Trust me, babe

Chapter 10

Kathryn

I walked along the beach, carrying my shoes in one hand and holding my phone in the other. Winter or not, I couldn't come to the beach without taking off my shoes. I just had to get to feel the soft sand against my soles and between my toes. It was so satisfying, so calming. And since winters in Sydney didn't mean there'd be snow or that it'd even be cold, I couldn't see a reason why I couldn't go barefoot if I wanted to.

It was ten o'clock on Saturday morning and the beach was rather calm, at least compared to what it could be like. I didn't usually come here at this time in the morning. But now I was expecting a call, and this was where I wanted to take it. Any minute, no, any second, and Sasha would call me on FaceTime. Then she would add Kenzie to the call, too. I would see their faces. I would hear their voices. We could all talk together. Almost like the old days when we were all in LA together. Almost.

I glanced into the distance, over the water, to the point where the ocean and the sky met. Somewhere over there, far away, over the ocean was the place where we had met, where our friendship had begun and where Sasha and Kenzie still were. I sighed. That's why I always came here when I talked on the phone with them. The ocean made me feel like I was closer to them, like I was somehow connected to them. I could look at the water and know that it was this same grand ocean, the same water that washed the shores not only here but in LA too.

But it made me feel a bit sad too. The ocean didn't only connect us. It also kept us apart.

I glanced at my phone, eagerly expecting Sasha's name to appear on the screen. I was so excited, a little nervous even, as I hadn't heard from them in a couple weeks. Or I had gotten a few messages, but we hadn't talked on the phone and there were so many things I hadn't told them about. Like, everything about Samson.

It was already 10:01. Why didn't she call already? Calm down, I told myself. She just hasn't managed to get home from work yet. If it was 10:01 am on Saturday here in Sydney, it meant it was 4:01 pm on Friday in LA.

It was hard to manage to arrange call times with Sasha and Kenzie because of the time difference. You couldn't just call whenever you wanted. At least you had to calculate the time first. It was easier to agree on a time instead of just making spontaneous calls. We had agreed to make this call after Sasha got home from work and before Kenzie left for the cinema with Jacky.

Finally my phone started buzzing in my hand and as I lifted it up I could see Sasha's name had appeared on the screen. I could also see my own face on the screen, but from a rather unappealing frog perspective. I quickly lifted my phone higher so that I wouldn't look so stupid on the camera. Then I answered the call.

"Hi," I said.

"Hi Kathryn!" Sasha squealed and waved at me from the other side of the world. She was sitting on her bed in her tiny bedroom, her hair on a messy bun. Bonnie, her family's dog, was lying on the bed next to her. "Just a second, I'll add Kenzie," she said.

Soon Kenzie's face appeared on the screen too. "Hi Kathryn!" she grinned, bobbing her head at me. She was lying on a sun lounger on the terrace in her family's huge luxury house. She was wearing a bikini top and sunglasses and was drinking lemonade with a straw from a big glass full of ice cubes and a lemon slice.

"Hi," I said again.

"So good to see you Kathryn!" Sasha said, patting Bonnie's head while she talked. "At least like this. I miss you so much!"

"I miss you too," I said quietly, glancing into the horizon again. The beginning of the call was always so hard; hearing their voices, seeing their faces. That was the moment when I missed them the most. That was the moment when this all felt so overwhelming that I just wanted to crawl into my bed and cry.