The Girl From Spain (girlxgirl)

Day 121/182: Mila

"Can you believe it?" Camila huffed and took a sip from her coffee. The little cafe only minutes away from her apartment made one of the bests she had ever tasted. "He has a job secured. Who does that this early? I don't even know which part of Spain I want to live in!"

Merel, the only exchange student she had stayed in touch with after the introductory week so many months ago, grimaced, a guilty expression etched on her face. While Camila's piece of cake was barely touched, Merel's was finished, making her realize how long she had been ranting.

Camila frowned. "What?"

"Don't flip out," she said. "But I kinda have something too."

"How?" Camila cried out. She hesitated. Sally's dramatics were definitely starting to influence her. After clearing her throat and straightening her posture, she repeated calmly, "How? Back home in the Netherlands?"

"I'm not quite sure where I wanna go so I applied for an internship first. I had an interview over video chat and it worked out."

"I'm very happy for you," Camila said genuinely. "Just ignore me being all cranky."

Merel shrugged. "It's just an internship. I wanna check out my options before deciding. And I think it's perfectly normal not to know what you want, I wouldn't mind studying for a couple of more years."

"I'm mostly looking forward to finally being done," Camila confessed. She had enjoyed her years in college but finally wanted to stop feeling like a student. She was ready for adulthood, at least in her mind. Many would disagree, she was aware of that. Sally, for example, often expressed jealousy and always claimed to want the college years back.

Camila knew should start sending applications out too. Halfheartedly, she had searched for a few possible workplaces weeks ago but nothing had been overly convincing. Now, she was procrastinating.

She sighed. "I just want to skip the phase in which I have to decide stuff."

After breakfast with Merel, she began to walk towards Sally's place. Anxiety about her unsettled future settled in, mixed with nostalgia.

Camila had moments that sometimes lasted an hour, sometimes a day or a week, in which a wave of sadness washed over her as she missed Spain. Her family, the lack of omnipresent wind, and, last but certainly not least, finally having to look at the left side whilst crossing a street again. No matter how long her stay in England was, vehicles driving on the left side of the road still felt fundamentally wrong.

Despite her slow walking pace, she arrived a couple of minutes early. Sally texted her that she would be there soon, being stuck in the line at the supermarket. Camila leaned against the building's wall, closed her eyes, and enjoyed the rays of sunlight stroking her skin.

She flinched when the door next to her was pulled open and was first entirely shocked when Sadashi stepped out. Then, she remembered that she and Jake had been on a date the night before and suddenly grew very amused and a little proud of herself.

Camila crossed her arms. "Lovely seeing you here."

Sadashi, who previously hadn't noticed her and was about to walk away, turned around with her hand on her chest. "Damn girl, you gave me a fright."

"Had a good date, I presume?" Camila asked, grinning.

With no traces of embarrassment or shyness visible, Sadashi nodded, grinned, and confirmed, "Very much so. Thanks for setting us up by the way."

Camila snickered. "No problem at all."

Sadashi left after some smalltalk and Camila only had to wait a few more moments until she saw Sally turning around the corner, two fabric bags in her hands. "You'll never guess who I just ran into," Camila announced as she took one of the bags off her hands.