A Year Ago This Evening

- - 9:00 A.M. October 20th - -

"-oe? Chlo-? Chloe?!" A familiar, taut voice startled a sleeping Chloe.

"D-Don?" She asked groggily. "Ah...Could you please shout a little quieter?"

"Chloe...You know that I am fond of you, but this is the fourth time this week. Plus, I have a patient coming in a couple of hours, and I need you out of my office." He walked over to the door and flipped the light switch to "on".

"Oh, come on." Chloe mumbled.

"I let you sleep as long as possible. Get up." He stepped to the couch where Chloe lay face down, grabbed her arm, and pulled her up so that she was standing.

"Do you at least have some Advil or something? Ibuprofen?" She whispered, trying not to upset her head any more.

"Here." He tossed her two small pills and handed her a water bottle. She immediately took the medication, and plopped herself down on the couch, this time sitting.

"This can't keep happening, Chlo. I understand why you don't want to go home, I really do, but...This is too much. If you keep showing up to work like this, then I'll have no other choice than to fire you. There are plenty of other people who applied for this spot, but I gave it to you. Only, this isn't the hardworking woman I hired." He gestured to Chloe who was slowly combing her hair with her fingers. "The only ambition that you've shown lately is reaching a higher number of shots before passing out than the night before." She nodded in agreement, knowing he was disappointed in her, as she was herself.

"I just need you to get yourself together. That's all I ask."

Chloe flashed him a forced smile, acknowledging what he said.

"That I why I am giving you some time off." He walked back over to his desk, and sat down.

"W-" Chloe rose from her seat in protest.

"Nope. No arguing, my decision is final. Two weeks off. Have fun with your free time." He smirked at her and nodded towards the door, signaling for her to leave.

On the first floor, when almost at the doors, Chloe bumped into someone slightly.

"Oh, sorry!" They said as they kept walking.

Chloe didn't turn around to see who it was, but once she exited the doors, she stopped. The voice sounded extremely familiar, warm even. Then she remembered the smell associated with the kind voice. It was sweet and somewhat floral, reminded her of a summer day.

Chloe then turned around. Through the glass doors, she saw the figure standing by the elevator, waiting for it to reach her floor. She was wearing black ripped mom jeans, yellow checkered vans, and a black sweatshirt with nothing but a small sunflower in the middle of it. Her hood was up, but the curly ends of her brown hair were poking through the hood opening by her face. She also wore a plain, brown leather backpack.

Yes, she resembled Emily, but Chloe doubted that it was actually her. Yet, she still stood in the corner, on the outside of the building, gazing through the door at this lovely person who reminded her of someone she cared about.

The young woman was blowing bubbles in her gum, and looking down at her phone until the elevator dinged a few seconds later. When the doors opened, she placed her phone in her back pocket and smiled at the people exiting the elevator.

Chloe still couldn't clearly see who she was, but kept watching her contently.

When the girl moved to the side so that her back was facing Chloe, to let a a few children and their parents into the lobby, Chloe was able to notice something on the back of her bag. It was a large keychain that had a cursive "E" on it.

Upon noticing this, Chloe's eyes widened, realizing that this could very likely be Emily. As she opened the building doors to catch up to the woman, she had already entered the elevator, and was heading to her floor.

"Damn it." Chloe whispered to herself under her breath.

- - 5:21 A.M. October 20th - -

"ugh" Emily tiredly reached for her alarm to turn it off, and rolled out of bed. She then slipped out of her pajamas, and into a black sweatshirt, tennis shoes, and leggings. She brushed her hair and pulled it into a pony tail, washed her face, brushed her teeth, made her bed, grabbed her headphones, and left the apartment.

After her hour long morning jog, Emily returned to her apartment, showered, dressed, and made herself eggs for breakfast. As she sat down to eat, she pulled out her phone, and opened the messaging app.

"It's about time I tell her." She thought to herself.

Emily: Hey Gram, you up yet?

Sara: Yes I am! Good morning sweetie! <3 <3 <3

Emily smiled when she saw her grandmother's pleasant message.

Emily: Do you want to go somewhere for coffee?

Sara: Absolutely, do you just want to come to my work? I can put in some extra hours right after

Emily: Sounds good. See you at 6:30?

Sara: Yep!

- - 6:33 A.M. October 20th - -

Emily was situated in a booth towards the back corner of the restaurant, waiting for her grandmother to arrive.

After a few minutes, she heard a bell above the door open, and slid out of the booth at the sight of her grandma.

"Hey sweetie!" She greeted Emily with enthusiasm.

"Morning, Gram!" Emily replied cheerfully.

"Did you get the gift I sent you yesterday?" She asked as she sat down in the seat opposite to Emily.

"Yes, thank you so much. The ring was gorgeous!"

"Anything for you dear. So, what's my little girl up to these days?" She asked with a smirk.

"I'm not a little girl anymore."

"I'm twenty as of yesterday.." She mumbled, shrugging her shoulders and chuckling quietly, trying to remain modest.

"Ugh, I know. I can't believe it's been a whole year since we moved out here." Her grandmother looked out the window.

"Yeah. Since Grandpa." Emily added.

"Since Chloe." She thought.

"Anyway, there was something I wanted to tell you. Um...Please don't be upset." She looked down at her phone, and started playing with the case.

"Is something wrong, hon?" She had a worried look on her face.

"No, no. Nothing like that." She chuckled as she said this.

"No. I-" Emily sighed, not knowing to feel nervous, or just back out now. "I-" Her heart was racing, she could feel her chest pounding along to it's quick pace.

She lifted her head, cleared her throat, and continued.

"I...like girls."

Her grandmother didn't reply for a moment, she didn't even react, which only made Emily's heart pound even harder.

Then, a smile appeared on her face.

"Good for you honey, I'm glad you figured yourself out.

Oh, does this mean I get to meet a 'potential love interest'?" She did air quotes as she said this, intentionally poking fun at Emily's previous lack of a love life.

"Nope. Sorry. Haven't found anyone yet, but as soon as I do, I'll introduce them to you."

"Promise?" Her grandmother raised an eyebrow, a grin still plastered across her face.

"Promise." Emily replied with a gentle smile. The both rose from the booth and embraced each other.

"I love you, honey. So, so, indescribably much. Nothing could ever change that. Okay?"

Emily pulled away from the hug and sniffled.

"Yeah." She replied shakily and wiped a tear from her cheek. "I love you too."

- - 8:15 A.M. October 20th - -

"It was great seeing you, Gram. Hope we can do this again sometime." Emily said goodbye to her grandmother as she walked beside her out of the diner.

"Me too, honey. See you later!" She walked over to the parking lot and slid inside her small black car before driving away.

Emily walked down the street that led to her apartment while playing a game on her phone, looking up occasionally.

- - 9:00 A.M. October 20th - -

Standing at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to signal for her to cross, Emily put her phone away and began looking around. When she turned around to look behind her, she saw Dr. Pertana's office building.

"My session's in a few hours, but I could probably just drop by now." She thought, peeking at her digital watch to check the time. "If he has another patient, I'll just leave."

She walked towards the door and pulled it open after waiting a moment outside to finalize her decision and flip up her hood, knowing the building could be chilly especially in the fall. When she entered the building, she turned to her left to grab her phone out of her backpack while walking towards the elevator.

As she zipped her bag back up, she felt someone's shoulder collide with hers.

"Oh, sorry!" She said instinctively, and kept going, not paying much mind to the incident.