Page 26 of Never Forget You
“Perfect.” She kisses me once more, deeper this time, with her tongue darting between my lips, giving me a little glimpse of what’s to come as if I wasn’t excited enough. “Come on, then. Let’s get going.”
She grabs my hand and half drags me toward her home. Not that I’m putting up any resistance at all. I might as well be running behind her because I just can’t wait. The only time I’m forced to stop is at my car, because there is something that I’ve forgotten which I absolutely need to give Georgia right now. It’s important.
“What are you doing?” she half moans, half jokes. “You know that I’m impatient, right?”
I laugh and nod. “I know, but this will be worth it. I promise you that much.”
I pull out the little gift that I’ve stashed away in the glove box which makes her eyes pop open with surprise. I suddenly realize that she might think this is something a little more serious than it is. I wouldn’t mind, but I don’t want her to think that I’m rushing things… although if left up to me, I would marry her right now. Iknowthat she’s the woman I’m going to spend therest of my life with. I knew it when I first saw her, and nothing has changed.
But one step at a time. One thing first, and that’s to give her this special gift.
“This is just something that I saw, and I thought of you,” I do my best to reassure her. “Nothing crazy.”
“Ooh, okay.” She steps closer to me, swaying her hips as she goes. I wonder if she knows how intoxicated I am by her when she does this. I don’t think that it’s purposeful. I think she’s just seductive for me. “Let me see.”
I hand her the box and watch in awe as she tears it apart in her excitement. I guess we both bring out the youth in one another, which is awesome. I love her feeling the same way as me. We bring out this joy in one another that no one else can even begin to imagine, much less harness. I don’t even know if other couples have this. I’ve never seen it before. I really think that it’s just me and Georgia and that we are special. Our love is something else.
“Oh, my God. This is wonderful.” She gets it right away, I can see it in her eyes. “A necklace with a shell charm. I love it. A reminder of the shell that you won me from the carnival all those years ago.” She shows me the charm that she still has hanging from her bag. “Did you know that I kept it for all these years?”
“I saw it,” I admit. “And I knew in that moment that we shared our love because I kept the letter you gave me.”
“You did?” Immediately, her eyes flood with tears, happy ones I hope. “Even though I left my number on it but didn’t message you back? Which I feel absolutely terrible about even if it was my father’s fault…”
“I guess I just knew.” I offer her a one-shouldered shrug and a smile. “Even when it hurt and my heart was broken, I must have known that one day, you would come back to me. And you did, so I was right.”
She hands me the box and spins around while holding up her hair so I can fix the necklace around her neck. “Well, this is something else that I’m going to keep forevermore. I will wear it every single day.”
I graze my thumb over the exposed skin of her throat and watch as she shivers in delight. I have a feeling that the necklace will be the only thing that she wears tonight ,which will only make this perfect date end in the best way ever. I can only see things moving upward for me and Georgia. There honestly isn’t anything else that could come between us. We are on the right track to our happy ending.
“Come on, let’s get inside,” she practically growls at me. “You have been driving me crazy all night long, and if I don’t get you naked in a minute, there’s no telling what will happen…”
21
GEORGIA
Ishould tell her, I think to myself as I wave goodbye to Ella at the school gates.It really is time.
I was planning to this weekend. I kept trying to gear myself up to it but it didn’t quite happen, and I’m not sure why. I know that she likes her teacher a lot, and she must have noticed by now that we have a special friendship since I always hang around to talk to him afterward. Plus, I would much rather the information come from me than gossipers, and I’m sure that there are people talking about us already. I don’t know why I can’t just say it.
I’m proud to be with Harry anyway, happy to be his girlfriend. It’s taken us far too long to get to this point for me to not want Ella to know… maybe I will just buck up tonight and tell her already. Stop messing around.
I wave to Harry, my cheeks heating up as I do so. I feel all shy and embarrassed but in a cute way. Honestly, I never knew that my life could be this good. I didn’t know that it was possible to feel this good. Even when I sense that the PTA moms might be saying something about me, I hold my head up high. Ihonestly don’t mind one bit. I thought that I wanted to make a good impression here, but as long as I have Harry, nothing else matters.
I jut my chin out and hold my head up high as I walk back home almost with a skip in my step. Internally, I try and plan how I will get the words out to Ella, how I will make it the new normal, but I don’t really come up with anything. It might not be one of those things that can be planned. I may have to just see what I can do when the time comes. Act accordingly to Ella’s mood because as much as I want to think that she won’t mind, she might hate it. In which case… well, I don’t know. That is a bridge that I will cross when I come to it. One thing at a time.
I pause just outside my door with an ice cold prickle running down my back. I don’t know what it is, I can’t explain it, and it’s making me feel strange. Paranoid. A sensation that I don’t so much need anymore. I had it a lot when I lived with Ben because I never felt quite myself. It was always like I had eyes on me, but now… well, here, I don’t need to be worried. There is nothing to catch me out or ‘get’ me. I’m fine, safe here.
But the feeling doesn’t leave me. It stays with me as I head inside the house and start my usual routine of checking my email first to see if I’ve heard anything back from any of my jobs yet.
“Oh, my God,” I half scream as I see that Ifinallyhave a reply, and a positive one as well, for the researcher job that I really wanted. I’ve had to jump through a lot of hoops to get there, video calling interviews, endless application forms and online tests, proof of my credentials, but now I can see that it was all worth it. I’ve got it! They have seen something in me, just as Harry told me they would, and they want to hire me. This is the best day ever.
I scrabble around to find my cell phone because of course the first thing that I want to do is text Harry to let him know. Much as I would love to call him so that he can celebrate this with me, I can’t while he’s teaching, so this will have to do. He will contact me as soon as he has a spare moment anyway, he always does, so I’ll just have to wait.
Knock, knock.I’m too excited to even think about who might be calling for me. It might even be a letter that I need to sign for because it’s a contract for my brand-new job which I will be starting soon… and not a minute too soon.
I practically skip over to the door, and I swing it open in a vigorous way, causing it to bang against the wall and stay there. It’s open too wide. I can’t shut it fast enough, which I only realize is a problem too late.
“B–Ben…” My ex-husband. What the hell is he doing here? “Ben, why are you here?”