The sunset was perfect. It was one of the truly great ones that only happened after a rainy summer day, when the clouds passed long before the night started to settle in and the world smelled fresh and new. Kate sat on the sand. She was wearing jeans and a white tee shirt, her favorite thing to wear and although it had stopped raining hours before, she could still feel the slight dampness of the sand through her jeans. Kate didn’t care. There was no one that she wanted to impress tonight. She dug her palms into the sand, tilted her head back and closed her eyes, letting the darkness engulf her. The only sound that could be heard was that of the waves softly crashing against the shore. It was exactly what Kate had been looking for and she hoped that the sounds of the ocean would drown out the racing thoughts in her head. There were a lot of exciting things happening in her life right now, a lot of distractions, but she still couldn’t shake him. There romance had been brief, but it had changed her life forever. Like all of the great love stories, it had been tragic and though she hadn’t laid eyes on him in over a year, Kate was still sitting amid the pieces.

She heard movement in the sand and glanced back to see her best friend trudging towards her. Kate smiled, though Abbey couldn’t see it and turned her gaze back to the ocean. Moments later, Abbey sat down next to her in silence and handed her a glass of wine. Abbey always knew exactly what Kate needed and vice versa; it was why their friendship had lasted as long as it did. It was also why, when she had picked up the phone to ask Abbey if she could come out to the beach house for a week she didn’t even have to say the words; Abbey answered saying: When shall I be expecting you. And why Abbey sat in silence with her now. No facade necessary.

Kate brought the glass up to her lips slowly. She took a sip, allowing the wine to saturate her mouth before she swallowed. Kate sighed, stretching her legs out in front of her. She rested the wine glass on her lap, balancing it between both hands. She felt Abbey’s hand on her right knee, reassuringly. Kate stared at the dark shadow on her knee. This was what she had needed.

“It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?” Abbey stated.

“Yes,” Kate said, softly. She slid her legs up, bending her knees and rested her forearms on top of them, still cupping the wine glass in her hands. She felt the curve of the glass, letting her fingers glide over the exterior. It was hard to imagine that it was once part of the choppy surface that lay underneath her.