Someone I Used to Know

Epilogue

Five Months Later


The plane hit turbulence, and Adley grasped both armrests with deadly force. She didn’t know which she regretted more: not taking Declan up on the offer to come get her in Mr. Hoffman’s private jet, or once again leaving Hannah’s assorted pharmacy un-scavenged. Wanting to distract herself, she peeked out the window and flinched, quickly averting her eyes. The one thing she had taken Declan up on (a window seat) had turned out to be a terrible decision. The boundless blue of the ocean below made her feel like the plane was one jolt away from becoming an episode of Lost.

She had agreed to the small upgrade Declan insisted on, because she thought it would keep her from feeling claustrophobic on the fifteen-hour flight, but now she felt more suffocated than ever, blockaded from the open air by the three people taking up the rest of the seats on her row.

“Nervous flyer?” the teenage girl directly to her left inquired.

The girl focused pointedly on Adley’s clenched hands. She matched her two siblings sitting in the seats beside her. It wasn’t hard to tag them, along with the two adults sitting across the aisle, as a family, especially when she had six hours of time to gather evidence. A little boy, no older than seven, was passed out between the girl sitting beside Adley and the other girl claiming the envious aisle seat. She looked to be in her late teens, which looked to be several years older than her sister.

She nodded her head stiffly, careful to guide her gaze anywhere but out the oval window.

“I’m Jill.”

“Adley,” she responded briskly, if for no other reason than to distract herself.

Jill leaned down and shuffled through the open backpack at her feet until she came up with a notebook. She flipped it open, and copied Adley’s name onto the paper.

“Um what are you doing?” Adley implored, a new type of anxiety racing through her veins.

Jill looked up questioningly, but it only took a second for her face to turn horrified. “Oh my God. I’m such freak! I swear I wasn’t like trying to steal your identity or anything…It’s just that I’m a writer. Or, at least, I want to be a writer someday, and whenever I hear a cool name or a name I’ve never heard before, I write it down…I have a whole list on my laptop back home.”

Adley grinned, amused at her ramblings. “It’s okay. I promise. I was just confused is all.”

Jill didn’t look convinced.

“It’s Adley.” She spelled it out by each letter, just to assure her it was okay. “Adair”

Jill quickly jotted down the surname. She looked over the two names sitting side-by-side in ink. Her bottom lip jutted out in the slightest of pouts.

“I’ve always liked alliterations. Jill Pennington just doesn’t have the same ring to it.”

Adley shrugged. She’d never given much thought to the merits of having both first and last names start with the same letter.

“Hey, who knows?” A cheerful idea sparked behind Jill’s eyes and spilled into her mood. “Maybe one day I’ll name a character in one of my books after you, and it’ll become famous…How cool would that be?”

Staring at Jill, she searched for even a hint of irony on her youthful face. There was none.

“Yeah, real cool,” Adley finally replied with a hefty dose of understated sarcasm.

The little boy shifted in his sleep, moving to prop his face against the other girl’s arm. Jill lit up with affection when she looked at him, but it only took a second for the clearly eldest sibling to jerk away, complaining about drool. She shifted in her seat as far away from the undisturbed child as possible, before going back to the movie playing in front of her.

“We’re going on a family vacation,” Jill said, noticing her watching the interaction. “Dad has always wanted to go, and it’s Izzy’s last summer before she goes off to college…She’s pissed because she wanted to go to Mexico with her friends. I don’t see how anyone could be disappointed about going to Australia though. Even if you were going for work or something…Is that what you’re doing?”

“Actually,” she braced herself to use the word she still couldn’t get used to, “I’m spending the summer with my boyfriend. He’s working down there.”

“Lucky!”

She was saved from responding when they brought around another meal. She’d given up keeping track of which one it was supposed to be: lunch or dinner. They ate quietly, making small talk, and afterwards, when a yawn overcame her, Jill politely let the conversation trail off.

She’d just done the impossible and found a halfway comfortable position, when her drooping eyes spotted the book Jill had dislodged from her backpack. It was the newest edition of the paperback. The original cover had been replaced with the actors from the movie, but the title was the same.

The Girl in the Yellow Dress

Adley froze like the teenager had just wheeled out a loaded gun. Her body went sharply rigid, and the armrest that they shared jolted between them.

“It’s totally lame, I know. All my friends thinks it’s like the greatest book ever, and I wanna be like, come on, have you even read The Great Gatsby? Of course, they think Nicholas Sparks is the equivalent of Shakespeare, so they’re not the greatest judges of literature.” Jill looked abashed, as if getting caught with a popular romance novel was the most embarrassing thing in the world. “My English teacher swears it’s not bad though. He said I should give it a chance, and I figured what better time than when I’d fled the US to risk my literature snob reputation.”

“How far along are you?” Adley asked carefully as she eyed the small section of pages split off from the bulk of the book by a bookmark. She still hadn’t read it and, for the time, was resigned to the decision that she never would, but she was still curious as to why Jill hadn’t recognized her name from the prologue. She knew her name was there. The words forever branded upon her soul:

Her name was Adley Adair, and she was your mother.

Little girl in the yellow dress, this is the story of how much she loved you.

“Like page five, but I always skip prologues and epilogues. I think they’re just extras for people with lazy imaginations. I don’t need a prologue to tell me what a story is going to be about, and all an epilogue really is, is an excuse for the author to draw things out as long as possible. The real ending is always in the last chapter.”

At some point during Jill’s ramblings, Adley had begun to relax, assured that if Jill did make the connection between her and the book, she’d probably think it was cooler that Adley knew C.A. Peterson than anything else. The thought of Cam brought a smile to her face. He’d probably adore Jill and all her literary snobbery. He was always itching for a good book debate.

“I mean, my sister’s read it,” Jill said as if it was the greatest insult one could inflict. Adley’s thoughtful silence hadn’t stopped her from her long-winded diatribe as they hopped from subject to subject. “She talks about how in love she is with the main character, Cam, but, in reality, she’d probably make-out with a rock if Declan Davies played one in a movie.”

Adley couldn’t help but laugh, which only encouraged Jill right along.

“He’s cute and everything, but I bet he’s a total a*shole in real life.”

“I bet,” Adley agreed with a secret smile, before switching gears. “Will you do me a favor?”

Jill nodded, her forehead wrinkled and eyebrows raised, unsure of what to make of the request.

“Wait until you get to Australia to read the book.” She enjoyed Jill’s uncensored ramblings. If she realized who Adley was, then those were likely to halt. “And when you do, you should give it a real chance. It’s actually a really interesting story.”

“You’ve read it?” Jill asked, looking surprised.

“No.” Adley shook her head with a chuckle. “No, I haven’t.”

***

“It was really nice to meet you, Adley.”

“It was nice to meet you too,” she answered genuinely as they said their goodbyes once they’d unloaded from the plane. “And don’t forget what I said about The Girl in the Yellow Dress. You should really give it a chance.”

“Jill!” she heard Jill’s older sister reprimanding her as Adley walked away, her pitch nearly at a screech. “Do you have any idea who that was?!”

“Yeah, her name’s Adley Adair,” Jill replied obliviously. Adley could hear the shrug in her words even without turning around to check as she got farther and farther away.

“That’s Declan Davies’ girlfriend! She’s the one…”

Adley grinned as their voices melted into the chatter of the airport. She readjusted her bag, hiking it higher onto her shoulder when she felt the vibrations of her ringing phone. It had only been powered on moments before when they’d been waiting to get off the plane after it had landed.

Who could have possibly timed her arrival so well?

“Hey, Red Shoes, seen any kangaroos yet?”

“Jesus, Cam, what time is it there?” She felt loopy and delirious after the ceaseless flight, but she knew there was a major time difference between Los Angeles and Sydney.

“It’s five am yesterday, you time traveler, you,” he quipped. “I haven’t slept. I’m in the zone. You know how I get when inspiration strikes, and after our spring break getaway, I’m feeling extra in touch with my muse.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’ve really got to get a new muse.”

The Girl in the Yellow Dress had been an even bigger success than expected, and to celebrate, Cam had treated her to a surprise trip to Paris where’d they’d gone to see the oldest professional ballet company in the world, Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris, perform The Red Shoes. She’d openly wept at the end of it. She’d thought Cam was going to have a heart attack at the sight.

“And what makes you think I was talking about you? I swear, dating a movie star has really changed you, Ads…I was talking about Thomas, of course.”

“Of course,” she replied mockingly, through a burst of laughter.

Thomas had been another unexpected addition of the trip, and he hadn’t been the only shocking tagalong. Her whole family had been waiting for her at the airport when she arrived for her flight overseas. They’d been rebuilding their relationship since December, but with her returning to UNC for the Spring semester, things had been progressing slowly.

She had no idea that Cam had reached out to her family, too. He wanted to make things right with them, and they were more open to the idea than she would have ever imagined. Thomas had given Cam a really nasty black eye the first time they tried to reunite, but Cam had agreed that he deserved it (best friend’s little sisters were apparently off-limits), and they’d eventually salvaged some semblance of their old friendship. Their week in Paris together, as a family, had been one of the best times of her life.

“I’m just glad you didn’t say my mother,” she joked.

“Oh! Now there’s a story begging to be written!”

She could almost hear the gears in his mind turning. “See, I knew I was still your muse…We better get off the phone before I inspire something else.”

“…Well, it was nice knowing you.”

She reached a dead end in her trek through a random terminal and realized she’d taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way. Backtracking, her eyes read over each oversized sign hanging from the ceiling trying to find the baggage claim.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked distractedly.

“I have very little hope that you’ll survive another summer with Madeline Little. Either that or you’ll be arrested for murder and spend the rest of your life in jail down there…Need I remind you that you are willingly submitting yourself to live with her?”

He had a valid point.

“I’ve been assured it’s a large house. Declan swears I won’t even realize she’s there.” She tried to be as convincing as Declan had been when he’d laid out the logistics of the whole thing to her, but she was suddenly forgetting all the reasons she’d agreed. She cursed his charm. “And you’re forgetting that I actually like Madeline.”

“You have an understanding of Madeline that you appreciate,” he corrected. “I don’t know if that’s the same thing as liking her.”

They both sighed heavily.

“You could always come home – spend the summer with me,” he tried to tempt her.

“No… I really can’t,” she affirmed simply, but it implied so much more than that.

He knew it, too; his silence, telling. She waited patiently for him to speak, knowing that he would when he was ready. Things were different between them, and the changes just took both of them by surprise sometimes.

“Hey, Adley?”

The use of her name jarred her. The sound of Cam’s voice shaping around it made her strangely melancholy. It was the same feeling she got every time she saw a lifeguard stand and memories of her childhood swamped her. Each time, nostalgia would just begin to tip its cup of warm honey into her gut when, suddenly, it would register that something had been lost, something she could never have back, and hollowness would empty her out.

Her innocence was forever lost to her, and so was Cam in a way that she could still love him, see him, touch him, but never fully possess him ever again.

“Do you ever dance anymore?” he asked. “Before everything that happened, you couldn’t stand still without whipping into a pirouette or twiddling your feet in little dance steps…I know for a long time that stopped, but I just thought with everything…that maybe things were different now.”

Cam used to say that he could measure her happiness by the pointe of her toes. To him, dancing had always symbolized her happiness.

He couldn’t ask her if Declan made her happy…not yet. Change takes time, especially in matters of the heart. One day their love would be exactly what it should be, but until then, they were just blindly trying to find their way through it, doing the best they could.

“I can’t think of anything in the world that would make me happier than to know that you dance again.” He filled in the silence she’d left open, assuring her in his own way that it was okay that she’d moved on. It was okay if he wasn’t the one she danced for anymore. It was her happiness that mattered to him.

“I dance every day,” she told him with a grin that she knew he’d be able to hear, and watery eyes that she knew he couldn’t.

She truly meant it. She’d found her happiness again. Not only in Declan, but in herself, too.

“But you’ll always be my favorite standing ovation.” Her voice teetered on the brink of breaking, but she held firm on the ledge.

“Of course, I am,” he said with bravado she knew masked over his real feelings. “I gotta go, Ads. Be safe. Call me when you need bail money.”

“Bye, Cam,” she said softly.

“Bye, Red Shoes.”

Her luggage was already making its way around the carrousel when she finally found the right area. It was a real piece of luggage, large and sturdy with wheels, so unlike the duffel bag she’d started last summer with. Her parents had given it to her for her birthday, and she was well aware of the subtle hint hidden in the gift. Each time she spoke to them, they suggested another trip home.

She had just gotten a good grip on the handle and turned towards the exit when an unexpected sight stopped her in her tracks.

It was Declan.

Only it didn’t look like him. The bustle of the airport filtered around him, no one taking notice of the Oscar nominee standing in their midst. He was costumed convincingly as a chauffeur, lined up with all the others, where they waited for their human cargo. His hat dipped low on his face, shadowing most of it, but he’d added another layer of disguise with sunglasses as well. The suit he wore didn’t look a cent nicer than the ones around him, and the only thing at all that made him stand out from the rest of them was the unusual sign he held with both hands.

THE GIRL IN THE RUBBER DUCKY SHORTS

“You’re insane.” She shook her head, bewildered by the audacity of someone so highly recognizable to stand out in public unprotected. It didn’t mean she wasn’t smiling when she made it to him though, her mouth stretched wide at the sight of him, navy eyes beaming.

“May I help you with your bags, Ms.?” He didn’t break character, sliding his hand under hers on the handle of her luggage and easily stealing it. He was already striding away by the time she caught her breath from the feel of his touch.

It affected her to an embarrassing degree, and she noted that she’d have to build up a tolerance to him quickly, or things were going to get out of hand….Like, for instance, her jumping him at that exact moment and having her way with him for the entire world to see.

She straightened her shoulders and collected herself. The world had already seen quite enough of her as it was.

The real chauffeur was already helping Declan put her bags in the trunk when she made it to their car. It was his signature stretch limo, shiny and midnight black. Her gaze trained on his firm behind, even after he’d stood up straight and slammed the trunk closed over her luggage. He walked to the door and placed a hand on handle, turning to her with an irresistible smirk. That was all it took.

“Oh, screw it,” she professed, a second before shoving him against the very door he’d been opening for her.

“Please do,” he uttered, before she crashed into him, her mouth content to devour his.

The inch he’d managed to crack, slammed shut as her body pressed into him. The ledge of the sidewalk offered her an advantage, and she didn’t even have to stand on her tiptoes or pull him down to meet her, as for once, she was nearly level with him. Their tongues were quick to entangle. Her hands swept into his hair, the soft locks treading through her fingers as his costume hat hit the ground. He squeezed her ass, palming two handfuls as he pulled her body impossibly closer.

“Fooling around with the chauffeur? Naughty girl,” he chastised breathlessly as they broke apart. “You haven’t even been in the country an hour and already you’ve managed a scandal.”

The taste of him satisfied her craving just enough to regain some composure. Realizing the spectacle they’d just created, she had the sense of mind to blush and try to pull back. He held her tightly.

Her face began to pull towards the center in a pinched look that signaled her temper, but he was undaunted. Instead, he nodded his head towards a small group of gawkers who were trying to look inconspicuous as they took videos with their cellphones.

“If you move now, there will be video evidence of just how excited I am to see you,” he breathed into her ear.

She could feel exactly what he meant. A hard, familiar length was pressed into her belly. His warm breath hit her neck where his face was tucked so he could whisper, and a shiver ripped through her body. She helplessly shimmied against him.

His grip tightened. “Not helping.”

“Sorry.” She blinked up at him modestly.

They managed to slip into the car with her acting as a human shield.

“By the way, what in the world are you wearing?” Declan demanded as soon as they’d settled.

She looked down at herself, baffled by his reaction. Her flowing skirt and designer shirt had been a strategic choice. She’d learned her lesson about flying. It might be fine to look like you’ve just rolled out of bed on the plane, but once you’d arrived there was no telling where the day might take you. She wouldn’t be making that mistake again.

“I’ll have you know, I look perfectly presentable,” she announced, holding her chin high. She really didn’t give a damn what he thought.

He pouted. “I know.”

“You’re telling me,” she began, disbelief weaving through every word, “that you prefer my normal traveling attire? I’m always a mess!”

“Yes,” he agreed, “but you’re my beautiful, snarky, temperamental mess. And I wouldn’t have you any other way.”

She dismissed the urge to be offended and leaned in close to him with a confident smirk.

“I think you’d have me anyway you could.”

He sighed, admitting defeat without having to say it.

Her smirk bloomed into a full blown smile. “In fact, I think you’d love me even if I changed my ways and became a real respectable woman.”

“I’d even love you if you became a prude,” he added, meaning every word.

She leaned forward and kissed him, letting the feel of him fill her up. Things were just starting to progress again when he pulled back. His gray eyes shone with reluctant indecision and just a hint of panic.

“We’d still keep the rubber ducky shorts though, right?”

Adley laughed and pulled his lips back to hers, knowing in that moment, that Declan Davies would always be the one man she could never really walk away from.