Page 4 of Only You
‘Sure, and thanks for the tip, Ross. Bye, guys.’ She did her best to make sure it didn’t look like she was running away, settling for a speed walk instead of a sprint. The sound of footsteps echoed behind her but there were too many people to tell if anyone was following her. Her hands were jittery as she gripped the railing, descending the front steps. Maybe she just needed to go to the hospital after all…
‘Hey.’
Dani stopped short. She cursed under her breath before turning slowly.
Jones’s gaze punched her right in the gut. His eyes burned with intense concern as they met hers. After a moment, he broke eye contact. She swallowed nervously, wondering if she looked as embarrassed as she felt. When he looked back at her, his concern was gone, replaced by a friendly, distracting smile, as if it were never there. Dani narrowed her eyes at the change. There was something inherently familiar about the sudden change and him. It made her nerves stand on their end in anticipation because—
‘I know you.’
‘What?’
‘I–I mean I remember you from class. Sorry about storming out. I had a bad headache but I’m fine now,’ she explained.
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Um… get better soon.’
She nodded in a hurry before scurrying towards her car, cringing as she repeated the conversation in her head. Of course, she knew him; she just met him yesterday.But that’snot what I meant.The thought was a bit chilling as she paused, her hand on the door handle of her car.
For a moment, she had felt like she had seen Jones hide away his emotions a thousand times. Just like the headache, the sense of déjà vu was overwhelming, but it disappeared too quickly to understand. She shook her head and chalked it up to exhaustion. There were too many things in life happening for her to be stuck on a random headache and a random guy.
After all, she was fine.
Stephen Jones watched Danielle walk towards the parking lot, dazed by her words as everything clicked.I think I know you, he thought as he walked back to the auditorium.
Before that moment, he wanted to believe his memories were real but there was always a seed of doubt. Minds were fickle and what could be ‘memories’ could be vivid delusions. After all, his life was pretty normal, and he doubted that he would actually experience the epic love that haunted him for years. But here she was, right in front of him once more – and he doubted he would ever see her again.
Truthfully, as he pulled out a small notebook from his back pocket, he hoped he wouldn’t. He flipped open to the page he had written on that morning, documenting the piano scales he had practised. He had only completed eight out of twelve. Jones chuckled humourlessly at the timing of everything.
He hadn’t planned on being on campus today. He rarely visited Howard since graduating a few years ago. Allen had invited him out of the blue to be a guest and he didn’t have anything previously planned. It was coincidence that led him here. But, as he had known for years, this was inevitable. It always was, no matter how much it shouldn’t be.
Like all his lives before, he’d found her again.
‘Shit,’ he mumbled, closing the notebook, tucking it away just as he approached Ross back in the auditorium.
‘All good?’ Ross asked.
‘Yep.’
Ross handed over a to-go coffee cup. ‘Don’t forget this. You know how you are, and this is a theatre.’
Jones smiled as he grabbed it. ‘I was coming back for it,’ he lied.
‘Yeah, yeah. Let’s go.’
He fell in step just behind his friend, taking a sip of his coffee and winced. It was ice cold. He threw it away in the nearest trash can.
He didn’t have time to waste on bad coffee.
Chapter Three
Paris
March 1895
Captain Damien’s favourite part of the day was sparring with recruits. They only received a few for the Republican Guard every spring and even fewer lasted long enough to put on an official uniform, much less grow in rank. Part of his job was to vet aspiring corporals, usually from the countryside looking for prestige, and test their resilience.
He couldn’t resist the smirk that came to his face every time one stepped forward to take up his challenge: land a single blow. This time it was four against one, which was impressive. Even after discovering that Damien was the best, most recruits tried to defeat him on their own, steal their moment of glory, instead of using strategy. Maybe there was hope for this group yet.
It took no more than two minutes for Damien to get them on the ground. The soldiers around him were rowdy, shouting from the sidelines and probably making bets while enjoying the show. Damien did nothing to discourage his audience even when he spotted his superior scowling at the edge of the crowd.
