Chapter 4

By the time morning came, Michael was still wide awake, looking like he had barely gotten a wink of sleep.

He couldn’t think about anything else other than Hailey. Just the thought of her made his heart constrict.

What in the world happened to her? Why did she have to change her identity?

Was it because she feared backlash from her family? The fear of being found?

Or perhaps just the 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 back in high school. Kind of. Rather, Hailey watched over him like a hawk, and she would often scold him whenever he did something wrong. Until now, he didn’t know the reason why she paid so much attention to him. Perhaps it was just her strict and diligent nature. Perhaps she just felt sorry for him. Or 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 amounted to. Back in the past, he used to get frustrated that she treated him like a little kid, like she was a mother who wanted to set him straight.

But then as time passed, perspectives changed. When he saw her during 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 though trying to distract himself from thinking about Hailey. There was a fluttering in his heart at the thought of seeing her again, but now that the opportunity came up, he was suddenly very unsure.

It had been a long time since he last saw her. He missed her so much, but seeing how unexpected her change was since then, he couldn’t help but hesitate.

Would she be glad to see him again? Would she still remember him? They had, after all, only met when they were in high school. They had been teenagers back then.

Now, they were adults in their thirties.

Though to be honest, Michael was most afraid of what he’d feel if Hailey didn’t remember him, that he actually didn’t have that much impact on her after all, not like how vivid the memory of her was for him.

Michael sighed, unbuttoning the first few buttons of his shirt before slowly taking out the pendant of the necklace that he was wearing.

It was a silver heart-shaped pendant that looked polished as new, even though it was probably more than fourteen years old now. He took care of it throughout the years, never allowing it to rust or scrape off. He barely took it off and only removed it whenever he was about to shower or sleep.

He didn’t like leaving it at home and simply wore it all the time, and it was as if Hailey was watching over him through the years, proud of the success that he had gained.

But it was time to return it now.

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 gave it to him in an instant. Now, the name ‘Hailey’ stared back at him from the screen, and his palms were starting to perspire.

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 hammering in his eardrums was growing louder and 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. “Ah… You know, don’t you…?”

“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 against his seat, feeling a fluttering in his stomach that he hadn’t felt for years now.

He confirmed it for himself now.

He was still in love with Hailey van Gowen.