Can You Hear the Ocean?

Chapter 4

Despite how hard she was gripping her hand into a fist, Mia's fingers couldn't stop trembling. Her breath came out shallow, threatening to suffocate her. Mia continued scrubbing a damp washcloth on the tabletop, trying to wash out nonexistent stains from its surface.

"I think it's clean, honey," came the remark of one of Mia's elderly coworkers, Michelle.

Mia pulled the washcloth away quickly. "Yeah," she said.

"Are you okay?" Michelle asked.

Mia was not close with any of her coworkers. Their conversations mainly consisted of communicating orders and chores to each other. With several years at the café under her belt, Michelle had trained Mia and the other new hires, but since Mia was able to work independently, their relationship had not gone deeper than that. Hearing Michelle's comment made Mia stiffen. She was not doing a good enough job hiding her surprise of running into Leila Sutherland.

"Fine. Just a headache," Mia answered.

"If you need some ibuprofen—"

Mia shook her head. "I'm going to go sweep up the porch before I head out."

Michelle nodded, and their conversation abruptly ended.

After grabbing a broom from the kitchen, Mia stood and let the humid summer air sit on her shoulders. The afternoon lunch rush had dispersed, and with the heat rising, none of the customers were electing to sit outside. She savored the time to herself and swept slowly, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. That was, until her eyes fell on the table Leila had been sitting at only an hour or two before, and it sped up again.

Was that conversation real? Mia wondered.

Leila looked the same to Mia, and yet, at the same time, a complete stranger. Mia knew being recognized was a possibility of moving back home, and yet, she seemed to think she would never run into Leila again, not since she had ignored her last letter all those years ago.

What does she think of me? Mia thought. She hasn't seen me forever. I thought maybe she would be mad. But she seems relieved.

Mia suddenly cursed herself for handing out her number. It had been done so casually, like nothing had changed between them in the twelve years they had been apart. Now she had given Leila an invitation to reach out, when Mia was beginning to have doubts if they should speak to each other again.

A part of me had to have wanted to speak with her though. Otherwise I wouldn't have given her my number, Mia thought.

The confusing thoughts swirling in her head only worsened Mia's anxiety. She grumbled to herself and got back to sweeping. Getting out of the hot sun would surely help. After putting away her broom and hanging her apron back up, Mia returned back to her apartment, finally feeling the trembling disperse.

...

The sound of her ringtone woke Mia from her nap. She quickly scrambled for her phone underneath the covers and sat up.

"Hello?" she answered groggily.

"Were you sleeping?" Julian answered on the other line.

Mia leaned back onto her ankles. "Mm...a little. I had a headache. Wanted to sleep it off," she murmured. "Everything okay?"

"Just wanted to ask how your day was going. We haven't talked in a little while," Julian said. By a little while, Mia realized he meant this morning, when they had texted briefly to wish each other a good day. Still, Mia couldn't be mad. She liked hearing his voice, and their next date wouldn't be for a few more days.