“I really like my job,” she went on. “My boss is great. I have some friends there, too. Melbourne is starting to feel like home. I mean, I knew it would be hard, but I never expected…”
“Never expected what?”
“To meet you.”
“Me neither,” I whispered. “Me neither.”
19
Juliette
There’sa moment when you realize things have irrevocably changed.
At first, you don’t notice the progress. You go through the motions, struggling with divulging the things that make up who you are as a person to the man who just might’ve stolen your heart. You fear you’re not good enough, that your opinions and habits will turn him off. But slowly, you reveal yourself piece by piece, and he’s still there…waiting patiently for you to work through your crap.
For me, that man was Caleb. Handsome, powerful, understanding…
After a blissful weekend together, I was flying high. It was Monday morning,? and I was on another errand for Jade, rushing through some cover art at the printer a few blocks from the office. The designer had mocked up some choices they wanted to present to a focus group that afternoon, and I was the lucky fool who had to run over and pick up the copies. They’d been mounted on giant pieces of foam poster board a meter tall at least, so cue me struggling to hold open the door to the exit and fit them through all at the same time. There was no way I was damaging the things before I even left the premises. ????
I was creating quite the comedic scene by the time someone came along. A man in a suit appeared and attempted to help, but our hands grasped the door handle at the same time, and I flinched, snapping back like I’d been zapped with electricity.
“Meagan,” the man said. “Is that you?”
I glanced up and froze, nausea rising thick and fast.
I knew that face like the back of my own hand. I’d lusted after it all through puberty, and it was permanently etched into my long-term memory. People said you never forgot the defining moments during that awkward time in your life—the ones that shaped the person you were to become as an adult—and I would never forget Harry Bonham.
He was the guy I’d crushed on for all of high school and beyond. The guy who stood me up the night Melanie died. The guy who was supposed to take me out for a magical evening. The guy who was supposed to kiss me on the porch and promise me forever. Instead, I came home early and found my sister sliced open on her bed.
I shook my head, desperate to get out of there. “I’m sorry, I don’t think so.”
“Yeah,” he said. “It is you. Your hair is different.” He looked me up and down, his lips curving into a smile. “Very different.”
I edged away, looking for another exit, but we stood by the only one. I would have to go three blocks out of my way to avoid him, and I would be late back to the office. I wasn’t sure which was worse. Facing Harry and the memories I was trying to overcome or suffering Jade Forsyth’s wrath when she was on a deadline.
I clutched the folio to my chest, the packet of poster board almost obscuring my face. Desperately, I tried to avoid eye contact, but he wasn’t letting up.
“It’s me,” he said, pointing to himself. “Harry.”
I stared unblinking, taking in his features as if I was looking at him for the first time. He was as tall as I remembered, his sandy blond hair short on the sides and the top combed back in a model perfect swoop. His navy blue suit was impeccable, his shirt and tie crisp. He held a smartphone in his hand, and it beeped as he received a message, but his green eyes—that I knew were speckled with hazel—were fixed on me.
My breath caught, and it felt like I’d just been bitch-slapped by my past. It followed everywhere I went like a bad smell, letting me know it was catching up. And it would. Catch up with me. It almost had on Saturday night? when that drunk guy had shoved it into my face and smeared it around. ????
Knowing I wasn’t going to get out of this without making a complete fool out of myself, I smiled halfheartedly. “Harry,” I said. “Of course. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I knew it was you, Meg,” he said, causing me to flinch at the sound of my name. Myrealname. “The hair threw me for a second. You look completely different.”
“Yeah, it’s a little dark.” That was the aim, though. “Do you live in Melbourne now?”
“Yeah. Been here about four years.”
“You were studying business at University, right?”
“Finance,” he corrected. “I’m working for the Commonwealth Bank nowadays. And you? How are you doing?”
His voice lowered as he asked the dreaded question, and I shrugged. “As well as I can, I suppose.”
We stood in awkward silence for a moment, and if I’d had my wits about me, I would’ve gracefully extracted myself from the situation, but I was frozen, my anxiety creeping in around the edges.