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‘Hey, Celina.’

Not the most enthusiastic greeting, but blame it on Gwen and Aaron, plus Celina being the last person I want to see right now. I harbour no profound dislike for my ex, and that’s exactly the thing: I don’t have any sort of feelings for her. I didn’t have any right from the get-go. I was delusional enough to base our encounters on a “maybe”, grasping at straws about my lukewarm attitude turning into something deeper. Sadly, it never did.

If the place is taken already… my mind helpfully provides, as Celina nearly jumps to reach my cheek and plants a kiss that lands just at the corner of my mouth, dragging me back to the here and now.

‘How are you doing? I heard about the European tour!’ she gushes. ‘So happy for you!’

‘Thanks.’

Am I being an asshole for giving her a shoulder so cold it might as well be frozen?

‘Shall we have a drink to celebrate?’ Her voice is hopeful, her expression expectant, but I’m not planning on repeating the mistake, nor do I want to give her fake hope.

‘I’ve got a few things to catch up with before leaving.’ I lift my arm to hail the cab that thankfully appears right on time.

‘Oh…’ The voice is deflated, as if we had made plans already that I ended up ruining.

‘Gotta go. Nice seeing you.’ I quickly open the door to avoid hugging her.

‘Likewise,’ she manages.

It’s a relief when the vehicle starts moving towards my place. It’s not exactly home. I’m on the road so much it feels like a glorified hotel room—minus the room service and the housekeeping, which are covered by delivery and a cleaner respectively—but it’s as close to a home as it gets. For now. Because I want to finally try and make the real home happen this time when I cross the pond. Try being the thorn in the sentence; it might result in failing.

When I finally plug in my phone, I see the notification I’ve been waiting for.

Corrie

Sterkte!

Corrie

Looking forward to seeing you, too!

And an hour after the two messages, another one.

Corrie

How did it go?

Corrie

Never mind, I’ll check the Internet.

Corrie

🤣🤣🤣

I cringe at the idea, and although googling myself isn’t my favorite pastime, I check the post-interview comments to see what Corrie probably read when she checked. And the Internet might rarely disappoint, but it definitely infuriates—other than the comments about the famous bras and my anatomy, there’s a photo of Celina giving me that kiss.

Lovebirds getting back together?

I curse at the caption beneath the pixelated black-and-white photo, at the speed with which allegations turn into juicy gossip. Then suspicion takes hold, and I have to ask.

Me

Did you tell Celina where to find me?

Aaron