She's Beautiful And Mine (gxg)

Chapter Forty Three: Twelve Years.

[12 years later]

Samantha

It's been twelve years.

Twelve years since I last saw Harley Gardner.

After graduating college with a journalism degree like I'd always wanted, I got married to Alex Goldman. And now here I am, sitting in a million-dollar penthouse with my laptop, trying to finish up an article for Monday's paper.

He was still at work, as usual. He inherited the business, as was my dad's plan all along. All he needed me for was as a link between the two families. And I'd stood still, letting it all happen.

I'm thirty now. Thirty and sick of my life.

As I tried to piece together the bits of information that I'd gathered for the piece I was working on, I couldn't help but think about the time I'd tried to see Harley again. Just after graduating from boarding school, I'd gone back to our home-town.

But she'd moved away. And nobody knew definitively where she'd gone.

I remember visiting the park, the lake, her old house, now owned by another family. I remember crying at the memories we'd made together in just a few months of knowing each other. The way she opened up to me. The way I'd trusted her with my true self.

I'd tried video-calling her using her old number during the final months of high-school, but she'd got a new phone apparently.

I'd tried searching her up on the Internet but it was like she didn't even exist. I remember coming back to my room that I shared with Ivy in college, and immediately going to my laptop, browsing over and over again, to see if I could find her somewhere. With no luck, whatsoever.

Ivy.

I smiled to myself.

The girl liked me apparently. But she kept it to herself throughout college and then confessed the night we were free from the endless all-nighters and stressful finals.

"You know, I've always kind of had a crush on you," she said.

I turned to look at her, wide-eyed.

"Seriously?" I asked.

She nodded. "I didn't bother acting on it 'cause I value our friendship more."

"That sounds like a load of bull and very unlike you."

She chuckled. And I chuckled along. We then stood in silence for a bit.

"It is," she said, nodding. I chuckled at that, drinking out of the bottle of beer in my hand. The wind blew our open hair all over our faces and against our shoulders.

"You're still in love with her, aren't you?" she asked, as we stood on the roof of our apartment complex together, drinking and staring at the busy, bright night-time city.

"It's not like I can do anything about it," I said, showing her my engagement ring.

"You're a fucking idiot. Why did you say yes?"

"If I'm not gonna be with the love of my life, then I might as well be rich as fuck."

We laughed together.

I stopped typing and leaned back in my chair.

It's been five years since I'd given up searching for her.

Five years of being with an asshole.

Ivy and I had drifted apart. My mom would visit me occasionally until her death two years ago, followed by my dad's a couple of months later.

Now, I had a bunch of colleagues who I'd hang out with on weekends that I could call 'friends' and a pet dog who also passed a few months ago.

I twirled the end of my pen against the table using my index finger, balancing it, staring at nothing in particular.

I let out a sigh.

Maybe I should try the article again tomorrow. It's only Friday evening.

I put the pen down and stared up at the ceiling in exasperation. And then I looked back at the penthouse. The expensive couches, the huge TV, the Manhattan skyline, the framed masterpieces on the walls.

Life hasn't been all that bad. I can't be more comfortable than this.

But there's something missing.

Or rather, someone.

I started twirling my pen again.

I'm lonely, I concluded, putting the pen down once again.

That's when I got a text from Alex.

Alex: Staying at the office tonight. Pulling an all-nighter.

Me: ok.

I let out a sigh of relief. We might fight again if he came home tonight. The article hasn't been going well and it's been getting on my nerves.

I decided to look through today's newspaper and read some headlines to pass time.

Once I finished reading the first page thoroughly, I decided to flip through the rest of it, which is a rare thing for me to do. Nothing interests me as much as the headlines. Not that they intrigued me all that much in the first place.

I stopped at the business page to see the article on Alex which I assumed would be in today's issue.

It took me a few seconds to realize it was going to be in Saturday's issue. But by then my eyes had caught on to another headline.

LA-based Multi-million dollar business Gardner Co. To Set Up Headquarters In New York City

I read it once. And then I read it twice. And then I was devouring the article whole. My heart was beating faster and faster.

Harley. Harley Gardner. The owner of Gardner Co. Moving here. To New York.

I put the paper down with shaking hands.

"Oh my god," I whispered to myself.

***

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queenred