Right Number, Wrong Girl

Maybe Cait was right.

I didn’t have her address. I didn’t know where she lived, so I’d be going to London in an emotional haze with no plan.

There was still an entire day before the party.

If Camilla told me her address, I could get there. I could go after her. I could see her tomorrow and talk to her.

I could try.

“Go home,” Cait said. “Go and sleep. Rest. Regroup, and come back tomorrow with a clear head.”

“She’s right.” Henry gripped my shoulder. “There’s nothing you can do tonight.”

“Yeah, there is.” I looked at them both. “I’m going to make sure our mother fires that bitch.”

Cait grinned. “I’m coming, too. That sounds fun.”

***

Grandma put a cup of tea on the table in front of me and stared at me.

I peered up from my computer. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. How are you feeling this morning?” She trudged over to the chair opposite me and sat down with a groan. “Oh, I’m getting old.”

Like she wasn’t turning eighty in three days.

“At least we’re on the same page about that,” I replied, putting the laptop to the side. “Thank you for the tea.”

“I thought you needed a decent cup. How do you feel?”

I shrugged.

I didn’t know.

I’d never been in love before, so I’d never experienced any kind of heartbreak. That felt like a very strange thing to say, and perhaps I was misspeaking to say I’d never been in love. I’d loved people, and I’d been hurt when relationships had ended, but it had never been… this.

A never-ending dull ache that permeated every inch of my body.

No matter what I did, I couldn’t get rid of it. It was there, clinging onto me, refusing to give in.

My fucking God, it hurt.

It hurt more than anything I’d ever felt in my life.

“That sounds about right,” Grandma said, settling her walking stick against the sofa. She slowly reached for her teacup and sat back again, sipping. “You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

I jerked a shoulder, looking down. “About as close as a person can be, I think.”

“I’m not surprised. I thought there was something between you the first time I saw you together. A little spark, as the kids say these days.”

I peered over at her. “Grandma.”

She chuckled. “It’s true. You just… fit, Hugo. Like puzzle pieces. You were never bored or distracted when she was around—you were always entirely aware of her. I rather got the sense that you always knew where the other was in a room, and it made me smile. It was like that with your grandfather.”

I smiled. “You two were always able to say exactly where the other one was.”

“It was quite irritating, actually.”