Chapter 2 — You Look Different
935 Words
Rebecca couldn’t breathe. She couldn't do it properly. Not the way she used to. Not with him standing there, looking at her like that.
Not Andre.
Not the boy with oversized glasses, messy hair, and ink-stained fingers. Not the one who used to trip over his own feet when she dragged him into trouble. Not the one who stayed up all night helping her survive homework she barely understood.
This man in front of her? He was something else entirely.
Tall. Broad shoulders. Controlled in a way that felt deliberate. Like every movement, every glance, every word was chosen not accidental.
Rebecca blinked once. Then again. Still him.
“…Andre?” she repeated, softer this time, like saying it too loudly might break whatever strange illusion this was.
His mouth curved slightly, like he’d been waiting years to hear that name again.
“Yeah,” he said.
That voice.
Deeper. Rougher. Steadier. Rebecca swallowed.
“You—” she gestured vaguely at him, like her brain couldn’t decide what part of him to process first. “You look…”
Dangerous. Illegal. Like trouble wrapped in confidence. “…different.”
One brow lifted, amused. “Different?”
“You used to look like you needed protection from sunlight.”
There it was. Their rhythm. Familiar. Easy. Too easy.
A quiet chuckle left him. “And you used to threaten people with a spoon.”
“I stabbed you with that spoon.”
“You missed.”
“I was eight!”
“You’re still missing.”
Rebecca scoffed, folding her arms but her lips betrayed her, twitching. God. Why did this feel so normal? It shouldn’t.
Not after years. Not after silence. Not after he left.
“Where did you go?”
The question slipped out before she could stop it.
And just like that the air shifted.
Alexandre’s expression didn’t fall completely, but something in his eyes changed. Something quieter. More careful.
“UK,” he said. “Scholarship.”
“I know that,” Rebecca replied quickly. “I meant after.”
Why didn’t you come back? Why didn’t you call?
Why did you disappear like I didn’t matter? She didn’t say it. But it was there anyway. Between them.
Alexandre exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair. “I lost your number.”
Rebecca let out a small, disbelieving laugh. “That’s your excuse?”
“I tried finding you.”
“So did I.”
Silence. Not the easy kind they used to share. This one had edges. Rebecca looked away first. Of course she did. Because looking at him too long felt like reopening something she had spent years forcing shut.
“You look…” she tried again, quieter now. “Successful.”
He tilted his head slightly. “That a compliment?”
“It’s an observation.”
“Mm.”
She risked another glance. Big mistake he was still looking at her. Not casually. Not politely. Intently.
Like he was memorizing her all over again. It made her skin warm. Annoyingly.
“So,” she cleared her throat, taking a small step back. “You’re back for what? Visiting?”
“Work.” That caught her attention.
“Work?”
“I’m a lawyer now.”
Rebecca blinked. Of course he was. Of course the boy who used to correct teachers turned into someone who argued professionally.
“That makes sense,” she said. “You always liked talking too much.”
“I like winning,” he corrected calmly.
Something about the way he said it quiet, confident made her stomach flip in a way she refused to examine.
“Still annoying,” she muttered.
“Still reckless,” he replied. Their eyes held. Too long.
Rebecca looked away again. Because this? This was dangerous.
And she had built a life that didn’t include complications like him.
“Becks.”
Her breath hitched. That name No one said it like that.
No one said it at all anymore.
Rebecca’s fingers curled slightly at her sides.
“You shouldn’t call me that,” she said, aiming for casual and missing.
“Why not?”
Because it still belongs to you. Because it still does something to me. She shrugged instead. “It’s childish.”
A pause.
“Did you miss me?”
Her head snapped up. “What?”
Alexandre didn’t move. Didn’t soften. Didn’t take it back. “Did you miss me, Becks?”
Her heart stuttered. Once. Twice. Then picked up speed. Rebecca laughed. Too quick. Too light.
“No.” A lie..
“Not even a little?”
“No.”
Another lie.
His lips curved slightly. Like he knew. Like he could always tell. And maybe that was what unsettled her the most.
“Rebecca!”
Gabriella’s voice cut through the moment.
Rebecca stepped back immediately, like she’d just remembered how to breathe.
“Saved by the bell,” she muttered.
Alexandre huffed a quiet laugh. But his gaze stayed on her. Unmoving. Unapologetic.
Gabriella grabbed her arm, already talking fast. “People are asking for you and also…” she leaned in, whispering loudly, “why is that man looking at you like that?”
Rebecca didn’t answer. Because she knew exactly why and she refused to say it out loud. As she walked away, she felt it. That pull. That awareness. She didn’t turn back. She wouldn’t. But she knew
He was still watching her.
Behind her, Alexandre Laurent allowed himself a small smile.
Because after all these years…
He had finally found her again and this time
He wasn’t letting her go.
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