Page 2 of Closer than Ever

Landed! Oh how I’ve missed these orderly queues and accents!!

Everything feels weirdly familiar. It’s like being back inside a dream wtf!!!!

Am on train. Nearly missed it lol. New York already feels like a million miles away. Can’t wait to see youuuuuu!!!

OMG I forgot how good Irn-Bru tastes!!

She shoved her hands into her coat pockets, gripping her phone in one, unsure how she was going to feel when Hayley stepped off the train. Nerves mixed with excitement ran through her. Her heart was racing. Her anxiety always threatened to take over in situations like these. It usually did. It was.

Thoughts swirled around her head as she paced the platform from one end to the other and back again. She couldn’t wait to see her friend again; there was no doubt about that. But it was complicated. Would Hayley remember the things they’d shared all those years ago? Would she remember how close they’d been?

The years had added distance between them, which was sad. Experiences. Relationships. Things they no longer had in common. Would Anna like this more adult version of Hayley? How much of the Hayley she had known was still in there?

It was a ridiculous amount of time to hold onto these feelings, if that’s what they were. They’d been inseparable for a year at university. That was hardly long enough to warrant this turmoil a decade later. One night they’d got as close as it was possible to get, but that was it. Sleeping together the night before Hayley left had been a terrible idea, Anna had concluded over the years.

Anna cursed that train of thought, annoyed at herself. She should not be thinking about that night right now. This was about Hayley taking a time-out from her real life in the US, and the two of them catching up as old friends, nothing more. Anna didn’t want anything more, anyway. She didn’t want to be feeling so mixed about seeing Hayley again. All she wanted was for Hayley to have a nice trip and then they could go back to their normal lives across the ocean from each other and she could get rid of these feelings once and for all. Her desire for her straight former best friend would be cured. The mystery between them would be diffused once and for all.

Anna was ready to settle down. She wanted to meet her future wife, the person she would share the rest of her life with. She did not want to drag up old feelings from the past for the one woman she’d never really got over.

Mrs Cairns from the newsagents walked onto the platform. They exchanged a brief hello, and Anna went back to pacing.

Why was Hayley coming here, really? Why now? She hardly knew Hayley any more. She was definitely not still in love with her. She was a friend. That was all. A friend that had let her down in the past. Anna was over it, but she’d be lying if she said it didn’t still grate on her a little.

The train approached. Anna stopped racing around the platform. Her thoughts didn’t. She held her breath. Her heart rate skyrocketed. The train doors pinged loudly and rhythmically. The sound lasted forever with no sign of Hayley. Maybe she had got on the wrong train? Mrs Cairns and her daughter were already heading for the exit.

Hayley appeared at the end of the train, gliding off the carriage, so out of place in Anna’s sleepy little town in the middle of the Highlands. The top of a large backpack was visible above her head. There was an expensive-looking handbag on one arm and a couple of shopping bags on the other. Hayley looked around the pretty station before noticing Anna further up the platform.

Anna waved, aware that a massive smile had broken out on her face.

Hayley started running towards her, waving her arms and bags, grinning widely.

Anna broke out into a run, too.

“Oh my god!” Hayley called out, as they neared each other.

“Hi!”

They collided into each other. Before Anna knew it, they were hugging tightly. Anna held onto Hayley’s backpack as Hayley’s bags dug into her back. Pulling apart, they were all smiles and wide eyes, taking each other in.

Seeing her. Smelling her. Touching her. She was really here. In person. Face to face. Not just a picture on her phone. There was so much information to process at once. It was overwhelming.

Hayley’s eyes sparkled. “It is so fucking incredible to see you, Anna, this is like, what the fuck, am I really here? It’s surreal.”

Her American accent was spacious, open and relaxed. Anna enjoyed Hayley’s voice and hearing it again was like a gentle caress to her ears. She’d missed it. The phone didn’t do it justice.

“So surreal. It’s amazing to see you, too.” Anna smiled, hiding how nervous she was.

“You look”?Hayley studied Anna’s face, eyes wide, openly searching it?“so great.”

“So do you.” This, of course, was an understatement. Hayley was like a movie star. Her eyes were beautiful with dark and perfect make-up that set off her smooth skin and pinkish, full lips. Her hair was longer now, flowing just below her shoulders, with soft bronze highlights giving it a gorgeous depth. Anna’s head was spinning. Seeing Hayley in person again was throwing her off balance. She was different, yet the same. Alien yet familiar. Older and very definitely hotter. Anna scanned her whole body, aware that she was hardly saying anything. “How was your journey?”

“Long. But I slept a little on the plane.”

“And you got all of your connections okay?”

Hayley laughed. “As practical as ever, I see. Yes, it went very smoothly, thanks.”

“And how was it carrying that huge thing?”

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