When morning came, Michael was still wide awake, looking like he had barely gotten a wink of sleep.
He couldn’t think of anything else but Hailey. Just the thought of her made his heart constrict.
What on earth had happened to her? Why did she change her identity?
Was it because she feared a backlash from her family? Or was she scared of being found out?
Or maybe she just had a desire to start a new life?
Michael let out a heavy sigh.
Fourteen years. He had been waiting for her for fourteen years now.
Sometimes he couldn’t understand why she was the only woman who occupied his mind for years. It was surprising, to say the least. It was as though his heart never wavered at all.
They had been friends in high school. Sort of. In fact, Hailey watched him like a hawk and often scolded him when he did something wrong.
Until now, he didn’t know why she paid so much attention to him. Maybe it was just her strict and hardworking nature. Maybe she just felt sorry for him. Or maybe she just wanted him to go on the right path and was concerned as a friend.
But that was it. That was what their relationship was. In the past, he used to get frustrated that she treated him like a little kid, like a mother trying to set him straight.
But as time passed, his perspective changed. When he saw her in one of her vulnerable moments…
Maybe it began that day.
That day when he started to fall in love with her.
Michael was snapped out of his thoughts when he suddenly heard the sound of an alarm coming from his clock. Groaning, he reached out and turned it off.
He had been waiting for years to see Hailey again.
But now… he wasn’t so sure.
Would she even be happy to see him?
***
Matthew spent the entire day buried in paperwork, as if trying to distract himself from thinking about Hailey. There was a flutter in his heart at the thought of seeing her again, but now that the opportunity presented itself, he was suddenly very unsure.
It had been a long time since he had last seen her. He missed her so much, but seeing how unexpectedly she had changed since then, he couldn’t help but hesitate.
Would she be happy to see him again? Would she remember him? After all, they had only met in high school. They had been teenagers then.
Now they were adults in their thirties.
Though to be honest, Michael was most afraid of what he would feel if Hailey didn’t remember him, that he didn’t really have that much impact on her life after all, not like how vivid the memory of her was for him.
Michael sighed and unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt before he slowly took out the pendant of the necklace he was wearing.
It was a silver heart-shaped pendant that looked like new, even though it was probably more than fourteen years old. He had taken care of it over the years, never letting it rust or get scratched. He rarely took it off, only taking it off when he was about to shower or sleep.
He didn’t like to leave it at home and just wore it all the time, and it was as if Hailey had been watching over him through the years, proud of the success he had achieved.
But now it was time to give it back.
This necklace that belonged to Hailey van Gowen.
Hailey… who was now named Camille Parker.
It was so surreal. He couldn’t even imagine calling her by another name other than Hailey. To him, she was Hailey van Gowen, and nobody else.
Camille Parker…
Michael took a deep breath before grabbing his phone from the desk and opening his contacts.
He had asked Grady for Hailey’s new number and Grady had given it to him immediately. Now the name ‘Hailey’ stared back at him from the screen and his palms started to sweat.
Funny, he hadn’t felt this nervous in a long time.
Michael steeled himself for a moment before eventually pressing ‘call’.
It rang for a while. Michael could feel his heart pounding in his chest and the pounding in his eardrums grew louder.
And then, a clicking sound was heard.
“Hello?”
Michael’s breath caught in his throat.
The voice was deep, mature, but obviously female.
“Hello,” he said slowly. “Is this Hailey? Hailey van Gowen?”
There was a pause before the voice curtly said, “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid you have the wrong number. Goodbye.”
Michael’s heart stopped. “Wait, Vanilla!”
There was a stunned silence from the other end of the line. “What… What did you just say?”
“Va—Vanilla.” Michael swallowed, feeling the anxiety build up in his chest. “It’s me, Vanilla.”
“…Noah?”
Michael let out a breath that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
Hearing his old nickname brought back so many memories…
“Yes. Yes, it’s me. It’s Michael.”
“Oh my — Noah!” Hailey’s voice was filled with delight. “Noah! Is this really you? Oh my god, it’s been so long! How—How did you know my number? How have you been? I’m…”
Her voice trailed off as the realization started to hit.
“Ah… You know, don’t you?” she whispered.
“It’s been so long, indeed.” Michael’s features softened. “You can tell me everything when we meet. I missed you.”
Hailey paused for a moment. “I… I missed you too, Michael. I’m… Okay, I’m really, really glad to hear from you, but… I never expected this…”
“How about we meet up tomorrow at Liezel’s Café? You know where that is, right? We should talk and catch up.”
“Um, about that… I can’t go during the weekends, Michael. I can spare some time next week on Monday during my lunch break, but—”
“That’s fine. I just want to see you again.”
There was another pause from Hailey. “That… That would be great, Michael. I mean it.”
“Great. Save my number, all right?”
“Of course. It’s nice to hear from you again, Noah,” Hailey said gently.
Michael felt his heart skip a beat.
It was really a different feeling when she called him that.
When the call ended, he slumped back in his seat, feeling a flutter in his stomach that he hadn’t felt in years.
He confirmed it for himself now.
He was still in love with Hailey van Gowen.