Page 24 of Back to Willow

I felt hopeful.

Johanna is the exact opposite of Willow. Not only personality-wise but also physically. A sign that it could finally be my chance at moving on.

Why couldn’t I forget her after all of these years? I can’t tell you. I mean, I can Love as deep as what we had doesn’t just go away like that, even if we didn’t know it back, then. Especially with it being unresolved—at least, in my mind.

But after all of these years, I had convinced myself she wasn’t going to come back.

And the quest to find a “happy ever after” without her wasfinallyon the cards. Why has she decided to appear now?On my fucking date?

What kind of sick joke is this?

Can life be this cruel?

Can fate be this much of a twisted fuck?

I would pinch myself to wake up from this nightmare, but I can’t move. My body seems to have lost all connection with my brain to the point that I can’t even speak.

We’re both paralyzed, looking at each other.

Time has stopped running. The world has stopped turning, and everything else has faded away. Just like it used to happen all of those years ago when we looked at each other. Just like the first time we kissed. Just like when she told me she loved me, too, and we made love for the first time. And most certainly like when she disappeared off the face of the earth without an explanation or a goodbye.

She was my rock, my haven, and then she left me stranded. It was the final blow to my heart and brain. After all the promises we had made to each other, she broke them all when I needed her the most. Not being there for what came afterwards was the worst, and for years, I hated her for that.

I still do.

“Liam?” A feminine voice breaks me out of my trance, and I finally look at Johanna.

She’s smiling, but it’s visibly a forced one. She’s probably thinking “why the hell would I be looking at the waitress during our first date?”. I steal another glance from the corner of my eye before answering Johanna with an absentminded,“Hmm?”

She hasn’t moved yet, besides her shaking hands plastered to her stomach.

“This is Willow, my friend from uni. She’s in my class.”

Willow.

I haven’t heard her name out loud in such a long time. After everything, I refused to talk to anyone about her. It was a non-subject.

Wait...her friend?Of-fucking-course!

“I know who she is,” I blurt before thinking.

Johanna gasps, and I can feel Willow tense, still frozen in place.

“How? She’s just a freshman like me! Where do you know her from?”

“We grew up together,” I spit the words, looking briefly at Johanna as I settle my glaring eyes back on Willow. Hers are pleading, but I ignore them. “We were best friends, but someone decided to just disappear off the face of the earth.”

Mercy?Sorry, no can do.

“I—” Her voice is barely a whisper but it reaches my ears perfectly. Loud enough to reach my heart, making it skip a beat. Even my stomach flips.

Her voice is still soft, kind, and musical. Even better than I remembered. And it confuses the hell out of me.

How can my body react this way to someone I hate?

Fuck! Even after all this time?

“I can’t do this. S-sorry.” She bolts from our booth, and the last thing I can see is her hands tucking the notebook in her apron pocket, yet failing miserably as it tumbles to the ground.

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