“And now? Are you okay? I mean, you said you didn’t speak to your folks. Is this the reason why? Do they still not accept you?”
Angie looked toward the ceiling. “That’s the tip of the iceberg with them. I don’t know where to start. They controlled everything in my life until I got married, which is why I got married so young, and that was a big mistake, let me tell you. Then I found out they’d spent a large chunk of my earnings.”
“Whoa. That’s horrible. Why would they do that? I thought your parents were loaded?” Hannah caught herself. “Sorry.”
Angie laughed. “They’re the kind of people who like to look like they are, but they have no money in the bank. Not a red cent. That’s why they always rode me so hard. So, I made a choice a few years ago that it would be better for me to protect myself and have some distance. I send them cards at the holidays, but that’s about it.”
“I’m sorry,” she said again. She had always taken her close-knit family for granted. How lucky she was!
She pulled Angie into her arms, resting her chin on top of Angie’s head while Angie nuzzled into her. They stayed that way for precious minutes, Hannah patting Angie’s back and rubbing her smooth upper arms.
When they finally separated, Hannah grabbed a box of tissues from the coffee table. She passed them to Angie, looking away while she dabbed under her eyes.
“There’s something else I thought we should talk about,” Angie said.
“What? Oh! Last night.”
It was a relief to see Angie laughing again. “Yeah, um…” Angie said, until Hannah jumped in.
“I’m guessing we’re not really supposed to be doing that, with you being the coach and all.”
“Well, no. I mean, I wanted to, obviously, but I got kind of carried away. I also don’t want to do anything to distract you from the Games. I remember how intense it was, this part of the training. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Hannah said softly. “You can stop apologizing. So, what are we going to do?”
“I don’t know. What do you want to do?”
“Can I tell you something? I’m finding this all very confusing. It’s so strange. Sometimes it feels like no time has passed at all since I’ve seen you, then other times it feels like we’re totally different people. Do you know what I mean?”
“I know exactly what you mean. Right? It’s weird! We never spent more than two weeks together, but I feel like I really know you? What is that about?”
“Do you think it feels weird because we got interrupted back then? Things might have naturally run their course?”
“But we never got the chance to find out? Yes. I think you might be right. God, it’s such a relief to be able to talk about this,” Angie said.
“It is, isn’t it?”
“Really is. I mean, I never behave the way I did last night,” Angie said with her hand on her chest. “I was all over you!”
“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry again. It takes two. Enough.”
“All right, I’ll try to stop. So, again, what do we do?”
“I said a while ago I thought it would be cool to get to know one another again as adults. I still think that, but now I feel like we can be a bit more honest about it. So, what do you think? Do you want to be friends for real?”
“More than anything. Can I please see you again before I go? I know you’re busy, but I’d love to talk more. Can I cook you lunch tomorrow? Or dinner?”
“I’d love that. I really would.”
Chapter Fifteen
Hannah ran on the treadmill, staring up at the television suspended over the machines. The talking head on the screen, a blond woman with a square jaw, had interviewed her a few times. Reporters always looked so different when you saw them in person.
Over the silent movement of the reporter’s mouth, an Elvis Costello song played through her headphones. While she watched, she mused over the fact that Angie would be at her house again in an hour.
The anger and bewilderment that had lived in Hannah for so long didn’t have a home anymore. All she felt was excitement at the thought of spending time with Angie again.
At her apartment, Hannah rinsed off sweat and chlorine. It was almost time for Angie to arrive and she still had to do something about her hair. It hung around her face, stringy and damp. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d blow-dried it.
She rummaged around in the cupboard under the sink, cocking her head. The bathroom was on the second level, and she thought she’d heard a knocking on the front door at the bottom of the stairs. A moment later there was a gentle tapping.
“Shit!” she said, reaching for the robe on the back of her bathroom door. It had an ugly paisley pattern on it, but it had been a gift from Viv, and she liked the soft fabric. She glanced at herself in the mirror and decided that she looked so bad she could only laugh about it.
As she opened the door, she pulled the belt tighter around her waist. Angie was bright and summery, standing on her small porch in her brown leather sandals and a sky-blue sundress.
“Hey.”
Angie paused, a grocery bag clutched in each hand. Her gaze dragged up and down Hannah’s body, her eyes wide. “Sorry. Did I get the time wrong?”
“No! My bad, time got away from me. Come on in. Here, let me take one of those.”
Their fingers brushed when Hannah took a bag and Angie followed. Hannah set the bag down on the white marble kitchen island.
“Do you mind if I…” Hannah said, gesturing upstairs.
“Of course! Can I get started on dinner? I’m going to make us tofu and sweet potato curry. Does that sound okay?”
“That’s perfect. Help yourself to anything you need. I won’t be long.”
There wasn’t time to do anything about her hair, but she put on some mascara and lip gloss, then dressed in a loose button-up white shirt. She wasn’t used to the noises of someone puttering about in the kitchen, pans rattling and the fan over the hotplate whirring.
“Can you find everything okay down there?” she called.
“I’ve got this, don’t worry!”
She zipped up her jeans. On the steps, she lingered to observe Angie moving around her kitchen, her feet bare. At the island where Angie had laid the chopping board, she sliced onion in smooth strokes.
“Can I help with anything?” Hannah asked, finally descending the last few steps.
“Thanks, but I’m good. Why don’t you take a load off? You must be tired from training all day,” she said, pointing with the knife toward the stool at the island.
Angie pushed a glass of ice water toward her, which included a wedge of lemon. “Here. Hydrate.”
“Jeez, I could get used to this.”
“I’m here one more day, so I could come over and cook dinner for you tomorrow night too if that’s not too much? It’s nice to have the company when you travel as much as I’ve been doing.”
“You’re very welcome if you don’t mind waiting on me. So, how do you like hanging out in Melbourne? What did you do today?”
“I went to the art gallery. There are some great permanent collections there. Saw the aquarium, too, and then I just sat around having coffee and people watching. It’s fun being a tourist. I almost don’t want to go back to Brisbane, but we’ve got lots of strategy sessions coming up.” She went to the stovetop, carefully setting out everything she’d need.
“You like cooking, don’t you?”
Angie took a band from around her wrist and tied back her hair, uncovering the long column of her neck. “I do. I find it super meditative. Know what I mean? It really takes my mind off anything I’m worried about. I love finding new recipes and making my own adjustments and everything. Plus you get to eat something delicious at the end. Well, hopefully. I like cooking vegetarian dishes too. It makes me a bit more creative.”
“I’m sure this will be delicious. It already smells so good.”
The scents of frying onion, garlic, and spices filled the room. Angie
glanced back over her shoulder while she stirred. When their eyes locked, Hannah looked away, picking up her water glass.
They sat down to eat at Hannah’s small round table. She’d always loved this table, a walnut top with white legs. When she was upstairs, Angie had set it with cloth napkins and a jug of water.
Hannah unfolded her napkin, admiring the embroidered pattern around the edges. “Where did you get these? Did you bring them over?”
“They’re yours but you don’t know what you have in your kitchen, do you?”
“You have me there. I eat a lot of eggs, make a lot of protein shakes and stuff. But I don’t entertain very much. They’ve probably been wherever you found them for years. My ex might have bought them. She was into entertaining.”
Angie’s hands slowed in their work. “Oh, right.”
“You’re a good cook, Angie,” Hannah said after another bite. “You can for sure come over to make me dinner again!”
“Glad you like it. I’ve been toying with the idea of getting into something food related for a while. Like starting or joining a catering company, training as a chef or something like that. I don’t know exactly what yet. I just can’t see myself being involved with the swimming world for the rest of my life, you know?”
“You should do it!”
“Maybe one day. So…Are you with someone now?”
Hannah coughed, a chunk of sweet potato almost caught in her throat. Did Angie really think they’d have kissed if she was already in a relationship? Of course, some people did things like that, but she’d always been strictly monogamous.
“Excuse me. No, I’m single. Haven’t met anyone I’ve liked for a while now. Doesn’t help that I’ve got photographers following me around, and I don’t want the press to know too much about my personal life. My love life is a bit of a mess, I guess.”
“And your ex, the one who bought the napkins. Did she live here?”
“No, she didn’t live here. I mean, it was serious. We were together for a couple of years, but I’ve never lived with anyone. Is that weird?” Hannah asked, screwing up her nose. According to Marie, she was a commitment-phobe. According to herself, she just liked her own space and company.
Angie smirked. “You’re weird, sure, but not for that reason.”
She laughed. “How am I weird?”
“I don’t know, you were just always a little different. You march to the beat of your own drum. It’s what I always liked about you.”
“Now, your turn,” she said, flushing at the compliment.
“Oh shit, what?”
“What’s the story. What was it like with Trent?”
When Angie grimaced, Hannah scrambled to cover. “Sorry, I know you’re divorced. I guess it’s not the nicest topic for you.”
“No, it’s okay,” Angie said, touching Hannah’s hand. “I honestly don’t know what I was thinking. I was just trying to do all the right things like my parents wanted. The husband, the house. I’m so thankful we didn’t get as far as having kids! When I look back, I can see I always had one foot out the door. It would have been a disaster if we’d stayed together. At least we made a clean break. Or, as clean as it gets when your ex hates you, anyway.”
“Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure some of my exes hate me as well.”
“You hated me too, didn’t you?” Angie said, gamely meeting her eye. “Before I told you what happened?”
“Don’t be silly, I didn’t hate you. I mean, it hurt, but like I keep saying, we were just kids. It’s crazy that we’re even still talking about it. How long were we together, like a month or something? And we didn’t even spend a lot of time in the same place!”
“We were together for three months, but it felt like longer to me,” Angie said, not smiling. “I think we would have been together for a long time if my parents hadn’t involved themselves.”
Hannah sobered. “I always thought that too. Even though we lived in different countries. So what about long-term stuff for you, anyway? Have you been with anyone since Trent?”
“Sure, I had a girlfriend for a while. I met her in California, she’s a nurse. It was hard with me moving a lot after I retired. I don’t think she really got it. I think the two of us being swimmers had a lot to do with us being so tight. Don’t you think?”
“Yep. Maybe your parents figured out how close we were from our letters, and that’s why they freaked out so much?”
“Probably, sure. But I wouldn’t know, because those jerks threw out all your letters.”
“Oh no, not my masterpieces!”
“You can joke, but I was really upset! I still got to keep that watch, though. I never told them you gave it to me.”
“The mermaid watch?”
“That’s right, I still have it in fact.”
“Holy shit. Were you wearing it the first day you came and saw me in Bondi? I thought I saw something.”
“I was. Do you think that’s strange?” Angie said, searching her face.
“Not at all. I’ve still got all your letters.” Hannah pointed above her head. “They’re in a shoebox up there.”
“Oh wow, can I see them? I have to see them,” Angie said, fists clenched in front of her mouth. “I’m terrified. Do you think you could get them, please?”
Hannah scooped up the last mouthful of curry, then scraped back her chair. She ran up the stairs, grabbing the box from a shelf in the built-in wardrobe in her spare room. As she was moving a box out of the way, she heard water running downstairs.
“Don’t you do the dishes! You cooked, I’ll do them later,” she said, working the shoebox out from under a pile of bags. It was the same box she’d always stored her letters in, covered with faded pictures of celebrities she’d cut out of magazines and pasted to the sides.
“I haven’t opened this box for years. Not since before Seoul,” she said, breathless from running down the stairs so fast. She handed it to Angie, who carried it toward the living room like it was a precious artifact.
“I had a special box too, you know. It was this carved wooden thing I’d bought at an antique store. I got so mad at my parents I broke it! Smashed it into pieces. What a drama queen.”
Hannah sat beside her on the sofa as Angie set the box on the coffee table and removed the lid. She selected a random envelope and took out the folded piece of paper, leaning back against the sofa. Hannah watched her eyes move back and forth across the page.
“‘I think about you all day every day and everything I do it just feels like I’m waiting to see you again.’ Wow, we were pretty intense, huh? Or at least, I was.”
“Oh, I was right there with you. You might not have the letters, but I remember that.”
Angie dropped the letter onto the coffee table, red-cheeked and scowling.
“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. If I’d known it was going to upset you, I wouldn’t have gotten them out.”
Hesitantly, she rested a palm on Angie’s knee. Angie put her hand on top of Hannah’s. “I’m not upset. I’m angry. My parents stole so much from me. My money, you…I thought I’d come to terms with a lot of it, but I’m still so mad at them.”
“And why shouldn’t you be? It’s normal that you’re angry. Rage away. But it didn’t last forever. You’re sitting here with me, right now.”
A smile lightened Angie’s face. “That’s right. I’m not a teenager anymore. I can do whatever I want. I’m free from them. They can’t control me anymore.”
“That’s right. Screw them!”
“Yeah! Fuck you, Mom, fuck you, Dad!”
They were both giggling now, and Angie yelled, beating her chest. “That feels so good to say. It feels good to let it out.”
Hannah grabbed her in a hug.
They sat holding one another, hearts beating as one.
Chapter Sixteen
The next day, Hannah set aside extra time to make herself presentable, going home early to prepare for dinner with Angie. It meant skipping the massage she had booked,
but she didn’t mind.
In the shower, she sang “Love Will Tear Us Apart.” It was her favorite song once, but she hadn’t listened to it for years. All day she had looked forward to tonight—a tasty dinner and good conversation with Angie.
Somehow caught again, she heard the door opening while she was pulling a form-fitting black shirt over her head. At least she’d already found time to dry her hair.
In her rush to get up here, she must have forgotten to lock the door. It was strange that Angie would just let herself in like that, but maybe she’d been knocking for a while, and Hannah hadn’t heard. She jogged toward the top of the stairs.
“Hey!” she said, halting when she saw the top of a head with black curly hair. “Oh, hey. Marie.”
“Hey, hey! I knocked off work early so I thought I’d drop by and…Where are you going?”
“Nowhere,” she said, checking her watch. She walked down the stairs, knowing that she had precisely fifteen minutes to get Marie out of here. “Just took a shower after getting back from training, that’s all.”
“You look good. Are you sure?” Marie said, one eyebrow arched.
“Yeah…listen, I’m expecting company.”
At that, Marie walked further into the apartment, dropping her red handbag on the entry table. She sat down at the dining table and tented her fingers. “Lady company. I can tell. All right, spill. I’ll leave as soon as you tell me who’s coming over.”
She sighed, settling onto a chair across from her. “It’s Angie. It’s no biggie. She’s just coming around to hang out and cook some dinner.”
Marie slapped her palms onto the table, her fingers splayed as she leaned as close to Hannah as possible. “After you just went out for dinner together the other night? You never called to fill me in like you were supposed to, which now strikes me as suspicious. You’re seeing her a lot. Tell me what’s going on?”
She rechecked her watch. “We can talk, but I really need you to head off in fifteen minutes. Ten to be safe.”
“You can say a lot in ten minutes. Go.”
“Well, when we went out for dinner, I found out that she was staying through the weekend and had nothing to do. So, I invited her over. She ended up finally telling me the reason she stopped writing to me and cut off contact and all that. It was because of her parents. They made her do it.”
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