Sense, Sensibility, & the Mediterranean Sea by KC McCormick Çiftçi

Author:KC McCormick Çiftçi [KC McCormick Çiftçi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Borderless Stories
Published: 2024-06-27T00:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

“Is that you?” Crystal’s voice called from her bedroom as Eliza entered the apartment. “That better be you. I am not in the mood to confront a burglar right now.”

Eliza chuckled to herself but didn’t answer right away, waiting to see if her silence would draw Crystal out of her room.

Sure enough—

“It is you! Hi!“ Crystal flew across the room and enveloped Eliza in a hug. “Welcome back! Wow, we’ve got some shit to talk about, don’t we? I’ll make some tea. Or wine? Would wine be better?”

“At…” Eliza squinted to make out the time on the microwave clock across the room. “…two o’clock, it would not be better.” She dropped her bag on the floor. “Tea sounds great. Then food. Wine later.” She flopped onto the couch as Crystal made a beeline for the kettle, a loud sigh escaping her lips.

“That bad, huh?” Crystal raised an eyebrow in her direction.

“Not exactly.” Eliza sat up, smoothing her hands over her hair as she worked to straighten her posture, her appearance. “I’ll tell you all of it, of course. First, though…are we okay? I’m really sorry for how I left things with you.”

Crystal was already waving her hands dismissively, but Eliza soldiered on.

“I should have heard you out when you talked about Chris, rather than jumping on you with my concerns. That’s not what you needed from me…you needed your best friend to listen and be excited with you. I just slipped into my protective sister mode instead. I’m sorry.” She shook her head. “Really, I am. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Crystal was already back to the couch now, setting down two mugs with tea bags still in them on the coffee table before plunking herself practically on top of Eliza. “I’m not mad at you, I swear. I know what you were doing when you were warning me about Chris and about not getting too swept up in things with him.” She shrugged. “You were being Eliza. Looking out for me, yes. But also viewing the world through your Eliza eyes, with a certain amount of distrust and healthy skepticism. But that isn’t how these Crystal eyes of mine…heh, I like that. Crystal eyes, like ‘crystalize…’” She trailed off in thought before shaking her head and continuing. “Anyway, it’s okay, and I get it. You don’t know him. You’re not in here.” She pointed to her head, then to her heart. “So, of course it doesn’t make sense to you. It will. Eventually.”

Eliza took a beat before she responded. As much as she wanted things to just be good between her and her best friend, during Crystal’s response she had gone from feeling like they were on the same page to being even more concerned about Crystal’s relationship than she already had been.

But Crystal was an adult, and she could—and would—make her own decisions. She already had parents, in fact, and therefore she didn’t need Eliza to act like a second mother. Only—

“It’s not just that I’m jaded, you know,” Eliza spat out.

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