Page 100 of Closer than Ever

Anna stood and went behind the bar. They needed to toast this. “I love that.”

Anna opened one of their finest bottles and poured a dram out each. Smiling from ear to ear, Kelly picked up her glass with such hope and optimism in her eyes. Seeing her get to this point with Myla warmed Anna’s heart.

“Congratulations, Kelly.” Anna tapped her glass to her friend’s. “This is the best news ever!”

Anna stopped by the supermarket on the way home and had a brief chat with the cashier, her neighbour of a few doors down the street. Afterwards, she sat in her car in the car park ruminating and worrying about her relationship with Hayley before heading home. While she was over the moon for Kelly and Myla’s engagement, it did draw her attention to how far she and Hayley were from such a commitment. She still felt like she was in some sort of holiday romance with Hayley when all Anna wanted was steady, unglamorous, real love that didn’t stress her out all the time.

Parking next to Hayley’s campervan, Anna’s anxiety was peaking. Her thoughts raced. Soon, the camper would disappear and all that would be left was a few emails and messages which would probably taper off too. The thought of that made her feel sick and lightheaded.

“Hey!”

A smiling Hayley appeared by the car. She was wearing her denim shorts and a casual t-shirt. Her hair was wavy and wild, just like her. Everything about her was radiant and glowing.

Would Anna ever recover from this heartbreak?

Anna got out of the car and before she could close the door Hayley was already hugging her, tightly.

“Hey, you,” Anna said into Hayley’s shoulder.

“I was going to play it cool and wait for you to get inside but I saw you pull up and I just couldn’t contain myself.” Hayley took the bag of groceries out of her hand. “I’ve been waiting for you for hours. God, I can’t believe I said that.”

“You were?”

“That and sorting my trip around Europe. All that planning you did made our trip ten times better so it motivated me to plan Europe. I have my route all mapped out and my ferry tickets booked.”

Anna had whiplash. One second Hayley was acting like a loving girlfriend, and the next, a passing guest on a bigger adventure. They needed to talk, but Anna was terrified of the conversation. “Great. Let’s go inside and you can tell me all about it.”

Hayley had notes all over the dining table. Her laptop and phone were positioned like she was working. Papers and travel guidebooks were scattered everywhere. Seeing her take up space in Anna’s real life was wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time. Anna wanted it so much to be the real deal, but it wasn’t.

Hayley put her hand on the kitchen counter. “I zoomed with Olivia today.”

“Oh. How is she?” Anna had heard a lot about Olivia. She was Hayley’s friend from college who now worked in a publishing company in New York.

“She’s great.”

“Did you tell her we got together?”

“Yes. I told her.” Hayley smiled. “It’s pretty much all we talked about.”

Being the topic of conversation was hard to get her head around. Being in a romantic relationship with someone you were friends with first was complicated. “All good, I hope?”

Hayley furrowed her brow. “Of course. What else would it be?”

Anna leant against the kitchen counter and folded her arms over her chest. “I don’t know.”

“Do you want to go out tonight? I thought maybe we could go to the little pub around the corner? Like we did on my first night?”

It had started already. Anna put the groceries in the fridge, a crushing feeling in the pit of her stomach. Hayley was bored of her and her small life already and hoped to find more excitement in the local pub. Going out was the last thing Anna wanted, given how things were between them and how busy things were at work. She was in no mood for it. “Would you mind if we just stayed in? I don’t feel like going out tonight.”

“Sure.” Hayley seemed to force a smile.

This was exactly what them being in a relationship would be like. Hayley pushing Anna to do more than she wanted, or Hayley being held back and becoming more and more resentful until she finally had enough and left her. It had happened before with her last girlfriend. It could happen again. “It’s been a long day. I’m tired.”

“What would you like to do instead?”

“Nothing. Watch TV. Unwind together.”

“Right.”

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