I dried my tears and sent Sarah Harding a message.
Once this interview was done, I could leave.
Our brief exchange on WhatsApp revealed something I hadn't expected: Sarah and I had spent time in the same orphanage as children.
We agreed to meet at three o'clock at a coffee shop on the south side of town.
Maybe it was some petty competitive instinct, but I made sure I looked good.
I wore the most expensive dress in my closet, did my makeup light and natural, and curled my hair on the spot.
Going to meet Julius Henson's first love, the least I could do was look the part.
She was already there when I arrived.
Prettier than I'd imagined.
Just like her name suggested, she was vivid, full of life, with a stubborn spark that refused to quit.
“Alma!”
The moment she saw me, she stood and waved. On her wrist was a red string bracelet threaded with a tiny bell engraved with a blessing.
“Over here, over here.”
Her wrist swung and the bell rang, crisp and clear. I recognized it. Julius and I had picked it out together not long ago.
He'd said it was a gift for a business partner's daughter. I'd believed him.
I walked over and sat down.
“I remember you liked sweet things. Even at the orphanage, you'd add an extra spoonful of sugar to the plain oatmeal.”
She pushed a mango smoothie across the table toward me.
We'd only overlapped for six months, yet she remembered details like that.
Julius didn't. Last month, for my birthday, he'd gone ahead and swapped the mango cake I'd ordered for a matcha one.
And when he brought it home, a corner was already missing.
He said he'd given that piece to Sarah.
“You have a good memory,”
“Of course I do,”
She looked at me and smiled, her eyes curving into warm crescents.
“Alma, you saved my life!”
“The winter I came to the orphanage, I had a fever so bad I started seizing. You were the one who got up and woke the caretaker and got me to the hospital.”
“The doctor said if I'd been brought in even an hour later, the fever could have caused brain damage.”
My fingers stiffened around my cup.
I never knew there was that kind of history between us.
“I remember now,”
I said, my voice suddenly thick.
There were words I swallowed back down.
I should have confronted her about her relationship with Julius. I should have questioned her character, thrown the drink in her face.
But looking at the girl beaming at me with such open warmth, I couldn't do it.
“Alma, how long have you and Julius been together?”
As we were leaving, she asked the question out of nowhere.
“Three years.”
“Three years,”
she repeated, her face glowing with genuine happiness for us.
“You two must be so solid. Julius seems cold on the surface, but he's actually the most devoted person I know.”
“Once he decides something matters to him, he never, ever forgets.”
She was right. And she was wrong.
Julius was devoted, yes. But the person he was devoted to was her. The one he never forgot was her.
On the drive home, a message from Julius came through.
【Dinner meeting tonight. Won't be back.】
【Got it.】
I took a detour to the store and bought a bunch of fresh gardenias, then went home and arranged them in a vase.
On impulse, I snapped a photo of the flowers and posted it to Instagram with a single line.
【Love yourself before you love anyone else.】
Then I booked a flight overseas. The day after tomorrow.
By the time I finished packing, I noticed Sarah had liked the post, and Julius had left me a rare WhatsApp message.
【You interviewed Sarah today?】
【She's not in the best health. Don't ask too many questions that might upset her.】
Aside from his usual "working late, won't be back," that was the most he'd said to me in weeks.
Make do.
