crossinglines | Together Again

She hadn't seen him since graduation at Oxford, when she's told him she was joining the Navy. He's been shocked but accepted it and even come to see her off. But now she was calling him ten years later.

He looked at his phone curiously. Who could be calling him? A client?

"Stuart Dakin speaking. How may I help you?"

"God, you got formal when you got older."

She laughed softly, hoping he'd recognize her voice at least. Maybe he'd forgotten her. It had been a long time after all, and they were just kids when they parted. She could be massively overestimating her importance in his life.

"I don't know if you remember me..." she said suddenly nervous.

He did recognize her.

"Hear my soul speak. Of the very instant that I saw you, did my heart fly at your service." Stuart smiled as he repeated the very first cheesy quote he ever said to her.

"How are you? It's been.. 10 years?"

"I think so, yeah. I haven't seen you since I got on the plane to join the Navy." She laughed softly. "I'm, uh, in town for work and I thought I'd look you up and see if you were still here. I guessed right apparently."

"Yeah, still here. Working as a tax lawyer now. Living the life," he laughed softly. "I was just thinking about you. It must be some weird connection we have."

Stuart's day got a whole lot better with this call.

"So you stuck with the lawyer thing after all." She laughed softly. She was surprised he'd gone so straight, then again he could say the same for her going from a teenage rebel to joining the Navy and now working for the government. "I don't know if this would be too much to ask, but would you like to have dinner sometime?"

"That's what I did. Can't be a rebel forever, you know?"

He didn't need to ponder his answer for even a minute, it was an easy one.

"I'd love that. I haven't seen you in so long, Guin.. I mean Morgan."

"You're the only one who still calls me that."

She smiled fondly, she didn't mind it from him. She'd just changed it after college to avoid more princess jokes and to be taken more seriously when she got a real job.

"Let me know when you're free. I'm here for a few days," she said, giving him the name of the hotel where the Ministry of Defence had put her up.

"A beautiful name for a beautiful girl."

Stuart could only imagine all the princess jokes she had to deal with. To him she would always be Guin.

"How about today? My schedule's pretty much empty."

"That sounds wonderful. Why don't you come by my hotel when you're free? I'll be here all night."

She smiled to herself, excited at the prospect of seeing him again and finding out what had happened over the past ten years. She'd clean herself up and be waiting for him whenever he wanted to come see her.

"Sounds good. I'll take a shower and put on something smarter."

He was excited to see her again after all that time. What did she look like these days? What had she been up to?

"It'll be great to see you again, Guin. I'm sure we both look a lot different from back then."

"I'm sure we do. It'll be good to see you, Stuart."

She smiled and hung up to let him get ready. When he arrived at her hotel suite, she answered the door in a dress. She wanted to put on a good impression for their first meeting in a decade.

Though it didn't stop her from giving him a wide smile and pulling him into a hug. She was overjoyed to see him.

"Hi," she said. "Oh my God, I'm so glad I found you!"

She looked absolutely stunning. Just as beautiful as when they first met. It's like she hadn't aged at all.

Stuart had picked out one of his nicer suits for the reunion.

"I'm glad, too. You look amazing."

"So do you," she replied, teasing lightly, "Nice to see you in a tie voluntarily."

Neither of them had ever been big on school uniforms. But she thought he was still just as handsome as that boy she'd fallen for.

"Come on, there's a very nice restaurant downstairs I got us a table at," she said, taking his hand in hers. "I want to know everything you've been up to."

She wouldn't start flirting with him because she didn't know if he was seeing anyone now. Or if he'd even be interested in rekindling what was a teenage romance. People did change.

"I've started liking suits. Thanks to the job."

Stuart took her hand gladly, following her downstairs. He couldn't help but wonder if she had someone in her life now. Those old feelings hadn't really gone away.

"I got the job. Went through some personal turmoils on the side. What about you?"

"I spent five years in the Navy. Was trying for Naval Intelligence, but that's not really a thing anymore," she explained as they walked. "So I work for the Ministry of Defence now, in London. I'm in security."

She walked with him to the elevator and pushed the button to take them to the restaurant.

"I got married, divorced now. Met someone in the service, but I wanted to get out and he didn't. What about you?"

"Security? Nice one. You do have that aura about you now.. I wouldn't want to mess with you."

Stuart grinned cheekily, nudging her arm.

"No kidding? I met someone through my job 6 years ago. We got married but it didn't last. Just wasn't meant to be."

"I still remember how shocked you were when I told you I was joining the Navy!"

She laughed at that, pausing only to greet the maitre'd at the restaurant. Once they were shown to their table and ordered drinks, she continued.

"You know, following you to Oxford was the smartest thing I've ever done," she told him. It had been an impulse decision at the time not wanting to leave him and not having anything else tying her down. "If I hadn't gone with you I never would have figured out what I wanted to do with my life. So thank you."

"That was a bit unexpected, yeah."

He greeted the maitre'd too. Looking around the place before they got settled in.

"I was glad you did that. And you're welcome. A whole new side of you seemed to come out during that time, Meredith. It was amazing to watch."

"Admit it, though, you liked seeing me in the uniform."

She teased playfully as they relaxed together. Enjoying looking back at the past and the five years they had spent together. It was no teenage fling, they had really made a decent go of it.

"My father thought I was crazy choosing a college because of a boy," she added with a laugh. "But it was worth it. I had you and I found something to do with myself. That was all I ever wanted. Just to feel like I was doing something and wasn't having it all handed to me."

"You did look pretty hot."

Stuart had no regrets about the past. It was a good, happy five years and he'd do it again if he could.

"I've seen a lot of rich girls and you were always more down-to-earth than any of them."

"I'm just glad I figured myself out. I was so frustrated with where my life was going. And now I'm really happy with how things have turned out."

She smiled at that.

"I knew there was something special about you the day we met. I'm just glad I could track you down. I've been wondering what happened to you."

"I always wondered about you too. You went off into the world and I didn't hear from you for so long."

Stuart sipped his drink. It felt a little surreal sitting opposite to the girl he was so deeply in love with in his teenage years.

"It's good you found me. I've missed you, Guin."

"I know. Being gone in the military, then with this job, I move around a lot and there's not always the opportunity to talk. If I had it to do over again, I'd have tried to keep in better touch."

She nodded, pausing just to look at the menu and figure out what she actually wanted.

"I missed you too. I'm glad things have turned out so well for you. You deserved that."

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