Page 19 of Throw Away the Key
“Some. I've been on a couple of trips with my friends. I don't particularly like planes, but I will go if it means I can enjoy a beach somewhere. I just take something to help me sleep.”
Emma giggled. “I hear that—I’m such a baby with any bit of turbulence. What's your favorite place that you've been so far?”
Sadie tilted her head and pushed her lips to one side as she thought. “Portugal.”
“Ooh. That's on my bucket list! I haven't been, but I hear so many good things.”
“I would highly recommend it.” Sadie sat back and rested her arm along the back of the couch, close enough to touch Emma’s shoulder if she extended her fingers. “I could move to Lisbon tomorrow and be perfectly content.”
“Yeah?” Emma pictured Sadie in a string bikini, sunlight glowing on her dark brown skin, mirrored sunglasses on her face as she stretched out on the sand with her hands folded behind her head.Lucky beach…
“Yeah. What's your favorite place that you've traveled to thus far?” Sadie pulled her arm back to rest her head on her hand, Emma immediately clocking the absence.
“I mean, I'm from the West Coast, so my favorite place is always going to be Hawaii,” she smiled. “But I will say, I spent some time in Belize, and it was really beautiful there. I’d go back in a heartbeat.”
“Oh wow. I haven't been there, but I follow a content creator who was there recently. I’ve got to get there sometime soon.”
“You do,” Emma agreed. “I just love that feeling of landing somewhere tropical and feeling the stress roll off of my shoulders. I feel like there's so many places that I want to see and I haven't had the chance, but there’s still time. I just need to start planning.”
“I feel you. The ultimate stress reliever.”
Emma sighed dreamily. “Yes… I could use a trip sometime soon.” She stared off in the distance, imagining the warm sunshine and a balmy breeze kissing her skin. She blushed as she opened her eyes to find Sadie watching her, having apparently witnessed her mental transportation. Her cheeks warmed and she bit her lip.
Sadie cleared her throat and looked away. “So you're from California?”
“Yup.”
“What part?”
“Bay Area. My parents are still there—they are thinking about downsizing so that they can travel more. I try to go home for the holidays,” she sighed. “I don't always make it, but they know my heart. Sometimes I can’t make the trip, so I’ll spend them with Zora and her granny.”
“Does your family know Zora well?”
“Oh yeah. She's practically been adopted by my parents–she’s from the Bay too, but her mom and grandmother are from here. You two have some things in common–she lost her parents and her grandmother has been, you know, that constant in her life since then. Honestly, she’s been the constant in mine for a long time at this point too. We’re really close.”Understatement.Emma’s lips twitched at the thought of her vintage bestie.
Sadie nodded gently. “It really helps to have people around you when you experience loss like that.”
“I can only imagine.”
A comfortable quiet grew between them, and Sadie reached into the box and broke the guava and cheese tart into pieces. “This looks really good.”
“It's honestly my favorite thing.” Guava jelly was artfully pooled and ribboned over the cream cheese filling, the buttery pastry a golden brown that wrapped around the filling at the edges forming crispy bits of perfection.
“Well, please have some with me.”
“I will,” Emma nodded, leaning back against a pillow. “But you've got to try it first.”
“Okay.” Sadie eyed her dubiously before she took a bite, the flaky crust crunching as her lips closed around the filling. “Oh my god.” Her eyes shut and she hummed as she chewed. “This is heavenly,” she whispered, her shoulders swaying slightly.
Emma watched Sadie as if she moved in slow motion, the heady scent of Sadie’s perfume wrapped around Emma, arresting her full attention. Her eyes traveled to Sadie's lips as she licked them, trying to catch pieces of the pastry that had stuck to her lip gloss. Emma blinked, her mouth watering more in response to the woman than the delicacy.
“This is otherworldly,” Sadie hummed.
“Yeah,” Emma swallowed. “Here you have a piece of pastry.” Emma leaned forward. “Actually, you have a little bit of the guava jelly too,” she laughed.
“Oh,” Sadie's eyes flew open as her finger went to the corner of her mouth.
“No, I got it.” Emma wrapped a paper towel around her finger and dabbed at Sadie's lower lip, unable to tear her eyes away as the tip of Sadie’s tongue traced the seam of her lips. “You've got a little bit more. Just…”
