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‘Okay. Got it. But you met with him after he moved away, didn’t you? You didn’t even have sex?’
‘You’re really interested in this, aren’t you?’
‘Shocked, more like it.’
‘Yes, we did meet, but I didn’t want to do anything. I was sensing that things were wrong so I wasn’t really up for it and he didn’t say anything either. I think we loved each other, but not romantically after a certain point.’ I shrugged. ‘It’s hard to explain.’
‘I get it. Wow. Five years, huh…’
I laughed and shook my head in wonder. ‘Why are guys always so intrigued when it comes to sex?’ I quickly raised my hand. ‘Don’t answer. Listen, I’m happy by myself. Ninety percent of the time at least. But I want a man who will hold my hand because he can’t help himself. No one has to see it, but if we’re watching TV or just walking down the street, I want him to reach for me. I want him to do all that, but I want him to want it on his own as well.’
We stopped in front of my apartment and William was still listening to me carefully.
He gave me one of his soft smiles. Barely there and gone. And I remembered this exact smile from so long ago. It was a good memory. I shrugged off his jacket, handing it back to him. The buzz of the beer was disappearing and just like Cinderella, the time to flee had come.
‘Thank you for…’
‘You could keep the jacket I…’
We stopped, laughing.
He shook his head a little, rubbed the back of his neck with his palm and looked down the street.
‘Charlie!’
At the loud and familiar voice, I jolted, and both William and I glanced up and saw three faces staring down at us. My neighbour Josh, Daisy and Pepperoni. The biggest smile stretched across my face.
‘He’s been crying and whining ever since we heard your voice,’ Josh said.
‘He has?’
Josh laughed. ‘Yeah, his tail is going a mile a minute, sweetheart. He missed you.’
I gave William a quick glance and saw his lips curl up in a smile as he stared up towards my neighbour’s window.
‘Pepp missed me,’ I told him, my excitement colouring my voice.
Then there was a sweet and impatient bark. When William looked down, I was still staring at his lips. Maybe I had talked about kissing a little too much.
‘I love him,’ I said, as my heart filled with love, and met William’s gaze again. ‘It’s only been a few days, I know, but he has already made everything so much better.’
Then came another high-pitched, impatient bark, followed by a sweet whine, and feeling nothing but joy, I laughed.
‘I should go. I’ve been summoned.’
‘Yes, don’t make him wait for you.’ The words caused another series of goosebumps on my arms, so I rubbed my hands up and down to get rid of them, only to realize I was still holding onto his jacket.
‘Oh, here. Thank you.’
He took it from me. ‘Have a good night Charlie. I’ll see you tomorrow.’
‘You too. Goodnight William.’ Halfway up the stairs, I paused and turned around. ‘Quick question. I remember a lot of the stuff from back then, but was it like this then too? Did we talk this easily to each other?’
His mouth curved into a smile. ‘Yeah. That’s why we kept coming back every day. And that’s why we sat across from each other for hours, talking about anything and everything.’
I nodded, feeling happy that his thoughts matched mine from all those years ago. His words still swirling in my mind, I went up the rest of the stairs, took out my key, opened the heavy door and then looked back for one last time before stepping inside while keeping the door open behind me. Hands in his pockets, he was still standing there, waiting for me to get in. I took a few seconds to burn him into my memory. He was someone I wanted, but wouldn’t have. We studied each other. I smiled and his smile got bigger.
‘Ready for another honesty thing?’ I asked.
‘Yes. Hit me.’
‘I don’t think I’ll ever forget about you, and I think I like that.’
His smile was slowly disappearing, but I didn’t give him a chance to respond.
I raised a hand in goodbye, then heard the telling pitter-patter of paws running down the stairs. The last image William saw of me that night was me with the biggest smile on my face, ready to say hi to the goodest boy.
11 William
Things got very busy at the office and we spent a little over three weeks handling nothing but Michael’s faulty electric car case. As soon as we found out that Michael’s best friend and partner for years, Isaac, had sabotaged their work – thanks to Gayle and her skills – we started working on a different plan. Michael shared another video of him explaining the situation with all the proof, but still taking the blame since it was his responsibility and his brand, no matter what had happened behind the scenes. His apology had been sincere and effective.
