Past, Present and the not-so-distant-Future

Coming Home ... for Good

As she waited impatiently in the downtown traffic, Crystal let her head fall back onto the headrest. She was exhausted. The last few days had been extremely busy. Just because Crystal was on a little vacation, she couldn't shirk her responsibilities completely, and she was constantly going back and forth from her computer to her phone all day long. Whenever she wasn't working, she was spending time with her family, given that she was only here for two weeks. With the exception of a quick phone call here and there, she'd barely talked to Raymond or Lindsay, but they had their own things going on.

Raymond was extremely busy with last minute wedding plans and totally stressing because Kacia's family was starting to arrive. He made her promise that she and Lindsay would stop by his house Monday night since his soon to be in-laws were all going over for dinner and he wanted some familiar faces to be there with him. She felt a little twinge of trepaditon as she thought about Monday. That was the day she'd see Kacia kiss some other guy and inevitably break Raymond's heart. She sighed and pushed that thought out of her mind momentarily.

Lindsay was working and going to meetings non-stop since they managed to put the plastic bag ban into effect. San Francisco was the first city in the United States to outlaw plastic bags from stores, instead giving the customer the option of using compostable bags made of corn starch or bags made out of recyclable paper. Crystal smiled. Of course Lindsay was right smack in the middle of all that.

Tonight was movie night and they were all going out to dinner, then over to Crystal's house. She made a mental note to pick up chips and soda on her way home. Her parents were on a health food kick and refused to keep anything in the house that actually tasted good. She knew Lindsay would happily scarf down baby carrots and tomato juice but the rest of them wanted some extra cheesy doritos and liquid sugar.

She slapped her hand down on the steering wheel in frustration as she was forced to watch the same stoplight turn red for the third time. She let her mind wander to Lindsay as she waited.

Being home this last week had finally helped her to make a decision that she'd been pondering for a long time. She decided that it was time to come home. Although it wasn't all because of Lindsay, she was a huge part of it. Crystal always knew she would come home again when she was ready, and now she was ready. She was also ready to see if she had a shot with Lindsay. More than anything, she just wanted Lindsay to be happy. At first, she was willing to leave it alone and let her be, because she really did seem happy with Lysandra, but there was this nagging thought that wouldn't go away.

'You can make her happy.' And she knew deep down, it was true. She knew that she and Lindsay had an undeniable connection and she'd decided that she wasn't going to give up without a fight. She was sick of wanting someone that she couldn't have. 

Especially since there was a good chance that it was someone she could have. She had to put it out there and let Lindsay make her own decision. The only catch was that she had to do it in such a way that it didn't seem like an ultimatum. She couldn't say anything, she had to let Lindsay figure it out for herself. It wouldn't be fair to Lindsay any other way, and it definitely wouldn't be fair to Lysandra. The first step in all of this was talking to Maria Zuño about coming back to the San Francisco office, and that's where she was headed at that very moment.

Just as she pulled into the parking spot, her phone chirped. It was a text message from Lindsay. 'Still on for dinner tonight? We'll meet you at Raymond's for 6.'

Crystal groaned at the 'we'. As foolish as she knew it was, she had been hoping Lysandra wouldn't go. 'Sounds good, see you then,' she replied before stepping out of her car and looking at the familiar building looming in front of her.

She stepped into the office and looked around, a small smile on her face. This is where it all started. She shook her head in disbelief. From a stool and a fold-out table to an entire Paris office. All in four years, it was unbelievable.