Work Text:
Grey clouds loomed over Cecilia’s apartment. Soft tapping dirtied her office windowsill. She huffed in exhaustion, eyes lingering at the stack of papers pilled on her floor. Spring cleaning was going to be the death of her.
Yet somehow there was something comforting about it all. Something about the trash bags filled with old binders and folders. The piles of misprinted polaroids and ripped pages from passages. All these things that put a halt to her future.
Cecilia’s head turns dramatically to the window. The sounds of the train passing by, the car engines, the loudness of this neighbourhood — things that have been carved into her brain. For years now Cecilia has been planning her move. Germany has never felt further from home right now, and she desperately longed for that feeling.
Conversations felt draining. Her words minimal throughout her day. A polite ‘hey’ at the girl who ran the convenient store down the street, a soft smile at her neighbour, a couple missed calls from ‘mum’— every day felt like an unbearable routine.
Cecilia counted down the days for her inevitable departure. 13 months was all she needed. Then again, she didn’t need to think twice. A simple teasing joke from Gigi, and she already started looking for apartments. Supermarkets close to her place, a bus stop, Gigi nearby…
She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Was leaving always so difficult? Would she really miss this place? She fills the trash bag with more stuff. More filled out journals, more tear-stained tissues, more inanimate objects fuelled with guilt. The tapping grows stronger. Raindrops colliding, and as if to rub salt to the wound, pooling at the small opening of her window. Cecilia mumbled a curse, and then proceeded to roll her eyes at the sight. She couldn’t bother to fix it. She never does.
Gigi would, she thought.
Gigi would complain about the soft breeze hitting the back of her neck while laying on her bean bag. Then proceed to make fun of Cecilia for not caring. Then fix it herself.
Cecilia smiled. If only time would move faster.