Chapter Two – A Name She Never Forgot
552 Words
Chapter Two – A Name She Never Forgot
The next morning, Amara woke to soft sunlight stretching across her bed, warming the space where Daniel used to be.
But she didn’t think of him.
Not first.
She thought of Jayden.
The way he’d looked at her—like no time had passed. Like he still remembered every word they never got to say.
She pulled the duvet tighter and closed her eyes, hoping sleep might drag her back into that moment at the market. But all it gave her was memory.
The first time he kissed her, she was sixteen. It was raining then too. Her hair soaked, her cheeks pink, her heart hammering in a way it never had since. He drew a star on her palm in blue ink and said, “So you don’t forget me.”
But she did.
She had to.
Or at least, she told herself she did.
---
Daniel called around noon.
“Hey babe, just checking in. Mum made too much food. You’d love this roast—why didn’t you come again?”
She hated that question. The way it sounded casual, like the answer wasn’t complicated.
“Work,” she lied. “I’ve got deadlines.”
A pause.
“You okay?” he asked.
She hesitated. “Yeah. Just tired.”
“Alright,” Daniel said. “I’ll be back tomorrow. Miss you.”
She didn’t say it back. She couldn’t.
Not with Jayden’s name still stuck to her teeth like sugar.
---
That afternoon, she did the worst thing she could’ve done:
She replied to Jay’s message.
> Coffee sounds good. When and where?
His reply came fast. Too fast.
> Tomorrow. 5pm. The Ivy Lane Café — still your favorite?
She stared at the message. He remembered.
---
The Ivy Lane Café hadn’t changed. Mismatched chairs, fairy lights in jars, the smell of cinnamon and old books. It was the kind of place people fell in love or fell apart. Amara wasn’t sure which she was about to do.
Jayden was already there when she arrived. He stood when he saw her, just like he used to. Gentle. Familiar.
“You came,” he said.
“You asked,” she replied, and something in his smile broke her.
They talked for almost an hour. About work, family, what books they were reading. Nothing deep, nothing dangerous.
Until he leaned forward and said, “Why did you disappear, Mara?”
Her chest tightened. “I didn’t mean to.”
“Yes, you did,” he said. “You were always good at running.”
She looked away. “It was too much. We were too much. I was scared.”
He was quiet for a long moment. “I thought I broke something.”
She met his eyes. “No, Jay. You didn’t. That’s the problem… you never did.”
Silence stretched between them, thick and trembling.
Then, almost like he couldn’t help himself, he reached across the table and touched her hand. Just one finger brushing hers.
It was enough.
Everything she thought she buried came rushing back.
And suddenly, she wasn’t sure what she was more afraid of—the boy she once loved, or the woman she still was when she looked at him.
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End of Chapter Two
- Writer
