Infinite

Chapter 2- Reentry: Part 1

Houston, Texas in the Clarke Home, Thursday, September 12th, 2030 at 2:30 pm

Rachel

I turn down our street, admiring the chrysanthemums in full bloom. Our neighborhood is small and quiet, despite the occasional dog barking or car door closing. The houses are all different colors and sizes. I remember when Lucas and I first drove down this road to tour the house. We had just gotten married, and our entire deposit was from our parents. They were always so supportive of Lucas and me, and trusted every decision we made because we made it together.

I miss when we were on the same page.

The deep blue color of our house comes into view. I let Lucas pick it out, and he chose his favorite. It's almost the same shade as the couch in Dr. Wilson's office.

Just then, a feeling of anxiety washes over me. I turn off the car but don't get out. Lucas and I have our next session today. I gaze out the windshield. The white posts on the front porch need to be cleaned and some leaves have gathered over the walkway and the steps. Our flowers aren't as well kept as the other houses since Lucas and I are so busy, but they're still beautiful.

The sound of rocks crunching pulls me out of my daze and I hear an engine to my right. I look out the window and see Lucas' white truck. The engine stops.

I hope he doesn't think it's weird that I'm still in the car. I've only been here for a few minutes.

I see his door open out of the corner of my eye. He leans down and waves at me through the window and smiles. It's one of those quick, but sweet smiles he gives me where only the right side of his lips curve. I feel my cheeks start to heat up. I grin back at him before turning to get out of my car.

"When did you get home?" he asks.

Okay, he did think it was weird.

"Oh, just a few minutes ago," I reply as I tuck my hair behind my ear. "I was just on the phone with Nicole." I'm not really sure why I lied to him.

"How is she doing?" he asks. He puts his forearms up on the roof of my car as he asks this. I can see the curves of his muscles as his white t-shirt is stretched over his arms. I desperately want him to wrap them around me and kiss me against the car, but I shake the thought out of my head and focus.

"She's good, she just started a new job." This was true, but Nicole told me this a week ago.

I hope I didn't already tell Lucas about it.

"Good for her, she hated working at that bar." Lucas nods in approval.

Nicole started managing a bar when we graduated college, and has worked there ever since. Her degree is in biology, so I'm glad she's finally able to do something with it. Nicole still lives in New York near her family.

"Where at?" he adds.

"She is now a lab tech at a fertility clinic." I start walking towards the front door.

"I bet she will have some great stories," he says as he follows me up the front steps. I reach back into my purse to grab my keys, when I feel my arm brush against Lucas' side. I'm so caught off guard that I drop them.

He was much closer to me than I thought.

"Oh, sorry," I say awkwardly. "I didn't realize you were right there."

He smiles gently at me as he bends forward to pick up my keys. On his way back up, his hair tickles my arm, sending goosebumps from my fingertips to my shoulders. Lucas glances from my eyes down to my lips longingly.

He's close enough to kiss.

"I got it," he says without breaking eye contact with me. My neck feels hot as he reaches across me with his right arm to unlock the door. My feet are frozen in place. He opens the door and gestures for me to head in first.

"Thank you," I say, much quieter than I anticipated. Lucas just smiles sweetly. I head in and the smell of apples and cinnamon hits my nose. I inhale deeply and try to shake off some of the sexual tension as I take my shoes off. There's a live edge table my Father built for us as a house warming present in the entryway. It has gotten a little messy in the house since Lucas came home.

There are notebooks and blueprints scattered on the coffee table. He must have been working out here last night. Lucas passes me and heads to the bathroom without taking his shoes off.

"Lucas!" I shout."Your shoes!" He turns and gasps at me dramatically. I can feel myself grinning at him.

"We are leaving again in five minutes to go see Dr. Wilson," he replies. "Plus, you know how hard it is for me to take my shoes off." He comically tries to lift his long leg up and untie his shoe.

I put my hand over my mouth as I stifle a laugh and say, "Alright, fine. You're off the hook. Just please stop doing that, it's hard to watch. You look like an uncoordinated flamingo."

Lucas lets out a loud chuckle as he plops his foot down on the hardwood floor.

"Thanks, I promise I'll take them off when we get back." He ducks into the bathroom. I head into the kitchen for a quick snack. I get so hungry after work because I usually forget to eat; the constant upkeep and monitoring of having students in and out of your room is enough to distract you from your stomach.

I grab the salsa from the refrigerator and dump some into a bowl. I turn to get the tortilla chips, when I see Lucas opening up the pantry. He pulls them out and sets the bag on the island. I give him a surprised smile as he opens the bag.

"You always have chips and salsa when you get home from work." He takes a chip out of the bag and gets a big scoop of salsa on top. It almost covers the entire chip. "You and Nicole used to snack on this in college, too."

He's right. This was always our go-to snack when we got home from class. It was a permanent item on our grocery list every week. I join Lucas and grab a chip. I dip mine into the bowl, only lightly coating it in the salsa. I don't know how Lucas can still taste the chip with how much salsa he stacks on top of them.

"You know, you really should just use a spoon and eat it right out of the jar. Why waste time with the chip?" I tease him.

Lucas stifles a laugh as he tries to hold the food in his mouth. He smiles at me and shakes his head lovingly.

"Well, I can't eat the spoon." He smirks at me.

I can feel butterflies forming in my stomach as Lucas and I joke around with each other. Everything seems so normal right now. He always makes me laugh in the easiest way possible. Talking with each other used to always feel this simple.

I glance down at my watch. Lucas notices me checking the time and nods as he puts the salsa bowl in the sink.

"Time to go. You need to put your shoes on," he says as he winks at me playfully.