The Reunion by Reekles Beth

Author:Reekles, Beth
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2024-05-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Steph

‘Most Likely to End Up Together’

The lights tick off in the stairwell behind us, apparently having been left too long without the motion sensor being activated. It should, I think, be a sign that Shaun and I have spent too long out here alone; Ashleigh and Ryan must be long gone by now. It tells me that it’s time to wrap this up and go back inside – back to my fiancé, and leave our past behind us for good.

But I can’t, not when this feels so right. Shaun and I have hardly stopped for breath between our conversation in the library and now out here, catching up on everything we missed in each other’s lives.

Sitting next to Shaun like this, listening to him talk about how he had to brush up on his old Year Nine-level French when his parents decided to emigrate to live in the French countryside … It’s so easy to remember all the ways I once loved him. It’s painless when all those old emotions rise back up; more like sinking into a warm bath than dredging up a decade-old heartbreak.

I realise that he’s just wrapped up the story he was telling – something that involved accidentally buying a bag full of cabbages instead of a bread knife – and that I’ve missed my cue to laugh, too wrapped up in enjoying the moment. Shaun’s wide smile eases, softening, and he looks down at his feet. His inhale is like the electrical surge before a lightning strike; I can taste the charge of anticipation in the air, know instinctively that something else is about to break any moment.

And it does, when he asks me, ‘Do you ever wonder what would’ve happened if we hadn’t agreed to end things?’

Yes. Always.

And also – not really.

Shaun’s voice is low, the question gentle in its vulnerability, steady in his ever-present lack of fear of judgement. The words carry through the air around us, like the fluff off a dandelion, delicate and mesmerising before settling around me.

As much as I want to gather them up in my hands and cherish them … Make a wish, maybe, too …

I swallow the lump in my throat, finding it very hard to look at him all of a sudden.

‘You shouldn’t be asking things like that.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because …’

Because of course I wonder. It’s impossible not to let my mind drift occasionally, but up until this reunion party, Shaun was always so firmly in my past. Put away carefully and lovingly, like an old family photo album you put on the shelf and rarely bring out. We were so sure of ourselves; but that’s also part of the reason I don’t wonder, because I’ve always known what our life would have looked like if we’d stayed together.

Shaun goes on, undeterred. ‘We broke up because it was the right thing for both of us, at the time. We were both overwhelmed at being away from home and when you switched your degree … It just got to be too much.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.