I'll See You Soon [COMPLETED]

A Diner Date

A wave of warm air ran through the open apartment windows but stirred little in the stillness. Even with a breeze, the hot air still hung heavy among the rafters and the random gust of wind was the only hope for something fresh among the stale atmosphere.

The cat stirred to welcome a temperature lower than the sweltering heat she had had to bear all day. She moved the minimal amount, merely lifting her head off her paws where it had laid for the better part of the past two hours and turned to gaze down on the few pedestrians daring to wander through the sticky city streets.

At the sudden reminder of life other than her own, Mia's eyes refocused and the sleeping city came back into view. She closed the book that had laid on her lap, her progress having gone no further than the first paragraph of her assigned reading. She stowed it away into her backpack with a vague hope that she would accomplish more at her next location.

The apartment went dark when she turned off the reading lamp on her desk. She leaned forward to plant a light kiss atop her cat's head where she lay on the window sill, now once again asleep, joining the rest of the city.

Mia made slow and quiet moves to gather up all her necessary things, trying to tick off the invisible list she had made in her mind. Other things were competing for her attention but as she had spent the past hour thinking solely on such things, instead of working as she knew she should have, she easily set them aside and determined they had had enough of her focus. She still had work to do.

During her progress, from her desk packing up her books, over to the kitchen counter, to grab her jacket, then finally to the front door, she offered the only audible noise in the space.

Mia could feel soft snores coming from under one of the closed bedrooms doors. And when she turned off her desk lamp, the only light left in the apartment was a soft glow that emanated from underneath the second closed door. Mia could sense the turning of pages as she was sure her second roommate was cuddled up in her chair, seated as close to a blowing fan as possible, reading something dense.

It was with one glance at the clock, her keys clutched tight in her hand to keep them from breaking the silence, that Mia finally closed the front door and headed out.

She had watched the time change, from one number to the next until, finally. It's soft green hue had stayed in the corner of her eye ever since she had returned that night from class and it had haunted her as she tried to carry out a regular evening, taunting her as its numbers continuously changed but at such slow and agonizing pace. But with one last switch of digits, Mia's feet started out.

As she shut the door behind her, hurried down the empty staircase and pushed through the open door out into the sweltering night, in her mind she could see exactly what was happening only a few hundred miles away. She could see a hurried run, a towel drenched in sweat and then a mad dash for an awaiting bus. And she knew exactly where that bus was headed next.

Her car drove her through the city in a direction she rarely ventured. Once she hit the highway hitting west, it was then that her focus came back to center and the reality of the situation landed hard and took a spot in her passenger seat, acting as navigator.

Her hands held tight to the steering wheel, her eyes watching the red lights moving before, with an occasional glance at the white behind. Her heartbeat seemed to rise to a peak speed every fifteen minutes. She then spent the next fifteen taking deep breaths, letting her hand hang out the window and relish the feeling of cool air once again.

The winding roads of a narrow country highway offered the perfect distraction and won out for her full attention as she had left her fellow travelers behind on the main freeway and now ventured out on her own.