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At one time in my life, I thought Aiden would always be in my corner, and I’d be in his. I was his biggest cheerleader, and he was mine. That was why when I broke his heart and ended things with him, I also shattered my own.
“Hailee! Hailee!”
I turned around as I held Shakespeare’s collection of sonnets in my hand to find Henry standing behind me. He shook with excitement as he stared at me through his thick-framed round glasses. His shaggy blond hair was swept across his forehead, and he brushed his hand through it, making it messier.
“Yes?” I asked.
“Did you hear the news? Aiden Walters is here!” he exclaimed as if he’d come dashing into the room to reveal that Santa Claus was, in fact, real and came to town a few months early.
I smiled at his joy. “I think everyone heard.”
“He’s right in the town square by the clock tower. Rumor has it he’s signing autographs!”
“Oh?”
“Yeah!” Henry stood there blinking at me repeatedly. I blinked back with a lack of expression. I’d pushed all my emotions deep down that morning, hoping nothing would let my feelings come out that day. It turned out Henry felt enough for us both at that very moment. He was grinning ear to ear like it was Christmas morning, and his happiness was enough to make my day not suck. Henry was a gentle soul. He was a nerdy sixteen-year-old who’d just started working at the inn a few months prior. He’d been bullied a lot for just being himself, which infuriated me. He didn’t fit in a lot with people, something I could relate to.
Henry always had a lot on his plate, but still, he found more than enough reasons to smile each day. I hoped the world wouldn’t steal that away from him—his joy. All in all, Henry was a good kid. He worked hard, never complained like the other employees, and he always was quite the gentleman whenever I crossed his path.
“Go, Henry,” I said, waving him off. “Go meet America’s sweetheart. Take the whole day off.”
“Oh no, I won’t take the whole day. I need the pay. I want to buy that new virtual reality game in a few weeks! I just need like fifteen minutes or so, and I’ll be good.”
“I’ll cover for you and make sure you get the pay. Besides, the big festival for Aiden’s return is happening tonight. You should go enjoy it with your friends.”
“Then you’ll come, too?”
I laughed a little. “I can’t. I’m going to be busy.”
“Dang. I was going to win you a stuffed animal,” he joked. “Well, if you’re really okay covering for me,” he said, already backing up and taking off his name tag. “Thanks, Hailee! I’ll get a picture for you if you want! I’ll see you later! And maybe we’ll run into one another at the festival if you get a bit of free time! People said there will be fireworks!” He excitedly skipped away as I was left there in the solitude of a now completely silent inn.
A part of me wanted to dash outside, too. I wanted to see Aiden—hug him, hold him, and tell him that I’d thought about him repeatedly over the years—but I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. I was determined to do my best to stay out of his way over the next few weeks. The less interaction I had with him, the better.
I went back to organizing the bookshelf for a while, glancing out the window every now and again toward the clock tower. The crowd was massive, and I couldn’t help but feel my heart start racing faster as I set my eyes on Aiden.
That man.
My heartbeats.
How were they still controlled by him after all this time?
It turned out that that heart of mine was still somehow connected to the man who stood only a few hundred feet away from where I worked. I wondered when that feeling would fully fade away, or maybe when you once had love for a person, reminiscences of that love would always tug at one’s heart. Perhaps I’d always be tethered to his essence in some way. My racing heartbeats were proof of that the moment I saw Aiden grab his suitcase and start walking in the direction of the inn.
Wait.
Why was he walking toward the inn?
What?
No.
“You have got to be shitting me,” I breathed out, completely distraught as to why he was heading my way with a train of groupies and townspeople behind him. “You better not come in here, Aiden Walters, or so help me…” I grumbled to myself, placing my hands on top of my head in a state of complete shock.
He didn’t hear my order as he walked right into the inn. My boss, Mr. Lee, sat behind the front desk, and the moment he saw Aiden, his eyes lit up with joy.
“Well, well, well… if it’s not Leeks’s superstar!” Mr. Lee said, leaping up from his chair. He hurried over to greet Aiden and pulled him into a tight hug. “Welcome back home. Welcome to your home away from home!”
Did Mr. Lee know that Aiden was staying at the inn?
