Butter

Nadia toasted two slices of Pain de Campagne on the pan and made a grilled cheese sandwich — likely heresy in France. But it felt like home. French butter was churned by the gods. Nutty. Tangy. Oh, Reme from Ratatouille would be beaming. This meal had mood!

She dabbed her cigarette into the ashtray. Filled to the brim. She had disabled the fire alarms a long time ago.

She wore Alice’s dinosaur sweater. The caption “Rawrsponsiblity”. She had some time to think about why Alice chose that sweater. It was goofy — that was the answer for sure — but the caption echoed a deepness of Alice that Nadia never got to know.

She ate her grilled cheese. So good. Crunchy. Salty. Butter of the gods.

BUZZ… She got a message. Her heart ached. It was Leon. He had been messaging her on and off for the past two years — mainly to check on her.

LEON: “Hey Nadia! I have some big news!”

She hadn’t replied to the last message — dated 2 months ago.

LEON: “Hey Nadia I hope you are doing well!” (Seen 2 months ago)

Nadia paused. Opened WhatsApp.

NADIA: “Big News! :D Do tell!”

LEON: “I’m transferring to a German University for six months! We should meet up! Europe trip?!”

Nadia gasped. Her eyes creased. She should have just left it. She often thought about her life if she had accepted Leon’s love. They would have gone to community college together. Maybe they would be married with a baby?

NADIA: “Great! :)”

LEON: “I’m coming next month. I’ll let you know.”

NADIA: “Please do x”

Nadia sighed. Her grilled cheese was still good. You can never go wrong there…