to you.”
Carefully, she got off the bed and proceeded to pick her clothes up off the floor. Once she was dressed, she glanced back at Julian sleeping. A memory for the vault. Then she went to the bedroom door and took a deep breath. Once she had left the room, she hurriedly tiptoed through the lounge room towards the front door.
When she reached the entrance, she didn’t hesitate. She quickened her steps down the path that led to the beach until she hit the white sand. From the corner of her eye, she noticed the sun starting to rise. For one second, she stopped and watched it. For that one second, she let herself believe she was returning to him. The truth was that she wasn’t. She’d pack her bags and return to Melbourne.
And so it goes.
Back to reality.
Everything I do now is after him.
I leave behind everything.
My everything.
Stevie’s eyelids fluttered closed, and she took a deep breath to contain the tears that were threatening to spill. When she opened her eyes, she glanced out at the water for one last time and whispered to herself, “This is what we’ll leave behind.”
Almost four years later
Julian stood by the kitchen window and stared out the glass panels. It was still early in the morning in Scarsdale, New York. But like every morning since he’d discovered them, he would watch over them. He’d act as their lookout. But they wouldn’t need it. All Noel and Clara would do was sit on the step and stare at the sunrise. Then one of them would leave the other and return to their pretend life.
But this morning was different. This morning, Clara kissed Noel, and Julian smiled at the sight. But he knew how much it was killing them both inside. They had once been together, but circumstances had torn them apart. Now, they were in different relationships, and Julian knew how hard they had tried to keep faithful to their respected partners. It was a chaste kiss, and then Clara walked back into the house.
Keeping his focus on Noel, Julian couldn’t help but envy his best friend. Noel hadn’t given up. He kept fighting for Clara even though she was more off-limits to him than ever before. Noel’s determination was what he wanted.
It had been almost four years since he’d woken up alone in his Thai villa without Stephanie. She had left sometime after they had made love. When Julian had woken to discover the room empty, he had searched for her. But she had vanished. For a week, he’d tried to find for her, but she had left him behind. All she had left in the villa was her copy of To Kill a Mockingbird.
If Noel doesn’t stop fighting for Clara, then I can’t give up on Stephanie.
One day.
I’ll find her again someday.
Julian looked up at the sun shining through the window and nodded to himself. “I’m going to find you, Stephanie. I’m never going to give up. One day, I’ll find you and have you fall in love with me again.”
Footsteps echoing in the kitchen had him turning around. Julian had expected Noel, but instead, his brother, Rob, walked in holding his phone to his ear. Julian rolled his eyes at his brother. Rob had been obsessing over some girl back in Melbourne. He was as whipped as Dean was over Willa, the two now expecting a son. But for Julian, as soon as he was done in New York, he’d return to his job in Sydney—the same job he had picked up after his return from Thailand.
Julian turned back around and stared at the sun. It wasn’t as bright or as beautiful as the one he’d watch rise and set with Stephanie, but it gave him hope.
“Stevie, I’m sure… Yes… I can’t stop thinking about our kiss… No, I won’t tell Noel or Clara… Okay. We’ll have dinner as soon as I get back,” Rob said, still on the phone.
Digging his hand into his pocket, Julian took out the same Thai coin he had shared with her. Then he tossed the coin to see it land on heads.
“I’m all in, Blondie. I’ve always been all in,” he whispered before he placed the coin back in his pocket, determined to see her again.
No amount of white sand or distance could bury their past.
Some things are just never meant to be forgotten.
When Julian Moors returned from Thailand he left behind all his belongings, his father and only brother in Melbourne and moved to