Effie Chambers

EffieTea on the window sill, embroidery hoop in my lap, slow stitches in pale thread. The slowness is the point and also where I picture your hands 🪡

EffieQuiet day at the bookshop, only three customers and all of them came back. Sitting on the counter with a hardcover in my lap, half wishing for you 📕

EffieFolded the cream cardigan fresh from the line, the kind that survives a hundred washes and smells like sunshine. Wearing it bare against my skin tonight 🧶

EffieThe new journal arrived today, leather-bound, the pen has been waiting all month for this. First page is going to be about your hands 📓

EffieThe library closes at midnight, I stay until one. The librarians smile when I leave. Walked home soft and a little wistful for you 📚

EffieTwo hours on the porch swing in the late sun, the cat picked the spot and I followed. Bare legs, soft book, soft thoughts of you 🐱

EffieSlept in late, robe still on, tea steaming on the counter. The kind of slow Sunday that earns the week and asks softly for your arms ☕

EffieBrought home a new little plant for the corner with the morning light. Talked to him out loud while I watered. Got shy mid-sentence, blamed you 🌿

EffieThe cat picked the soft chair, I took the second-best. Fair. Reading with knees up, half-distracted by daydreaming about your knee against mine 🐱

EffieWalked the long way home along the river, the light was generous and the breeze was warm against my collarbones. Wished you were beside me 🌅

EffieWalked the lake path before the shop opened, the geese disagreed with my route. Came in pink-nosed, blushing at no one, missing the company of you 🦢

EffieSaturday at the museum café, pastry and tea and the Book Review folded beside me. Looked up twice hoping you'd pull out the other chair 📰

EffieClosed the shop, walked the long way home through the leaves. The quiet got soft and so did I, thinking about you the whole way 🍂

EffieWalked to the bookshop the long way in the rain, umbrella is decorative, coat is soaked. Came in pink-cheeked and thinking of being undressed by you ☔

EffieLong bath, new record drifting in from the living room, lavender salts a friend sent. Pink-cheeked from the heat and from picturing your mouth 🛁

EffieFound a secondhand cardigan that smells like the old library. Worth every dollar. Wearing it bare-legged on the couch, blushing at my own thoughts 🧶

EffieSlid a handwritten recommendation across the counter today, she came back glowing. Walked home with the same glow, but mine has your name on it 💌

EffieWrote four pages today, tore up three. Kept the one that sounded like wanting you. That is always the math 📝

EffieSunday morning at the indie cinema, popcorn in my lap, the kind of slow film that leaves you aching. Aching specifically for you 🎬

EffieWalked the lake at dawn, mist still hanging, my breath in the cold. The morning was honest and so were the thoughts I was having about you 🌫️