The stories that killed their writer

Chapter 22: What I see

Lana's POV

I smiled as I saw Stephanie pull up her car by the side of the road. I entered the car and smiled again. "Hey."

"Hey Lana," She smiled, a twinkling in her eyes. "Nice to see you again."

I nodded.

"So," She looked for traffic before getting on the road again. "Where are we going?" She asked as she glanced at me.

I shrugged, I had no clue. Then, last night's conversation came to mind. "Maybe we can go to the sushi bar you wanted to go to last night?"

She smiled suddenly. "Yeah," She nodded. "Let's go there."

We soon arrived. She parked the car and we got out. We entered the restaurant and easily got seats.

While we waited for our food, I looked around. This place was cool. It was a local restaurant, a small but cozy one. A restaurant Melody would never go to. She didn't like places like this, she didn't like sushi either.

"This was a good idea."

I looked at Stephanie. "Since I wasn't able to have dinner last night, I figured we could have lunch instead."

She smiled. "I'm glad you called."

"Me too."

"How are you?" She leaned in closer. "How have you been?"

"Fine, I guess," I leaned in closer too, I don't know why. "Melody went over to my firm and said I quit..." I sighed. "But I'm not quitting."

She smiled apologetically at me before placing her hand on mine. "I'm sorry you have to go through that."

I looked at our hands before looking at her.

"What did Melody say?"

I shrugged. "I'd rather not tell her," I looked down then, gulping. "Things are ok between us as long as I don't talk about writing," I sighed deeply. "My passion..." I said quietly.

Stephanie got a hold of my hand, holding my hand relatively tight in hers. "She's wrong to act this way."

I looked at her.

"You're amazing at what you do, you're famous for what you do, you've got a gift," She smiled, leaning even closer. "It's so unfortunate she doesn't see what I see." She said softly as if her message wasn't meant to be heard by anyone but me, as if it was a treasure only I could hear.

I smiled. "I'm happy you see that then."

She nodded, smiling. 

Our food was served then, interrupting our conversation. We had ordered a huge platter, which we would be sharing. Since Stephanie and I both loved sushi, we used the occasion to go for a wide variety.

"This looks amazing," She looked at all the different sushi. "I really love your idea." She smiled at me.

"I'm happy I called too."

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After lunch, we had spent some time in the park. We sat on the grass, near a tree. She would tell me about her day, about her interests, about her passion, about her ambition, her life goals... We had an exciting conversation. It always amazed me how well we could talk. These were the talks, the types of conversations I write about. It felt so special to experience it in real life.

I learned she loved literature, like me. She honestly told me she hasn't read my books but she was eager to. She told me her passion is also her job: she wants to help people find a way to lead their life in the best way possible. She seemed really driven to help others, which piqued my interest.

"Are you sleeping?"

I opened my eyes and noticed Stephanie smiled down at me. "No," I gulped, noticing the way we were laying. "I wasn't."

Stephanie leaned back a bit, leaning against the tree we were near to. I moved my head a bit and then remembered I had indeed let my head rest on Stephanie's lap. Why?

She let out a deep sigh so I looked at her. "Is everything alright?"

She looked at me. "I should be going," She seemed visibly upset. "I have a patient coming in soon."

I slowly got up to be on her eye level. "Yeah, you should be there for them," I said, gaining her attention. "They're counting on you."

She nodded, seemingly agreeing with me, but didn't make any attempt to actually get up.

"Come on," I got up and pulled her up then. "They will want to see you and talk to you."

She looked at me. "I want to stay here and be with you."

I blinked a bit as I tried processing this sentence. Should I be worried? Is there something happening here? Maybe I'm looking too much into it... However, I smiled. "We can meet again."

She walked to me, grabbing my hands and holding them in hers. "Promise?" She asked as she was moving our hands left and right, like a swing.

I smiled, I couldn't help but smile. "I promise, I love spending time with you too."

She smiled. "That's good to hear."

We walked back to her car, she kept holding on to my hand, but I didn't mind. I didn't pull back. It just didn't bother me. I quite liked it, actually.

She opened the door for me and helped me get in, before walking to her side of the car and getting in herself. She smiled at me. "Where do I drop you off?"

I sighed as I thought about it. Melody wouldn't be home, she would be at work. She went by to get on track for tomorrow, when she actually starts working again. Maybe I could go home nevertheless, I could write some more...

"Lana?"

I looked at her.

"Is everything alright?"

I smiled. "Yeah, I was thinking," I looked back in front of me. "I suppose you can bring me home."

She nodded. "Won't Melody be asking about this car?"

I looked at her, she would have a point there if Melody would be home. Then it occurred to me: why did she worry about Melody? "No," I fastened my seat belt. "She's not home."

"Oh..." Stephanie started the car and started driving, even though I never told her any directions.

I frowned. "Shouldn't I be telling you where to go?"

She looked at me. "Yeah, right," She smiled. "I was almost going home."

"You'd forget about me?" I fake gasped.

"I could never forget about you, Lana," She glanced at me. "You know that."

I smiled and looked away, while I blushed. "It's to the right here." And so, I gave her instructions on how to get me home though, somehow, we ended up going to her place.