Page 22 of Never Forget You

As long as I don’t give her any details, it should be fine, right? I should be okay. This is my mom, after all, and I have to admit that I yearn for her love and acceptance more than I ever have before. I ache for it.

“Mom, it’s okay. You don’t need to feel guilty or anything if that’s what this is about…”

“No, it isn’t. I’m not just calling you to try and assuage my guilt or anything. This is really just because I miss you. I would like nothing more than to see you again, to talk to you one on one, just me and you.”

“Oh, really?” I can’t hide my surprise. “I didn’t think you would want that. I didn’t know…”

“I understand why you’re surprised. Of course you are. I’ve never been this way before, but I’m trying to change, Georgia. I’m trying to step out from the shadow which your father has put me under. I want to be better.”

Wow, now that just proves that my dad isn’t listening in because he doesn’t ever see any faults to his behavior, so he wouldn’t let her say that to me, even in an attempt to trap me. I know that I can trust her that little bit more.

“Yeah, okay, maybe we could do that.” My brain isn’t quite ready to work out the logistics yet. “You will need to give me some time to figure things out, though. Like when and where I can make it happen. Obviously, I’m not just around the corner anymore. It won’t just be a straightforward thing like it was.”

Like it was when we didn’t do it. Not that I say anything like that because this is going well so far and I don’t want to do anything to ruin it. But it really won’t be simple to see her when she actually wants to.

“I know, and Ella as well,” she chokes out. “I don’t like the idea of you both being miles away.”

“But we are free now,” I assure her. “We are happy and able to spread our wings in a way that we couldn’t before, you know?” I find myself smiling as I talk. The happiness that I feel here despite the mess that I seem to be making of everything is evident in my tone. “It’s good. I am finally just about finding out who I am. It’s been great for me.”

“Well, I would absolutely love to see that. I don’t expect you to find time for me right away. I know that you must have a busy schedule and everything, but if you could call me when you get a chance to discuss this…”

“Yes, of course I will. That sounds lovely. I would love to see you as well, Mom. It sounds good.”

“Tell me about what your life is like there,” she continues, still not done with me, which is a nice feeling. Knowing that she reallywantsme for who I am… I’ve never had that before from a parent. “About how Ella is.”

I instantly leap into the story of the slumber party and Ella’s classmates, laughing and allowing the pride to fill my voice. Mom is silent, but she laughs at all the right places and makes agreeable sounds to let me know that she is happy for us as well, even if she isn’t too pleased with our being gone. By the end of the conversation, I’m absolutely convinced that not only can I trust her, but that Ishouldsee her as well. It would be good forus to spend some time together anyway, to really get to know one another for the first time ever. It’ll be strange, but awesome.

I will wait until I’m ready, though, one step at a time, but I’m pleased to know that the option is there.

When I hang up the phone, I have to admit that I do feel a lot happier, my mind is much clearer, and there isn’t any issue that I can’t tackle. Even this whole mess with Harry. Somehow, I can sort it out, can’t I? If my mom can work her way around my father to call me like that because she misses me so much, then I can have an open conversation with Harry about how much I’ve always been in love with him but my life makes it complicated… which I suppose effectively leaves the ball in his court. See? Simple. It’s clear now, evident what I need to do.

I lean back and breathe deeply, smiling to myself with joy. Yes. This is okay. It will be alright. Life is still good.

18

HARRY

She’s waiting,I think to myself as I watch the children running over to their parents to end the day at school. Most people are leaving straight away to get back to their lives, but Georgia has Ella with her and she is definitely waiting. That’s good, right? She wants to speak to me. She isn’t running off and avoiding eye contact like I half expected her to. My pulse races at the speed light as excitement zigzags through me. Any minute now, we can talk.

We have to wait, though. The air thickens around us the longer time goes on, and it makes me increasingly nervous as time goes by, but we still have to wait. Wait until the moment is right, and it seems that Georgia has decided the moment is now because she’s walking toward me now with Ella tucked underneath her arm.

“Harry, erm… Mr. Jones…” She changes her mind at the memory of where we are. “Do you have a moment?”

“Sure.” I try and lean against the door frame to act all casual, but it doesn’t really work. I think I just come across a bit like a dork.A heat races to my cheeks which is hard to disguise. “What’s going on, Georgia?”

“I just wanted to apologize for my rudeness the other day. I didn’t mean to come across like that.”

“Oh.” I wasn’t expecting that, to be honest. I can’t really answer it as I would like to because Ella is around. I guess we’re going to have to do it in a roundabout way. “Sure, don’t worry about it. I understand. I know it was…”

“Yeah.” She nods slowly. “Well, if I can maybe buy you a drink or make you dinner to say sorry…”

“Mr. Jones is going to come for dinner?” Ella’s eyes nearly pop out of her head in shock. “That’s weird.”

Georgia and I share a bit of a strained look. And this is why we can’t just be straightforward, I suppose. Because it isn’t just me and her, it’s her daughter as well. If Ella is going to struggle with the idea of having me in her life in a way that’s out of school, then we’re going to have to take a step back from one another. For her. What she needs is more important than us. I guess we have waited for a decade, so we can wait longer… probably.

“Well, we don’t know about that yet.” Georgia leans down and half whispers to her. “I just want to make things right. I made a bit of a mistake the other day, and I need to find a way to make up for it. You know how it is.”

“Oh, right. I understand. You need to say sorry for what went wrong.” Ella nods and agrees. “That makes sense.”

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