Page 94 of That Secret Something

I quickly popped the cork and filled two glasses before heading into our bedroom. Boxes still covered a lot of the carpet, but the room was slowly taking on our characters. I smiled at the different pieces of our life. Rebecca’s plaid shirt collection was piled up on the dresser, her hockey stick poking out of a box of camera equipment. My clothes were already hanging in the wardrobe, my collection of favourite books sitting on their shelf in alphabetical order. We still needed to assemble the new bookshelf in the living room—my library just kept growing and growing, much to Rebecca’s amusement.

My eye was drawn to the mismatched collage of photos hanging on the wall. Putting them up was the first thing Rebecca had insisted we do to christen our new place. Well, actually, it was the second—breaking in the bed had taken first priority.

Rebecca was standing by the window, looking out into the darkness, tapping her fingers against the pane. The streetlights cast a soft glow across the walls, and the sight of her displaying her agitated habit filled me with unease.

“Are you okay?” I asked, jolting her out of her thoughts.

“Sorry, I was miles away.” She took her glass and had a big gulp. “Thank you.”

Rebecca sat on our bed and waved me over, but I noticed the way she was avoiding my gaze. Her laptop was open in front of her.

Talking was good, but it was still scary, and my anxiety always amplified the fear. It was a work in progress—but one that I was getting better at. I knew the longer I left things, the worse my head would make them. It was better to talk things out before my mind got carried away.

I brushed my hand over her thigh. “Are you sure you’re alright? You seem a little…preoccupied. You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

She shook her head. “Of course. And I’m fine, I promise. I just have a lot of different feelings going on right now. But I think I’ll feel better once you watch my video.”

Different feelings? I took another sip of prosecco while I considered what to say. I settled on scooting up beside her, and Rebecca rested her arm around my shoulders.

She sucked in a deep breath and pressed play.

The black screen flickered to life. One of our favourite songs filtered low through the speakers, and when I appeared on screen, I almost spilled my drink.

The camera zoomed in on me, tucked up in bed, sleeping.

I cast a questioning glance at Rebecca, but she nodded at the screen for me to keep watching.

“She says she doesn’t snore,” Rebecca commented on the video as the camera moved closer to my face. “But here’s living proof.”

The shot pivoted to Rebecca’s own face. She grinned, and then the screen cut to another video.

We were singing together in the car, Rebecca sneakily filming on her lap. We failed to reach the high notes and burst into laughter, and then there was a cut to a clip of Sausage and me, snuggled up on the sofa, his little tail wagging happily.

“What is this?” I asked, caught between confusion and amusement. “Are you using these for a reel?”

She squeezed my thigh and whispered, “Just watch.”

The pictures played out in front of me: making tea in the kitchen; the two of us navigating the busy London streets together; both of us curling up on the sofa in our matching slippers. Shots of me without me knowing, and Rebecca photobombing me in the background.

My heart squeezed. It was like watching a highlight reel. This wasn’t Rebecca trying to be funny. This was us. These fleeting moments of our lives that I treasured so much—this was what she’d been working on?

The video blended together multiple clips of Rebecca leaning in to kiss me on the cheek, her signature photo pose. When it cut to the two of us dancing underneath a shimmering disco ball, Rebecca’s voice sounded again.

“This moment here was when I knew you were the person I always wanted to dance with. How could I resist the woman with as much rhythm as a giraffe with three legs?”

I recognised our outfits from Lily’s wedding, a night that had changed our lives in a multitude of ways. Rebecca spun me, and I threw my head back in laughter as she caught me again, turning us in circles.

We looked so…happy.

“We never got any footage of us at your prom.” It was the real Rebecca speaking now, her body angling towards mine. My heart thumped hard in my chest as she took my hands in hers, her green eyes full of softness. “But I still remember how it felt to hold you for the first time,” she went on. “I still remember the way you made me feel, like we were the only two people in the room. You always make me feel like that, Jess. I look at you and everything feels…right.” She glanced at the screen, where the two of us were still dancing away under the multi-coloured disco lights, and grinned.

My stomach flooded with nerves. Where is she going with this?

“I knew it then at Lily’s wedding,” she said. “I wanted to have the same with you one day, if you’d have me.” She let go of my hand and brushed her fingers down her shirt. Her eyes widened. “Shit!”

She leaped off the bed and almost headbutted the door.

My pulse raced. “Rebecca, where are you going?”

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