Page 12 of Never Forget You

She starts chattering excitedly, which floods me with relief. When she’s endlessly talking, it means that she’s happy. I need her to be happy here. I want her to enjoy her life. At least now, she will be allowed to grow into the person she wants to be. Since I had my life controlled, I will never make that mistake. Ever. I will let my daughter spread her wings and fly. I can already tell that she’s a very creative spirit, and I would love her to explore more. If that’s what she wants. She may well change her mind later on. Who knows?

“Shall we go and get some ice cream?” I need something,anythingto take my mind off this. Off Harry and how weird I now feel after seeing him. I’m all churned up and confused inside. “You want that? If I remember rightly, there is a lovely icecream place just around the corner here. They do your favorite… chocolate.”

“How do you know, Mommy?” Ella looks at me shocked, like I hadn’t already told her that I’d been here before. I wanted to reassure her that we were going to a place that I know well, but it must not have sunk in.

“I came here once on holiday. Don’t you remember my saying that to you?”

For a second, I consider telling her about my prior connection to Harry, but I decide against it at the last moment. That’s a weird thing to say, isn’t it? And it will make her feel strange about school. I’m sure there’s no way that it will be an issue, anyway. It seems like Harry just wants to forget our connection.

“Yeah, I like chocolate ice cream,” Ella finally tells me. “I would like that.”

God, the last time I went for ice cream at this place, I was with Harry. That’s strange, isn’t it? We had a milkshake and a vanilla ice cream together, topped with strawberries and toffee sauce. That was the moment I knew that we were going to find a way to be together. Oh, how young, how naïve, how stupid of me. But oh, how I wish I’d tried. Of course, I wouldn’t change Ella for the world. She is the best person for me. I wouldn’t be able to cope with life without her. But things could be a lot different if I had done things another way.

I half daydream, wondering what things could look like if we did end up together. Would we have always been as happy as we were during that vacation? Would we have lived a happily ever after? Or would we have exploded like Ben and I did when we realized that we couldn’t stand one another? Although I didn’tchoose Ben, did I? He isn’t someone that I ever would have chosen. Even at his most charming, I neverreallyliked him. Harry and I… I can’t imagine we would have fallen apart. I’m sure we were always too good for that.

But I guess now, we will never find out. It’s too late. Too much time has passed, so I will just have to focus on Ella and treat him as my daughter’s teacher for the rest of the school year and that is it. It’s a shame, but it’s for the best…

10

HARRY

Isuck back the rest of my beer with my head still in a spin, unable to believe what’s happened today. It’s unbelievable, isn’t it? Absolutely crazy. It’s a bit like a weird dream that I can’t wake up from.

“Hey there, Harry! You’re out for a change.” Matthew sits beside me and pats me on the back. “You usually refuse to come out on a Friday night. What’s changed? Something has to have happened, right?”

“You willnotbelieve it,” I reassure him. “Take a seat and get a drink before I say anything to you.”

He gives me a curious look and takes the bar seat beside me. He orders a drink from the bartender and takes a giant glug before he turns to face me once more. He has an expectant look on his face, waiting for me to talk.

“Okay, so a new mom came in to meet me at the end of the day because her daughter is starting in my class…”

“A hot mom?” he asks me excitedly. “Oh, God, please tell me you are going on a date with a hot mom?”

I let out a little laugh. Matthew has been trying to set me up for years. For the last ten years, actually, but it hasn’t ever worked out. Because of me, obviously, because I’m shit, but the excitement on his face still makes me laugh.

“Well, it’s a little more complicated than that because it’s actually a woman from our past. We know her.”

“Ooh, someone we went to high school with? That’s exciting! Who is it? How do they look now?”

“Not someone we went to high school with.” I can barely contain my excitement. I might be losing my mind. He definitely isn’t going to be as thrilled when he finds out who it is, but I am. “But someone we know.”

He knots his eyebrows together in confusion. “Who the hell are you talking about now? I can’t think…”

“Georgia.” His face falls. I kinda knew that was going to happen. “You know who I mean, don’t you?”

“Georgia? As in the girl who wrecked you and ruined your life like a million years ago? The rich girl who destroyed you? Are youjoking? What the hell is she doing back here now? She doesn’t have any right to be here after what she did to you. I have half a mind to absolutely kick some ass. Where is she?”

“Whoa, Matthew, why are you so angry about this?” I laugh. “Like you said, it was ages ago…”

“Maybe so, but we both know that it’s still affecting you, don’t we?” His cheeks are red with rage. “We have both seen how she changed you while she was here and you haven’t recovered. You haven’t been in a relationship since her, and now she’s trotted uphere to come and destroy you some more. Is that some kind of joke?”

Wow… I can’t believe it’s affected Matthew this much. I knew that I was upset about it, but I never realized how much it impacted on him as well. I guess having his best friend so hurt was really something, wasn’t it?

“Oh, well, I’m sorry,” I say. “I didn’t think about how much this would upset you.”

“Well, it does. I don’t like her. I can’t like anything to do with her after what she did to you. I can’t.” He shakes his head hard, clearly disappointed in the situation. “And I honestly can’t believe that we’re back here talking about her. I thought that we were done with this. I thought that she was gone forever.” He turns to give me a strange look. “And I can see that moony look in your eyes when you’re talking about her. I hate it. You will get hurt again.”

“Hey, Matthew, I never said anything about feelingthatway for her again. You don’t need to worry.”

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