January 18th 2015
Cosima wakes up in her apartment and realizes she had fallen asleep studying. The pen lodged down her shirt and the textbooks strewn across the floor make this evident. Maybe she shouldn't have stayed up until 4 in the morning talking to Delphine on the phone. Whoops.
Cosima doesn't regret the three hour long conversation at all. Delphine had proved herself an easy person to talk to and she didn't criticize Cosima's sometimes strange caffeine and exhaustion fueled thoughts. Staying up late wasn't unusual for either woman. Their majors were pretty demanding.
It would've been better if Cosima could have slept in this morning, possibly to continue the dream that might've starred a certain French blonde woman. Cosima curses her alarm clock and the calendar hanging up on her wall. "Visit Parents" was written in thick red marker on the eighteenth day of January. Cosima groans.
It's only a few hours later when she finds herself on the doorstep of her old family home. Cosima hesitates, knowing that as soon as she knocks the door will swing open and she will be face to face with her mother, who she hasn't visited in a while. I've been like super busy, she justifies, with papers to write and lectures to go to and hot foreign girls to meet in crowded cafes.
Cosima knocks. She adjusts her skirt and scarf, trying to make it look like she didn't just throw any clean article of clothing on at the last second. Her mother would scold her for staying up so late and not sleeping enough if she knew. Cosima knows her mother cares and means well, but sometimes she could be a little overbearing.
The door swings open just as Cosima had predicted. Her mother immediately wraps her up in a hug. "Cosima! My baby girl is home! Come on inside, sweetie, it's freezing out! I made cookies!" Her mother ushers her dreadlocked daughter inside before quickly closing the door behind her. Her mother grins, "Wow. You're actually on time! Is the apocalypse upon us or did you just really miss your mother, hm?" Cosima twists her hand around in the air dismissively, "Yeah yeah. Y'know I'm just coming for the cookies, mom. Obvs." Her mother jokingly feigns being hurt from the comment, holding her hand to her heart and wincing.
Cosima drops her purse on the counter next to her. "Where's dad? I thought he'd be here too." Cosima ponders aloud, taking a bite of a chocolate chip cookie.
"Oh, yeah. Your father's out buying a tux for the wedding. My friend Trish's wedding, remember? It's in a few weeks, Cosima. Don't forget." Her mother paces around the living room connected to the kitchen, looking for something. Cosima's eyes widen as she remembers. Shit. She completely forgot about that. Whoops.
Her mother notices her reaction but doesn't say anything. "You do have a date for it... don't you?" She asks, waiting for Cosima to respond with the usual "no". She is never going to be able to watch her own daughter get married, it seems.
Cosima bites her lip and she shrugs with a sheepish grin. "I...err-uh, no. I haven't dated in like uh, four years.." she mumbles. Did having coffee with Delphine count as a date? Cosima wasn't sure.
Her mom either doesn't hear or wants to make her daughter admit it again. "Mm, what was that, sweetie?"
Cosima looks down at the crumbs of the cookie she ate, embarrassed. Instead of repeating her previous words, she blurts out, "I, um, have a girlfriend." Cosima knows there's no going back now. She has to come up with something to support the lie that now hangs around her in the air mockingly. She just wants to make her mother proud of her for once. Apparently working on a PhD isn't enough...
"Oh how wonderful! This is the first time in years, Cosima! Oh, you must invite her to come dress shopping with us! What is this darling girl's name?"
Cosima panics and spits the first name she can think of out of her mouth.
"Delphine."
Shit.