I Walked Away Seven Years Too Late But Right on Time novel Chapter 20

Gwen enthusiastically introduced Sophie to Mr. Weaver.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Gwen slipped away to mingle with the rest of the crowd.

Sophie was desperately racking her brain for a conversation starter when a familiar scent hit her; Luke was standing directly behind her.

Alarm bells shrieked in Sophie's head, and her entire body went rigid. Her mind completely blanked. She offered Mr. Weaver a hasty, apologetic smile and tried to bolt.

But as she spun around to bypass Luke, he stepped effortlessly into her path. "Sophie. What a coincidence running into you again," he smiled.

Sophie forced a painfully stiff smile. "Hello, Mr. Lawrence," she said with flawless professional detachment, before attempting to sweep past him.

As their shoulders brushed, Luke dropped his voice. "I need to talk to you. Wait for me tonight."

Sophie pretended she hadn't heard a word, keeping her eyes glued to the floor as she marched back to the operations desk.

"Luke!"

A bright, high-pitched female voice rang out. Before her brain could stop her, Sophie halted and turned toward the sound.

A young woman was clinging to Luke's arm, swaying playfully like a coy little girl.

It was her. The woman she had seen on her birthday, feeding him popcorn. The same woman in the red dress she had seen outside the office.

From a distance through the rainy mist, Sophie had assumed she was incredibly young. With her pleated skirt, knee-high socks, and curly hair, she had looked like a porcelain doll.

Even today, she was dressed young—a cropped hoodie, a mini skirt, and leather ankle boots. Her voice and mannerisms mirrored a naive college graduate, dripping with childish innocence and charm.

But seeing her up close, Sophie realized she couldn't be that much younger than herself.

Snapping out of her trance, Sophie mentally slapped herself. She had broken up with Luke seven months ago; sizing up his new girlfriend was beyond pathetic.

She marched back to her seat and aggressively resumed pretending to read her documents.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Lawrence. Ms. Harper insisted on coming..."

The voice was instantly recognizable. Unable to fight her burning curiosity, Sophie surrendered and looked up again.

It was Jessica Jenson, her old colleague from the secretarial pool. She looked utterly panicked as she frantically tried to explain herself to Luke.

Luke cut Jessica off. "Take Eileen to find a seat in the stands. The game is about to start."

He peeled the woman's hands off his arm and murmured something in a low voice. She pouted and shook her head, leaning into him.

Luke said something else, his lips forming the words, "Be good, stop fussing."

Ms. Harper finally relented, following Jessica up into the bleachers.

As Luke watched her walk away, his eyes briefly darted toward Sophie.

"Sophie! Where are you working now? We were all so shocked when you quit."

"I'm getting old, I can't afford a house in San Francisco, and I don't have a boyfriend, so I ran away back home," Sophie joked self-deprecatingly.

"I took over your position, and let me tell you, Mr. Lawrence is a nightmare up close. We all used to envy you for working so closely with him, but now that I have your job, I realize he has a horrible temper. Did he always snap like that? How did you put up with it?"

Jessica kept her voice low, desperate to vent.

"And the worst part is, on top of all the actual work, I have to babysit his fiancée! I don't even have time to date anymore!"

"Fiancée?"

A deafening ringing erupted in Sophie's ears.

"I know, it was crazy sudden! Nobody even knew he had a serious girlfriend, and then they got engaged in March. Oh—right around the time you quit. You'd think a guy getting married would be in a good mood, but no, he walks around looking like he wants to murder someone. I get anxious just looking at him."

Jessica had clearly been holding this in for months; terrified to gossip with current coworkers, she unloaded everything onto her former colleague.

Sophie didn't hear a single word of the rest. She looked up, completely numb. Luke was dribbling the ball down the court, staring dead at them. His eyes were swirling with so many intense emotions that she couldn't decipher a single one.

In that split second of distraction, his ball was stolen. A teammate yelled in frustration, and Luke sprinted back to play defense.

Sophie's vision blurred. He had gotten engaged the second she walked away. How long had they been together? What exactly had she been to him all those years?