It all Comes in Waves: The Solitary Joy of the Ocean

Chapter 5

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The next morning, I returned to my own room and got dressed. I decided to take advantage of the balcony in my room, a part of this overwhelmingly big bedroom I was excited about. I opened the windowed door and was greeted by fresh saltwater air and weather that was already hot this early.

There was an amazing view of the ocean from here. I watched the remainder of the sunrise while listening to the ocean and watching early people arrive at the beach. It was really refreshing, especially the quiet.

Later, I touched up my hair then decided to meet everyone downstairs. Breakfast was laid out on the table and Este was getting herself a plate. Dahlia and Randy had their own plate and was sitting on the couch in the living room.

"Morning, Lena!" Este smiled.

"Morning." I returned a smile.

I got my own plate and put some fruit on it. I was liking this fruit for breakfast thing. Usually there was never any food for me to have at home, let alone breakfast.

"I saw you ventured out to your balcony." Este mentioned.

"Yeah, it's nice out there." I admitted.

"Mine has furniture out there if you want to eat breakfast together."

"Yeah, that'd be nice." I smiled.

I thought about how welcome they had all made me feel, but especially Este. It felt good to have one person I was so close to, even if I hadn't seen her in a long time.

I followed Este upstairs with our plates of food in hand and we walked out onto her balcony. There was a small white table and two chairs facing her own view of the ocean. Our room were opposite sides of the house so it was different from mine. The sun faced my side so Este's balcony was shady right now.

We ate our breakfast and watched the beach as we passed conversation.

"I made reservations for seafood earlier." Este smiled.

"I'm excited." I said genuinely.

"I'm glad. The guys agreed to go too. Matt's gonna pick us up this evening. We can wear our new sundresses!"

"I'd love that." I exclaimed.

"Then if you want, I was thinking tomorrow, you and I could go out and I could show you around the city for real. Take you to some beach shops. You need to do some touristy things."

"I've been really looking forward to a tour. I hear there's a lot to see."

"And then what if after we eat we can hang out at the beach some more? Are you up for that much beach?" Este bubbled.

"Sure!"

"I have a feeling there will be some good waves today." Este said, as she raised a hand to shield her eyes and look out to the ocean. The sun was starting to reach this side of the house.

I loved how much excitement Este had for everything. Maybe it would rub off on me. I'd never had anything to be excited for before, not really. And I was excited. But taking in a lot of new things at once felt like a lot.