Between Then & Now // Hugh Jackman

11 // A Familiar Stranger

I found myself sitting across from Hugh on the couch once he returned from work. Alana had shown up a few minutes later. Unlike Hugh, she headed straight to her bedroom without so much as a hi.

"Don't take it personal," Hugh said as we heard Alana's bedroom door shut. "She always gets like this when her sister comes to visit."

This was news to me. Not that I had talked to Alana at all, so why would I know anything about her personal life when she wouldn't say so much as a single sentence to me that didn't somehow belittle me.

Hugh tilted his head slightly in question. "We didn't tell you she was coming, did we?"

I shook my head. I would've remembered if he had. Definitely more so if it came from Alana herself. In either case, I hoped her sister wasn't anything like her. I knew there would be some similarities, but I wondered where they ended.

"Sorry, with everything going on, it must've slipped my mind."

"It's okay. You don't owe me an explanation."

"Maybe not, but you deserve one."

My connection with Hugh was growing. I could feel whatever was tethering us getting stronger. It was strange but somehow comfortable. I didn't quite understand it yet.

"I think you'll like her," Hugh remarked. "She's very energetic. Has a way of bringing you out of your shell, but don't feed into her insults please. She still brings up my horrible haircut I got years ago."

I gave him a teasing grin, eyeing his slightly longer hair that framed his face as did most hairstyles for men in the mid 90s. It suited him, but if he was referring to the 80s, then that must have meant he had a mullet at some point.

Hugh groaned at my expression, regretting giving out that kind of information. "I should've known better."

"What was it? A mullet?"

He rolled his eyes, leaning back and crossing his arms. "I'll have you know, it wasn't a mullet. It was just long hair, alright?"

I grabbed one of the pillow cushions and tossed it at him with a laugh. "Sure, sure. I bet you were rocking the Billy Ray Cyrus look. Nothing to be ashamed of."

He caught the pillow mid-air then threw it back at me. "Please, I had taste. Maybe it was a little business in the front, but there was definitely no partying in the back."

"Uh-huh," I said with a taunting smile. "I wish I could see pictures. Then I would know for sure if you're telling the truth or not."

"You know what? I'm sure you had an embarrassing hairstyle phase too."

"So, you admit it then? It was a mullet."

He bit back an amused grin. "Alright, enough about my hair."

We continued to banter back and forth. Eventually, Hugh was able to get me to confess to my own embarrassing haircut, which was nowhere near as funny as his, but as a kid with a round face and super squared bangs, I had been called Dora the Explorer up until I got rid of them. Probably wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't styled my hair myself.

Suddenly, the sound of a key turning in the lock of the front door stopped our conversation. Alana ran out of her bedroom right then and reached the entrance just as the door swung open. A woman who looked nothing like Alana stood there.

My heart skipped a beat.

It couldn't be.

The woman followed Alana into the apartment. She was quite a bit taller than her. The only semblance between the two was their eyes and nose. Unlike Alana's wavy blonde hair, the woman's was jet black, almost straight but not quite. She also carried herself with an elegance that made me feel oddly small.