My Name is Driftwood

Emilia stepped off the airplane from Japan and made her way excitedly to the door. The crowd was moving too slowly for her taste. After being gone for almost 6 months, she was having withdrawals. She wanted to tell Tim how much she had missed him. Finally, the crowd began moving and Emilia began to get excited. When she got off the plane, she began to search.

There he was, thin and pale. His dark hair was longer and his handsome face was clean shaven. Everything was the same, except for his new accessory. Standing next to him was a pretty girl with dark hair and bright blue eyes. Emilia felt sick to her stomach. He caught her gaze and waved eagerly. She got up to him and gave him an uncomfortable hug.

"Hi," she said shyly.

"God, it's so good to see you!"

The girl smiled at her and she smiled back unenthusiastically.

"EM, this is my girlfriend, Kim."

"It's so great to finally meet you," she said warmly.

"Nice to meet you too."

She couldn't believe Tim hadn't told her about Kim. It made her feel self-conscious, and left out. She followed them to the baggage claim and out to the car. There was even more discomfort when Kim slid into the passenger seat of Tim's car. Tim and Kim, it was almost ridiculous and Emilia had to hold back a snort as she slid into the backseat.

"Why am I so angry about this?" she wondered silently to herself. "Why didn't he tell me when we were on the phone?"

"I have some good news," he said.

"Oh yeah?"

"We got signed."

"Oh my god, Tim! That's so awesome!"

"We're going to start recording in the winter."

"I'm so proud of you guys!"

"So, how was Japan?"

"Amazing. I'm surprised I got anything done."

"Do you want to go to dinner with us?"

"Um, jet-lag. I think I'll just go home."

Tim gave her a strange look in the rearview mirror. Fortunately, she wasn't looking at him to receive it. Instead, she was hunched forward holding her head in one hand.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing. I'm just still on Japan time. It's like 7 am on Saturday to me instead of 2 on Friday and I've been flying all night."

Tim carried her suitcase up to her apartment while Kim waited in the car. Emilia unlocked her door and he followed her inside. He set the suitcases down and looked at her.

"Ok, what's wrong?" he asked again.

"How come you didn't tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"That you have a girlfriend."

"Oh," he said, blushing. "Well, it's kind of new. I guess I didn't think it would matter."

Emilia nodded.

"Ok. Well, thanks for picking me up. Goodnight, Tim."

He noticed how cold she was and wondered what had changed. This wasn’t the usual EM. Emilia noticed that Tim noticed. She didn't care, they had always been honest with each other. Tim gave her a hug and shut the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Woah, wait a second," Tim said quickly.

"You always pick these girls like Kim and Keely who treat you like shit. Kim was a psycho and so is Keely. We've know each other for 21 years now. I can't believe you're not even allowed to talk to me. What did I ever do to make her not like me?"

"Its really not you. She's insecure. How would you feel if you walked into your boyfriend's house and there's remnants of a girl all over the place. And, this girl is constantly coming in and out of his life, they talk on the phone everyday, have inside jokes. Keely always felt like a third wheel."

"Whatever."

"EM, don't do this."

"Do what? Goodbye."

She hung up the phone and began to cry. Everything had gone so ary over the last few years. She hated herself for not having expected this.