You're The One

Chapter 27

May 2021 - north London, England

Jill knocked on the door of me and Leah's apartment at exactly 6pm. It had been about a week since Eline had texted, and we had organised a dinner at an Italian restaurant down in central London. We had asked Viv to come along, but she had already flown back to the Netherlands to see her parents for a few days.

With a lot of persistence, Leah agreed to come. Although I didn't explicitly say that Eline was my ex-girlfriend, I think she had caught on based off of the way I was asking. Or perhaps Jill told her. If anything I needed her for moral support. Jill was coming as well of course, but it was nice to have someone who wouldn't know anyone else at the table.

I found out Eline was engaged to a boy from our secondary school. His name was Bas, and I won't lie and say he wasn't a cunt. One of those stereotypical teenage boys who were made of nothing but sexism, homophobia and overflowing egos. I wondered why she would stoop that low to be his fiancée, but then again, Eline had always been full of surprises.

"Al have you seen my mascara?" Leah called from the bathroom as I went to open the door. "I can't find it anywhere."

"No sorry!" I shouted back, embracing Jill as she walked through the entrance.

"Are you ready for this?" She whispered quietly into my ear, and I shook my head in response.

"No, and it's been seven years. I don't think I will ever be." To be completely honest, I hadn't had any idea why I had agreed to the dinner in the first place. I could've easily ignored her message, and it's not like I owed her a response. Seven years was a long time to go without contact.

"Ok. I'm ready." Leah announced, grabbing her purse from the entrance table. She looked amazing and I think she could tell by the smile on my face. "What are you looking at?"

Jill groaned and rolled her eyes, "I hate being single."

That shut us into silence though, as we were still both unsure of the status of our 'relationship'. Everyone likes the idea of 'friends with benefits', or a 'situationship', but it's awful when you're actually in one.

"Well. We should be off then." Jill exclaimed, sensing the awkward silence which circled around. I nodded, putting on a pair of cowboy boots lent from Leah.

The car journey was a little long because of Saturday night traffic, but it was enjoyable to say the least. As we approached the restaurant however, I felt a building feeling in my stomach. I was nervous, as fuck.

"Are you okay?" Leah asked, putting her hand on my leg. We were both sat in the back seat, as Jill always left a heap of random stuff in the shotgun of her car.

"Yeah, all good." I said back, and she gave me a reassuring smile.

"Okay, if you say so."

~~

"Aleid!" Eline said as she spotted me, standing up to greet us. "Long time no see!"

I felt a sudden urge to smack her. Yeah, Miss 'long time no see.' I wonder why.

I smiled back, although seeing the look on Jill's face made me realise it was more of a grimace than a grin. "Yes, it really has been. This is Leah, and well obviously you know Jill."

She and Leah exchanged their greetings, before I turned to Bas who remained in his seat.

"Bas. Hoe gaat het? (How are you?)" I asked, also wanting to smack him too. God, the sight of him brought back unpleasant memories.

"Heel goed, bedankt. Trouwens, Aleid, voordat we gaan eten, wilde ik je even zeggen dat het me spijt van hoe ik al die geleden was. (Very well, thanks. Aleid, before we start to eat I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for how I was all those years ago.)"

How interesting. I hadn't realised Bas Blaauw was capable of apologising!

I nodded in recognition, although it was honestly insignificant to me, just as the others came to join us. We didn't talk much as we looked at the menu, but Eline tried to start up the conversation fairly quickly once we placed our orders.

"So, how's football been then?"

"Alright" Jill responded, "We came third in the league. Not our best for sure but at least we're qualified for the Champion's League."

"I know that! I meant like, how's it been! I watch most of your games." She replied, almost as if Jill was being silly. The amount of certainty that came with her response caught me off guard. I knew that a lot of our games were televised and had questioned before whether she had seen any of them. It was strange though coming from her mouth, the fact that she must have known so much about me but I knew nothing about her.

"You do?" I asked, before I could catch myself. I had not meant to say anything aloud.

"Of course she does!" Bas answered with a laugh, "You know she's a major football fan."

Eline smiled, making eye contact. It was held for about two seconds before I looked away. This was not what I had expected our 'first reunion' would be as I lay crying in my bed all those years ago.

"So what do you do then?" Leah asked politely, noticing the building tension.

"I work at an investment bank in the Netherlands. Bas works as an aerospace engineer!" Eline responded so proudly, and it showed me just how much the both of us must have changed. Never in a million years would 17 year old Eline Harmsen want to be working a 9-5 job. 'Imagine how boring it would be!' She would exclaim in the many conversations we would have about the future. If those teenagers could see us now.

"Banking." I said, "How great!" Everyone there could sense the sarcasm in my voice, and I knew I had caused the awkwardness that followed. I still could not believe what I was doing.

"It really is." Eline said back calmly, although I could sense the snarky tone in her voice. Or perhaps I was being delusional.

~~

The rest of the dinner passed by somewhat smoothly, thankfully. Apart from a few awkward silences, we were able to switch the topic to something less provoking. Still, it was probably the strangest couple of hours of the whole year.

"Aleid." Eline called, tapping me on the shoulder as we all made our way out of the restaurant. "Do you think we could grab coffee tomorrow? Just us two? I don't mind coming up to where you live."

I knew I should say no - everyone always says that there's no point in reopening closed wounds. But could our problems even be classified as 'closed'?Something in those olive green eyes of hers was telling me to say yes. To seek out the answers, to find out the truth. To know why, seven long years ago, she broke my heart.

"Okay." I said finally, against my better judgement.

Her face lit up with relief. "Perfect."