Chapter 3

(Evelyn's POV)

The golden hues of the sun settled across our tangled features from the parted blinds, and I groaned when it caressed my face.

"Are you good?" he whispered suddenly, his head rising from the pillows. Julian looked alluring, even though he'd just gotten out of bed. His curly hair was no way out of place, almost like he'd gotten up at one point in the night to give himself a makeover.

The mere thought brought laughter to my lips, but it slipped out as another groan.

Julian shot up at once, every inch of drowsiness gone from his eyes as he took in my frame beside him. He moved then, his fingers grazing the side of my face. "Baby…"

"Hmmm," I whispered, looking up at him, trying not to recoil. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"Shhhh," he shook his head slowly, concern etched in his features. "I noticed you've been in a mood lately, since your birthday. Is it because of your period?"

I wanted to scream that my mood started way before the birthday, that it was so ironic that he hadn't noticed since he was always so focused on me. But instead, I shrugged.

"This won't do," my husband sighed, slipping out of bed. His perfect form basked in the glow of the sun as he stood in front of the window, grabbing a carelessly discarded tee from the floor before walking around the bed.

"Let's go out."

"What?" I blinked, really not wanting to have to get out of bed.

"Come on," Julian drawled, with that look in his eyes again. The one I fell in love with all those years back. The one I still thought I was in love with.

It had always been there, during the good days and then the days when it felt like my whole world was about to end. I remembered the pain from that year, the year we'd lost our baby in a miscarriage.

I had felt everything in those days, but the one emotion that never came close was loneliness because Julian wouldn't let me feel it. He'd taken time off work, off his busy schedule and his conferences, just to be with me.

"It was our baby," he'd said, on the nights when his phone rang with a demand he wasn't keen on seeing through. "You are more important than my company. Than all the money I could ever make."

I believed him then. I'd raised my head to meet his face halfway. I'd melted in his arms when he said, "I'll always put you first."

At least, he never lied about that one.

"Evelyn?"

His voice brought me back to the present, my eyes falling on him. "You need this," he whispered, edging towards the bed. Julian took my hands in his. "Just a walk around our old campus. It's just a short drive from here."

"Where we met," I breathed, a soft smile caressing my face.

"Yeah," Julian nodded. "I'm certain it will cheer you up."

So in thirty minutes, we were hand-in-hand, walking through the same paths from many years ago. Julian held on to my hand, rubbing it at intervals, as a reminder that he was right here.

But he'd never been. Not in years.

"Do you remember the day I brought you here?" Julian asked, his voice piercing through the comfortable silence that had settled between us. "You didn't want to go out, and I had to bribe all your friends to tell you it was a picnic they'd planned."

"Yeah," A chuckle slipped out of my lips. Julian was right. This was a great idea. "And I was so mad when I saw you standing there with flowers in your hands. You even got the worst type."

My husband scratched the side of his head, the way he always did when thrown into an uncomfortable situation. "In my defence," he laughed. "I thought it was what all the girls wanted. Your friends… they said it was fine."

"Those girls," I laughed again.

"You were such an ice-queen then. I had to practically win over all your friends before you said yes to me."

"Not all my friends, though." We'd turned around a corner now, leaving the garden behind. "You were never able to get across to my best friend, Serena. She despised you."

For a minute, I could have sworn that Julian froze; that his grip on my hand tightened and his breath almost came out in a choked whisper. But it was all gone in another minute, so fast that it might as well have been a figment of my imagination.

But I was certain it wasn't.

Julian scratched the side of his head again, pulling his gaze away sharply. "Yeah. She never did like me," he said in one breath, like he was done talking about it. "I would never understand the dynamics of female friendships."

But I wasn't done.

"Do you know she's now an I*******m Influencer?"

Julian stopped, turning to look at me with an almost perfectly surprised look in his eyes.

Almost.

"Really? Serena, an influencer?" he shook his head. "With how angry she always was, I would never have seen that coming."

"She is nearing showbiz now," I continued, watching Julian intently. "She has over twenty thousand followers. That's really insane."

"Interesting," Julian murmured. "I would never have figured, though. I barely pay attention to any other woman. You are my life. You know that, right?"

My tongue refused to function, so I attempted a nod. But as if on cue, a lanky man sauntered over to us, a wary look in his eyes. But when he got closer, his face broke into a reverent smile. One that Julian ate up.

"Mr. Hart," he beamed. It was a junior from the University. I could tell from the varsity jacket he had on, his name tag on the side of his chest. "I thought that was you."

"Hi," Julian grinned, taking his outstretched hand.

"The University has been talking about getting you over for a lecture," the student continued, skipping the whole part of introducing himself. He didn't need to. He understood Julian would forget him in a second.

"That's so nice to know," Julian murmured. "You can, erm….send an email to the company."

"But we know how busy you get." He turned to me, his face breaking into a plea. "We have a lecture currently going on in one of the halls. Is there a way you can convince Mr. Hart to give an impromptu speech there?"

"Hey…"

"It will mean a lot to the students."

"I am on a stroll with my wife," Julian said, even though there was longing in his tone. "I can't leave her."

"You can," I cut in, putting a hand on his back. "Go meet the students, babe. I'll just soak in some of this morning's sun before the weather turns bad."

"Evelyn…"

"It's fine. I'll be here."

I waited for their retreating figure to vanish before retrieving my phone and clicking the livestream titled "Campus Goddess' Fairy-Tale Romance."

By Serena Vale.