Cursive - By Phoebe Lane Page 0,17

on it soon."

"Hey, does it have the recipe for that mushroom and spinach quiche you used to make?" Aislynn asked, now a bit more excited.

"Let me check…Yes, it's here."

"Great! Can you take a picture of it with your phone and text it to me? I want to make it for breakfast." Aislynn only heard silence coming from the other end of the line. "Would you like me to explain to you how?"

She spent the next ten minutes walking Pam through the steps. The quiche was worth the exasperation of teaching the task to someone who didn't even realize her phone had a camera in it.

Aislynn dressed and headed to the farmers market to pick up fresh produce. There were few people out so early in the morning, and the trip turned out to be very relaxing for her. She tried to make the least amount of noise while prepping the quiche, knowing Ellie was still asleep in her room. After it finished baking, Aislynn set it on the kitchen island to rest and cool down.

"Ellie," Aislynn whispered while knocking gently on her door. "I'm making breakfast. You want some coffee?"

Ellie hurried out of her room in her silk robe and quickly closed it after herself. "Oh my God, is that quiche I smell, or did I die last night and go straight to delicious egg and cheese heaven?"

"It's my mom's recipe."

"I was hoping you'd say that," she said, following Aislynn into the kitchen and sitting at the breakfast bar. "Thank for forcing me to drink all that water last night. I can't believe I didn't get a hangover."

"You're welcome. Coffee?" Aislynn offered, pouring her a cup. "By the way, when are you going to convince your boss to furnish these apartments with decent coffee machines? I mean, it doesn't have to be a La Marzocco, but this damn drip-coffee piece of crap is just not cutting it."

"Isn't that espresso machine like twelve thousand dollars?" Ellie asked, and Aislynn looked at her like she was missing the point. "In any case, not everyone is a coffee snob like you, Aislynn. Some people deal just fine with the stuff from the grocery store."

"Some people don't know any better and live very sad, pathetic coffee lives," Aislynn answered before sneaking her head into the hallway and in the direction of Ellie's room. "Evan, coffee?" she yelled, making Ellie choke on her coffee and spray it all over the granite countertop.

"Damn it! How the hell do you do that? How did you know he was here?"

"Oh, please. You're transparent," Aislynn said as Evan walked into the kitchen looking like hell. "Good morning, sunshine. Uh oh, you didn't drink water last night, did you?"

"No. Please kill me?" he asked, sitting next to Ellie.

"No coffee for you," she said and turned to grab two bottles of water from the fridge. "Drink these, or no quiche."

After breakfast, Aislynn went swimming at the gym, shopping for groceries, and stopped at the library to look up some references for her novel. When she got back home several hours later, she found Ellie working on a sketch at the dining room table.

"Hey!" Ellie hollered. "I'm working on the design for Jace's house. Want to take a look?"

Reality hit Aislynn at that moment with unsurpassable clarity. She realized she had busied herself all day long in an unconscious attempt to avoid freaking out about her date with Jace.

I even called my Mom. Voluntarily!

"I have a date with Jace Quinn tonight," Aislynn mumbled, looking absolutely shell-shocked.

"I know. About time it sunk in," Ellie said, putting down her drawing pad.

"Let me start over. I have a date. Maybe I should freak out about that part first," Aislynn thought out loud while Ellie guided her to the sofa and sat down next to her.

"Tell me what you're thinking," Ellie prompted.

"It's happening," Aislynn said softly, and Ellie nodded. "I'm starting to move on from Christopher." Ellie nodded again. "I'm scared…How the hell am I supposed to do this?"

"Listen, Aislynn. This past year has been so incredibly hard for you, but you're finally looking healthy again. You have life back in your eyes, you're laughing, and you're talking about the future," she said as tears quickly filled Aislynn’s eyes. "You were so sick, so depressed. I was so scared about you those first few months, but you just wouldn't let me help you."

"I know," Aislynn whispered so softly that it hardly came out.

"Now that I think about it, you doctors really make the worst patients."

Aislynn chuckled,