Chapter 856: Melting The Ice

Entrenched somewhere amidst the manic bustle of everything, between grueling shifts, quiet nights, and the general ongoings of my everyday life, I must have thought of a moment like this enough times to stop bothering to keep track of just how many times I did. 

As busy and active as I've kept myself as of late, there was enough downtime in-between for me to still think about it, to still think about her. Some miracle would happen, a far-fetched contrivance in reality, and I'd drop by Irene's on a whim, only to suddenly find a spunky, snarky Ria blazing forth to a day full of her antics. 

I won't say I've thought long and hard as to what I wanted to say to her. I didn't dare hope that far ahead, but I did know for certain that the afternoon wouldn't even be near long enough to get through everything that needed to be said.