I take a deep breath.
‘I know it doesn’t matter but I actually didn’t take this photo,’ I start out. Just like the rest of my speech, the audience doesn’t react, so I forge ahead. ‘I wasn’t an employed marine biologist when I went on the trip where most of this research stems from, so my certification wasn’t up to date. And the photographer was a hobbyist aquatic photographer. I went on the trip for my sister, the lead researcher on this presentation, to see if I could find the butterfly wrasse for her. I want to ensure I acknowledge the situation upfront so that in the future the integrity of this research will not be in question. While we are not explicitly certifying the existence of the butterfly wrasse, we are providing the photographic evidence for you all to come to your own conclusions.’
I know Millie is going to kill me for not getting her approval before I did this, but I felt like I had to make some things right. She never told her work explicitly who took the photo, nor was she passing it off as proof, so she can’t really get in trouble, but the acknowledgement that the photo wasn’t taken by a certified marine biologist definitely derails the presentation.
I take another deep breath. The audience fidgets in their seats, bored or unconcerned, I don’t know which. It feels anticlimactic. I click the button and move to the next slide, ready to talk about banana farms.
Before I can start talking about pollution, I see a tentative hand in the audience. For a moment, I wonder if it’s someone scratching the back of their head. I clear my throat. Then the hand shoots up more definitively. I process that it’s a large hand. One that belongs to a tanned forearm. I can feel my heart rate quicken.It can’t be . . . can it?
‘Yes?’ I call out to the dark crowd.
As soon as I hear the rumblings of his voice, a shiver runs down my spine. I would know that voice anywhere. It’s him.
Chapter 32
‘Ahem.’ He clears his throat.
The lights are still blocking my field of vision. I take a step forward so that I can see. Hugh is standing up in the middle of the auditorium. I didn’t know it was possible to forget how handsome someone is until I see him. I can tell he’s unsure about what he’s doing – he’s not standing up as straight as usual, and his jaw is so pronounced it seems like he’s clenching it.
The audience is looking to me expectantly. I open my mouth to speak but suddenly my throat is dry. I practically lunge for the water bottle on the table.
‘I would like to clear something up,’ Hugh says, turning to address the audience behind him. He has an easy way with crowds, I can tell already. ‘I can second that the wrasse was spotted, and I’ve filed a petition for an exception so that my sighting and the photograph can count as proof of existence. I accompanied Andi on her dives and also saw the butterfly wrasse. Just wanted to make sure that was known.’ With that, he sinks back into his seat.
I can barely finish the rest of the presentation, I’m so distracted. I fumble out the closing words and quickly click through the acknowledgement slides, desperate to get backstage, away from the lights, desperate to talk to Hugh.
Part of presenting at conferences involves being around afterwards for questions, so I force myself to exit stage right and linger to see if the participants have anything to discuss. My gaze is locked on a blond head about thirty feet away from me, a couple of rows up, when a young woman appears at my side. She introduces herself as someone working for a Boston institution and asks about a specific pollution statistic. I answer her briefly, giving her Millie’s email in case she has any questions, and send her on her way. I look back up to see if I can spot the blond ahead again, but it’s gone.
My phone vibrates in my pocket. A text from Millie:
No f*cking way. HE WAS THERE? HE INTERRUPTED MY (your) PRESENTATION? Are you so happy? TELL ME EVERYTHING. Are you guys talking? AHHHHH
Told you that he can really steal a show. Now do you see why he’s my nemesis?
I smile at my phone, glad she isn’t mad. I type a message back:
Sorry I ad-libbed some of the talk track.
A hand taps me on the shoulder. ‘Got a minute?’
Instinctively, I know it’s Hugh. My insides melt as I turn around. ‘Hi,’ I breathe.
‘Hey.’
We look at each other in awkward silence. I take in every part of Hugh’s face. His eyelashes, his thick eyebrows, the curl of hair just above his right ear. I can barely look him in the eyes, they’re too strong and too magnetic. Already I feel like he’s pulling me under. My knees start to wobble.
‘So,’ Hugh says, with the start of a smile playing at his lips. ‘This is you now, huh?’
‘I’m pretty sureyou’vealways known me as this. But yes, this is me now.’ I do a half curtsey and immediately feel mortified that I half-curtseyed. Thankfully, Hugh is smiling and doesn’t seem to notice.
‘Did you know I was here?’ he asks when he looks up.
I shake my head.
‘So, you were just gonna tell the whole room regardless?’
‘It was the right thing to do.’ I shrug.
Hugh laughs. I missed the sound of his laugh.
