Timeless Tides | ENGLOT

Chapter 7: Crossing Boundaries

Calista's POV:

Friendly coffee dates became me and Ember's thing. They occur weekly at first, then twice a week, and by the end of June, our catching up of old times have been replaced with anecdotes from our current lives and a need for it to be more. It's been eight years, but I think it feels a little like those eight years never happened. Ember is my best friend again, and I think, perhaps, I'm her best friend again, too.

On this particular day of June, I smile against the summer sun as I walk with Ember down the street. We stop to say our goodbyes as Ember needs to go back to work. She does that thing with her lips – moving, but without sound – and I stop her with a hand on her arm and patient eyes.

"So, I was thinking," she says, earning a smile from me, "maybe we could hang out at my place sometime?"

"What, you mean like pizza and Toy Story?" I say. It was meant as a joke, but she beams brighter than the sun, eliciting an equally bright laughter from me who no longer cares about the joke. "To infinity and beyond?"

"To infinity and beyond," she agrees, a hint of embarrassment coloring her cheeks. "So, is that a yes?"

"Mhm," I hum. "Saturday?"

"Sounds good. I have to go. I'll call you." She says meeting me in a goodbye hug.

"Cool."

"Cool."

With a smile on my face, I watch Ember turn around the corner, before she walks across the street. "Once a child, always a child," I say, only for the summer sun to hear.

Saturday finds me walking towards Ember's apartment with a pizza box in one hand and a six pack in the other. I awkwardly ring the doorbell with an elbow, and when she opens the door, I awkwardly hug her with food and drinks still in my hands.

"Calista Alexander bringing beer?" Ember mock gasps. "I never thought I'd see the day!"

It earns her an elbow to her stomach as I walk by and a wink thrown over one shoulder.

"Remember when I was fifteen and I thought drinking beer by the lake was immature?" I wonder out loud.

Ember chuckles. "What do you call two adults drinking beer and watching Toy story movies?"

"A damn fine idea, is what it is," I grin. "And don't forget the pizza."

"God forbid."

"Alright, give me the tour," I say, already gaping at the room with envious eyes.

Ember's place is a top floor apartment in the nice part of town, and upon entering, you walk directly into a spacious room with a high ceiling and bright walls. One wall is all floor to ceiling windows, with a sliding door to a balcony. The room is a combined room with a kitchen island slash counter in one end, and a couch and TV area set up in the other. The walls are naked apart from a bookshelf next to the TV.

"Bathroom and bedroom in there," she says, pointing to a door by the TV.

"I love the balcony!" I exclaim, pizza and beer forgotten on the kitchen counter as I walk towards the open sliding door. "What a view!" I say as my eyes roam the park with the small lake.

"It's nice," Ember says, a humble smile on her lips as she takes a stand next to me. "That's why I bought it. It's not our lake, but it's close enough to remind me of home."

Our lake.

I always refer to it as my lake, conveniently forgetting that Ember was part of my life once. Afraid to dig up old memories I'd rather not think about right now, I change the subject.