The Atlantic Ocean

I watched the waves crash down over and over again. The sun was hot that day, but the heat has never really bothered me. I’ve always loved feeling the warmth on my skin, even when some people would complain that it was too hot.

The beaches in California were obviously amazing, but there was a particular comfort I found being back on the beach I always went to as a kid. I dug my toes into that familiar sand and watched kids boogie boarding close to the shore.

“The concession stand didn’t have any soft pretzels,” Anna informed me as she walked back from her journey for ice cream.

“Oh, that’s okay,” I replied as I shut my eyes again.

“So, what time do you want to head out tonight?” Anna asked as I heard the wrapper of her Chipwich.

“I don’t care,” I replied without looking over at her. “I’ll need to shower and want to take a nap. Maybe like, 7?”

“That works for me,” Anna said. “How slutty of an outfit are you going to wear?”

I laughed at her. “I’m not going to dress slutty. It is probably going to be warm, though. I have a romper picked out.”

“A romper,” Anna repeated with a laugh. “That’s not going to show off your boobs and ass.”

I simply smiled in lieu of a response. I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to look good. Tonight was going to be the first time I saw Moose since Anna’s engagement party.

It had been a few weeks since WebMatch announced the closing of the California office. I think I did a pretty good job at acting shocked. After the announcement, things were understandably crazy there. Instead of finishing up projects and transferring clients, all the employees were looking for new jobs and working on their resumes. I found myself actually doing what I was supposed to do, but mainly for the sole purpose of procrastinating. I didn’t want to think about what I was going to do with my future.

I spent the rest of my vacation time coming home for a week. I had to go back to WebMatch for a week or two, but wanted to gain some perspective while I could. Did I want to move back to New York? Did I want to stay in Santa Monica? Or did I want to start over somewhere completely new? For once in my life, I felt I had complete freedom to choose whatever I wanted.

The week I came home happened to overlap with a celebratory night out that was planned for one of my friends who just got accepted into a pretty exclusive graduate program. Moose had confirmed his attendance to me over FaceTime the other day.

Moose had been doing a good job at keeping his word about trying to stay friends. No more than a few days would go by without us at least texting. He was opening up to me more than he did before and I felt comfortable doing the same. I didn’t tell him about losing my job yet, though, because I didn’t want to say anything until I knew where I wanted to live. I also happened to leave out that I was sleeping with my boss.

But this would be the first time we saw each other face to face. I wondered how our dynamic would feel. Would there be romantic chemistry? Had that moment we felt months ago passed?

Anna and I arrived at the bar a little after 7. The bar was in a hotel on the 20^th floor with a large outdoor area and it was a big happy hour spot in Manhattan. We walked in and most of our friends were already there. We stopped at the bar for a beer before heading over to say hi to everyone.

“It’s great to see you, Caroline,” Moose said to me as he sipped his whiskey ginger. Seeing and interacting with Moose felt like being an audience member on one of those makeover reality shows. He would normally awkwardly wait until I walked away from anybody else to say hello and make small talk. He seemed sure of himself this time. He also seemed comfortable in this setting and, specifically, around me. I really felt like these past few months got us back to where we used to be before all the drama.

“You too, Moose,” I replied with a smile. “How’s work?”

Moose shrugged. “Overworked, as usual, but can’t complain. You?”

I shifted my weight slightly and leaned forward on the small, high top table in front of us. “Well, it’s uh, not great.” I looked up at Moose who had a concerned look on his face. I took a deep breathe before telling him about the downsizing.

“Wow, that sucks. I’m so sorry, Caroline.”

“Don’t be,” I said before I took a long sip of my beer. “I’m starting to think it’s for the best.”

“Yeah,” Moose replied as he put his hands in his pockets. “So, does that mean you’ll be moving back?”

I shrugged. “It’s still all up in the air.”

“Well, it’d be great if we had you back,” he began. “But you have to do what’s best for you.”

I was a little caught off guard by Moose’s comment. I felt like the old Moose would’ve encouraged me to come back home, without any question. He liked to keep things the same; his same friends, his same job, his same life. I was surprised that he wasn’t more stunned at my revelation that I didn’t know where I’d end up living.

But maybe this was all par for the course with Moose’s new persona. Maybe he was more open to new experiences and allowing people to grow, regardless of where that took them.

I was really glad to catch up with Moose and my other friends.

Later in the week, I was definitely in for a surprise.