by Angela Blake
Esmeralda heard the bed shift and creak, but before she had time to wonder what was happening, she heard the sound of Christina ripping the curtains open.
Esmeralda pressed the pillow closer to her face and yelled out. “No! I want to stay in bed and be Mr. Grinch for the day.”
She heard Christina move around the room, and a cool hand came upon hers. Curiosity got the better of her, so she pushed the pillow aside, and peeked up at Christina who stood there with a glass of water and pills.
Esmeralda shot her a grateful smile. “Grinch or not, you’re a superhero to me, Chris.”
“A superhero’s work is never done.” She sighed melodramatically as she handed Esmeralda the water and pills. Esmeralda popped the pills in her mouth and downed the water.
“Now, come on. I’ve made you a greasy breakfast downstairs. Guaranteed hangover cure.”
***
Esmeralda groaned in satisfaction as she leaned back in her chair and stretched her legs out in front of her. She patted her stomach and gave Christina an appreciative smile.
“Chris, I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you, but greasy food? I’m already overweight.”
“I thought you didn’t care what people thought.” She perched on her seat and swirled around the water in her hand until it sloshed over the counter. She hopped off the stool and made her way to the kitchen to find a rag to mop up the water.
“I don’t.” Esmeralda sniffed delicately. “Or I try my best not to, but sometimes you can’t help it. I’m not going to starve myself or anything, but I should probably try to eat healthier food.”
Christina tossed the rag from across the counter, so it landed in the middle of the sink. She turned to face Esmeralda with a raised eyebrow, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. “Well, not that I don’t support your health initiative, but come on, we always say that life is too short to stress over what you are and aren’t supposed to eat.”
“And in a flash, it could all be taken away from you,” Esmeralda continued, softly as she stared down at her empty mug. “Yeah, I know. Maybe I’ll just hit the gym instead.”
She made eye contact with Christina who burst out laughing a second after Esmeralda did. “Yeah, you’ll ‘hit the gym’, good one, Esme.”
Esmeralda tried to keep a serious face. “You never know, one of these days, I might actually make it there.”
Christina snorted, briefly. “You always say that. You got dressed in the workout clothes, you get yourself pumped up then inevitably you find your way to the couch and start channel surfing, and I’m pretty sure channel surfing doesn’t constitute as a work out.”
Esmeralda pretended to be offended. “Have you seen how much energy it takes to flip through channels? All that clicking, my thumb is practically an Olympic medal recipient by now.”
“Given all the channel surfing you do actually do, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the gold winner.”
Esmeralda grinned. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure he is. Me, myself and I are very proud of him. Besides, that isn’t the only thing. Do you know how hard it is to find the right angle for hours of channel surfing and binge watching? Should it be legs up or down? Should I sink into the couch, or would that just make me feel too sleepy to focus? There’s so many decisions.”
Christina rolled her eyes. “You poor thing, you must be so tired, exercising that much every day.”
“It’s all in a day’s work.” Esmeralda wrapped her hands around the mug of coffee and inhaled the rich scent as it streamed through her nostrils causing her to senses to immediately perk up. She took a sip of her coffee and sighed in pure bliss as it coursed through her system.
“Poor baby, however do you do it?”
“With my witty sense of humor and dazzling personality, of course.”
Christina started for a minute, clearly not expecting that response. “I assume you would also brag about your amazing sense of humility, too.”
“Well, obviously,” Esmeralda conceded as she waggled her eyebrows at Christina teasingly. Christina’s face broke out into a smile. “Well, I’m going to do the dishes.”
Esmeralda held her hand up as she gulped down the last of her coffee. “No, no. Here, let me. You cooked after all. What are roommates for if not for chores?”
“Servitude generally, someone who will always tell you that you are the fairest of them all.”
“I’m talking about roommates not the magic mirror from Snow White,” Esmeralda replied as she picked up the plates and headed towards the sink, so she could soak them first. She stood next to the sink in her shorts and t-shirt as she twirled a loose strand of hair between her fingers.
She waited for the water to heat up before she began scrubbing the dishes. “So what did we talk about yesterday? It’s kind of a blur right now.”
Christina leaned her back against the chair and titled it over slightly. “Well, I said we don’t travel enough, nearly enough, and you said you agree, so I looked up some places online, and I told you that I think we should go camping in Egypt.”
“Yeah, I vaguely remember that. Did I say yes?”
“You did,” Christina intoned. Something in her tone made Esmeralda pause what she was doing to turn around and look at her.
She was studying Esmeralda carefully as if she was looking for something. “What? Why are you staring at me like that?”
“I have a feeling you’re about to change your mind.”
Esmeralda cocked her head to the side. “Why would I change my mind?”
“I don’t know. You don’t strike me as the outdoorsy type. Plus you’re more of an introvert than an extrovert.”
Esmeralda gave a quick laugh. “I know that, but it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy time outdoors. It usually depends on the activity. Besides, I’ve always wanted to go to Egypt, Daniel and I were —” Esmeralda froze as if she’d been zapped. Her whole body immediately reacted to the name as if he was somehow still there. She felt an aching sadness take root in her heart, but before it could spread, she shook her head. “Well, anyway, I always wanted to go. They’ve got such an amazing history, and camping outdoors with a fire, making s’mores, etc. That would be fantastic!”
“So you still want to go?” Christina asked to be sure.
Esmeralda nodded. “Yes, I still want to go. I think you should book the tickets now in fact. We’re supposed to be getting some time off next week anyway. Something about renovations in the office.”
Christina snapped her fingers. “That’s right. I remember. Okay, great. That’s good timing then.” She picked up her phone off the counter and wandered into the other room no doubt trying to find a better connection.
She emerged a while later with an ear splitting grin. “Okay, I found an amazing offer for five nights and four days of camping in the desert –” She paused as she pulled up her phone to cheek. “The offer also includes visiting this historic site by an important figure in Egyptian history, and we get to climb a mountain.”
Esmeralda swallowed audibly. “Climb a mountain?”
Christina frowned. “Esme, I know you’re afraid of heights, but St. Catherine’s monastery is a must see place. Also we get to climb something called Mount Sinai, but I guess if you’re really that scared, we can just ask them to drop it from our schedule.”
Esmeralda shook her head empathically. “No, I need to start getting over my fears. The only way to do that is to face them head on, not run away from them.”
Christina patted her hand. “Atta girl. I know you can do it. Besides, I’m sure once you get a load of that view, you’ll wonder why you never got over that fear in the first place.”
“Let’s hope so,” Esmeralda mumbled distractedly as she wiped her hands on a towel to dry them off. She hopped onto the counter, and Christina hoped up on the chair opposite hair.
“You’re thinking about Daniel, aren’t you?”
Esmeralda gave her a sad smile. “I can’t help. I miss him, you know. He’s everywhere. I can�
��t seem to escape him.”
“I know, honey. But listen, the only way you’re going to get over the final hurdle of getting over him is to not be afraid to have adventures. I know you had a list of all these things you were going to do together including go camping in Egypt, but there’s no reason you can’t do these things alone, or with me.”
Esmeralda touched Christina’s shoulder briefly. “I know, Chris, and I love you for that. Whenever we can go together, we will, but if there’s something I want to do, and you don’t want to or can’t for whatever reason, I think I should try doing it on my own.”
“It’s okay to be afraid.”
“It’s not fear per say.” Esmeralda hesitated as she searched her thoughts trying to find the right words. “It’s just that I always pictured myself sharing all these crazy and wild adventures with a special person. Memories that we make together, that I can look back on some day.”
Christina moved her chair closer and took both of Esmeralda’s hands in hers. “Esme, I’m not saying it’s not a good thing to want to make amazing memories with someone, and when that happens, it’ll be great, but in the meantime, you can take yourself out. Have your own adventures. So what if you’ll be alone? You deserve to treat yourself well too, you know. I guess what I’m trying to say is, don’t be so hard on yourself, okay?”
Esmeralda leaned in and gave Christina a quick hug. She allowed herself to linger for a moment or two drawing on her best friend’s inner reservoir of strength, and her belief in Esmeralda. She pulled back a while later. “You’re pretty awesome, you know that?”
Christina tossed her hair back and winked at Esmeralda. “Oh, I know, but it definitely can’t hurt to hear it every now and again, or every day. I wouldn’t object to that.”
Esmeralda shoved her playfully. “I thought fake arrogance was my thing.”
“You so don’t own it. It’s not like you’ve got exclusive rights to it.”
Esmeralda ran her hands through her hair. “Sadly, I do not, but wouldn’t it be cool if I did? Besides, I’m the nice one, you’ve got to leave me something that makes me a little edgy.”
Christina stood up. “Sweetie, you aren’t just nice. You are so much more than that. You are a bad-ass through and through. You just don’t see it yet.”
Esmeralda stood up and linked her arm through Christina’s, and they laughed as they made their way up the stairs to get changed and go to the movies.
Chapter 2
Esmeralda rolled out of the bed and crouched on the floor as she looked around, her heart hammering in her chest as she tried to discern where the sound was coming from.
She scrambled up and headed towards the window only to notice that there were construction works across the street.
“Construction workers at seven in the morning?” she asked herself as she scratched her head and yawned. She rubbed her eyes and blinked as she put her hands behind her head and stretched.
She checked her watch, and her eyes widened in surprise. She had slept through her alarm clock. Again.
Her alarm was supposed to go off at seven, and it was now seven-thirty. They were going to be so late unless they could be dressed and out of that door in thirty minutes.
Why hadn’t Chris woken her up?
“Chris! Chris?!” She yanked her door open and raced down the hallway and stood outside Chris’s door. She began pounding on it to no avail.
She finally wrenched the door open and flew in, her eyes searching the room for Christina’s form. Christina was sprawled on the bed, peacefully asleep, unaware that they were late.
Esmeralda grinned wickedly as she jumped on the bed and yelled. “Chrissy, Chris! Rise and shine.”
Christina’s eyes flew open, and she yelped as she saw Esmeralda sitting there causing her to roll over and fall off the bed.
Esmeralda began to laugh as Christina grumbled from the floor before she hoisted the top half of her body up, so she was perched on the edge of the bed. “Was that really necessary?”
“Since I accidentally slept through my alarm, yes, it was. We’re going to be late.”
Christina stood up and ran her hands through her hair before checking her wrist watch. “I can see that, but was the jumping and screaming necessary?”
“You wanted me to waste a perfectly good opportunity?”
Christina scowled. “Yes. Considering I haven’t had my coffee yet, and the only thing that’s keeping me from strangling your overtly perky ass is the thought that the prison uniform would look hideous on me.”
Esmeralda guffawed. “Just keep reminding yourself of that.”
“It’s my mantra. How do you think I’ve handled living with you all these years?”
Esmeralda batted her eyelashes at her as she drew a halo around her head. “Because I’m such an angel?”
Christina snorted, “Ha! Is that what you think? What kind of angel barges into a room with that much energy at this ungodly hour?”
“It’s half an hour later than when we usually wake up,” Esmeralda pointed out, amusement coloring her tone.
“Well, aren’t you just a regular Sherlock, today? I’m highly aware of that, but I usually stumble to the kitchen and brew my first cup of coffee before my eyes are fully open which you’d know if you weren’t busy making your bed, and taking a shower in the time it takes me to peel my eyes open.”
Esmeralda shrugged. “It’s not my fault I don’t need as much coffee as you. To be honest, I could totally live without it.”
“I can put up with your chipper ‘the early bird gets the worm’ attitude, but if you keep spewing blasphemous things like being able to live without coffee, I’ll be forced to move out.”
Esmeralda stood up and patted Christina on the head. Christina rolled her eyes at her before she moved, so she was standing behind Esmeralda and began to propel her out of the room.
“Coffee. Kitchen. You. Out!” she gritted through clenched teeth before she slammed the door shut behind Esmeralda.
Esmeralda laughed as she made her way to the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee. Once she made sure the coffee was brewing, she made her way to her room and picked out her outfit.
She went with a simple pair of jeans and a loose green top. She managed to wriggle into them, and she paired it with a light sweater and a pair of sneakers. One of the perks she loved about her job is the fact that their company didn’t have a dress code.
Casual clothes were fine just as long as shorts were avoided.
She whistled as she made her way back to the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee for Christina and added a dollop of cream, and a spoonful of sugar.
She decided to forgo her own cup of coffee and instead poured herself a glass of orange juice. She took out a bowl, poured some cereal, milk and set it down on the table. She made Christina a cheese sandwich because she knew she wouldn’t have time to make one for herself.
She sat down and began to chew on her cereal dimly noting that they had to get going in a few minutes. She washed her bowl and glass and made her way back to the room to brush her teeth. While she was there, she heard Christina yell out thanks as she no doubt discovered her coffee mug.
She heard the water running and knew that Christina was washing her coffee cup.
“I’m ready,” Christina’s voice called out from the end of the hallway.
She sprayed some perfume, grabbed her purse and keys before she shut her bedroom door and made her way down the hallway. “Me too.”
Christina took a bite of her sandwich, and they made their way out of the apartment and to the garage. They slid into the car, switched on the radio and made their way to work as they realized that they were only five minutes behind schedule.
***
“Are you almost done with that story, Esmeralda?” her boss questioned as she dragged her eyes away from the screen and looked up into her boss’s eyes.
He was leaning over her desk texting something on his phone.
Eric Lovat was a legend in the publ
ishing business. He had built this company from scratch with his own money. He worked as a teacher for a few years while taking the odd free-lance writing jobs here and there till he finally saved enough to start his own business. Once he did, he brought on one of his former students, Esmeralda on.
She was lucky enough to have a boss who taught her so much at an impressionable age, and who was her role model in so many ways. At 5’2, he wasn’t the tallest guy she had ever seen, but his sea green eyes, easy going smile and charismatic energy made him very easy to work with and respect.
“I kind of wrote myself into a corner,” She admitted, the frustration creeping into her voice.
Eric chuckled. “Again? You really are having a hard time with this client, huh?”
She didn’t want to complain or sound ungrateful especially because she really was grateful to him for giving her the job on her dreams. “It’s just that some of these clients can really nitpick, and they keep sending me the stuff back with a ton of revisions, and comments like too original, the backstory is too complex, keep it simple.”
Eric threw his head back and began to laugh. He slapped his knee in amusement. “Yeah, sadly, ghostwriting is not based on originality. It’s mostly based on how much you can spew forth that’s even slightly readable.”
“I guess so.” She took off her glasses and began to rub her eyes.
“Don’t worry so much. You’ll get it. Just try coming at it from a different angle, and if that doesn’t work then take a break, get those creative juices flowing, ok?”
“Thanks, boss.” She gave him a warm smile. He nodded at her before he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. “That’s the missus, I’ve got to go. Keep me posted, ok?”
“I will, say hi to Mellie for me.”
“Will do,” he called out over his shoulder as he made his way back to his office.
She rummaged around in her drawer for the piece of cloth she kept to polish her glasses. She blew hot air onto the glass and began to wipe it thoroughly letting the mechanical smoothness of the gesture lull into her a more peaceful state of mind.