“I do. And you guys, too.” He reached out and touched my cheek. “I’m sorry I left. I shouldn’t have. Remember late nights in the dining hall, goofing off when we were supposed to be studying for Bio? Or when Gretch would visit, and we’d all go out? One of us would inevitably get busted with a fake ID.” He smiled. “I miss that.”
“I missed you, too, but Greg?”
He dropped his arm. “Yeah.”
“What makes this time different?”
“I realize now what we had. Not just me and Gretchen, but all of us. Friendship, love. It’s important. I gave it all up for my career.”
I narrowed my eyes on him. “For your career?”
“Yes, Liv. For the job in Japan.”
“Is that really why?” I asked. “I always thought you left for other reasons. Because you were scared.”
“No, I went for work. I knew it would hurt her, so I didn’t say anything until it was confirmed.”
“But now you realize . . .” I prompted. When he didn’t finish the sentence, I said, “You now realize that was the wrong way to go about it. Right?”
He flashed me a smile. “Of course. I should’ve been upfront.”
“Well, you know I can’t lie to her about seeing you.”
“I know,” he said. “It’s okay.”
“So, what are you doing? Where are you working?”
“An accounting firm over on Monroe. I’m close enough that you and I can have lunch together.”
“I’d like that.”
“We should all take a trip up to Notre Dame this weekend, visit a few of our old haunts.”
I gave him a sympathetic smile. “I can’t just pick up and leave for the weekend, Greg.”
“Right,” he said, nodding. “How’s married life? I heard about the wedding. Sorry I didn’t reach out.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “At that point, so much time had passed.”
“Bill, right? Your husband?”
“Yep.” I nodded. “I’m excited for you to meet him.”
“Gretchen’s got this big work party coming up,” he suggested. “We could all go.”
“That sounds fun,” I said.
“Well.” He sighed. “I’ll let you get back to work then.”
As we embraced again, I said, “It’s good to see you.”
He handed me his card. “Anytime you want to grab lunch, dinner, drinks, whatever. Just let me know.”
I clasped it between my palms. “I will.”
With a kiss on the cheek, he was gone. Immediately, I ran back to my office to text Gretchen and demand that she meet me for dinner.
* * *
