Treading The Waters [on hold]

Chapter Six

As I walk up to the register, I hear my name coming from the opposite side of the shop.

"Baya!" I turn and see Adrian wave at me, making a motion with her hand to come sit with her. I send her a nod before placing my order.

Grabbing my Cinnamon Dolce latte and a blackberry scone, I make my way over to where Adrian's sitting.

She doesn't have her kids with her today, but she is sitting with a laptop, so I assume she's working.

"Hey girl! What are you up to?" Adrian's smile has always been contagious, so I can't help but smile myself.

"Nothing really. I went out for a run and decided to extend it into town. I hadn't had my coffee fix for the day and figured I'd come in and get some."

"Solid plan. Do you have anywhere to be?" She asks.

"No, I don't."

"Would you like to sit with me? Catch up for a bit?"

"Of course," I smile, pulling out a chair and sitting across from her.

"So, tell me," Adrian begins. "What really brought you back into town? We didn't have much time to talk the other day when we ran into each other."

"Yeah, you seemed to have your hands full," I laugh.

"Baya, I always have my hands full. I have a two-and-a-half and a four-year-old at home, both boys. They keep me busy."

"Seems that way." I pick up my cup and take a sip of my coffee. An explosion of cinnamon, espresso, vanilla, whip cream and a hint of brown sugar that I add graces my taste buds, and I can practically feel them dancing. "What do you want to know?"

"Girl, what don't I want to know," she laughs. "You lived in L.A. so I know you must have had the time of your life. But for now, what brought you back home? I haven't seen you since you left."

"Where do I begin?" I look down at the table and start picking at my scone, pulling it apart and watching as the golden flakes fall to the napkin beneath it.

"A few weeks ago, my boss sat me down and told me that my writing wasn't as good as it was when they first hired me. He told me that I was an asset to the label, and he fought for me with the board because they originally wanted to fire me."

"What?" She says, astonished.

"Yeah, I know." I take a sip of my coffee again, relishing in the delicious taste. "He told me that I needed to find my inspiration again and that I needed to take some time off – unpaid – while I do that. When I started thinking about what inspired me, I just thought about being here. Being home.

"This place started it all, you know. I found my love of music here. I learned to play the guitar here. Everything good in my life happened here. So, I thought moving back here would help me find that part of myself again."

Adrian finally closes the lid of her laptop and sits back in her chair, resting her ankle on her knee and resting her hands there. She looks at me, inspecting me for something I'm not sure of.

"Are you sure that's all you came back for?" She asks.

There it is. The infamous question. I've been wondering when someone was gonna ask me that.

"I didn't come back for him."

I feel like we're Peyton and Brooke circa One Tree Hill season five when she swore she didn't come back for Lucas... at least, not intentionally. But something about seeing someone for the first time again after all those years brings back every memory you have with someone – the good, the bad, and the ugly.