It's been 10 years since Julia left Jump Street and quit being a cop. Things haven't always been easy for the young woman, but she moved on. Or so she thinks...
Just settled into a radically different new life, her world suddenly turns upside down w...
"So ? How did it go ?" Aly questioned the very second I walked through the door, her overexcitement getting on my nerves for some reason.
"Fine" I mumbled indifferently, walking to my bed and placing my purse and jacket on it before plopping down on the mattress.
"Wow, hide your enthusiasm" she sarcastically retorted as she made her way toward me to join me on the bed. "Why are you back so early anyway ? It's not even midnight !"
"What ? Were you expecting me to spend the night with him or something ?" I huffed, rolling my eyes.
"Well, you're the one bringing that up, not me" she trailed off teasingly. "I don't know...maybe I was. I mean, old lovers reunion...who knows what might happen..."
"You're insane" I stated, half laughing as I shook my head in disbelief. "Now give me a break, will you ?"
"No way girl, not until you tell me everything" she insisted.
"Tell you what ? There's nothing to say ! We just had a beer, talked about our lives, then the bar closed for the night so we left. He asked if I wanted to go to his place for one last drink, I said no, we went our separate ways, that's it. See ? Nothing exciting really."
"Wait..." Aly started, her eyes wide "This...EXTREMELY ATTRACTIVE guy invites you to his place and you turn him down just like that ?"
"Well, if you wanna put it that way then yeah" I simply replied. She blinked a few times, looking at me as if I'd grown another head before speaking again.
"Wow. Sometimes I really wonder what's the matter with you."
"That here..." I began, wiggling my ring finger with its small but sparkly diamond in front of her face "...is the matter. I have Ben, I don't need anyone else."
"Right..." Aly eventually surrendered, sounding half convinced. "Oh by the way, Ben called while you were out tonight. He wanted to talk to you."
"Oh my god !" I abruptly sat up, somewhat alarmed. "What did you tell him ?"
"Relax, I told him you were sleeping and he bought it. He said he'll call back before noon tomorrow" she explained, causing me to let out a big sigh of relief before remembering that I would be meeting Tom again around that time tomorrow.
"I'll probably have to call him before he does then, or he might miss me again."
"What do you mean ?" Aly perked up at my last comment, her brow furrowed.
"Well..." I paused for a moment, nervously running a hand through my hair "I'm seeing Tom again tomorrow."
"That's my girl !" she exclaimed, clapping her hands in delight and smiling from ear to ear. I was honestly puzzled as to why she was getting so excited but I decided to ignore it.
"And you're invited too. He'll come get us here around midday" I informed.
"Why, I don't really get why you guys want me to be a third wheel on your date but...okay...I guess" Aly hesitantly responded.
"It's not a date okay ?" I hissed, really annoyed by now. "Now are you finished in the bathroom ? I"d like to take a shower."
"I just need to brush my teeth then you can go" Aly said, getting off my bed before disappearing into the bathroom. "I'll be quick" she shouted from there.
Taking advantage of being alone in the room, I sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed my purse. I slowly went through it, careful not to make any noise that could cause nosy Aly to come back to me prematurely, until eventually finding the pink leather wallet I was looking for. I hesitantly opened it, squeezing my eyes shut for a short moment and taking a deep breath before finally bringing myself to search for the picture I'd kept in there all these years without ever being brave enough to look at it even briefly. My heartbeat increased as I gently slipped the old photograph out of its pocket, and my breath caught in my throat the moment I allowed my eyes to fall upon it.
1989 was scribbled on the back.
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In the photo was Tom Hanson, in our Jump Street days, just like I remembered him. His juvenile features, messy hair, gorgeous never ending eyes, ripped jeans...
Tons of memories and feelings came flooding back. My vision became blurry, and I had to close my eyes to prevent more tears from rolling down my cheeks and soaking my shirt.
I couldn't believe 10 years separated this picture from today, a part of me didn't even want to. Thinking about what my life was back then, and what it was now...I couldn't understand how I'd gotten where I was now, how everything had managed to change so radically, how I'd lost the love of my life. I just wanted to go back in time and do everything differently, starting off with the day I somehow thought breaking up with Hanson was the right thing to do, because it definitely was not.
"What are you doing ?" Aly suddenly interrupted my train of thoughts, making me jump in the process.
"N-nothing" I stammered, instantly trying to hide the pic from her view, but she caught my wrist to stop me.
"Who is this ?" she inquired softly, probably not wanting to push me too much. I remained silent though, totally unable to utter a single word. "It's him, right ?" her question sounded more like a statement.
I weakly nodded my head as my vision became even blurrier than it already was.
"You still love him, don't you ?" Aly spoke again, patting my shoulder comfortingly.
My blood ran cold at her words. Ben came back to my mind and I felt so incredibly guilty.
"No, I don't" I lied, wiping my tears off with the back of my hand. "This belongs to the past. I used to love him...It's over now."
"Look Lia, I don't know if you're lying to me only or to yourself as well, but either way you need to stop. Whether you like it or not, whether you admit it or not, you still love that guy. It's obvious. Ignoring your feelings won't make them go away."
"I'm gonna take a shower" ignoring what she had just said, I stuffed everything back into my purse before hurrying to the bathroom, closing the door behind me.
