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He had his back to the room but Cate knew immediately who it was chatting with Roy at the bar. She rose from her seat, her mind reeling from the revelation.
Countless times in the past few months she had thought she saw her brother. She would spot James in a crowd of soldiers lumbering down the street or in a hospital bed out of the corner of her eye. She had once heard it was the brain's way of processing intense loss.
But Cate knew what she saw was no psychological magic trick. Certainly no ghost. Ted stood from the bar, his face half turned towards the door. Cate vaguely registered Mira's hand as she gripped her elbow. He spoke to Roy and then was gone.
He was alive. 583Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmB1fsEtmbg
The realization ripped into her like shrapnel. Ted was alive. She hadn't comprehended how deeply she had buried the whole affair over the past few weeks. Every day that had gone by without news, she had tucked the feelings for him deeper until she had become deaf to the past. Her memories of him were as distant as a half forgotten dream.
"Catie…" Mira breathed as Roy approached them.
He was smiling broadly at Mira. Cate stared past his shoulder at the empty bar. Ted was here in Paris. Alive. She had convinced herself he was dead, grief was so much easier to swallow. Her legs felt like jelly. She gripped the chair beside her till her knuckles whitened.
"Here is the happy bride!" Roy pulled Mira into a light embrace, "Anthony is a lucky man."
"Thank you," Mira replied, grinning waveringly while glancing at Cate with concern.
Roy noticed his date's strained expression, "Catherine?"
Cate jolted out of the daze as though she had been electrocuted, "Yes?"
"Are you alright?" He eyed her as he handed her the glass.
She gripped the stem with pale fingers, "Of course."
Anthony walked over and wrapped an arm around Mira's shoulders, giving her a flute of champagne and taking a sip from his own. Roy nodded to him before retrieving his scotch from the table and laying a hand at the middle of Cate's back.
"Well, as the best man, I would like to propose a toast to the happy couple," Roy boomed in his heavy southern drawl.
Cate shivered and looked over at Mira. Her friend's face paled, pinched with worry. The men seemed oblivious.
"To our dear friends, no matter what the years ahead may hold, I hope we will be able to look back on this day…" Roy paused.583Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbcijcQw6Te
The three others watched with mouths ajar as Cate tipped the glass back and drank it in one long pull. She coughed, handing the empty glass to Roy who studied her in nervous silence.
"Are you sure you are okay?" He asked as she pulled away.
"I'll be back," she barked and raced from the room.
Outside, the rain that had been threatening all day was drizzling. A fine mist hung above the pavement. Cate's skin tingled into goose flesh in the chilled air. She picked up the pace, turning a corner blindly and searching the bodies moving in the dark. Hunting for his silhouette, she collided with a soldier.
"Watch it, sister!" He snapped, pushing past her.
"Sorry-" Cate mumbled and stopped hard.
Across the street, tugging the collar of his jacket up around his cheeks, Ted was waving down a taxi. Cate hadn't considered what she would do if she found him. Rendered speechless, she stood still despite the foot traffic around her. The rain was getting heavier, her short hair sticking in the sides of her face. He took out a cigarette where he stood under a slight canopy and struggled to light it.
"Damn." She heard him whisper.
His face was fuller than when she had seen him last, like it was when they had first met. However, the lines of care and hard living were still etched into his brow and around his mouth. If anything, it drew her more to him, knowing the reason for them. He still hadn't looked up.
She took a step forward, half into the light of the street lamp overhead. Ted raised his hand, throwing the unlit cigarette to the ground with disgust. A taxi stopped and he walked towards it, opening the door. Cate's mouth opened.
"Catherine, what in the hell are you doing?"
Cate looked over to see Roy running through the rain. He towed her into the yellow light of the lamp and tugged off his jacket.
"You are going to catch your death out here." He muttered under his breath, tucking her trembling shoulders into the warmth of his coat.
Cate looked across the street once more. Ted was watching her. Their eyes met. The same strange gravity that had come over her every time they met drew her in. The headlights of hurtling taxis, the pitched laugh of girls and growl of young men as they roamed towards favorite dives, even the rain as the wind pelted the side of her face, all muted and faded to grey. It was only them standing on opposite sides of the street. As it had been huddled before a fire in a war torn city or ambling down a darkened, English country lane, giddy with British beer and possibility.
Cate felt Roy's hand on her shoulder, "Catherine, do you know him?"
"Yes," she breathed.
Ted's gaze drifted over to Roy. His mouth closed tightly and he nodded in acknowledgement. He met Cate's eyes one more time before getting into the back seat of the cab. Cate shut her eyes, the cold rushing into her senses.
"Come on, let's get you out of the rain." Roy coaxed her away down the street.
She heard the cab door shut and the taxi drive away.
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