Page 1 of Until I Found You
One
Halle
“Woah, we're half-way there,” I sing, as I furiously massage the conditioner into my hair. “Woah, livin' on a prayer.”
I’m not quite sure why I’m singing this song, but it’s fitting for this morning. I’m the type of person who sings when I’m trying to focus or when I’m in a hurry. Although I can’t sing when I’m trying to read a street sign. I’m one of those people who turns down the radio to see what’s fifteen feet in front of me. That’s neither here nor there right now.
The point is, I’m running late, and I need all the help I can get. It would come to the surprise of no one that I’m running behind schedule. In fact, if there’s one thing you could ever count on, it’s that I’m usually two or ten steps behind everyone else.
I get distracted easily, get caught up staring off at whatever shiny object has stolen my attention, like right now. Which is why I’m singing to myself as I stand in the shower, rushing through the process of washing my hair.
I have twenty minutes in which to make it to the Hopeful’s Bridal Boutique on the other side of our small town of Arbor Creek. Today is a big day for Ellie, one of my best friends, as she’ll hopefully find the dress she’s been searching for.
In all honesty, it’s not Ellie I’m worried about who will be ticked at me for arriving fifteen minutes past the time I was supposed to be there. No, not at all. It’s my roommate and other best friend, Kinsley. She’s the yin to my yang. It’s what makes our friendship balance out—everything I’m not, she makes up for by pushing me to be.
Kinsley would never be caught dead arriving late for anything. It’s more likely she would arrive fifteen to twenty minutes early, with a checklist of everything she needs to do. I’m more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl. I don’t have much of my life planned out. I don’t even know what I’m going to wear today, let alone have I thought ahead on where I see myself in five years.
I keep Kinsley young and she reminds me to never take life too seriously because, let’s face it, we’re all going to end up at the same place. I can’t take any of this shit with me anyway. I just hope I arrive late when I go too.
Leaning my head back, I let the suds wash away before I run my hand over my long hair, wringing out the water before reaching down to turn off the faucet.
Reaching outside the shower, I blindly pat around for the towel I set on the rack. Grabbing it, I pull it toward me and use it to pat dry my face as the sound of hard knocking pounds against the door.
“Shit. Shit,” I groan to myself, realizing I had spent far too much time in the shower. Along with Ellie and Kinsley, our good friend, Brea, who rounds out our little biker gang of badassery is joining us for today. Brea’s dating the brother of Ellie’s fiancé, so really, she’s her sister-in-law for all intents and purposes.
There’s a pounding at the door that comes for a second time, spurring me into action. Brea was supposed to be here any minute now, so we could ride together.
Wrapping the towel around my body, I tiptoe my way out of the bathroom and down the hallway. I can imagine the look Kinsley would have on her face if she were to witness this moment, knowing I’m leaving drops of water on the hardwood floor behind me.
This is why we’re friends. She needs to learn not to sweat the little things, like water on your floor. It will dry on its own.
Clutching the towel to my chest, I don’t bother even looking out the window as I swing the door open and turn back around.
“Hey Brea,” I call out over my shoulder, “give me just a second to get dressed, and we’ll head out.”
Moving quickly, I’m mindful to step around my little puddles of water, careful not to slip and fall, as I head back down the hall toward my bedroom when the sound of his deep voice hits me.
We’re usually not prepared for the moments that change our lives. I didn’t see it coming the day Graham Shaw broke my heart, shattering it into a million pieces. I thought he was going to be in my life forever, but it turns out forever came sooner than I had expected.
Which brings me to this moment. For a second, I question if this is a cruel version of déjà vu, only now I don’t want to believe my ears. Jolting myself into place, I squeeze my eyes shut hoping that what I just heard was all in my head and not at all what I thought it was.
“Do you always open the door to strangers and invite them in, without even checking to see who it is?”
Turning slowly, I wish I would’ve prepared myself better for what, or rather whom, I was about to see.
My eyes narrow and it takes me a second to collect myself, getting over the shock of seeing Graham Shaw standing before me in all his handsome glory.
“I didn’t realize you were a stranger,” I bite back, realizing the way he had left me with so many unanswered questions still hits like a hard slap to the face, even after all this time.
My eyes stare intently, as I hold the towel wrapped around me tight. It feels like all the air has been sucked out of the room and of me, reflecting on how much weight is carried in one sentence alone.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say there was a look of guilt that passes over his face, but before I can analyze it further, it’s gone. His jaw flexes, as his eyebrows furrow, looking back at me.
I never had expected to be a stranger to Graham, yet now it seems like that’s who we are.
It’s a weird feeling staring back at the man you loved more than anything. Remembering all the things you knew about him, like the way he used to bite his lip when he was deep in thought or how he’d crack his knuckles when he was nervous.
Looking at the man in front of me, I can’t help but feel as though I don’t know anything about him. It was hard to get through every day after he left. It almost feels like a lifetime since I last saw him.
