Page 20 of The Jealous Girl

And then I’d met Ryan.

Five Years Ago – Mid September

I arrived early. I always did. And yet I didn’t go in.

I lingered outside the lecture theatre, watching people drift past me in groups, talking, laughing, already bonding as though they’d known each other for years instead of only just meeting.

I waited until the crowd thinned. Then followed the last of them inside, slipping into an empty seat on the back row.

Present, but not really part of it.

‘Morning, everyone,’ the lecturer called, his voice cutting through the chatter. ‘Welcome to Finance for Managers.’

‘Ugh.’

I glanced to my right as a guy slid into the seat beside me, the look on his face telling me he wanted to be here even less than I did.

‘Sorry,’ he whispered, realising I’d heard him. ‘It’s a bit of a brutal start for the first day,’ he said, jerking his head towards the screen at the front. ‘Business finance.’

My lips quivered as I tried not to smile. ‘It is a business degree…’

He rolled his eyes. ‘Yeah, don’t remind me.’ He ran his hand through his short dark brown hair. ‘It wasn’t my choice. My parents have a business back home; they want me to take over eventually.’

‘So what would your choice have been?’

‘Environmental studies,’ he said almost wistfully. He gave a shrug. ‘Or something like that,’ he added, acting as though it didn’t matter. ‘How about you? Was this your choice?’

I hesitated.

‘That’s a no then.’ He chuckled. ‘So what would yours have been?’

‘Hospitality,’ I admitted. ‘But they don’t offer it here. So this is the next best thing.’

‘Other universities would have hospitality management degrees though…’ he said, looking confused.

‘My family wanted me to stay local.’

‘Ahh.’ He nodded. ‘Mine wanted the same.’

‘You’re from Birmingham too?’ I asked, surprised. His accent hadn’t sounded like it.

He shook his head. ‘Dorset.’

I frowned.

‘They picked the course. I picked the uni. You’ve got to do something for yourself, haven’t you?’ He paused. ‘Or at least try to.’

He said it as though it was simple.

I nodded, even though the idea felt alien to me.

Ryan’s words had stayed with me through the three years of university. And so had he.

Then, after our final exams, everything changed. I escaped to Malta. Started over.

With him.

Things had finally been different. I’d been different. Happy. Optimistic. We were building a life, a future, together.