Reminiscing

Sharing Memories

Candice POV~

Sandra's was a lovely little restaurant that served homemade food. Everything. It was prepared the very moment you ordered it and it smelled heavenly.

Emerald wasn't kidding, the owner really did love her.

Sandra was a short, chubby and very friendly woman. As soon as we stepped inside the restaurant, Sandra immediately recognized Emerald and she abandoned the counter in order to greet her with a hug. A gesture Emerald returned fondly. The old lady seemed genuinely happy to see Emerald and I could only guess how long it had been from Emerald's last visit.

I could tell they were very close. If Emerald seriously ate here all the time as a kid, she must have really grown on Sandra. For the lady treated her as a daughter.

It wasn't until Emerald introduced me as her girlfriend and the three of us conversed for a moment that we were seated and patiently waiting for Sandra to reappear with our food.

"Every day after school, I would come here and eat the special strawberry filled donuts that Sandra baked just for me." Emerald gave me a lopsided grin as her face rested on the opened palm of her right hand. "She'd sit down with me and ask me how my day went. I would always talk with my mouth full because I didn't want to lose any time talking when I could be eating."

I laughed and Emerald looked a little embarrassed about how she used to be as a child.

"I had to eat as much and as fast as I could in order to get home early and my mother wouldn't notice I had been gone for an extra ten minutes. If she found out I was stuffing myself with donuts before dinner, she'd have banned me from donuts altogether. So I had to be quick and subtle about it. Although the strawberry jam on my uniform shirt was a dead giveaway. My mother pretended never to notice my strawberry stained shirts that were hidden underneath my bed whenever I was there. I never figured my mother was the one behind their disappearance as well, only to be cleaned and neatly folded again. She never banned me from donuts though, she knew I wouldn't survive."

I had a smile on my face the whole time Emerald was speaking about her childhood memories. She was so adorable. I loved the way her eyes vividly looked into mine as she spoke passionately about her past. I loved just how comfortable she was with sharing these things with me. She was even helping me forget about Nancy right now, something that had me feeling awfully sad and depressed.

Before I could let it dampen my mood again, Emerald continued with her stories.

I listened to each and every one of them, loving the way Emerald and I were spending our afternoon. Our food then came out and after hearing Emerald's story, I wasn't surprised to see Sandra place a plate full of donuts on our table. I didn't even have to bite into one to figure out they would be filled with strawberry jam.

I even laughed at the way Emerald instantly lit up at the sight of those freshly baked donuts. She had a fetish for donuts, I could tell.

"After this, I'm going to show you around town. This place has the most beautiful waterfall you'll ever see." Emerald assured me.

"Are you being serious? Or are you just speaking so highly of this place because you were born here?" I playfully chided.

"I'm dead serious babe, I'll let you see it for yourself."

I wasn't going to lie and say I wasn't eager to go out and explore the town. It did seem great and I couldn't wait to hear more stories from Emerald. I didn't exactly know how many people actually knew this much about her but something told me that it wasn't many— so this made me feel extremely special.

Besides, I've always wanted to see a waterfall and I've never had the opportunity to do so. So saying that I was excited would be an understatement.

A whole day with Emerald?

Yes, please.

After finishing our food, Emerald left a huge tip for Sandra. Emerald then told me that Sandra never liked to charge her for her food because she said Emerald was like her daughter and she wouldn't ever charge a daughter for food. So the only way to make sure Sandra received payment for her orders, was to leave money on the table and literally make a run for it.

The only reason Emerald always got away with it was that Sandra was always busy cooking. So by the time she noticed the wad of cash, Emerald was long gone.

That slick bastard.

When Emerald left the tip, took my hand in hers and ran out, I was kind of hoping Sandra would stop us. Just to see the look on Emerald's face whenever the old lady scolded her. That would have been a priceless moment indeed.

But Emerald was Emerald Perez and she was unstoppable.

Or else that was what Emerald kept singing as she sped down the road. The results? We got pulled over by a cop and Emerald received a speeding ticket.

I was dating an egotistical moron.

Then we had momentarily stopped at a red light and I spotted a stray cat. Which resulted in Emerald pulling over, chasing the cat and tossing him in the backseat. I asked her what she would do with it and she said she would adopt him. But then the ungrateful grimy cat began to furiously scratch the backseat of Emerald's precious car and Emerald didn't hesitate to stop the car and abandon him to his own wellbeing.

Well, that was a spontaneous change of heart.

Within fifteen minutes we were parked in a secluded area with nothing but tall grass and trees surrounding us. There was no one out and about. Only us and the occasional car that sped down the road that was a few meters away. Other than that it was silent. Not completely, obviously, just the sound of nature engulfing us. Birds chirping, wind blowing against the tree's leaves and the far-off roar of what I assumed was the waterfall.

I felt calmed and relaxed. I inhaled the fresh air as I followed Emerald deeper into the grass. As she led the way towards the waterfall, I enjoyed the view around me and I took in the green, healthy environment that I never had the privilege to encounter in the city. It was something completely different and I enjoyed it.

"Well, here it is!" Emerald exclaimed.

"Wow." I breathlessly exhaled.

It was very beautiful!

There was a tall waterfall that cascaded down into a medium-sized river. There were many boulders protruding out in the waterfalls way, which resulted in water splashing everywhere. It was beautiful and what really caught my attention was the wooden bridge that connected the two cliffs on either side of the river. The bridge was literally about two meters away from the waterfall and I'm sure you could even feel spraying water droplets if you stood on the center.

It was amazing.

"Let's go make a memory out of this." Emerald smiled at me.

"How?" I questioned her dubiously.

I was kind of expecting her to suggest something crazy and out of the ordinary, considering we were being spontaneous today.

"With a kiss near the waterfall. In the center of the bridge of course."

"What if it falls or something?"

"I won't let you fall." She assured.

Well, I'm already falling for you, I stupidly thought.

"What if you abandon me on the bridge once we're there?" I asked instead.

"I won't abandon you, Candie." Emerald rolled her eyes.

"Yeah? Well, that's what you told the stray cat and you were quick to change your mind."

"Okay, I won't abandon you so long as you don't scratch my car's seats."

I glared at her and she gave me a cheeky smile.

She was unbelievable!

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