Paper Folds | On Hold

Chalk

10. Chalk

"Hello?"

"Hey, how are you?"

She looked at the number once, before putting the phone back to her ear again.

"Caleb?"

"Yeah, Cal. How are you?"

Ray smiled and resumed pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"I'm good. You tell me, how are you? It's been so long..."

Ray heard Caleb chuckling, then he cleared his throat.

"Well, not too long, not too long at all. Just a few months, hm? But tell me, are you physically fit now?"

What?

"I am, yes. Well a year is more than just a few months, but whatever. How are you?"

"I'm splendid, now that I've heard your voice. How's your sister, your family in general? And everything else on the other side of the world?"

"Everything's good. How's your side of the world?"

"Good again. Anyway, enough small talk. What I really called you about was that I'm here. In Zircon. Want to meet up? Was here for a deal, but now that it's over, thought we'd catch up. What say? Free bird today? "

"Absolutely. When and where?"

"You tell me, you live here. I'm a tourist here."

"You ditched this place just a few years ago and you're a tourist now? Real mature, Caleb."

"Come on, help a guy out. I don't really think everything's the same after years, so you gotta stop calling me out about my birthplace; things change. You still live there, you'll know better."

Ray swirled the spoon in her cup, then it came to her.

"CB?"

"What?"

"Coffee Bean. In two hours? You want to meet today, right?"

"Yeah. CB. Very basic name. Hm. I'll be there."

"See you."

Ray drank her coffee quickly, trying to ignore the scalding hot burn on her tongue, hoping to soothe it with a cold coffee in Coffee Bean. And well, too much coffee hurt nobody. Then there was Caleb. It would be nice meeting him, with his jokes and fun, even though it had been a long while.

Ray picked up her phone again and occupied herself for a while in reading a book in pdf format, on behavior. Then closing the app, she stretched her arms to get rid of the tension.

Running to her wardrobe, she quickly got out a soft taupe coloured dress with really tiny black polka dots all over it. Getting a matching bag and a ribbon to tie up her hair in a simple ponytail, she quickly dressed up, then adding up a light layer of make-up to cover up just the little dark circles and spots, she applied a nude colored lip gloss, and after looking at the time, she slowly pulled out a pair of shoes and walked out of her room, eager to get to Coffee Bean.

Since it was close to her place, she decided to walk till there. It would hardly take her fifteen minutes, and it would exercise the muscles in her legs. And then there was the fact that she still preferred to walk, rather than drive.

Twelve minutes to her alloted time, she opened the door to Coffee Bean, only to find Caleb sitting in a booth, who looked up to meet her eyes as soon as she had perused her surroundings. So he beat her. Smiling at him, she walked in to greet him, and he enveloped her in a hug, his arms holding her in an embrace.