Page 84 of Time After Time
“You’ve told me so.” I chuckled softly, leaning down to press my forehead against hers. I closed my eyes, savouring the closeness and letting the moment wash over me. “But I hope to hear those words for a long time.” I felt her nod against me, herwarm breath brushing my skin. “You certainly will hear them from me.”
And with that, I pulled her closer, pressing my lips to hers in a kiss that was both urgent and tender. It was a kiss filled with raw emotion—no motion, just the feeling of our mouths meeting and clinging to each other.
I couldn’t shake the memory of a dream I had at the start of summer. In it, I was older, running a busy bakery, surrounded by success and money. But even with all that, I was alone, working long, gruelling hours. The stress was etched into my face, and there was a constant ache in my chest—a deep regret for never having told Geneviève how I truly felt.
Epilogue
Geneviève
1 year later...
The quiet knock on my door barely registered before it swung open, pulling my focus from the laptop. I looked up to find my dad standing there, arms crossed against his chest as he leaned against the frame of my bedroom door, his grin stretching wide across his face.
“Is that Sebastian?”
Just hearing his name made me smile, even as my heart twisted with the ache of missing him. But finally, there were only four more months until he’d be back from his apprenticeship—unless he decided to stay longer for those extra certifications he’d been talking about.
The thought alone made my shoulders fell, and I had to control the corner of my lips. Knowing his ambitions might keep him away just a little longer was a bittersweet feeling: I wanted him to stay and get them, of course, it has always been his dream, but a small, selfish part of me was hoping he would be home sooner.
“It’s Sylvie,” I said, turning my laptop around.
My dad was met with a bright image of his elder daughter, who greeted him with a cheerful wave and a teasing comment about how he loved my boyfriend more than her. My dad loved Sebastian and asked about him every day, and sometimes even twice or thrice a day. He asked to know how he was doing, if he was okay, if the apprenticeship was all he ever imagined, if Reth Inoue was treating him with kindness and so on. But of course, Sylvie was much more loved by him. Sylvie was his daughter, and while I was the apple of my mum’s eye, my sister was the apple of my dad’s eye.
“Sweetheart, we miss you.” His voice wavered slightly, and he cleared his throat, trying to mask the emotion behind it, but how he pinched the tip of his nose said everything. We all felt the distance, but knowing she was living her dream made it easier to bear. From what she’d told me, she wasn’t completely taken with the city yet, but she was passionate about her job, and that’s all she was focusing on. “When are you coming to visit?”
“I’m hoping to make it before October.” I could sense the frustration in her voice over not being able to visit during the summer break. Although she’d been offered the chance, Sylvie had chosen to stay behind, driven by the need to prove herself in a field traditionally dominated by men. Her determination to excel meant working even harder, but if we were honest, we knew she was already surpassing expectations, and I worried that, perhaps, she was trying to prove something everyone could easily see.
While my dad and Sylvie chatted, I seized the moment to check my phone. I had texted Sebastian earlier that morning, aware of the stress he was under with his upcoming tests—his graduation was just four months away, and his schedule was packed.
Seeing no new message notifications, I sighed and set the phone back on my desk.
“Love you, sweetheart. We’ll talk later, okay?” I pictured Sylvie nodding in agreement as my dad shifted his attention to me. “You don’t want to be late. We need to head out soon.” After a quick glance at the watch around his wrist, he leaned down to press a kiss to my forehead before leaving the room and closing the door behind him as I turned back to my laptop, where Sylvie’s wide smile still beamed at me from the screen.
“Send me lots of pictures,” Sylvie said, her enthusiasm making me beam back despite the situation. I was grateful that, even though she couldn’t be here for this important moment, she had taken time out of her lunch break for a video call. It helped me. Hearing her say she believed in me and just seeing my sister made me feel stronger. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be there, but I’m so proud of you, Gen.” Her voice turned serious, and I blinked rapidly, knowing that a single tear could ruin my mascara. “I miss you.”
“I miss you too.” Sylvie blew me a flying kiss and wished me good luck before we ended the call. I shut my laptop screen, then dashed to the mirror to make a few last-minute adjustments to my outfit.
My hair was down like always, the waves softer and more defined after Mum spent the afternoon helping me fix them just right. I wore a long white dress that felt perfect for the occasion, formal enough to look put together, but not so formal that I felt out of place. The top fit like a corset, hugging my shape with thick straps that made it feel a little more relaxed. I kept running my hands over the fabric, smoothing it down without even thinking, unable to get over how beautiful it looked. The skirt floated around my legs when I moved, layered with lighter, shorter panels that caught the breeze and made me feel weightless.
I had paired it all with a simple, shiny silvery necklace that rested on top of my collarbones and close to the base of my throat, along with two earrings that matched it.
Soon, I would be receiving my certification in event planning, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.
From the very first online class, I had called Sebastian, my voice rushing with excitement as I told him how much I loved it. I had been so scared at the beginning, worried I would feel disconnected from the lessons or the teachers, maybe even from the whole idea of studying this way. But all those doubts disappeared quickly. It only took that first class for me to fall completely in love with it. Now, after months of work, there was only one thing left: my final project. Planning an event of my own.
Several months ago, Cora and Robert finally found the perfect location for Cora’s antique repair store. She had been so stressed about not finding the right place, and after almost a year of searching, she finally did. You could see how excited she was right away.
She wanted the grand opening to show everyone exactly what she had pictured in her mind, everything she loved about what she could do. Even before she knew about my final project, Cora had already been thinking about asking me to plan it for her.
And now it was time.
As I walkedthrough the archway, my heart raced at the sight in front of me. Antique clock faces framed the entrance, and fairy lights twinkled softly overhead. “Everything looks amazing,” I whispered to myself, hoping my eyes wouldn’t over-analyse and find something to focus on, which would have me spiralling.
The white drapes hung softly, and the warm light made the whole space feel soothing and welcoming.
I couldn’t resist stopping by the window displays, where I found myself marvelling.
Cora wanted the place to make you travel to different decades, so I had prepared sections all over the place, decorated with antique furniture arranged in the hopes of transporting those who walked by into different eras. Perhaps times they lived once in the past. Times they would like to relive. Time after time.
