October 3, 2020
Delphine
I wake up as the room comes into focus. A smile spreads across my lips. It's today. After all we've been through, it's here. I feel the ethereal quality of the room as the sun pours through open windows. The breeze is cool, but not too cold. Perfect.
I get to marry the love of my life today.
April 3, 2013
Cosima
I notice her before she notices me. She's talking to someone by the door of the lab and I can see her blonde curls move with every expression she makes and word she says. I've seen her before, but I don't think she's ever noticed me. I think she sees me staring because her eyes dart quickly toward mine as I look away and pretend to do something with my microscope, inadvertently knocking over my coffee and swearing under my breath. My palms are sweaty all of a sudden. I need to find a way to introduce myself.
September 1, 2019
Delphine
I know she loves this one street in the city with the most spectacular view. I decide that's where I'm going to do it. I feel like I should be nervous, but I'm not. For once, I'm perfectly calm as I hold her. I ask her to marry me, and her answer makes sparks fly from my fingers and toes.
April 18, 2013
Cosima
I did it. I finally talked to the blonde. Delphine. I like saying her name. I had run around the corner so fast the other day, I practically crashed into her as I was late for my next class. She just laughed at me and we exchanged names. That was the beginning of the past two days of me walking around with my head in the clouds. She had asked me if I wanted to grab coffee that day, which I enthusiastically accepted, and tonight we are going on our first date. I asked her out for dinner via text message after gaining confidence through copious amounts of liquid courage while out with friends last night. I couldn't wait.
May 6, 2019
Delphine
The wind rushes around us as she holds me and I look out onto the massive bridge in front of us. It's a beautiful day. I grasp her arm with my hands as she kisses me. I close my eyes and drink in the moment. I look into her eyes as she asks me to come live with her. My heart dances inside my chest.
October 18, 2013
Cosima
I see Delphine standing at the restaurant bar in her tight black jeans and white tank top that falls off of her in all the right places. She is sexy as hell. I give her a deep kiss when I reach her. I can hardly believe we've been together for six months. We talk all through dinner. I am fascinated by everything she says. I love watching her lips move, and the way her eyes light up when she laughs at my jokes, which she does a lot. I can't keep my hand from touching hers, almost throughout the whole meal. My eyes are on her all night, and we go back to my apartment and spend the night caressing each other, touching each other, pleasing each other. She tells me she loves me and I say it back.
December 31, 2018
Delphine
Again, I find that I am very nervous. It's been a long time since we've hung out and I'm not sure what to expect. I arrive at the party, hoping I'm not too overdressed, and look around for her. I spot her in the corner in a beautiful red dress. My heart quickens, feeling like it could pound right out of my chest. We drink wine and I feel myself falling back into her. I hear the faint singing of Auld Lang Syne as the clock strikes midnight. I never really stopped loving her, and just as I think it, she kisses me, and tells me the same.
May 12, 2014
Cosima
I'm so excited to tell her. We graduate in a couple of weeks and I just received my acceptance to the evolutionary development Ph.D program at Berkeley. She is going to be stoked. I know she'll go with me. We've talked about it. We're going to move to San Francisco and start our lives together. I'm giddy from the feeling. I see her from across the quad and run to her. As I get closer, my joyous expression fades, as she is not smiling. She tells me the worst news I could hear at that moment. I cry and hold her, telling her it will be ok. Her mother will be ok. We will try long distance.
December 10, 2018
Delphine
I am a bundle of nerves when I reach her house, wondering if she'll look the same after all these years. When I see her, she hugs me, and my body relaxes. It feels natural, being in her embrace again. I talk almost the whole time we're together, and she listens attentively. Her gaze is sweet. I look into her eyes as her head tilts while she listens to me with her reassuring smile. It's been so long. It feels nice.
July 12, 2018
Cosima
I wake up and grab for my glasses. I see Shay come into view, sitting at her desk, writing. I don't know where the time has gone. I know today is the day. I have to do it. Break it off with her. I thought I could love her, but it never happened. I tried with so many women after… but I couldn't do it. Shay was the same. I had to say goodbye.
August 20, 2018
"Hello?" she says, startled by the buzzing of her phone at such an early hour.
"Cosima?"
She knows that voice, that accent. "Wh...what? Delphine?" she says, confused.
"Hi," Delphine says, not sure what to say, even though she is the one who called. It's been four years since they've talked, so she is understandably nervous.
"Dude, it's been a really long time," Cosima says, her heart racing.
"Yes," she pauses, "I'm sorry to call you like this, out of the blue, but I wanted to tell you that my mother died."
"Oh, Delphine, I'm so sorry."
"It...it's ok, it's been hard, but I'm ok," she says with a nervousness in her tone. "Cosima, I'm moving back to the states. I want to come to California."
"Oh," Cosima says, surprised.
"I would love to see you, catch up with you."
"Yeah, of course."
July 12, 2018
Delphine
I sit by her bedside, holding her hand. They are going to take her off the respirator soon. I don't feel anything. All the tears I had to cry for my mother were shed long ago. It's been so many years. When she finally goes, I feel free for the first time in a long time.
December 10, 2018
Cosima
There she is. After all this time, there she is, standing on my front porch. I give her a tight hug, hold on to her for a while. She comes inside and we drink coffee as she tells me everything that has happened in the past few years. We don't talk about how we fell apart, how it was too hard to keep it going. That was a long time ago. I don't hold any bitter feelings, just a feeling of uncertainty, not sure what I really want. I do know I want her in my life, in one way or another.
May 12, 2014
Delphine
The news from my recent phone call haunts my mind as I walk through the quad. My mother is sick and needs someone to take care of her. As an only child, it is my responsibility. I have to go back to France. I pace as I try to suppress my tears, thinking about Cosima, and how much this will hurt us both. I see her running toward me, grinning. I try to look happier than I am but she sees through me. I tell her immediately, ripping off the truth like a bandaid. She cries and I remain stoic as she tells me it will be ok. I know it will not.
December 31, 2018
Cosima
I never go out on New Year's anymore, but my friends invite me to a party at their house, and I invite Delphine, since she doesn't know many people in San Francisco. She arrives a little later than me, looking gorgeous in a little black dress. I feel my face flush with heat. We spend the evening together, sort of ignoring everyone else, but I don't care. It feels so good to be around her. We kiss at midnight and I feel lightning rush through me. I confess to her that I am so happy she's in my life again, and maybe it's all the wine we drank, but I tell her I never stopped loving her. She smiles the widest smile I've ever seen.
October 18, 2013
Delphine
I have a strange feeling of calm as I see Cosima enter the restaurant. I give her a wave and she looks at me with fire behind her eyes. I love that look. At dinner, I watch her animated hands as she tells me about her thesis. She is so amusing in the way she talks, I can't stop smiling. My cheeks hurt by the end of the night. Her fingers make my skin tingle and as she caresses the back of my hand with her thumb, all I can think about is how much I love her. I want to tell her but I wonder if six months is too soon. That night, we make love and I spill my heart to her. When she says she loves me too, my insides explode like a thousand tiny fireworks.
May 6, 2019
Cosima
I take Delphine to see the Golden Gate Bridge. I've gone a million times, but she has never been. It is a gorgeous day and we sit on a bench, gazing out at the bridge, my arms wrapped tightly around her body. I give her sweet kisses on her neck before asking her to move in with me. She says yes before I even have time to think.
April 18, 2013
Delphine
I get out of the shower, thinking about the night ahead of me. I am nervous. I have only known Cosima two days, but she has such an attractive energy. I grin when I think about how we met. I knew she would be in that hallway. Not that I was stalking her, I just happened to know when her next class would be. I was lingering when she ran around the corner. I moved at the last second so as not to collide with her. I wasn't going to let the opportunity pass me by so I asked her to go for coffee. I was surprised but pleased when she texted me the next day, inviting me to dinner. I am more excited than I have been in a while.
September 1, 2019
Cosima
She takes me to my favorite spot in the city, where you can see for miles over the hills. We watch the sunset as she stands behind me, her arms wrapped around my waist. I lean my head back into her chest and she tells me she doesn't want there to be any more lost time between us, that she wants to spend her life with me. She asks me to, and I say yes.
April 3, 2013
Delphine
Scott corners me as soon as I get into the lab. He is such a nerd, but I don't mind, and he clearly has a crush on me, so I let him talk to me about the immunology lecture we just attended. I talk a little, answering his questions, and asking some of my own. He's giving a passionate answer when I glance over his shoulder to see a woman with dreads staring at me through her cat-eye glasses. As soon as our eyes meet, she looks away, pretending like she wasn't staring, and accidentally knocks over her drink. I chuckle to myself. I think she's cute.
October 3, 2020
Cosima
I see her for the first time in her dress. She is stunning. My stomach feels like a million butterflies that will fly away and take me with them, up to the sky, to live in bliss. I've never felt this happy.
I am home. We are home. It was worth the wait.