FAR, sza

chapter thirteen

thirteen.

The afternoon of Christmas Eve arrived on the calendar year sooner than expected. The approach of the Holiday season seemed to make time that much harder of a task to assess and complete. Solàna's stomach bubbled as she journeyed further north through the edge of New York. Crossing the Hudson River surveyed her uneasiness to a minimum. Every few minutes her insides would heighten and mellow out, creating an illusion of anxiety.

That was shortly lived. In an instant she would be reminded that she was only in her head from the simple grasp of another's hand. She shifted in her seat to glance out into the deadening waters. Nothing screamed bright lights and cheer, aside from the streamed reefs and bows that covered electrical posts.

The sun was far from going down, but the dreariness of Jersey continued to sour her nerves the longer she drove. When coming home she didn't need security, but because Al and Charlie were New York Natives they too accompanied them on the plane ride. The two were trailing behind her Tesla Model X in a black Escalade.

The custom Tesla was simply rented for show. She had no desire to own, nor primarily drive a completely electric vehicle. Who could fully trust technology, let alone the man who was the face of the company? It was too far of a reach to depend on the car's true sustainability. Five to six hours of charge was not reliable when traveling distances greater than an hour, especially when charging stations weren't easy to come by.

Nonetheless, she was placed behind the wheel only for the experience.

Home was always a hard task to agree to come back to. Going back to her place of origin meant she had to pull every last memory from a place of burial. The love she had for home was equivalent to the love of a misplaced belonging. The longing for it remained, but the yearning was bearable with an alternative. Solàna learned early on in her career that home wasn't a place, but more so the aligning with people. A person.

And her person laid content with an unrelenting hold onto her.

Hearing light murmurs allowed her attention to turn from the window, and ultimately to the occupant filling the space to the right of her. She was peacefully curled into a semicircular with one leg outstretched and the other underneath. Her arm was taut under Solàna's right arm, in fear she would stray too far away. Her grasp wasn't too tight because she was driving, but her hold was tight from the initial wrap.

"What are you looking at?" Mushing Solàna's face from in front of hers, she laid her hand at the side of her neck. She mindlessly played with her necklaces, while bringing her other hand to capture her yawn from spreading. Her hands wrapped around the cool metal, while observing the added ones she hadn't seen before.

She flipped through the gems and jewels, trying to rationalize the potential prices of each one. Though majority were gold, they seemed to individually sparkle. Pulling apart the plated gold, she untangled a few. Each one fit her personality to a T. Rugged in a world of serenity. She could be calm, peaceful, and untroubled, but diamonds were too bred in rough places. Her misguidedness and naivety made her seem unsteady, but that was far from the truth when love was involved and exposed in the heat of day.

With a giddy smile upon her face, the tip of her tongue ran against the bottom of her two front teeth. "You. Who else?" She moved closer to Chloe, but was soon stopped. "You're dangerous. I thought you were still sleep."

Her pointer finger gently rested on Solàna's plump lips. Peaking out of one eye, she squinted to see a softened frown. "Yeah, I've heard that before. Where to first?" She wasn't sure if she were responding to the question or statement, but both led her mind to drift because of it.