Page 16 of Never Forget You

Now, we just need to see what we want to do with it. If we want to do anything at all, I suppose…

13

GEORGIA

Two Weeks Later…

“I can’t wait for Josie’s slumber party!” Ella half screams as I take her toward the door of the house where she will be sleeping tonight. I’m anxious as all hell because it’s the first night ever that she will be sleeping away from me for the first time in her life, but I’m not letting that nervousness come out. I don’t want Ella to see it. She’s looking forward to her friend’s sleepover birthday party, and I am letting her think that I’m the same. “It’ll be so much fun.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” I reply, trying to keep my gritted teeth under control. “Have you got her birthday gift?”

Ella waves it in my direction before picking up the pace to a run and racing to the front door in her eagerness to get inside. Bless her, I’m pleased that she is so happy. I’m glad that she has so many friends.

“Oh, hello, Ella.” Josie’s lovely mom smiles as my daughter races past her in her attempt to get to her friend. “Oh, eager, I see.”She laughs, not at all bothered. “And how are you, Georgia? She’s left you with her stuff, I see.”

I giggle as I hand over her bag. “She’s so excited. She’s been thrilled ever since she got the invitation. I’m surprised that she slept at all last night. I thought that I would have to pin her down…”

“Josie’s been the same. I don’t know what tonight is going to be like. But don’t worry, I have ear plugs!”

We laugh and chat for a little while, with her doing her best to reassure me that my daughter will be fine in her very capable hands, and once I’ve made her absolutely promise me that she will call me if Ella causes her any trouble at all, I finally drag myself away and leave Ella to have a good time. I could hear her laughing away before I left, so I know that she’s happy, and to be honest, this is good for her. The parents at the last school she attended weren’t exactly the type to have parties and things. This is a much friendlier, warmer place. The more that I settle in, the happier I am here and the more certain I am that I made the right choice. This is exactly where I’m meant to be.

Finally, I’m free of everything that held me back all my life. Now I just needoneof the jobs that I’ve applied to accepting me and everything will be perfect. Financially, we are okay at the moment, but I don’t know how long that will last and I want something,anything. I’ve been to a couple of job interviews, so fingers crossed something good will come out of it. I know that things can take a while, so I need to be patient. I don’t have any choice.

I keep swinging from wildly confident because everything else is going so well, to crushingly low. Because who would want to hiresomeone who hasn’t ever worked before? That’s a tough one to explain.

Still, there’s nothing I can do about it at the moment. I just need to wait and see.

I walk slowly back to my apartment because in all honesty, I don’t know what I’m going to do tonight. Truth be told, I’ve never been one of those parents who wants a night of peace. I like having Ella around. It’s my own company that worries me, and I’m going to have to try and put up with my own company now. Sure, there might be things I can watch on TV, and perhaps I can laze around in a much-needed bubble bath, but the hours without my child are going to be long and quiet. Weird too. I can’t recall the last time I was alone all night long.

Get a grip,my brain screams at me.Don’t be a fool. It’s going to be absolutely fine, don’t worry.

But inside, I already feel weird. I can’t explain it. It’s more like I don’t belong in this place anymore. I can’t sit still or feel any sense of calm because my anchor isn’t here. I don’t know what to do with myself. Instead of acting like any normal person would and just enjoying being by myself for a change, I find myself wandering around aimlessly, just looking for something to do. But I don’t quite knowwhatI want to do, either. I can’t explain it…

“Food!” All of a sudden, I find a task that will not only take some time and get me out of the house, but it could use doing as well. The cupboards have been a little bare, and I haven’t made my way to the supermarket in a while because I haven’t had the time to, but now I have nothing but time. “Yes, I can go shopping.”

I know it’s a bit tragic to be excited about food shopping, but honestly, anything is better than this. So, I gather up my belongings, toss them into my bag, and start the walk. Yes, it’s quite far, but I don’t mind that right now. It’ll be nice to get some fresh air, and it isn’t like I have a car anyway, so it’s no problem. I don’tneeda car to get me around this place, so it isn’t essential. It’s one of those things that I will buy when I can afford to.

As I walk, I’m taken back in time. I think about the memories that I have from this place which I pushed to the back of my mind when I decided to not be the weirdo with the make-believe boyfriend anymore. But it really was magical, wasn’t it? Before it all got messed up by my dad. And to think, I didn’t want to come here at first. I argued and acted like a real brat about it. If I had known then that it would eventually become my forever home… well, I don’t think that I would have believed it, to be fair. I might have imagined myself in LA or New York instead.

Silly, childish Georgia couldn’t see that this would become her happy home, but here she is. Living the dream. A strange dream, not one that a lot of people would have, I’m sure, but then I’m not most people, am I?

By the time I arrive at the supermarket, I’m in a much better mood. I still miss Ella, but Josie’s mom has just let me know that they are all having a great time, so there isn’t anything for me to worry about, so I can relax a bit more. I can take my time around the supermarket and enjoy this moment of calm.

“Georgia!” Or not. Much to my surprise, Harry is just behind me, like some magnetic force is constantly pulling us together. Every time I think that I might have a second to just chill, this happens. “I thought that was you.”

I force a smile on my face which quickly becomes genuine as soon as I clock him. It’s impossible not to grin at him because he really is sweet and lovely, isn’t he? He always makes me feel warm and special inside. Even now.

“Hey, how are you?” I decide to tease him a little. “Anyone would think that you’re following me.”

“Funny, I was just going to say the same thing about you.” Thank God he’s joking right back. That’s a great sign that things aren’t about to get really weird between us. “No little one with you tonight?”

“She’s at Josie’s slumber party, so it’s just me all on my own tonight. And I’m spending it in the supermarket. How cool am I?” I roll my eyes and giggle. “What a way to spend the weekend, huh? Still, got to be done.”

“Hey, I’m alone on the weekend and I’m here too.” As he stretches out his arms in a surrendering gesture, I feel all fuzzy inside. His being alone might mean that he doesn’t have a girlfriend, because I’m already pretty damn sure that he doesn’t have a child. It’s hard to fish for information about him, though, without being obvious, and he doesn’t seem to have any social media accounts to speak of so that I can online stalk him, which is very annoying. I finally have his surname and I can’t find out anything about him. “So, I guess we are both as cool as one another.”

There is a strangeness clinging to the air between us which I can’t seem to shake off no matter what I do. I don’t know if this tension is coming from our being alone for the first time in years or if we’re just not at the school building, which takes away the professionalism between us. It just doesn’t feel the same, that’s all.

“Well, I suppose I'd better get going.” I point toward the food, trying to get away from this feeling because it’s a little too much. “I wouldn’t want to miss out on my night of fun. You know how it is.”

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