Page 148 of Only After We Met
“It’s crazy, right? After just a few months…”
“No! No! I mean, no, it’s not crazy.” But he’d made me nervous. It was too soon, wasn’t it, but what the hell? I liked James. I liked the way I felt when I was with him, without tension, without a flood of emotions battering me back and forth. He was sweet. Caring. Attentive. In all the time we’d been seeing each other, we hadn’t argued even once. And he was right, I was spending more and more time at his place, which was just ten minutes from my office on the Tube. “It’s not like we just met each other, right?”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
“Sure. It was years ago when we first met at that party, remember? You asked me to tell you a joke in exchange for a beer.”
“How could I ever forget that?” He smiled, looking excited. “Then I kissed you on the porch swing right there at my parents’ house. I was dying to do it. The same way I’m dying to build a future with you now. Don’t you feel like it’s fate almost? Not that I believe in that, but…we’re looking for the same thing, we have similar goals. Every night when we say goodbye, I wish we didn’t have to.”
His words moved me. And I thought—I wished, but just for a moment—if only Rhys had known what he was looking for before. Then our paths might have crossed forever, but softly rather than like a collision. With James, it was so easy, so natural to talk about my dreams, my goals, my plans, my future.
And I wanted that. I wanted to move forward. I wanted more.
I looked at our hands, holding each other.
“Let’s do it,” I whispered.
James smiled and gave me a kiss.
87
From: Rhys Baker
To: Ginger Davies
Subject: Just thinking
I know you told me you were planning on working the whole summer this year, but why don’t you take a couple of days off? You’re your own boss. You could come here and get some rest. It’ll be fun, Ginger. Like last year. But we won’t spend all day in bed together like last time, since there’s someone in your life or whatever.
Anyway, let me know. I’d like to see you.
From: Ginger Davies
To: Rhys Baker
Subject: RE: Just thinking
I’d like to see you too, but it can’t happen. I’m only taking two days off because James asked me to go to his grandmother’s birthdayparty. It’s in the suburbs, and his whole family gathers every year to celebrate. We’ll probably spend the weekend out there.
From: Rhys Baker
To: Ginger Davies
Subject: RE: RE: Just thinking
Wow. Family gatherings? Weekends in the country? I see this is getting serious. Tell me more. Will you do five o’clock tea? Are they going to teach you to crochet?
From: Ginger Davies
To: Rhys Baker
Subject: RE: RE: RE: Just thinking
If you’re trying to be funny, it’s not working.
And yes, it’s serious. Serious enough that James asked me a few weeks ago to move in with him and I said yes. You may as well know I’d also love to learn to crochet; I’m sure I’d find it fascinating. It’s probably super relaxing.
From: Rhys Baker