Chapter 6 #2
Isla had been devastated and disbelieving.
They had once talked of a future, one where they would grow old together.
They’d had such fun arguing over where they would live and the dogs and the children they would have.
Surely their relationship was strong enough to withstand three years away at university?
There would be term breaks and holidays where they could reunite, but Charlie had not been interested.
He’d made a clean and brutal break and had left Isla doubting everything they had ever meant to each other.
Thank goodness for the distraction of university.
Isla had thrown herself into freshers’ week, meeting new friends, drinking too much, and hooking up with several unsuitable guys, determined to have a good time, but all the while holding on to the hope that one day, she might reunite with her first love.
Now, Charlie Brace was back, standing in her safe, happy place, making her feel like a teenager again.
He’d changed in the intervening years. It was as though he’d finally grown into his tall, broad frame, and the boyish good looks, with the floppy brown hair and sparkling eyes, had developed into a more polished, smoother appearance. Altogether more manly.
‘How are you?’ she asked, wishing she could have been more prepared for this conversation. She ran a hand self-consciously through her hair, tucking it behind her ear.
‘Good, good…’ He nodded, his gaze appraising her, as though he was wrestling with his own memories from all those years ago. ‘And you?’
‘Great, thanks.’ Where could she begin in catching up on the intervening years?
So much had happened to them both. Even though she had long since got over Charlie – she’d had to give herself a stern talking-to for the sake of her own mental health – she had thought about him often over the years and had occasionally checked his social media profiles to see what he was up to.
On last looking, a few months ago, she discovered that Charlie was working in London as an analyst for an American private equity firm. Clearly doing very well for himself, but then he had always been destined for great things.
‘So, tell me, what are you up to these days?’ she asked, feigning ignorance, but genuinely curious to hear what he had to say.
A rogue thought spiralled through her head.
Maybe they had always been destined to get back together.
That they had needed the time apart to realise that their true destiny was with each other.
For Isla, there had been other relationships since, but none of them had come close to replicating what she’d had with Charlie.
Now, she was drawn in by the easy smile and the lingering look that had once held the power to make her stomach tumble.
Had fate been working its magic in the background, conspiring to bring them back together?
‘Living and working in London, life’s pretty busy. You know how it is,’ he said, laughing. ‘Just visiting the folks for a few days.’
‘Me too,’ she added, feeling an odd fluttering sensation at the top of her chest as she was wholly distracted by the depth and intensity of his eyes.
Serendipity.
‘I’m in…’ She was just about to explain how she was working and living in London too, to find out if they were neighbours or if perhaps they had friends in common, when her train of thought was lost to an annoying interruption. Not now, she wanted to shout.
She turned round to see Amelia, the little girl who had been so enamoured with the cat, come rushing into the main lobby of the shop, squealing in delight and throwing her arms around Charlie’s legs.
‘Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!’
‘Hey, princess,’ he said, ruffling the little girl’s hair with his hand, which served as an unexpected dagger to Isla’s heart. She could remember a time, and it didn’t seem that long ago, when Charlie had called her by that name. He clearly hadn’t been joking when he’d said that life was busy.
‘Darling.’ Now the attractive young woman with blonde hair tied back in a chic ponytail joined them. She was wearing an expensive cream wool coat and planted a kiss on Charlie’s cheek.
It was as though they were putting on a show of happy families, especially for her benefit.
‘Daddy, can I have the dinosaur book, and the space book? Mummy says I can only have one, but I want them both. Please?’
‘Well, I don’t see why not,’ he said, casting a persuasive look in his wife’s direction, who simply gave an indulgent shake of her head in response.
Isla had quickly glanced at their left hands and deduced that they were indeed married, presumably to each other, she thought with a deflated sigh.
‘Especially as this lovely lady here, Isla, is my good friend from school.’
Friend.
Friend? Isla had wanted to say out loud, but thankfully, she stopped herself in the nick of time.
They’d been inseparable for years. Teenage sweethearts. Friend didn’t really cover it.
‘Isla, this is my wife Sophia and my daughter Amelia.’
‘Hi, it’s great to meet you!’ Isla said, her voice sounding unnaturally high, feeling doubly self-conscious now.
Surely Charlie would have mentioned to his wife the name of his first love, and it wasn’t as if Isla was a terribly common name.
Although, it hadn’t seemed to register with Sophia at all.
Perhaps Isla had meant much less to Charlie than she thought.
‘Right, so we’re taking both these books, are we?
Good choice,’ she said to Amelia. ‘Let me wrap them up for you.’
Isla was grateful for something to do, putting the books through the till and wrapping them in a paper bag, before handing them over to the little girl.
‘Enjoy!’ she said through gritted teeth, wishing their perfect little family would simply get a move on and leave the bookshop.
‘Well, it’s been great seeing you again,’ said Charlie with that megawatt grin that gave nothing away to how he must be feeling inside. She wondered now if he even had any finer feelings.
It put a dampener on the rest of Isla’s day, and she wasn’t entirely sure why.
Admittedly, entertaining a fantasy, however briefly, that she would reunite with her teenage love across the top of some dusty bookshelves, and they would ride off into the sunset together, had been slightly extreme, but even so, the meeting with Charlie and his lovely family had unsettled her.
Seeing his handsome face again had taken her back to being a teenager and stirred all the wild emotions she’d experienced then. Hope, excitement, anticipation, followed by a sharp reminder of the heartbreak that had followed.
It was more than that, though. It made her take a long, hard look at herself and everything she’d achieved.
She couldn’t help comparing herself to Charlie and where he was in life: a great job, a place in London and a gorgeous family.
Clearly happy and thriving by the looks of things.
And where was she? Living in a rented flat with a leaky roof, without a job and not a romantic prospect in sight.
In her spare time, she sometimes went to gigs or on nights out with friends, but she could while away hours curled up on her bed, reading her books, sometimes realising that by the end of a weekend, she had done little else.
If anyone had asked her, she would have said she was happy, but looking at her life through a different perspective, through Charlie’s gaze, then maybe, some might say that she’d been guilty of staying stagnant.
She exhaled a sigh and perched her bottom on the high stool behind the counter, looking all around her, thinking there were worse places to be having her quarter-life crisis.
It was Christmas. Not the time for making hasty decisions. In the new year, she would need to find a new job, reassess her living arrangements and maybe get back on the dating apps. The very thought made her shudder.