The One: A moving and unforgettable love story - the most emotional read of 2018. Maria Realf

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СКАЧАТЬ be,’ she mused.

      ‘What?’

      ‘Well, if he sent flowers to your office, how did he find out where you work?’ She wrinkled her nose suspiciously.

      ‘I’ve no idea. Maybe someone told him, or he looked me up online or something. You’re the one who’s always telling me you can find anything on the internet.’

      Megan mulled this over for a moment. ‘It’s possible, I guess. But he doesn’t seem too into the whole social media thing. He’s not even on Facebook! My 90-year-old gran’s on there poking people, no problem. But Alex? Nothing.’

      ‘You tried to look him up?’ Now it was Lizzie’s turn to be surprised.

      ‘Only when I heard he was back. I was just going to check out his pictures, do a bit of harmless reconnaissance.’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘Don’t tell me you’ve never tried to do that?’

      Lizzie ducked her gaze. ‘Maybe once or twice,’ she muttered. Not that she’d ever found anything. Alex was very good at going under the radar. In another life, he’d have made an excellent secret agent.

      ‘If you say so,’ scoffed Megan. ‘Anyway, you’re missing the point. The important thing is what you do next.’

      ‘What do you mean?’

      ‘Please tell me you didn’t phone him already?’

      ‘Course not,’ Lizzie spluttered. ‘I can’t read the number anyway. The last two digits are smudged.’

      Megan peered at the card, then threw it down on the coffee table. ‘I think it’s a 6 and a 0. Might be an 8. Not that it matters, though. You definitely shouldn’t call.’

      ‘I won’t.’

      ‘In that case, I think we should get rid of it,’ she said. ‘Just so you don’t feel tempted to ring him later. You know, once we’ve polished off the Pinot.’ She set down her drink and went into the kitchen, returning with a large ashtray and a box of matches. ‘Here, we can set fire to it. It’ll be like it never existed.’

       Like Alex for the past ten years, you mean.

      ‘You don’t need to mess around with all that, Megan.’ Lizzie shuffled uneasily in her seat.

      ‘Well, you can’t keep it! What if Josh sees it? How dodgy would that look?’

      ‘Why would he see it? I was going to bin it.’

      ‘Good. Because I’d hate to see you screw things up with Josh for that bastard.’ Despite their long-term friendship – or perhaps because of it – Megan still hadn’t learned to keep her opinions to herself.

      ‘Don’t say that.’

      ‘Why not?’

      Lizzie didn’t have a good answer. It wasn’t like she hadn’t called him that – and worse – since the split. But somehow it sounded different coming from Megan.

      ‘Never mind. I should probably talk to Josh about all this though, right? Maybe tell him what happened with me and Alex?’ Not that she had much of an explanation. She still didn’t understand how two people could swiftly go from being inseparable to being continents apart.

      ‘What? Noooooo!’ Megan looked horrified. ‘That’s a terrible idea.’

      ‘Why? I’m sure he won’t mind. It was a million years ago.’

      ‘Yeah, I can hear that conversation now: “Hi darling, how was your day? Oh, by the way, the love of my life just waltzed back into town.” He’ll be thrilled about that.’

      ‘Alex isn’t the love of my life,’ said Lizzie, her head starting to throb from the strain of it all.

      ‘But still, it doesn’t exactly sound great, does it? And then poor Josh is going to spend the next couple of months worrying that you’re going to call off the wedding.’

      ‘Why would I call off the wedding?’

      ‘I’m not saying you would. I’m just saying that I don’t think now’s a good time to dump all of this on your fiancé.’ She raised one perfectly plucked eyebrow. ‘Look, at the end of the day, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.’

      I hope not, thought Lizzie. I really hope not. ‘So what do you think I should do?’

      Megan picked up the card. ‘I think we should destroy the evidence right now.’

      ‘You’ve been watching too much CSI: Miami again.’

      ‘I’m serious. Unless you’re having second thoughts about phoning …’ She shook her head disapprovingly.

      ‘Fine, you win. Let’s just get rid of it.’

      Lizzie watched as her friend scraped the safety match against the coarse surface of the box, the sound grating like nails down a blackboard. The tip sprang to life, its golden head gently kissing the corner of the card, engulfing it in a sunset-coloured glow before it burned out with exhaustion and everything turned black.

      Megan was right. There could be no going back.

       6

       6 October 2002

      Lizzie stepped into the dark cottage, scattering a trail of watery drops as she took off Alex’s jacket, her hands struggling to grip the slippery leather. Her wet hair clung to her neck and shoulders, the rain trickling down her back and tickling her skin.

      As her eyes slowly adjusted to the lack of light, she could just about glimpse Alex in the shadows, but then he switched on a table lamp, infusing the living room with a soft glow. The place wasn’t big, but what it lacked in size it made up for in character, with its exposed brick walls and dark wooden beams. It was not your typical student digs, but then she was beginning to realise that he was not your typical student.

      ‘You must be drenched,’ he said, kicking off his shoes with a thud. ‘That really came out of nowhere.’ His hair had been slicked back by the rain, but a few rogue strands fell forward and she wanted to brush them from his face. She did not move first, though, thrown by the wet and the cold and the sudden realisation that her dress had become almost see-through. Do I look a total mess? Alex had wanted to kiss her on the beach, of that she was sure, but the rain had extinguished the moment and now she felt self-conscious.

      ‘I’m OK.’

      He took the dripping jacket from her. ‘Here, let me get you a towel,’ he said, disappearing for a second before surfacing with a large white one. She wrapped it tightly around herself, feeling the warmth flood back into her body, then bent down to remove her sodden sandals. ‘I’ll see if I can find you something to change into,’ he offered, striding towards what she assumed must be his bedroom.

      He СКАЧАТЬ