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DREAM
Iopened my eyes that next morning to warm sunlight pouring in through the bay windows in Clarissa’s apartment, the soft hush of the water down on the shore as the sound drifted up along the cliffside, and the plaintive cry of seagulls as they glided over the ocean. I took in the sight of Clarissa’s place - the décor full of plants and art as quirky as she was.
I woke up to all of that – plus the blaring alarm I’d set on my phone.
“Nooo,” Clarissa moaned. “Turn it ooofff.”
My hand shot out to where my phone rested on the coffee table. With a quick press, the alarm was silenced. I sat up on the couch where I’d slept, Clarissa curled up on the nearby loveseat. Last night we’d stayed up late, watching some gory 80’s horror movies while eating our burgers and ice cream, with a little bit of wine here and there. I wasn’t hungover at all - didn’t drink nearly enough for that - but my body still cried out for more rest after my cross-country trip.
But no rest for the weary, as they say. I had to be up bright and early that morning.
“Hey, you’re the one who wanted to sleep on the couch knowing I had to be up at the butt crack of dawn.”
Clarissa sat up and rolled her shoulders, her blanket still wrapped around her.
“Why’d you have to be up so early anyway?” she asked. “Don’t tell me your job’s making you check in at normal office hours or something.”
The couch cried out to me, practically begging me to curl back up onto it and steal a few more hours of sleep. That, however, was most definitely not in the cards. So, I threw off the blanket and put my feet on the shag rug underfoot.
“Nope. It’s my mom, remember? She wanted me to come over for breakfast.”
Clarissa tilted head her back and let out an ahh of remembering. “That’s right.” She opened her mouth to say something. Before she could get a word out, something on her phone caught her eye. She grabbed it and read something on the screen, her eyes flashing with surprise.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Noah, my opener at work just texted me, said he’s feeling sick and doesn’t know if he can make it through his shift.” The way she said the words ‘feeling sick’ made it sound as if she didn’t entirely believe him. Her thumbs went to work, typing out her response. “He’s lucky I wasn’t sleeping in on the one day I scheduled off for myself this week.” Once the text was sent, she set down her phone and got up. “Looks like we’re both making an early morning of it. Go on and get dressed – I’ll get some coffee going for you.”
“Thanks so much.”
She grinned. “That’s what roommates are for, right?” The smile broadened after she spoke the words. “Roommates. God, I can’t believe we’re only just now living together. We could’ve done it right out of high school, but someone had to go off to Washington State for her graphic design degree.” She playfully wagged her finger at me as she hopped off the couch and went over to the kitchen to start some hot water for the coffee.
“Well, consider this making up for lost time,” I said with a smile, realizing how lucky I was to have a friend who’d put me up like that.
Clarissa opened her cupboard, revealing shelf after shelf of coffee bags from work. She took one down and began scooping some into a French press.
“Speaking of which,” she went on. “I know you were all jazzed up about getting your own place, but if you wanted to live together long-term, there’s tons of amazing apartments right by the beach. And not just kind of on the beach like this place, but actually on the beach. I can pull some places up on my laptop for you to look at when you get back…”
As she went on, my phone lit up with a text from my mom.
Hope you’re up and on your way over. Hate to think you’d sleep in for our breakfast.
I let out a grunt of annoyance.
“What?” Clarissa asked.
“Nothing. Just the standard checking up on me text from my mom. I don’t know why, but her texts always come across like she thinks I’m an irresponsible idiot.”
Clarissa bounded over and read the text over my shoulder. “It’s because she puts periods at the end of all her sentences. It’s a boomer thing – they don’t know how serious it sounds.”
I laughed, setting my phone down. “That could be it. But also, the way she’s always staying on top of me, making sure I’m on task.”
“Could be because she knows you’ve been through some serious stuff. I know your mom can be a little…icy. But I don’t have any doubt that she loves you like crazy. She’s just got her own way of showing it.”
A sunny answer like that was classic Clarissa.
“Anyway, I’ll do your coffee to go. And before you ask, yes, you can borrow my car.”
“Wait, how are you going to get to work?”
