Page 13 of Only After We Met

“What I’m about to say is going to sound crazy, and I know it doesn’t make sense, we only met each other a few hours ago, but I promise you I’ll remember you. And even many years from now, I’ll still remember you and this night that happened out of nowhere.”

I didn’t see him smile, but I felt it.

“Okay. I hope that when you think of me in that moment,you’ve made all your dreams come true.” He covered my mouth with his hand. “Don’t laugh, dammit. I’m being serious, Ginger. I’m trying to be deep, like one of those intellectuals who spouts stupid shit that sounds smart because of who it’s coming from.”

“Sorry, you’re right.”

“Damn straight I am. A day will come when you won’t feel like you have to hide everything in front of people, you know? You’ll be able to just be yourself. It sounds easy, but it’s actually like utopia. I know the people around you push you to be different, but just tell yourself they’re numbers, like you said about the Little Prince, and they’re down on earth, not up where we are.”

“Where are we?”

He looked out the window. “Us? On the moon.”

“I like how that sounds.”

“It’s the truth. Aren’t you feeling it right now?”

“Yeah,” I admitted. “I feel like I’m on the moon…”

“Get some sleep, Ginger Snap.”

“I hate you, Rhys.”

“Good night.”

“Good night.”

6

Rhys

I looked at her as the sun rose, glowing through the window, brightening her face. That was the thing I liked most about the apartment I’d called home those past two months—the one I’d go on calling home until I had to pack my bags again, because the idea of remaining still while the world turned terrified me.

But not in this moment.

In this moment, I wanted to stay for a long time next to Ginger’s warm body, while she was curled up next to me, hands clutching my T-shirt as if she feared I would escape in the middle of the night. I was nervous. I was feeling…things since I met her in front of the ticket machine in the subway station. Good things. Tenderness. Curiosity. Desire.

Her nose was roundish and slightly broad, her lips were half-open, and her hair tie had fallen out, letting her brown hair spread and tangle. She was like that too, I thought, tangled up inside. Complicated. She had cried when I told her that, but they weren’t tears of sorrow. And I thought I was starting to understand why. Probably I was the first person who’d ever thought Ginger wasn’t as simple as she seemedat first sight. That she wasn’t just the girl with an eternal smile who always tried hard to make everyone else happy. To the contrary, she was someone who swallowed her fears. Who let her wishes pile up. Who struggled to see herself when she looked in the mirror.

And I adored her. Tangled up as she was.

But she had to take her road, and I had to take mine.

I moved slowly, trying not to wake her, but in vain. As soon as I was a few inches away, she blinked and opened her eyes, almost panicked.

“What time is it?” She sounded like a mewling cat.

“It’s eight. You can stay a few more minutes.”

I got all the way up and smiled as I saw her curl into a ball. I turned on the coffeepot and got into the shower. When I came out with a towel around my waist, she was sitting up in bed, hair a mess, looking at my bare torso.Fuck. Fuck.I wanted her. Bad. I took a deep breath, thinking if only she hadn’t just broken up with that dumbass, if only she wasn’t about to hop a plane to another country, if only we had met at another moment, another place, another time…

“The coffee’s almost ready. You want a shower?”

“Do I have time?”

I nodded.

“Okay then.”