Chapter 28 #2
As the librarian leads us past the quiet workstations and into a row of shelves, I know that Zayn and I are both thinking of memories past. A different library, in a different time. Two kids who were falling in love for the first time.
Perhaps the only time. Maybe that love never ended.
“Here’s your Emily Dickinson’s and your Walt Whitman’s,” the librarian lifts her hand and presents the books to us like they’re pieces of fine artwork. Which they are. “Can I assist you further?”
“No, we’re good now. Thank you.”
We wait until the librarian has disappeared from our aisle and we’re alone amongst the books until we turn to face each other.
“This is romantic.” I grin up at Zayn. He steps toward me so our chests are touching and I have to tilt my head back to see him. His hand cups my cheek, the other wraps around my waist.
“Those words are still true now, you know.”
I know what he’s talking about but I still ask, “What words?”
“If I know what love is, it is because of you.”
He bends down to kiss me, and between the moment he first spoke those words to me and now, no time has passed at all.
I let myself get lost in his kiss, in the rampant fluttering of my heart, the erratic pump of my blood through my veins as my hands fist his hair, not letting myself wonder what his words could mean for us beyond this perfect moment.
Later, when we’re walking to the bar, I fish my phone out of my pocket and screen another call from Anna. I’m about to text her to say I’ll call her back soon when Zayn interrupts.
“Invite her to drinks if you like,” he says, glancing down at the screen. “I’d like to see her again.”
“Are you sure?” I ask. It’s impossible to hide my joy. “She’s going to go all Anna on your ass and ask you one thousand questions.”
Zayn glances at me side-long with a raised brow. “Of course I’m sure. She’s your best friend.”
He’s so casual in his acceptance that it makes me falter.
Daniel would have never voluntarily been in the same room as Anna, let alone invited her to come out with us.
I should have known Zayn would be different, him and Anna always got along like a house on fire.
My heart swells as I hit answer on the call.
“Gia, thank God! I was about to come to your apartment and knock the bloody door down! Why haven’t you been answering my calls?”
“I’ve been a bit busy. And you wouldn’t have found me at my apartment.”
Anna cackles loudly. “Yes I had started to put the pieces together. Can I assume my dress got some action in the end?”
Zayn smirks, obviously able to hear Anna through the speaker.
“Want to meet us out for drinks?” I ask to distract her from that line of questioning. Thankfully it works, for now.
“Of course I want to meet you out for drinks. Text me the location,” she says and hangs up.
“Well, that was easy,” I say. “You should ask Percy to come. Get the gang back together.”
Percy and Anna arrive at the same time, and we greet each other with hugs (me and Anna) and handshakes (Zayn and Percy).
It’s so nice to see Percy again after all this time.
He looks the same except he’s gained a healthy amount of muscle and now wears a sharp suit much like Zayn’s, which is explained when he tells us he works in finance.
“God for you, Weasley,” Anna says, slapping him on the back. “Chicks dig finance guys.”
“I’ll say,” he quips back, taking a sip of beer. I realise then that something else has changed about him. He has a confidence about him now, something I’m sure a well-paying job and attention from women has given him.
“God, I’m not surprised we didn’t recognise you Zayn,” Anna says, scrutinising him from her seat opposite, cocking her head to the side to see from a different angle.
“I can tell it’s you now that I know, but the similarities are buried so far beneath this new tall, muscular physique that I never would have guessed the lanky boy with angry eyes was you. ”
I choke on my wine as it goes down my throat.
“Anna!”
“What? It’s a compliment! He looks like Ian Somerhalder when he was in Vampire Diaries. This is a very good thing.”
I roll my eyes, prompting her to continue.
“You can’t say this polished man in a Brioni suit screams sullen, impoverished adolescent.”
Zayn just chuckles and sips his whisky.
The night continues on like this as we all take on our familiar roles within the group. Anna and Zayn bicker light-heartedly. We talk about anything and everything. Of course, Anna asks the hard-hitting questions about Zayn’s life in Perth. We all avoid discussing Daniel, to my relief.
The only new development is the flirting I notice happening between Anna and Percy. An unnecessary touch on the shoulder here, an un-Anna-like giggle there. It’s… interesting, to say the least.
After a few drinks, I settle into a content state of pure bliss as I look around the table. If someone had told me six months ago that I would be sitting at a bar with Zayn, Anna and Percy, there’s no way I would have believed them.
It’s a dream come true. I feel like I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.
“You look so happy, Gia,” Anna says later when we’re standing in front of the bathroom mirror touching up our lipstick. “I haven’t seen you like this in so long.”
“I haven’t felt like this in so long,” I agree, eyeing her reflection. “I don’t want to get my hopes up, though.” I pop my lipstick away. “I don’t know what exactly this is.”
Anna turns and grabs my shoulders, spinning me so I’m facing her.
“Gia, have you seen the way Zayn looks at you?” She lets out a long breath.
“I feel like I’ve been transported back in time.
I had to come in here and make sure I didn’t have acne lining my jaw.
Trust me, I think its okay to get your hopes up here.
I’d bet my first-born child there’s nothing that could force Zayn away from you again. ”
“Anna, you never had pimples in high school.” I joke, but internally her words have me singing at the top of my lungs.
There’s nothing I want more than to believe Anna could be telling the truth, to believe that after all these years, Zayn and I can finally have our second chance to make this work.
And honestly? I’m so happy, so eager to believe her, that I get swept up in the moment and actually forget for a second that I still have a husband.
A husband that’s hell bent on keeping me by his side.