Sera loved ice cream cake, which her coworkers remembered, because they’d gotten one for her going away party.
It was nearing the end of the day, and Sera had heard a chorus of “we’ll miss you!” and “do you think you’ll come back?” and “where are you gonna go?”. The word had spread that Sera was quitting to travel and help an old friend, but not very many people knew the details. This was partially because Sera hadn’t given people too many details, as she wasn’t an especially good liar.
However, Sera knew she’d have to get a lot better in order to be a monster hunter, and Dean had given her two solid pieces of advice to keeping up a good lie: 1. stay as close to the truth as possible to avoid confusion; 2. don’t give any more details than you need to. People will generally accept what you tell them and not go too deep into it.
So Sera smiled and replied, “I’ll miss working here,” and “maybe, I don’t really have a set plan,” and “everywhere!”
“That’s so crazy!” A girl from accounting said, “You’re just like, dropping everything to go on some crazy adventure with a girl you barely know! Aren’t you scared?”
“I was,” Sera admitted as she picked at the leftover icing on her cake, “and I think I still kinda am, but I’m excited too, y’know? I haven’t done a ton of travelling so it’ll be interesting.”
“Oh, that reminds me!” Jared suddenly spoke up. He ran to his desk and returned with a sparkly pink giftbag and handed it to Sera, “We all got this for you as a goodbye gift!”
“Aw, that’s so sweet!” Sera took it and opened as more people turned to watch. She pulled out a long, soft white scarf, “Oh wow, it’s so pretty, and the texture is so nice!”
“It’s a travel wrap,” one of her coworkers told her with a smile, “you can wear it as a scarf or a shawl or even a blanket!”
“And there’s a card from all of us,” Jared added, “with a gift card to Tim Hortons.”
“The start and end to any Canadian road trip,” Sera joked, “Thank you guys, that’s so sweet of you!”
“Of course, that’s what coworkers are for!”
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Jared insisted on meeting Dean.
He kept pestering Sera enough that she finally caved and agreed to let him come back to her place after her last shift after he promised to help move out the last of her stuff.
“So you’re leaving two days from now, right?”
“Yeah, on Monday,” she affirmed as they rode the subway together, “I’m gonna finish packing over the next couple of days, get everything moved out.”
“Where are you gonna sleep?”
“We’re leaving some furniture like the bed and couch and stuff. I’m just gonna wash my sheets and bring them with me, since the bed in Dean’s van is the same size. Once we get everything out, I can practice kinda living on the bare minimum and see if there’s anything I’m missing or if I packed anything I don’t need.”
“Seems smart,” Jared admitted as they exited the train, “If I’m gonna be honest, I thought that this was just some knee-jerk decision turned into a hair-brained scheme.”
Sera scoffed, “Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Okay, in my defense, you are literally dropping a perfectly normal and stable life to run away with someone you barely know and live in a van in the Canadian backcountry.”
“Fair.”
“Exactly. Anyways, I guess I didn’t realize all the thought that would go into this.”
“Neither did I, in all honesty.” Sera sighed a little bit, “When I decided to go along and help Dean, I thought that we would be leaving within the day. But then I remembered I needed money, and I had a lease, and a lot of stuff. Seriously, you have no idea how much stuff you have until you have to pack it all up!”
The two of them laughed before Sera spoke again, “Anyways, I had to decide pretty early on if it was worth all the work, and I think it is. I’ve been craving a major lifestyle change and this is just what I need. I know it’s not going to be all puppies and rainbows – Dean and I are gonna have to share a bed for God’s sake.”
“Wait, you’re going to share a bed?”
“Yeah – Dean tried to figure out some bunkbeds, but there just isn’t room for it.”
“So why not go in on an RV or a real camper or something?”
“You kidding? Dean would rather set herself on fire than get rid of the van. Which is saying something, because she’s not the biggest fan of fire.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
The two of them continued the walk to Sera’s apartment, something that was familiar to them, especially on a Friday night.
“Woah,” Jared said as they entered the nearly-empty apartment, his voice echoing a bit, “Okay, it officially feels real.”
“I know, right?” Sera laughed, “You can leave your shoes on by the way, since we’re moving everything up and down, and it’s kinda messy anyways. You want a drink before we get started?”
“Can’t say no to that.”
Sera pulled out two coolers and opened them for herself and Jared. They both sat on the couch and sighed, looking around the mostly-empty apartment.
Gone were the plants (given to neighbours and friends), movie and band posters (sold on the internet for some decent cash), and photos (kept in a box that now had its own little spot under Dean’s bed). Now the walls and windowsills were bare, leaving only boxes and large furniture.
“I still can’t believe it,” Jared finally said, “I’m staring at an empty apartment and I still can’t believe it.”
“I’m having a hard time myself. Three days from now, I’ll probably never see this apartment again. Isn’t that insane?”
“Not even just that,” Jared said, “You’re completely leaving the city, who knows when you’ll see Toronto next?”
“Isn’t it incredible?” Sera grinned at him, “Every single day is gonna be a new adventure.”
“Hell yeah it is.”
They both turned at the opening of the door and stood as Dean walked in. She paused when she saw Jared, narrowing her eyes a bit as her shoulder straightened.
“Who’s this?”
“This is Jared, my friend from work,” Sera introduced.
“Nice to finally meet the mystery girl my friend is running off with,” Jared said as he stuck out his hand to Dean.
“Um, thanks.” Dean took his hand and shook it firmly before withdrawing and jabbing a thumb over her shoulder, “I got the moving van ready downstairs. We good to get going?”
“You got a moving van?” Jared asked, “I thought Dean had a van.”
“Yeah, that I live in,” Dean said as she began picking up boxes while Sera propped the door open, “It’s designed to be like a mini apartment, which doesn’t exactly leave a ton of space.”
“Okay, I need to see this.”
“As soon as we finish moving the boxes, you can look around,” Sera promised as they began to load into the elevator.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It didn’t take as long as Sera thought it would to bring the boxes down.
It still took well over an hour, but she had sold a large majority of her stuff. The stuff she was storing away were mostly things that she didn’t want to either sell or get in the way, like old family heirlooms or her summer wardrobe.
At that moment, the three of them were sitting on Sera’s floor on blankets and cushions, eating Mexican take out as they caught their breath.
“Jesus, this is good Mexican,” Dean said in between a mouthful of shrimp tacos, “Ugh man, I am gonna miss Toronto food. What’s this place called?”
“Barrio Cerveceria,” Sera replied, “And Su&Bu was my favourite, ugh, so many good places.”
“It’s the multiculturalism,” Jared joked.
“Yeah, but there are always hidden gems in small towns,” Dean argued, “like the best Chinese food I ever had was in some run-down restaurant that hasn’t been updated since the seventies. But damn if they didn’t have the best steamed dumplings I’ve ever had in my life.”
“We should keep a map of restaurants like that,” Sera suggested, “That way when we’re nearby, we can stop for a bite!”
Dean scoffed, “I don’t think you understand just how far away everything is, especially when you get up north. I s**t you not, it’s just kilometres of nothing but rocks and trees.”
“What do you do on those long roadtrips?” Jared asked.
“I usually listen to podcasts, music, the news, whatever. Honestly, when it’s a super long drive on a highway, something with a narrative to follow is the best. Keeps me busy without distracting me from driving, y’know?”
“Makes sense.”
“Ooh!” Sera said, “I have some podcasts downloaded that I’ve been meaning to check out! And we can take turns driving to make it easier.”
“Not for the first little bit – you gotta learn how to drive a van, first. It’s not hard though, so I’ll teach you.”
“Yeah, but Seraphina hasn’t driven since before she moved here,” Jared said, “I’d like to see her back behind the wheel!”
“Hey, I’m a great driver!”
“That being said,” Dean joked, “I’ll be the one driving the moving truck.”
“I won’t fight you for that one,” Sera said with a laugh before standing up, “Alright, I’m gonna go to the bathroom quick, then we can head to the storage place.”
“Sounds good,” Dean said. Once Sera stood, Dean and Jared began to clean up.
After a moment, Jared spoke.
“Y’know, I was wondering what kinda person you would be.”
“Oh?” Dean raised an eyebrow, “You mean Opal didn’t describe me as a stand-up citizen?”
“Well, she did her best but –” Jared froze and turned to Dean, “‘Opal’? What’s with that name?”
“Oh, it’s her middle name. We uh, we used to call each other by our middle names.”
“Huh. Cute. Anyways, she sure described you like a nice person, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think Sera has a mean word to say about anyone.”
Jared then lowered his voice to a whisper and leaned in a bit more, “Sera’s way too trusting for her own good. She’s a sweet girl with the biggest heart I’ve ever seen, but it’s a bleeding heart, y’know? So when Sera said that she was ditching everything to go cross-country road-tripping with a childhood friend who just randomly popped up, it raised a few red flags.”
“That’s fair,” Dean admitted with a sigh, “It’s uh...it’s definitely suspicious.”
“So it’s good to see you at least seem like a normal person,” Jared said at a normal volume.
“Yeah well, loads of serial killers look and act just like normal people,” Dean said with a laugh.
Jared paused, stack of takeout containers in hand, “You do realize that’s not helping your case, right?”
“s**t, my bad.”
After a moment, the two of them laughed and Sera came out of the bathroom.
“What?” She asked, looking between her two friends, “Did I miss something?”
“Nothing,” both of them assured at the same time, which only got them laughing again,
“Whatever, you guys are weird,” Sera teased, “Let’s get this stuff to the storage facility.”
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Alright,” Jared said as he and Sera stopped at the entrance to his apartment complex, “guess this is goodbye, huh?”
“I guess so,” Sarah sighed, looking at the glass doors and lit-up address, “It feels weird. I’m just thinking about all the nights we spent here, getting drunk and talking s**t about our coworkers.”
“That doesn’t have to end,” Jared said with a smile, “I know you’re gonna be off with your new best friend on some fantasy adventure of a lifetime, but you’re always welcome in my boring little apartment.”
“Hey, hey man – you were never boring.”
“But you said – “
“No, my life was boring, but you did your best to make it as exciting as possible, even if it was with something as mundane as office gossip.” Sera then pulled her friend into a tight hug, which Jared quickly returned, “I’ll miss you and the excitement you brought into my life.”
“Hey, well, if you and Dean ever need a place to stay….”
“Thanks, I’ll bring souvenirs,” she sniffled, beginning to feel tears pricking her eyes.
“Hey now, Miss Alastair,” Jared said as he pulled back, smiling with watery eyes, “no crying. This is a happy occasion.”
“Yeah, yeah I know,” she mumbled, frantically wiping at her eyes now, “I’ll keep you updated on all the crazy s**t we do, okay?”
“And I’ll keep you up to date on all the hot office gossip.”
“Good, I am dying to know if Hannah’s really having an affair with that security guard!”
The two of them laughed before hugging again.
“Be safe, Seraphina.”
“You too, Jared.”
They hugged for one more moment before Jared let go and walked inside, waving Sera off as he headed up to his apartment.
Sera sighed and wiped her eyes again before she got back into the moving van, where Dean waited patiently.
“Hey man, you good?” Dean asked, looking over her friend.
“Yeah, yeah no I’m fine,” Sera assured as she pulled a tissue from her purse, “I’m uh, goodbyes are always just so hard.”
“You’re gonna have to get used to them in our line of work.”
“I guess this makes good practice then, huh?”
Dean chuckled as she pulled out of the parking lot and into the street, “Yeah, I guess so.”
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Two days later, Sera had her bag thrown over her shoulder, staring at her empty apartment.
“This is it,” she said to herself, feeling her heart ache as the sun fell through her window, “so long, dream apartment with your benevolent landlord, quiet neighbours, and view of the harbour front. I’ll miss you.”
“Alright, van’s all packed,” Dean announced as she entered, coming to stand beside her friend, “You good to go?"
“Yeah, just...saying goodbye to the place.”
“It’s a nice apartment,” Dean admitted, glancing at Sera, “Y’know...this is your last chance to back out, tell me to f**k off, live a normal life.”
Sera laughed and shouldered her backpack, “Oh no, we passed the point of no return ages ago. My lease is up, which means that legally, I can’t be in this apartment a day longer. No second thoughts here, just some farewells. I mean, it’s just weird to think that I’ll never be in this place again, same way that it’s weird to think that I’ll never be able to be inside my childhood home again.”
“I guess...I dunno, I never thought too much about the places I’ve stayed,” Dean said, “They’re just places.”
“Ever the nomad. Welp, we should be going.”
“Sweet.”
The two began to head out, and Sera took one last look at her home for the past three years before sighing and closing her apartment door.
When she and Dean got into the elevator, Sera looked at the back wall, which was mirrored. She had gained a little bit of muscle over the past month or so – certainly nothing to brag about, but she had something to show for constantly moving boxes around.
Sera felt like she’d already changed so much in the short amount of time since reuniting with Dean, and she couldn’t help but wonder how she’d continue to change throughout her future adventures. Would she get stronger? Gain scars? Would she even be recognizable in a few years?
She glanced at Dean, who was looking at her phone.
I can’t change that much, she decided, if I can still recognize Dean all these years later.
When they got to the lobby, Sera gave her key to the guard and he bade her farewell. She did get a little teary at that, despite her very limited relationship with the doorman. Thankfully, Dean didn’t waste time before she dragged Sera back to the van and the two were off, Sera’s apartment complex lost amongst the other skyscrapers.
Sera watched as they drove through her city, keeping a vigilant eye on the side mirror to witness Toronto falling away. With every metre they drove from the metropolitan core, she could feel her old identity slipping and crumbling away until Sera was no more, revealing the shining Opal underneath.
And Opal couldn’t wait to see what she was made of.