Page 58 of Only After We Met

“How come?” Dean asked.

I think that was the first time he spoke to him. Rhys chewed the piece of cake he’d just put in his mouth and looked at him pensively, as if he were really thinking.

“I don’t know. Work. Other stuff.”

“So if you had to choose a place you liked best out of all those you’ve been to?” Donna asked. As Donna looked at him expectantly, I could feel his leg moving, brushing mine slightly as he leaned forward.

“I guess Paris has something special about it.”

“Sure. You think that too, don’t you, Ginger?”

I scowled at my sister. “I don’t know. I’ll find out one day when I go.”

“I’d be happy to show you around,” Rhys said.

I wanted to kill him. And my sister. They both looked at each other with a knowing grin as we finished our desserts. Then, after deciding against tea with the Wilsons, we helped clear the plates and I said goodbye to them as quickly as I could.

It was my birthday, and I loved being with them, but I only had a few hours with Rhys, and I didn’t know when we’d see each other again. Maybe in a few months. Or in a year. Or never.

28

Rhys

The cold buffeted us again as we stepped outside. The color of the sky foretold nothing good, but all I had to do to warm up inside was look at her. It had been worth coming here, crazy as it was. Ginger was happy. A smile crossed her face as we walked to the bus stop. She was determined to have us get on one of those red double-decker buses. On the upper floor, we settled down in the very front, enjoying our views of the city.

“You’re serious about giving me a tour?”

“I certainly am. Have you ever been here before?”

“Once, but it was a long time ago; I can barely remember it,” I replied, dredging up a couple of memories. “I was seven or eight, and I came on a trip with my parents. All I remember is the hotel we were in had all these old paintings and furnishings and it scared me. I don’t think I slept one night the whole way through.”

“Oh, poor little Rhys,” she joked.

I got lost in her eyes for a few seconds. They were big and clear, and her smile, graceful but mischievous, made me laugh.

“Where are you taking me?” My curiosity was getting the better of me.

“We’re going to Camden. I think you’ll like it there. The neighborhood, the feeling there. I know a place where they make the best arepas in the world. We can walk around there, then come back on the Tube, and…”

She bit her lower lip. Watching her made me feel faint.

“And…?” I asked.

“We can get on the Ferris wheel. The London Eye.”

“No fucking way.”

“Come on, Rhys! It’ll be fun!”

“Nogiant Ferris wheels.”

“Are you really that scared?”

“Ginger…”

“Okay, fine,” she said.

“I’m not scared. I have vertigo.”