white spaghetti strap crop top.

Although she was that dressed for her lunch date, she knew anybody who saw her would think she had just stepped out of her office.

When she checked her time and saw that she had over an hour to get to the venue, she picked up her bag and slipped into her sandal heels as she made her way out.

Elena wanted to get there on time so that she could better assess her date if he was her type or not.

Twenty minutes later, Elena sat at the reserved table, facing the entrance so she could get a better view of anyone walking in.

She hadn't even sat there up to another twenty minutes when a guy walked in. Elena winced when she saw the familiar figure approaching her.

Why did she have to run into her ex at the restaurant where she'd be having her lunch date, of all places? What did he even come there for? She hoped he would've finished eating before her date arrived. Otherwise, she would just have to take her date elsewhere. She decided and plastered a smile on her face when Dan got to her.

"Elena?" he asked, pretending to be surprised to see her there when in reality, he was her date.

Because she had used her picture to sign up on the app, he had known even before he initiated the match between them that she was his Elena Malcolm.

He had been very happy since he wanted nothing but to reconnect with her, speak to her one last time, and perhaps try to convince her into giving them another chance.

"Dan! What a pleasant surprise bumping into you," she said with a stiff smile.

Although Dan's looks weren't inferior or below average, Elena had long lost interest in him. They had dated for only two weeks yet Elena had broken up with him despite Dan's plea.

She, like every of her other relationships had grown tired of Dan and even though she knew he loved her, she couldn't bring herself to love him back.

"Yeah. Are you here for someone? I don't mind ditching my date for a chance to talk to you," Dan said, lowering himself to the seat across from her and she flashed him an awkward smile.

"Oh! Yes. I'm here on a date," Elena said, hoping he'd get the message she was indirectly passing to him.

"Really? I am too. It's actually a kind date," he said and Elena frowned as she looked around.

Everyone else was either with their date or were dining alone. But she, she was there waiting for her date and Dan had appeared saying he was there on a blind date.

It couldn't be what she was thinking it was, right? She asked herself and without actually wanting to find out, she created her throat. "Well, I wish you good luck. I've been here for over an hour but my date won't show up and I have a meeting with a client in the next twenty minutes. So, I'll just have to leave now," Elena said and Dan sighed.

"Please, Elena. I know you already know by now that I'm your date. Can we at least talk? You have no idea how happy I was when I met you on the app," he said before she could stand up.

Elena looked at him and then sighed. "There's nothing to talk about Dan. Everything is already in the past...."

"Well, because it didn't work out doesn't mean we can't go back to being friends. We used to be good friends before I went on to spoil it by insisting we make it a romantic relationship. I miss us, Lena. I miss being your friend," Dan said and Elena sighed.

That was the exact reason she didn't want to accept dating him when he asked her out. She had been scared it would ruin their friendship and it did.

Looking at him, she couldn't help but miss those times they actually were friends. "You know things can't go back to normal," Elena said Dan shook his head.

"Why not? I'm already over you if that's what's holding you back. I just genuinely want to be your friend again. Maybe with a little bit of benefit but definitely not a relationship," he said and Elena smiled at him, suddenly feeling excited.

Although she didn't love him but he did make her feel good. So, there was no way she was going to say no to that generous offer, as long as they both kept to their end of the agreement.

"Friends with Benefits, huh?" she asked and he shrugged.

"If that's what you want," Dan said, thinking he could get her to love him and change her promiscuous ways with time.

"No strings attached?" Elena asked, just to be clear. She wanted them to know their boundaries first.

"Exactly. So, what do you say?" he asked and Elena gave him a coy smile.

"How about we go someplace... somewhere we can be alone. Perhaps, your place or me. Surely, you can wait to eat later, or can you not?" she said, and Dan smiled as he gave her a nod.

"Of course, I can. Let's leave then," Dan said as he rose, and Elena rose too and followed him out of the restaurant.

While Elena was happy she could get a lot of vitamin D without having to worry about love, Dan was happy the first part of his plan had worked.

What was left was the second half. To make her fall in love. With him.