Page 10 of Mistaken Intention

“It’s too soon, evidently,” he says. “Although it doesn’t feel too soon to us.”

I’m sure it doesn’t, but I don’t know what to say to him… not when he’s thousands of miles away. He coughs and I can feel the emotion in the sigh that follows, even from here.

“It’ll be okay, Hunter,” I say, my words sounding hollow, even to me.

“I hope so.” He hesitates and then says, “Oh, and it’s probably only fair to warn you, Livia and I are spending more time at the house these days.”

“You are?”

“Yeah. For the last few weeks, we’ve been leaving Boston just after lunch on Fridays and not coming back to the city again until late on Monday. We feel relaxed in Newport, and although I know it shouldn’t make any difference where we are, we value the time we can spend away from it all.”

“I can understand that.” I know if I could be with Josie, I’d want us to live in Newport. It’s the perfect place to unwind, and to raise a family… or try to start one.

I strike the thought. It hurts too much to think like that.

“I guess I’d better let you do some work,” Hunter says, and he’s not wrong.

“I’ve still got a few shots to take before I come home, and I need the evening light, which will be perfect in about an hour.” I look out the window at the pale orange glow settling on the terracotta rooftops, and nod my head. It’s pretty good even now. Give it an hour and it’ll be exactly what I need.

“Okay. We’ll see you when you get back.”

“Sure…” I hesitate, just for a second. “Hunter?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve said this before, but if you need to talk, you know where I am.”

He chuckles. “It’s usually the other way around between us, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is. I know I’m normally the one who comes to you, but I also know you’re having to be strong for Livia right now… and I just want you to remember, if you need someone to be strong for you, I’m here.”

“Th—Thanks, Drew.”

We end our call, and I sit back, resting my head against the sumptuous pillow behind me. I know I should get my equipment ready and go out to take this final set of shots… but I need a few moments to myself first.

My earbuds are lying on the table, and I lean forward, picking them up and playing them between my fingers before I connect them to my phone. I know what I’m doing will hurt like hell, but I do it anyway, going to my streaming service, and selecting the piece of music I’ve been listening to, over and over for the last year. I have it set up at home in my apartment, too, so I can hear it whenever I want… so I can punish myself by remembering how it felt to see Josie for the first time, this piece of music playing in the background as I lost my heart.

Putting it onto repeat, the melody washes over me as I close my eyes and recall that night…

It was someone’s birthday party. I don’t know her name, but she was a friend of Lexi’s, I think, and I didn’t want to be there. I didn’t want to be with Lexi at all, although we were still together, in the loosest of terms. We’d met when we were working in the Caribbean, on a disastrous assignment, where everything that could go wrong went wrong. The weather was shocking and all the models I was there to photograph got sick… except for Lexi. Thrown together like that, just the two of us, on a paradise island where clothes seemed to be optional, we did what came naturally, and we both enjoyed it. Okay, so I made the mistake of forgetting to use a condom… but it wasonly that first time, and to be fair, I was drunk. Lexi assured me she was on birth control, so neither of us worried about it, and we carried on having fun… and being more careful about it. I’m not saying we had wild, passionate sex all the time. In fact, it was quite tame. Not that I was complaining. It was better than staring at four walls. When the assignment was canceled and we went our separate ways, Lexi surprised me by calling and inviting me to stay with her in New York. I had nothing else to do, and didn’t see the harm, but I think we both realized pretty quickly that it wasn’t going to work. Even the sex felt different, and we had nothing in common… nothing to talk about. Neither of us was under any illusions, and it was just a matter of time before one of us jumped ship.

The one to jump was me. Only rather than breaking it off with her, I made the excuse of needing to return to Boston, little realizing she was going there herself. My plan having backfired, I could hardly get out of letting her come back with me, or her request to stay at my apartment. I tried to get out of the party, though. It was the last thing I felt like doing with a woman I was on the verge of leaving. The problem was, Lexi had sprung the invitation on me at the last minute, and I couldn’t think of a single logical reason not to go.

“We won’t have to stay for long,” Lexi said as she practically dragged me from my apartment.

“I’m not dressed for a party.”

She looked me up and down, and although her eyes still lit up, there was no longer that hunger she’d so often displayed when we were in the Caribbean. I was grateful for that. The sex had become boring by then and I was all out of excuses for not jumping into bed with her.

“It’s not the kind of party where you need to get dressed up.”

I wondered, in that case, why she was wearing such a revealing dress, but I didn’t comment. I just assumed she was looking for someone to replace me, and I was grateful for that, too.

When Lexi knocked on the door of her friend’s apartment, I was still trying to think of excuses to leave. The noise coming from inside was enough to make me hope no-one would hear us, but someone must have done and they opened the door, letting us in to a spacious living area, which was rammed full of people. I turned to close the door and then spun around, my eyes catching those of the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen in my life. She was standing, watching me, her dark blonde hair tied loosely behind her head, with just a few stands framing her perfect face. There were dozens of people between us, but one in particular was blocking my view of her, and when they moved aside, it was like time stood still. The room seemed to fall silent and my heart stopped beating. She was perfect. Just perfect. Her bright red dress had a fitted bodice and flowing skirt which showed off her curves, and while I admired her, I felt her eyes rake up and down my body in a slow, sexy appraisal. When she looked up again, I did the same and our eyes met once more. She blushed slightly. I didn’t. There was nothing to blush about. I wanted her… like I’d never wanted anyone or anything in my life.

A woman came up to us and dragged Lexi away, neither of them looking back, or requiring my presence. The woman in the red dress was still staring at me, though, and there was no way I was passing up the chance to find out more… to get to know her. I walked over, until I was standing so close, we were almost touching… close enough for me to see that her eyes were a gray-blue color, and that they sparkled when she smiled. We introduced ourselves. Her name was Josie, but there were too many people around for us to talk properly, so I took her elbowand moved us to the corner of the room, where it was quiet enough to have a conversation.

And we talked.

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