Page 101 of Promise Me Nothing
“Whendoyou leave?”
“It’s up to me. Otto has a timeline for Elite X’s expansion, so as long as I leave by the end of the summer I’ll able to meet it.”
“That’s so exciting. I’ve never been out of the country, but I’ve always dreamed of going somewhere beautiful, like Paris or Dublin, to live for a while.”
“You definitely should. It’s really amazing.”
But she’s already shaking her head. “Nah. It’s probably not in the cards for me. Maybe one day I’ll be able to take a trip.”
“How come you didn’t do a semester abroad in college?”
There’s a pause, and she flushes slightly, though this time isn’t as satisfying as it seems to be more from embarrassment.
“I’ve only been able to take some classes here and there. Mostly I just had a waitressing job. Nothing important. But I’m hoping to eventually get my AA.”
I adjust my napkin on my knee, realizing in an awkward moment that I’ve had all of this information about Hannah Morrison’s entire life, and I’ve never thought to look at it more in-depth since she got here.
Though, I guess, it makes our conversations more natural than if I’d known everything about her recent life. And significantly less creepy. I make a promise to myself that I’ll leave that folder in my office drawer and not look at it again.
But somehow, even with having looked at it even as recently as a few years ago, I missed the fact that she went to college in pieces. I guess I’d just assumed when I saw her enrolled at a college after she graduated high school that she got a degree.
“What are you getting your AA in?” I ask, trying to redirect the conversation to something more uplifting.
“Photography.”
I smile, remembering what she said on our run the other day. “That’s right. You mentioned you want to have your own business. What type of photography do you wanna do?”
“I’m waffling between portraits and weddings, though going the wedding route really seems to be on my mind a lot over the past few months. I had the chance to be a secondary photographer for a really big wedding in Phoenix in January and it was amazing.”
I like that look of wistfulness on her face. The softness of her dreams. It gives me hope that she sees something bigger in her future than the life she has been handed.
Our waitress comes over, interrupting for a moment. We each order a drink, Syrah for her and scotch for me, along with the garlic bread I love so much.
And then Hannah asks me a million questions about my life growing up. I tell her about playing for the soccer team in high school. About Ben and I always being at odds. What it was like to have a baby sister born when I was already in junior high.
We laugh a lot, which feels good. Because the world doesn’t have enough laughter, and my lifedefinitelydoesn’t. And if I’m guessing, I’d wager that Hannah’s doesn’t either.
When I realize I’ve talked all through dinner, I flip it around during our shared dessert, asking her to tell me about her childhood, about anything that she enjoyed growing up, about her friend Melanie and her daughter.
And then I watch Hannah light up as she shares with me the positive memories she has from her past. The moments that were beacons of light shining in such a dark space.
She tells me about her relationship with Joshua, how close they were and how he was always her protector. About how she felt when she got her first tattoo, lived on her own for the first time, fell in love with photography.
I’m astounded by who she is, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that the fears I’d had before I met her, the things I’d said to Lucas to get himnotto reach out to Hannah, are completely unfounded.
Hannah might be introverted, and a little quieter with people she doesn’t know. She might have nerves about new people and have some issues from her past that make her slightly untrusting.
But I am enraptured by her, by her voice and her mind and her lips that speak beauty about life and a painful past.
When we finally call it a night, hours have gone by. I can’t remember the last time I went on an actual date, let alone one that was so full I lost track of time.
We pull up in Lucas’ driveway at close to midnight, and I walk Hannah to the door.
“I have plans for us on Monday,” I say, turning to face her when we’re standing at her front door, the single light in the courtyard just enough for me to see those beautiful green eyes as they sparkle. “Be ready for me by noon.”
She shakes her head. “I work the rest of the weekend. Double shift tomorrow and an evening shift on Monday.”
I take her hand in mine. “I talked to Ben. He cleared you from Monday’s schedule.”
