It was the vaulted ceilings that did it.
Her grandparent's old house on Elm had had the most beautiful vaulted ceilings. She remembered laying on the Persian rug in front of the fireplace in their living room staring up at the ceiling for hours as a child fascinated by how tall the ceiling seemed to her. Of course as she grew older and taller the place shrunk somewhat in size, til she felt somehow claustrophobic at the home but she knew it hadn't been the house itself that made her feel that way as a 15 year old it was the poisonous environment she lived in. Shortly before her parents' marriage had ended, her grandmother had sold the house deciding to move further up north to Carmel-by-the-sea where she had been raised as a young girl feeling the house she had once lived in with her by then deceased husband was now to big and empty for someone her age to live in and maintain.
Marissa put the box down letting out a quiet sigh as she looked out the bedroom window which had a view of the white sands and rolling waves of the Pacific Ocean. She opened the box pulling out a picture frame, she studied it for a moment smiling faintly. The laughing face of Summer and herself as teenagers stared back. She vaguely remembered the photo being taken during the summer at one of the many parties which had taken place at Holly's beach house whilst her parents were out of town and otherwise occupied. She heard a door close in the distance shaking herself out of her momentary daydream placing the photo back in the box before moving the box into her closet. She walked out of her closet just as her husband entered the bedroom smiling as he dropped another box on the bed.
"Already unpacked?" Derek asked as she let his arms encircle her waist gently.
"Uh no, it was just a box of junk" she nodded smiling up at him unsure of why she was lying. "Just some old clothes of mine what should have gone to goodwill when we were packing up the apartment in Manhattan" she said kissing him softly on the lips. "There are some worthwhile charities in the area, I'm sure they would appreciate if I donated some old clothes" she said as she looked into her husband's smiling eyes.
"I'm sure they would sweetheart" he said nodding smiling down at her, his muscular arms pulling her tighter against his body. "The kids got to school okay by the way, the dean was very welcoming. I think they'll both thrive at Harbour" he nodded. "Maybe Sean will finally settle down and get his act together" he said shooting her another smile before letting her go and turning his attention to the box he had carried in opening it and taking files out of it. "If that boy doesn't settle down. No way is he getting into a good school next year" he nodded.
Marissa rolled her eyes slightly at her husband's back. "Yeah the harbour school will be good for him" she agreed not really believing her own words. "I heard it can do wonders for a child's education, his chances should rise exponentially to get into an ivy" she nodded disgusted by her own words. "He will go to Princeton Derek like you don't worry" she nodded sitting down on their bed and kicking off her flats. "How did Camille go? I know she felt anxious" she said nodding.
"Oh she'll be fine, her anxiety was nothing she'll fit right in at Harbour" he said. "I think she'll probably try out for the cheerleading squad" he said as his brow furrowed in concentration as he flipped through the files. Marissa scoffed quietly to herself, it amazed her how clueless her husband really was sometimes. Their daughter Camille was the anti-cheerleader, he would have to be blind not to see it. She watched as he re-organised the files frowning a little as he placed them back in the box. "Wrong files" he nodded. "These were the ones that should have gone to the offices in Paolo Alto" he said to himself rather than to her. "I should go to the office and ship these ones up there" he nodded before shaking his head. "Better yet I'll call the office and tell them I'm coming up there to collect them" he nodded. "Give them time to prepare for the shit storm that's coming their way" he joked to Marissa who smiled back.
"I shouldn't expect you for dinner then?" she asked as he shook his head. "We can have a late dinner, the kids won't mind" he said before closing the box back up and leaving their bedroom and Marissa to her thoughts. She heard a door close and a car start outside hearing her husband drive off. She walked back into her closet taking the box back off the shelf. She re-opened it taking the picture frame out and placing it on the bed. The glass in the frame reflected the sun streaming in through the window as she looked back in the box. She smiled as she pulled out her old worn care bear that had seen better days smiling as she placed him on the bed beside the frame along with the pink Berkeley hoodie Summer had bought for her their senior year.
She stuck her hand back in the box grasping a glass bottle. She pulled it out and looked at it unscrewing the cap and taking a swig. The clear liquid burned her throat a little as it went down but quickly subsided, she coughed a little screwing the cap back on and placing it back in the box. She hadn't been back since she left, she'd gone straight from Greece to New York after spending a year with her father who had been working on boats in the region. She had met Derek whilst his family was on Christmas holiday and joined him in New York the following summer marrying him the same year at Christmas surrounded by her family her best friend and other closest friends noticeably absent from the ceremony. Mostly because she'd lost contact with them after leaving for Greece and spending the year abroad. She was aware Summer still lived in Newport Beach and found herself somewhat nervous at the prospect of running into her old friend after all these years. She grabbed the bottle again from the box grasping it in her hand and walking over to the window staring back out at the ocean once more. She knew she should not have stayed away so long, she knew it would only make it harder to re-join the community she had once been a gate keeper of as a teen. However she knew she could make it work, after all who said you could never come home again?