A Shell In The Sand

Chapter 16-

Freya-

I sit at a longish brown rectangular table that could fit six people around it in the College hub and place my laptop at the back of the table and pieces of paper and photos on the table to get a better idea of what i am doing with my work. I look at the corner of the table which has my photo of the jar, the river and the photo from the ball of me, Cameron and Laine. I swipe my finger along the mouse on my laptop and look through the photos i have on it. I click on a picture of my dad when he was my age, He climbed onto a lamppost and had his left hand holding onto it which he stuck the right hand out. I give it a little smile and think about how much fun he must have had that day and all the fun he had from that day on. I let out a little cough to gather my emotions together before i bubble up like a baby. I rub my sweaty palms along my pink suede skirt that sits about my knee and take a deep breath, I pull the sleeves on my white blouse like top up a little. My blouse has the shoulders cut out and thinish straps on my shoulders that would look like a bralette if my sleeves weren't attached, the top comes down a little at my chest and has buttons down the front of it and is slightly cropped showing off a little bit of my belly as i sit. I cross my legs together as i wear pink heels that has a bow on the outer ankle area and begin to get to work. I brush my wavy hair out of my face and pull it to the life side. While looking at the photo of my dad it begins to bring some thoughts into my head and i jot them down on my paper as a rough draft. I feel a tap on my shoulder and i lift my head up, i turn and see Laine standing beside me, I pull out my ear phone and shoot a smile at him.

"Good morning" I say to him with a friendly smile on my face

"More like good evening" Laine corrects me which makes me glance at the time to see Friday 16th November,1.21pm.

"So it is" I agree with him and turn my head to look back at him.

"I thought you could use one of these" He tells me while holding out a coffee cup which makes me smile instantly

"Thank you so much, how did you know" I say to him taking it from him and take a whiff in to smell the coffee which warms me up inside and place the muffin bag on the table.

"Freya, I've known you since September. I think it's pretty obvious how much you love coffee and how much you work yourself" He reminds me with a gently smile on his face

"You can take a seat if you want" I offer him not wanting him to stand around

"Are you sure? You look busy and don't like you want to be disturbed" He asks feeling unsure about the idea

"Shut up and sit down" I order him and roll my eyes in a friendly way, he pulls out the seat beside me and sits down.

"Your dad?" Laine asks me looking at the picture on my screen

"What a stud huh?" I smile at the picture which makes me miss him even more

" He was a pretty great guy" Laine tells me and looks at me while i stare at the picture getting a little teary. I take in a deep breath and look at him. "Sorry"

"Don't apologise, there is nothing wrong with missing him" He assures me it's okay but yet i always feel guilty for wanting to break down because for so long i had to be strong for my mother that i let how i felt slip away until it didn't matter anymore.

"What does he symbolise?" He asks me knowing i was putting him in my portfolio

"Everything" I answer to him, i look at him and see a slightly confused look on him.