“Our flight leaves at eight tonight. It’s a long flight, so prepare yourself.”
“Hold up Bryce, I didn’t say I was going yet.”
Brycen sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his hair.
“Gabrielle, we don’t have a lot of time. It’s either yes or no. And before you answer. Think about it. Soccer career, or some girlfriend?”
Brycen held up his hands as if he were to balance the two obviously making the soccer career weigh heavier. Gabrielle, being a naïve, and selfish eighteen year old went with the soccer career and began packing. She dismissed Brycen, telling him she needed some time alone and to pick her up at six. She called Meredith only for her to hear her ringtone upstairs in her bedroom. Meredith had left her damn phone again. She was out at a pickup game with her friends and probably wouldn’t be back for long. She needed to get in touch with her but time was ticking. She packed her belongings, which wasn’t much. Gabrielle wasn’t much of a shopper. She put her suitcases at the door. She got a blank piece of paper and sat down on the couch grabbing an ink pen, beginning to write. Her vision became blurry as she wrote and her tears were staining the paper so much that she had to throw the paper away and grab another one. Her sobs became louder and her hand shook, making it unable to write properly. She threw the pen at the wall and threw her hands up in the air before crying. Gabrielle lay face down in her pillow on the couch biting it hard, releasing a little bit of anger. She was sad, pissed, upset, and everything in between. She didn’t know if she was making the right decision or not and that pissed her the hell off. Gabrielle got herself together after thirty minutes, rushing her cry and grabbed the fourth piece of paper. Her tears once again stained the paper but she gave up and instead let the tears flow as she wrote.
Meredith, sweet Meredith
CHAPTER EIGHT
There is no place like home. The weather in Stockholm had several different mood swings, the coffee tasted bitter and the chocolate was entirely too expensive. Gabrielle enjoyed her time playing soccer in another country, learning the other language, meeting new people, and studying about the different culture but as the saying goes, home is where the heart is and for the past two years, Gabrielle’s heart has not been with her in Sweden. Gabrielle dug her feet deeper, the soft grains of sand traveling through the crevices of her toes. She stared at the sun that was rising just before her eyes. After not being able to fall asleep all night, she drove to the beach to take her mind off things and get away from her complicated life. If only life was simple and had a book of do’s and don’ts. Then she wouldn’t be in this boat where her ex-girlfriend despised her.
Ex?
Gabrielle cringed at the thought of that word. It just didn’t sound right when using it to describe Meredith. But for now, that’s just what she was. An ex. Gabrielle stood up, dusting sand off of her pants and walked closer to the ocean. Her silhouette was still present, as the sun hadn’t reached its peak yet. She stepped in the ocean, letting the waves wash back and forth up against her ankles and sighed. It was just she and the sun. She was lonely. She didn’t have anyone else. She had not been in a relationship since…since Meredith and the body, heart and soul was going through withdrawal. Gabrielle needed someone. She needed Meredith. When the sun rose high in the sky, it finally dawned on Gabrielle that she needed to leave her peaceful spot and enter into the real world again. She looked at her phone and grabbed her blanket and flip-flops and hurried back to her temporary rental car. She was suppose to meet up with Keliah at this café with amazing coffee that Keliah has been nagging about before she went to her first class. She was happy to have coffee with Keliah but her eagerness came from the slight hope that Meredith might tag along.
A girl can dream.
***
No such luck. After hearing that bell whenever someone entered or exited the café and Gabrielle popping her eyes up like a puppy dog only to see that it was a stranger rather than Meredith, Gabrielle gave up.
“Meredith’s sleeping.”
Gabrielle dropped her eyes back to the table to look at Keliah with a raised brow.
“Hmm?”
“She’s not coming, hon.”
Gabrielle blushed. Was it that obvious? She stared into her cup of coffee and took the silver spoon, twirling around the hot liquid into large circles.
“Oh…kay. So, um, this coffee is really great. I guess everyone was right.”
“Are we really talking about coffee…while drinking coffee?”
Keliah cut straight to the point.
“What else am I suppose to talk about?”
"How about explaining to me why you decided to move across the world without even a goodbye."
Gabrielle slid her coffee to the side of her and sighed.
"Keliah, I- -leaving Meredith...leaving you was the worst
