Page 26 of Doc Rock
“You left,”he said quietly.
She nodded, not meeting his eyes.
Sixteen years was gone in the blink of an eye as he stood in front of the woman he thought would be by his side for the rest of his life.
He always thought he wouldfeelirrational anger when he found her again, but surprisingly, what he mainlyfeltwas disappointment.
Why had she left him?
“You leftme,” he whispered.
This time, her gaze flew to his and locked. He stared into her blue eyes, and a frown tugged at his eyebrows.
“What happened to your eyes? They were violet.”
She sighed.“I was an idiot kid. When I was sixteen, I got the idea that I wanted violet eyes, and I started working to be able to afford contact lenses rather than wear my glasses.”She pushed her pink glasses up her nose.
Ford huffed in disbelief.“We were together twenty-four hours a day. How did I notknow?”
Sie shrugged.“I wore them twenty-four hours a day. I guess I thought if I didn’t tell anyone, no one wouldknowthat it wasn’t my real eye colour. To be very honest, I’m pretty surprised that I didn’t go blind.”
“I had no idea.”A cold unease crept through him. He thought he’dknowneverything about Sie, but he hadn’tknownher name, or even her hair and eye colour.
What else about her hadn’t been real? Had anything been real?
“You weren’t meant to.”Sie shrugged again, likeit wasno big deal.
To Ford,it wasa big deal. She'd lied about something so fundamental.
“What else did you lie about?”he growled.
Sie looked affronted.“Nothing. I didn’t lie.”
“Really? I didn’t evenknowwhat you really looked like. The eyes, the hair—”Bitterness tinged his voice.
Sie reached up and touched her blonde curls, which were so different to the straight black hair he'dknownher with. She sighed deeply as if this conversation was painful for her.
As if she wasn’t the one who had left him and vanished without a trace.
Silence stretched between them, filled only by the rustle of wind through the gum trees.
At last, Sie spoke, saying quietly,“I was trying to fit in.”
“Fit in with what?”Ford was baffled.
“You,” she replied simply.
What was she talking about?
“Do you remember the first time I eversawyou?”Sie raised an eyebrow in question.
“Yeah.It waswhen you auditioned for the band.”
She shook her head, the blonde curls that he couldn’tgetused to flipping around her face.
“No. I’d seen you so many times before. You, Scotty and Joel. Isawthe three of you so many times at the youth centre where you rehearsed.”
“That can’t be right. I would have seen you.”
