Page 22 of Back to Willow

“He told me he’d probably be a bit late because he’s coming directly from his shift at the hospital, so I told him to meet me here instead of picking me up,” she huffs.

“That’s what you get for fetching a doctor.” I laugh at her.

The fact that her date is working at the hospital reminds me of him and how he wanted to do it, too. But I need to shut it down right away. There is no need to have a blast from the past in the middle of my shift.

“I know but he’s so, so handsome, Willow; he has these amazing blue eyes. You can’t even imagine.”

I freeze.

Is this a sign to not forget my past?

It’s probably just destiny trying to remind me of how much I messed up. As if I didn’t know already.

I want to tell her I can imagine it because I keep close and often recall the memories of the most amazing ones I’ve seen myself, too. But instead, I shake my thoughts away and focus back on her.

“Well, while you’re waiting, tell me how you met him. I still have a little bit of time!”

“A party right before classes started.” A dreamy look settles on her face as she looks up at the ceiling, most likely recalling the moments. “He was out on the back exit of the dance club. I was so sweaty after dancing and went there for some air, I had kept an eye on him so I knew I’d meet him there… And there he was. Alone, broody, and so damn hot.”

My eyes widen. That seems…dangerous.

“I was sassy, and he was, too. One thing led to another and…well, he recently called to set us up for a date so, he must like me.” She beams. “I am swooning. For real!”

I chuckle and am about to tease her for being head over heels when a lady calls me. I apologise to Johanna and promise to come back as soon as I can. After helping her, another client asks for me as well before I go inside to help Shilah bring the beer keg upfront.

When I’m finished, I see Johanna. Her eyes are sparkling and her smile is wide at the guy in front of her. His back is to me, so I can’t see much but a mop of dark blond hair from the top of the booth. For a second, I hesitate, not really knowing why. Then I shake the funk away and grab my notebook, ready to get their order.

Not looking at them right away, I greet them, “Good evening, what can I get you?”

My focus is inside my apron’s pocket, where my pen lies.

Once I finally find it and my eyes rise, I stop moving. And so does the world. Time and people cease to exist as I focus on the sight in front of me.

It can’t behim. It shouldn’t be him. This is supposed to be my fresh start, my final opportunity to have a semblance of normalcy. Only for fate to come and prove to me that I deserve no such thing.

My eyes blink in disbelief as my heart stops and restarts a few times. Am I hallucinating? Or is this real? His body goes rigid when his eyes lock on mine, my breath catching in my throat.

He’s staring back at me, straight into my eyes. The most beautiful pair of blue eyes I’ve ever seen. The original ones I can’t seem to forget, and they’re angry.

SEVEN

Liam

Mybreathhitchesthemoment my eyes focus on the face I thought I’d never see again. And the sight of her brings back memories I have been spending too long trying to bury in the deepest, darkest parts of my brain…and heart.

“Liam, I don’t understand this,” Willow whined, looking up at me with begging doe eyes, making me chuckle.

She was sitting on my bed, in between my legs with her back on my chest, while I explained some equations to her. This girl was amazing with our mother language, English, Literature, History, Geography, and even Science or Biology, but when it came to Maths, it was like her brain froze.

Ever since we met, as toddlers, we had been inseparable. Then, just at the start of high school, we began the tradition of studying together. It had been like this for years, where I helped her with numbers and she helped me with the rest.

It was crazy how well we seemed to fit most of the time. In school, our sense of humour, our personalities. Everything, honestly.

Even with how different we were—me being more outgoing and outspoken while she was shy and quiet—we got along so well…

It all felt so right.

After months of having tried to ignore this, trying to brush past all the butterflies and nervousness she created inside me, I couldn’t anymore. It was way past a teenage crush because I knew she felt the same. I saw it in the way she looked at me, the way her touch lingered when we were holding hands or when we hugged. Hell, even just the fact that whenever she was uncomfortable, she would seek my touch to ease her mind.

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