Meeting you

Meeting you 2

It's been a long day for Cal. Actually, it's been a long week. He was assigned a case to which he had no idea how to solve. It was driving him crazy. He joined the FBI back in Wisconsin soon after he got back from the Middle East. After spending two months in the same city with his family, he decided to pack his bags and move to Boston. A position was open in the Boston office and the over thousand miles only made it more appealing. However, sometimes he curses his own name for not getting a job basically paying the same amount but requiring only to sit in an airconditioned room typing away on his computer, sometimes attending a meeting.  Would have been far easier. He's been working at the Boston office for a week shy of three months. Crown - his boss - sent him home for the night, as they weren't getting any closer to solving the case. Cal spent most of his life alone. The last time he had a solid relationship was back in college. Working as a seal for nearly a decade,  joining another gig took him off of the market for many years. After coming back to the US, he had no interest in finding someone. He was reminded every day by someone in his family that he's not getting younger. But they didn't understand. Some of the things he's seen and done. It takes some time to be able to live a normal life again. Due to his singleness, he spent every night alone. He didn't have any friends in Boston yet.  He went out with a few of his colleagues occasionally, but they just didn't seem to have the same interests. He was about to pop a frozen pizza into his oven when his phone buzzed. It was a text from Emily. The woman he met a little over a week ago. "Hey." 

He was glad she messaged him. He's been wanting to message her but simply didn't know what to say. What could he say? Hey, do you want to hang out and drink beers? Didn't sound too appealing. "Hey." Cal didn't even have the time to take the plastic off the pizza, another text appeared on his phone. "We exchanged numbers so I just wanted to say a quick hello. Feel free to ignore this text if you're busy..." - He knows she doesn't have anyone to talk to, really. Her family doesn't understand her and what she's going through. Neither does he, but at least he has an idea. "I'm not busy at all. I just got home. I'm about to pop a frozen pizza into the oven and go through some of the files from work." - He quickly typed back. He didn't want her to think he was occupied. He wanted to talk to her and get to know her more. "That's nice." - So she kept it sweet and short. Probably feeling awkward about messaging him without having a reason.
"What are you doing?" - He was actually curious. The frozen pizza was slowly defrosting on the counter, but he didn't even notice. His full attention was on the screen of his phone. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing." - That was the truth. Sitting on her couch, having the Tv on only for background noise like every single night... "Sounds boring." - He typed back. 
"It is." And then he had an idea. "Feel free to turn the offer down... But If you want we could grab a bite somewhere and could talk... Maybe have a beer with it? I can go through the files later." - He didn't really feel like having pizza again anyway. There was this burger place a few blocks away from his place and he's been wanting to try it out for a few weeks now. Work always being busier than it should be, he never got to go there... " It's okay, you don't have to. I'm fine, just bored. That's all." - And before he knew it, he pressed the caller ID. 

In the end, he managed to get her to come to this burger place. She was afraid that it would be a burden to him, but he assured her it wasn't. He needed to have dinner anyway, and he's been dying to try their fried chicken for weeks now. He was the first one to arrive, so he took a booth by the window. Thankfully the place wasn't too crowded, and it had a nice feel to it. Five minutes after he arrived, she showed up in front of him. This time around, they were in a properly lit place. She was wearing black pants, a grey shirt, and a black leather jacket. Her hair was let down in soft curls. She only had light makeup on her face, just enough to cover the dark circles under her eyes. "Hey." - She said as she took a seat opposite him. "Hey, stranger." - She didn't say anything but smiled at him. She was beautiful. In general, she had a great personality, a nice figure... But what made her more beautiful was everything she went through. After getting home the week before, he did a little digging. He followed her case on the news, but working with the FBI he actually had access to the old case files. It amazed him how strong she was. How capable she was. She went through more than many of the people he knew who couldn't handle their trauma. And she was still here. Despite everything that happened to her, she was still smiling and doing everything to overcome her biggest fears. He remembers what it was like... To come home and not being able to relate to anything or anyone. Normal people living normal lives. And then there's you. A complete outsider. Every little thing reminds you of the hell you had to walk through. His thoughts were interrupted by the waitress who seemed to appear out of nowhere. 

"Hi. Ready to order?" - He looked at Emily quietly telling her that she can order first.

They both ordered a glass of beer and the week's special. As they never been there before, they didn't realize just how big of a portion the restaurant served. After thanking the waitress Emily looked at him with what he would describe as utter panic. "I can't even eat half of this." 

He chuckled softly. "It's bigger than anticipated, but try anyway. You can always just take home whatever you can't eat now." 

She smiled at him and started eating. Sure enough, he was already finished with his, when she hasn't even started eating the burger itself. That's okay, they had nowhere else to be. But sitting in silence made it quite awkward, so he decided to spark a conversation. "So, what have you been up to the past week?" - That's when she looked up for the first time since they started eating. Looking at him first and then his plate. She looked almost embarrassed for not having a clean plate in front of her. Before she could say anything he cut in. " Take your time. It's fine." - She did feel a little silly for not inhaling her food the second it hit the table. After being starved for years, she felt like she needed to save the food that was given to her. Just in case she won't get any food for another few days. But there's no way she can explain that to other people. So instead she just looked up at him with gratitude and took a sip of her beer. 

"By the way. Nothing. I usually am at home or I go visit my son. We play a few rounds of video games, but that's about it." 

Cal can't even imagine. Having a son you loved more than anything in this world and he has to grow up without you. Coming back after six years of torture only for your child to not even recognize you. Let's not even think of her ex-husband.

"When I came back from my last deployment... I had nothing to do. I didn't have a job and I had to stay with my parents. Which was probably the worst part of it. I don't know how you do it, because I was going nuts not having anything to do."

She smiled at him shyly before popping the last pieces of fries into her mouth. "I hate it. But my boring life isn't very worthy of a conversation." 

Taking the hint, he started talking about his work at the FBI. He knew he can talk to her about it, as she would understand. She was an agent for nearly a decade before disappearing. They stayed there for hours. Talking about everything and nothing all at once. She managed to finish her food, and they ordered another glass of beer each. Having someone who you can talk to without worries is one of the best feelings ever. And before they knew it, this became a regular thing.