Page 156 of Promise Me Nothing
“Hey.”
It’s the only thing she says. I can barely hear her, but just the sound of her voice has my heart thumping in an erratic beat that only she can seem to elicit.
“Hey. Hold on one second, okay? I’m just… I’m at Bennie’s and I’m heading outside. It’s pretty noisy in here.”
I rush down the stairs and into the main dining room, then towards the front doors, trying to find a place that’s quiet so I can really focus on her.
I might also be buying myself a few minutes, trying to figure out what else I can say to her. Anything that will allow me to keep her on the phone as long as possible.
When I finally get outside, I put the phone back to my ear and glance around. “Alright, I’m… are you still there?”
“Yeah. I’m still here.”
I nod, though she can’t see me. And without my planning, my feet start moving me towards the pier.
“I wish you were here right now,” I say, wondering where she is instead. I’m assuming she went to her friend Sienna’s, but who knows what she decided to do. “And not just because I wish you were here with me. Though, obviously that’s true.” I chuckle. “It’s just… a really pretty day. Sunny and breezy. Though, I’ll be honest. With my mood, I feel like I could use a good thunderstorm over the ocean right now. Something big and loud so I can just be mellow dramatic and stare out a rainy window.”
“You don’t strike me as the type to like storms,” she replies.
“Normally I don’t. But today isn’t a normal day. It’s the first day you’re gone, and I feel like the universe should be commiserating with me.”
There’s a pause.
“Storms scare me,” she says.
I nod, approaching the bench I sat at with Hannah just two months ago. “Theycanbe scary. If you’re dealing with them alone. If all you can do is think about what could go wrong.”
She stays silent, though I can hear her breathing.
“But it feels pretty good to deal with a storm with someone you love. You snuggle up in front of a fire, have a few drinks. Maybe kiss in the rain.”
“Sounds romantic, but unrealistic,” she replies, and there’s a thread of sadness in her tone. Something I wish I could extract, but I don’t seem to have the right tools.
I take a seat on the bench and look out at all of the happy people on the sand, playing in the water, tanning in the sun.
“It only sounds unrealistic because you’ve never gotten through a storm with someone by your side before,” I reply. “Someone to point out the beautiful sky afterwards. Or to hold your umbrella.”
She laughs, a tiny little snicker, and it makes something swoop in my chest.
“And you want to be that person?” she asks.
“Absolutely.”
My words come out like a whip, with a quickness even I wasn’t expecting. Because it’s true. I want to be by her side, facing any shit-storm life is going to throw our way… together.
I feel someone take the seat next to me and I sigh inaudibly, turning to ask them to leave. The last thing I want is someone listening to me as I pour my heart out over the phone, during what might be my only chance to get her forgiveness.
But when I turn, I nearly swallow my tongue.
Sitting next to me, a soft, emotional expression on her face, is the beautiful blonde that I wondered if I’d ever see again.
It’s Hannah.
It’s Hannah?
I blink, trying to figure out what’s going on.
But at the same time, all I can do is focus on the fact that she’s here. Sitting next to me. Wearing a pair of yoga pants and a loose grey shirt, her hair up in a ponytail and a sweet smile on her face.
