Alone With You (Remma)

17 Years Later

Emma had practically fled London after she found Gerald with his assistant in their bed. She packed a bag and was at the airport within the hour. She had known for weeks that she needed a change, but this was her boiling point. She wasn't even angry, she was more relieved that the man who she thought she would marry turned out to be a fraud. That meant she had nothing tying her in England. She was free to go.

The flight was long but the reward was immeasurable. The second she stepped out of Gold Coast Airport, the warm Australian breeze met her face and she sighed. She was home, in a way. This place was her childhood after all.

She took an uber to her hotel and only stayed in the room to change clothes and drop off her bag before walking down to the all too familiar beach.

—

Meanwhile, Rikki had just gotten off work. She hung her keys by the door and sunk into her small couch, turning on a random tv channel as background noise while she graded homework assignments. This had been her routine for the past few months. Go to work, come home, grade papers or do something else related to work, make dinner, watch tv, go to sleep. She had fallen into another slump, as she did every few months. Sometimes they were triggered by actual things that happened, like maybe she had yet another bad date with a friend of a friend and it set her over the edge, but others were caused by nothing in particular. Her mind just suddenly shut off and went into autopilot, doing the bare minimum to sustain life.

Rikki yawned as her eyelids began getting heavier. She succumbed to sleep on the couch without dinner at 9:13 p.m. When had she become so tired?

—

Emma spent the week going to her favorite spots from when she was a teen. However, she spent most of her time on the beach writing. The familiar waves seemed to put the words into her head which she in turn typed into her computer. Her months-long writing slump was suddenly cured.

She had posted on facebook about being back in her hometown and a girl she'd known since childhood had sent her a message asking to get a coffee. Emma responded immediately, in want of some social interaction after days of keeping to herself. The girl's name was Kelly and Emma remembered that she was on the swim team with her.

It was Sunday when Emma showed up to a place called Coastal Coffee. Kelly was inside and smiled when Emma walked through the door and joined her in the booth.

"Emma! It's so good to see you after all of this time!" Kelly exclaimed.

"I know, it's been too long," Emma replied.

"I was just waiting for you so we could go up and order together," said Kelly, standing up.

Emma paused when she saw the bump protruding from the other woman. She noticed Emma looking and laughed.

"Oh, yes. Forgot to mention," she said, gently touching her stomach. "I'm due in December."

Emma tried her best to smile. "That's really great!" she said.

Emma really did mean these words, but she couldn't help but be a little bit jealous when she also saw a diamond ring on the woman's finger. They were in their early thirties by now. Emma assumed that most of their classmates had settled down and started families by now, but she couldn't help but feel left behind.

They gave their orders at the counter, Kelly ordered decaf with cream and sugar while Emma got a latte with whole milk. They stood to the side to let others order as they waited for their drinks. Kelly asked Emma what she did for work and Emma explained that she was a writer and basically worked for herself. Kelly said that she was on maternity leave at the moment but she usually worked as an ER nurse at the local hospital. Emma noticed the paintings on the wall as her and Kelly continued talking, noting they were all of the sea.