This Was Meant To Be

“I know, I missed you, too. I’m here now. I’m here. We’re going to set the world to rights, Leigh. But after a shower. God, I need a shower.”

Leigh chuckled. Emily did smell a bit fruity, and not in the tropical fruits kind of way.

“Yeah, I’ll say you need a shower. I’ve set out a towel and got your favorite shampoo and conditioner.”

“Of course you have,” said Emily, and headed off to shower.

Leigh wiped her tears and felt lighter.

This was what she’d been waiting for. She’d been waiting for Emily, and that staunch support that even Harrison couldn’t give her – that absolute conviction that Leigh was right, and she would be better than all right.

By the time Emily got out of the shower, dressed in walrus pajamas, Leigh had everything in front of the couch, on the coffee table.

Emily had told her, well in advance, about all the shows that she would miss when she was away. Leigh had all of it ready to watch.

“Wow. You are such perfection,” said Emily as she sank onto the couch next to Leigh.

Leigh chuckled at the Friends reference.

“Ready?” asked Leigh.

“For the food, yeah. But before I catch up on Daredevil, tell me, do you need to talk now or later?”

Leigh considered.

“Later will work. I vented quite a bit already, so I don’t feel like I’m about to burst.”

Emily looked surprised.

“To whom?”

Leigh felt a strange reluctance to enlighten Emily. But that was silly, she told herself. Harrison had always been in her life. He was Harrison.

“Harrison. I ran into him the night I decided to give Carl an ultimatum of sorts. I’d already spilled quite a bit to him, so it made sense to talk to him afterwards. He’s been really wonderful, Em. If it hadn’t been for him, I’d still be holed up in here, refusing to see sunlight except to go to work. Or, more likely, refusing to leave the office at all because then I’d have to think. It’s been nice to hang out with him again, really. We used to spend a lot of time together. We used to be really close. I forgot how much I’d missed that.”

Emily noticed how Leigh’s eyes lit up when she talked about Harrison. They seemed to sparkle, and she became more animated.

But she didn’t ask any pointed questions, because she didn’t think Leigh was ready for them.

To be honest, she liked Harrison. She had never liked Carl.

Maybe the idea of Leigh eventually ending up with Harrison, when she was ready for it, was a bit unconventional, but Emily had never had any time for conventions that interfered with what she wanted.

Emily did think that Leigh was well rid of Carl, though. He had always seemed rather feckless to her. She had hated how Leigh always bent over backwards trying to make life as comfortable for him as possible, while he rarely put any effort into making Leigh happy at all.

It had been a one-sided relationship – the kind of relationship Leigh would never have been a part of if she had met the man when she was a bit older.

So if Harrison had been helping her through it, or even if Harrison had nudged her into that ultimatum that had ended in that breakup, then she liked him all the better for it.

Wisely, though, Emily decided to keep that to herself, at least for the moment.

She had always thought that Harrison might have warmer feelings than just friendship or brotherly affection for Leigh. She’d never commented on it, but she’d noticed it when they’d spent time together.

But Harrison had never set off her creep alarm.

Emily set great store by her creep alarm. It rarely failed her.

“I’m glad you had somebody to lean on, Leigh. I’m even gladder that it was Harrison. I like him. He’s a straight shooter. Doesn’t beat around the bush, doesn’t take advantage of people, and definitely doesn’t assume that his comforts supersede everybody else’s.”

Leigh noticed the comparison with Carl, even if Emily didn’t mention Carl by name.

Leigh had come to the same conclusion herself, too.

“I know. He’s a good man. I think Carl could possibly be a good man, too. But he’s always been too caught up in the image he wants to have of himself. He was born to great privilege, and he always tries to pretend that he can negate all of that privilege through his actions and choices. But he doesn’t seem to understand that the fact that he can always count on it as a safety net means that his risks aren’t really risks. They’re just ways of showing off, most of the time.”

Emily nodded, not very surprised that the breakup had given Leigh that clarity.

If she’d seen that much, could she have seen how Harrison looked at her, too?

“He makes such a show of it all, too. It’s annoying. Honestly, Leigh, I’ve wanted to punch him in the face a lot of times.”

Leigh grinned.

“So have I. But I always told myself that I loved him. Now… Well, I’m beginning to wonder how much I loved him after all. I don’t know, and it’s mortifying. I loved my image of him, my idea of him. But my idea of him was a man who cared enough about me to set his own plans aside at least once in a while for my sake.”

Emily weighed her options and decided to go for it.

“Well, now I think you’re ready for the rebound stage. I met this really cute guy at the airport. I think he’d be quite good for a rebound. Want his number? I got it. Showed him a photo of you, too, he would love to date you.”

Leigh laughed, long and hearty. Oh, that was such an Emily solution.

“Thanks, Emily, but I don’t think that is necessary.”

Because she had Harrison, said the little voice in her mind that always pointed out things she’d rather not acknowledge.

She was surprised when the voice said that. But…

Well, it was true. She did feel like she had Harrison.

And her feelings for him had become rather warmer than they had been, lately.

Well, if she was developing a crush on Harrison because she was rebounding from a breakup, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing. He wouldn’t mind, and as long as she didn’t act on it, it wouldn’t change anything.

Besides, it wouldn’t be the first time she’d had a crush on him. She’d had a crush on Harrison the first summer he’d come home from college, too.

She’d gotten over him then. She could do it again.