Playing with feelings

32

She hadn't told him she was here. But one 12-hour traveling day later, she was back at home, pushing a cart down the aisles of a neighborhood grocery store.

Her time in Virginia had been more temporary than she first believed. It had been 5 months now since she left, which she knew to be two months since Daveed had returned home, thanks to the Instagram she still kept up with. He very much still held pieces of her heart and she hoped that now that she was back, she could work on mending their relationship, although she didn't know if it even still existed.

Camryn sat drowsily in the basket of her cart. They had landed last night and still, she was exhausted from the long flights and layovers. Soon, she would start summer camp at her old school, but today was going to be dedicated to recovering for her and unpacking for Emmy.

Part of this unpacking was filling the cabinets of their new home, one Emmy was able to easily afford thanks to her professor's salary and sign-on bonus from her new job.

The job she'd be starting in about a week was a dream for the season of life she was in, and it had all happened by chance. She'd be teaching at AMDA College of Performing Arts, LA, but besides her classes that would be a couple of days a week, she'd get the chance to work her way back into the industry as the school was known for its professors that were either currently working or had close ties to the industry. She'd found the position from an email that stumbled its way to her inbox, and all thanks to the semester she spent in Virginia and the theater company, she had enough just professional experience to be considered. When the offer came weeks after she applied, she immediately accepted and now she was back, ready to build back everything that had been so abruptly stopped.

She pushed the cart through the aisles, moving her head up and down to find the items on her grocery list. She had just been in the toiletries aisle, and with that completed, she just needed to get food. On the way to the produce aisle, she passed the checkout lines that were quite full for a weekday.

The lines caught her attention and she turned her head to look as she passed by. In one of the lines, she saw a man standing in front of a cart that also held a little girl in the basket. It was him, and she knew this not only because of his familiarity but also because he turned his head in her direction just as she was turning into an aisle. She didn't think he'd seen her. He wasn't expecting her plus he seemed distracted from bobbing his head to imaginary music.

If it was 5 months ago, she would've stopped and had a conversation, but she couldn't do that this time. She did have a plan though, and part of it was stopping in front of the wall of flowers that accompanied the produce aisle. She grabbed more than a couple and tossed them in the back of the cart.

It was an idea she got from James' spoiling of Jasmine, which checked out because she had been talking to Jasmine ever since she got the job offer and she'd be helping her with this plan of reconnection.

"Mommy, why are you getting flowers?" Camryn asked, looking behind her at the now colorful basket of the cart.

"They're a surprise for Daveed," she answered truthfully, though there was so much truth she hadn't told Camryn.

"Are we going to see Amber?" she sat up excitedly, hoping this was her way back to her friend that she hadn't seen in so long.

"Not tonight, but um... hopefully soon," Emmy replied. She had avoided telling her all the details of her and Daveed's split which meant she had to tiptoe with her words as Camryn wouldn't understand why they couldn't just go over for a playdate. If all things went accordingly, however, they could soon get back to something that resembled old times.

The answer satisfied Camryn, and Emmy went back to her produce shopping. She got all sorts of berries, bananas, and even some dinosaur kale. By the time she was ready to check out, the lines were much clearer, and from what she could tell, Daveed was gone.