When I walk out of the building around midday to meet with Ev for lunch, I feel a prickling sensation on the back of my neck and turn around quickly.
A guy is heading my way. Crap, he looks like Nick, only bigger than I remember him.
This can’t be happening. It can’t be Nick. Can’t be.
Yet, without any conscious thinking on my part, I start to run. My purse flapping at my side, I race across the street, cars honking at me, and dive into a busy side street.
“Amber!” I hear a man’s voice yelling behind me, and I run faster. “Wait!”
Oh my God. Oh God. He even sounds like Nick. The voice from my nightmares.
I duck into a shop and hide behind the door, like a prop from a cheap movie, the lady behind the register opening her mouth to say something.
I put a finger to my lips and give her an imploring look.
She frowns at me.
A guy comes pounding down the street, then he slows down to a stop and looks around. “Amber.”
Good Go
d, it is Nick. It’s really him, or else a clone. Yes, he is taller and broader than I remember—but the face is the same.
My stomach drops to my shoes. Ice trickles into my bones. I back away, into the store, hiding between the shelves, trying to control the shivers. I half expect him to stroll inside, shove me down on my ass and invite his friends to laugh at me.
This is hell. Nausea rises in my throat. I think I’m going to be sick, and I drop to my knees and curl into the smallest ball possible, trying to fade into nothing.
I’m still hiding a good while later when the cashier comes to talk to me.
“What’s wrong? Should I call the cops?” She’s not that old, only the crease between her brows and some gray hairs at her temples indicating she isn’t my age. “I hope this isn’t some prank you’re playing in my shop.”
“Not a prank,” I assure her. “The man outside who was yelling me name—is he gone?”
“Your name? Amber?”
I nod, sweat rolling down my back.
“He’s gone.” She shakes her head as she returns to her place behind the counter, and I’m sure she still thinks it’s a stupid prank.
I don’t care. I thank her and step out, feeling cold in spite of the sunny day.
Ev is waiting for me at a diner she discovered tucked into a tiny alley. She waves at me and I go to join her at the back. Sliding into my vinyl seat, I do my best to smile and forget what happened.
Still don’t understand how Nick found me. What he wants from me.
I shiver and grab the plastic menu to cover it. “What are you having?”
“The burgers are divine.” She’s checking her phone, distracted. “And the onion rings.”
“Perfect. I’ll have the same.” I throw the menu back on the table, the thought of food making me queasy. “So how have you been?”
Ev isn’t fooled one bit by my performance, though. The moment she looks up from her phone, her smile drops.
“What happened now? Did you run into Jesse again?”
I think of the white roses waiting in a vase, so delicate and beautiful. “No.” I sigh, fold my hands on the table in front of me. I’m still rattled, and at least this is something I’d talk to Ev about—in contrast to Jesse and the roses. “I ran into Nick Harris.”
Ev gasps and reaches for me, covers my hands with hers. Now she knows everything about those dark years of my life and doesn’t have to ask who Nick Harris is.