Fifteen
Present Day.
Maybe Courtney felt a little guilty for what she was doing, playing with Duncan's feelings, but she was having fun and she knew that whatever happened, she wasn't going to be completely happy either. One way or another she was going to have to break up with someone she loved and she was just glad she'd be seeing Heather soon so she would have someone to talk to about the whole thing.
"You know, you don't have to go," Duncan said, kissing Courtney's neck and shoulder as she tried to put her clothes back on. They were in Duncan's bed, his sheets tangled around their naked bodies, and Courtney's flight was in six hours.
"As much as I want to stay, I've already made a week's worth of plans with Heather in Hawaii," Courtney replied, smiling at Duncan's constant kisses.
"But you'll come back." He was trying to sound casual, and it was heartbreaking for Courtney to hear the desperation in his voice. Desperate was something Duncan had never been. Courtney sighed as Duncan's kisses stopped.
"Yes, of course," she agreed, giving him a small smile and a peck on the lips. She didn't tell him that when she came back it might be to end things, but it was better not to disappoint him now, not if she decided to stay with him.
"Well try not to miss me too much," Duncan teased with a wink and a smirk. Courtney laughed.
"That might be hard," she told him. "After seventeen years apart, a few days together isn't really enough." She gave him another kiss and finished putting on her clothes.
"Hard to argue with that," Duncan said. He watched as Courtney touched up her make up and fixed her hair in the bedroom mirror.
"I'll see you in a week," Courtney assured him. With one last peck on Duncan's lips, she left the house and headed to the airport where she was to meet Heather.
It wasn't hard to spot Heather when Courtney arrived at the airport. Her bags were all bright red and she was arguing with her incredibly attractive husband, Alejandro.
"Courtney!" Heather exclaimed when she saw her friend, stopping mid-argument. They tightly hugged each other, excited to finally be spending time together. "What's it been, like a month?"
"Something like that," Courtney agreed. "Hello Alejandro."
"Courtney," Alejandro greeted her, politely nodding in acknowledgement. "How lovely to see you again."
Heather sighed in annoyance. "Okay, she's here now. You can go home," she demanded.
"Of course," Alejandro said. "Have fun, I love you."
"I love you too," Heather replied. They kissed and Alejandro left the two girls alone. As soon as he was gone, Heather turned to Courtney. "As much as I really want to hear about your life right now, you know my rule about talking on planes. I don't want any of it. So until we are relaxing on the beach with coconut drinks in our hands, we don't gossip, we just small talk. We have an entire week to catch up."
Courtney nodded in agreement. She was relieved Heather had these rules, because as much as she wanted to talk about her time with Duncan, the airport didn't really seem like an appropriate setting for such a conversation.
The plane ride was only a couple of hours, and Courtney spent the entire time watching trashy romance movies from the 80's. Heather was sitting next to her with a sleep mask on and headphones in, listening to a podcast. Courtney couldn't help but think that it should have been the other way around.
When they had finally collected their bags and arrived at the hotel they were staying at, they changed into their swimsuits and found a place by the pool where they could relax in the sun. They each ordered a cocktail and settled into their loungers, soaking in the sunlight.
"So tell me," Heather said, taking a sip of her piña colada and closing her eyes. "What's been happening? How's the husband? Any plans for starting a family?"
Courtney was not sure how to answer the questions Heather was bombarding her with, and she didn't even know if she wanted to tell her about the whole Duncan thing anymore. It was all so complicated, she couldn't make sense of it herself, how was she expected to put it into words so it made sense to Heather?
"Well I've spent the last few days in our home town," Courtney began, figuring that was the easiest way to start. This made Heather sit up abruptly, her face a mixture of excitement and disbelief.
"No way!" she exclaimed. "Tell me everything. Did you see anyone from high school?"
Courtney pondered the question for a moment, wondering if now was really the right time to tell her about Duncan. "No, not really," she lied. "I mean I have no idea what everyone looks like now so I might have passed them in the street, but I didn't get to speak to anyone."
This made Heather relax, disappointed. "Oh, well that's boring," she said, screwing her face up. "Anyway, let me tell you what I've been up to." Heather then launched into a rant about how hard it was to take care of two children under the age of five when both her and Alejandro had full-time jobs.
Courtney didn't really feel bad about lying to Heather. She knew she was going to tell her the truth eventually, she just wanted to feel more relaxed. They'd only been in Hawaii for a few hours and she had known going into it that it would take her a bit longer to unwind. She was still pondering everything that had happened over the last week, trying to make a decision about where to go with her life now.
"Wake up, sleepy head, we've got a big day planned," Heather told Courtney, opening the curtains in their shared room to let the sun in. Courtney groaned from exhaustion. She'd barely slept at all last night, after tossing and turning over the huge decision she was still to make. This was not a happy wake up call.
"Do I have to?" Courtney mumbled into her pillow, trying to escape the sun that was illuminating the entire room. Heather sighed and pulled the covers from Courtney's bed.
"Yes. We've paid for this trip and we're not going to miss out on anything," she snapped. "First, we're going for a hike to a beautiful waterfall, then we're getting massages and face masks in the retreat's beauty spa, and then we're getting drunk by the pool and you're going to tell me what really happened when you went back home."
The last part made Courtney sit up with a start. How had Heather known she was hiding something? She always thought of herself as a good liar, and if the ever self-involved Heather could see straight through her, it was sure to make her start doubting her abilities.
"Courtney." Heather sat on the edge of Courtney's bed and took both hands in her own. "We've been friends for twenty years now. Of course I'm going to know when you've got something to share." She dropped Courtney's hands and stood up. "Now get dressed and let's get hiking."
The hike to the waterfall was breathtaking, but it was nothing compared to the waterfall itself. There was greenery that climbed the rocks and the water was so clear that the bottom of the natural pool would have been visible, had the water not been so deep.
They weren't thrilled that they were in the company of strangers, but once they dove into the water and started swimming they felt so calm and refreshed that it no longer bothered them, even with several middle-aged men with beer bellies walking around shirtless. They weren't about to let old men ruin their perfectly good holiday.
When they returned from their hike they each received deep tissue massages and some kind of mud facial, which only relaxed them further. It wasn't until afterwards when they were changing back into their swimsuits that Courtney began to feel nervous again. She wasn't scared of how Heather would react or anything, she was more afraid of having to say how she was really feeling out loud because it meant that it was real, that she had to admit these feelings to herself instead of trying to deny them as she had been doing.
Heather ordered them both a margherita and they found themselves some pool loungers to relax on.
"Okay, hit me with it," Heather said to Courtney after they'd both settled in to their loungers and received their drinks. Courtney stirred her margherita as she thought of how to introduce such a delicate topic.
"So I knew I was going to have to be there for about a week, which never really appealed to me, but I thought I may as well check out what the town was like now," Courtney began. "You know, like what had changed and what was still there, and maybe I'd bump into someone or... I don't know, I didn't expect much.
"Anyway I thought I'd check out the places I used to go regularly so I went to Lazy Joe's expecting Joe to still be there but he'd passed away a few years ago and..." Courtney trailed off as tears started rolling down her cheeks. "And now it's owned by Duncan."
Heather immediately sat upright, sliding her sunglasses onto her head which Courtney knew meant she was serious. "Are you telling me you saw your asshole first boyfriend? The one who never bothered to write to you after you moved away? The one you haven't seen in seventeen years?"
Courtney brushed her tears away with the heels of her hands and nodded. "Do you know another one?" she laughed, but it immediately turned back into crying.
"Tell me nothing happened," Heather pleaded, skulling her drink as if this were all just too much for her. And she hadn't even heard the full story. She immediately called someone over to bring them more drinks.
"We talked," Courtney told her. Heather nodded in approval.
"That's okay, talking is good," she said, more to herself than Courtney.
"But I found out it wasn't his fault and all of these old feelings came rushing up and we had sex a few times and now I'm so confused because even though it's been so long I think..." she trailed off again as she looked at Heather's face. It was a look of shock and anger.
"You had sex?" she demanded. "And don't you dare finish that sentence with 'I think I love him' because you and I both know it's all just nostalgia because you want to feel young again. I get it! But you cheated on your husband and even though I know I've done a lot of horrible things, especially in high school, you are an adult now and I don't condone cheating."
Courtney let out an exasperated sigh. "You don't know what it's like, Heather," she said. "It's like I've been given a second chance with the person I was supposed to be with. Robert and I aren't right for each other, anyone can see that. I'm annoyed at myself for taking so long to figure it out. We have nothing in common! And I know he's been cheating on me, too." She laid back in her lounger and sipped her drink. "If it's going to end I want to be the first to leave."
Heather laid back too and grabbed Courtney's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I didn't realise. I just want what's best for you."
Courtney gave Heather a smile, but there was a thought nagging at the back of her mind. That's what my parents always said. Now look where I am.
Hey guys! Sorry it's been such a long time since the last chapter, I've been pretty busy with uni life and keeping up social appearances and whatnot... Not sure how long it will be until the next chapter but I'll try to get it up as soon as possible! Love you all xoxo