Mysterious Romance

Caleb

The house is so silent.

I sigh, turning on the TV and trying to focus on my writing. I need to get through this chapter and the next one tonight, if I want to meet my deadline.

It's just a love scene. Those are pretty standard to write, and I can go on autopilot for it. It still takes the better part of an hour, and I feel like doing something else by the time I'm finished.

But I firmly stop myself from getting up or opening another tab.

In this scene they have to fight so they can get together for the finale, after she gets kidnapped and he rescues her. I have to come up with a reasonable reason for them to fight...

The dim yellow electric light, combined with the steady ticking of the clock and the bare walls, makes me feel gloomy.

I consider if it will be worth it to put on some music. No, it's way too distracting for me. I just have to get through this.

It's late when I get to bed, and I'm tired the next morning.

Emma greets me as we come into work, and my heart flutters when she looks me in the eyes.

Her eyes are a rich tawny brown, seeming to dance in the light as she smiles briefly at me.

I'm still not sure about her, I remind myself. Biases don't just disappear like that.

After work I tell Elijah that Emma can't give us a ride.

"That's okay." he says. "I think the exercise is good."

We get caught up in talking about Blood shooter 4 and similar games on the walk, and we play until it's quite late.

Elijah is really fun to hang out with. When he's into the game he's no longer shy, but a clever, fast talking team leader.

I'm glad I decided to talk to him, to make a friend I wouldn't have considered, before.

"It really is late, I gotta get home." I say, thinking of the two chapters I need to get through before I can sleep. "By the way, what are you doing for President's day?"

"Ah, we're doing a family hike. Wish me luck..." Elijah says, stretching.

"Good luck. I still have to figure out plans.." I say.

Worst comes to worst, it'll be a chunk of time to finish my novel.

But that's no consolation, I find. I really don't want to spend it alone.

It's been a really warm winter, so I imagine President's day will be one of those days that just makes you depressed to stay inside.

I'll take a walk, even if I can't find anyone to hang out with...

"Good luck," Elijah says, waving.

The next two days go much the same, except that Emma comes along.

"What are your plans for President's day?" I ask her when she's driving me to my house.

Am I a bit desperate to not be the one person who isn't doing anything? Maybe.

"I'm going to the Forwardlake trail to paint the river and take some pictures. What about you?" she says.

"Oh, I don't have any plans yet. Hey, would you mind if I tagged along?" I say, flinching at how awkwardly the words come out.

There's a moment of silence where I desperately try to think of a good way to take it back.

"Sure. I mean, yeah, I wouldn't mind if you came along. But you'll get bored. I'm going to be stopping a lot to take pictures, then sitting for a few hours while I paint." she warns me.

"That's fine! I can take things to do. Writing by a river is still better than writing at home." I blurt, then curse myself for bringing up my embarrassing writing career again.

"Okay! Yeah. It's a plan." she says with a bright little laugh.

Another moment passes.

"I never got your number." she says. "I'll need to call you when I'm ready to go on President's day."

She thinks a bit more.

"Bring a lot of water, something to eat, and something extra to put on if it gets colder. We'll be there most of the day. I'll handle anything else I think of."

She pulls up to my house, and we exchange numbers before I go in.

I feel irrationally nervous as I think about our plans. I write down to bring water, lunch, and an extra jacket.

The next two days pass like water. The same routine of the monotonous job, the fun game, and back home, where I relax a bit, then write as much of my novel as I need to according to my pacing plans.

I need to finish it the day after President's day. I'm fairly close, I just need to write the rescue, the make-up scene, the love scene, and some wrap up.

I'm glad I'll be doing something that's halfway between hanging out with someone; getting nothing done, and staying home all day.

Emma texts me on the morning of President's day that she'll tell me when she's ready to go.

I find I'm full of nervous energy, so I put it toward cleaning my apartment. I sweep around my desk where I eat every day to discourage pests, but it's been weeks since I've swept and mopped the rest. I do that now.

I've just finished up when I get Emma's text.

I take the lunch out of the fridge and add it to the bag with the sweater, laptop, water bottles wrapped in separate plastic bags, and a book just in case.

I made egg salad sandwiches and fruit salad from some miscellaneous fruit I needed to use up.

For a normal day I would have just brought some snack food, but I took the extra effort for today since I'll be sharing it, and besides, it's a rare day off of work.

I'm outside when Emma pulls up. I get in the passenger seat and we're off.

"It's a really nice day." she says.

"Yeah."

She continues.

"I was prepared to take a lot of extra layers so I could be comfortable when I sit down to paint, but it looks like I won't need to! It's so much nicer to paint on a day like this, but I was looking forward to painting from life so much that I would have done it on any day.

I've been to this trail before, not only is the river super pretty, but there are some beautiful big rocks. I almost want to climb on them, but I know it's not safe."

She snaps into silence, awkwardly.

"So, have you been here before, Caleb?"

I have to talk now. Okay, take a breath, and...

"No, I haven't. I'm really looking forward to seeing it."

She says something like 'mm!' and we lapse into silence for a minute.