Four Weekends & a Photograph (WAYHAUGHT)

Chapter 1

I wouldn't say it was love at first sight. If I had to label it as anything I would have to say it was lust.

Pure lust.

The evening she showed up, tanned and confident, that was the day my life changed.

Forever.

Her name was Nicole. What am I saying? Her name still is Nicole, Nicole Haught, as in Very, although I eventually found out her actual middle name from Wynonna. How did she know? How did my sister know this person who would rock my world?

Where to begin?

Perhaps the first time we met would help set the scene. So, here's what happened. I had come to the conclusion a year travelling the world was what I truly needed before heading off to university. Several of my friends were thinking the same, although trying to persuade my best friend, Chrissy, to come with me was proving harder than I imagined. She had been looking forward to going to Oxford, while I had my doubts. I knew I would go, eventually, I just needed some me time to kick back, get enough rays on this body of mine to not look like a blanched almond in a bikini, enjoy not having to open a text book for a few months.

Sure, I completely understood all of Chrissy's reasons for not wanting to go on the trip with me. Like the cost of travelling, both in time and funding said excursion. Except, I felt if I didn't go then the opportunity might pass me by. It terrified me to think I'd roll out of university with a respectable law degree, then roll into some well-paid job that trapped me on the never-ending treadmill of corporate domination, then roll into middle age as a fat forty-something, without ever having done anything interesting with my life.

Plus, Wynonna was enjoying herself in Greece.

Chrissy finally bowed to pressure and agreed to come with me, but only for a few weeks. That was enough. Knowing I had convinced her to get on a plane with me was the first step. Once she got to wherever we decided would be our first destination, I knew she would fall in love with the idea of travelling and forget about rushing home to study. I can be very persuasive when I need to be.

Where did we choose to go first? Greece, of course. I'd had the occasional postcard from Wyn. Let me rephrase that. I had had precisely one postcard from my wayward sister, the image on the front too rude to reveal, saying she was having a fantastic time, suggesting I should visit once my exams were over. Okay, I'll admit she didn't exactly say visit. It was something along the lines of, I should think about travelling before sticking my nose in more books. That's what she had done, and regretted not taking the chance to go see other parts of the world sooner.

That's where they met, Wyn and Nicole. So I guess university wasn't all bad afterall. They were in the same class, I think, or had friends in the same class. Or, some sort of connection. Something bonded those two out of the hundreds who were in their year. A shared passion for having fun, for sticking it to the establishment, for not giving a damn about consequences.

Did I mention she's American?

California. The first American I ever spoke to. It's weird because she's exactly how I imagined Americans would be, loud and overly-confident, and full of it, as we Brits would say. Yet, she was also not like that at all. She could be shy if she didn't know someone well, so quiet when thinking about things, and intelligent, super-intelligent, the kind of intelligence where she could suss another out real quick. Just like Chrissy could. Street smart. I think it's fair to say, she's also a heart breaker. The kind, I imagine, who does it with a smile, so you don't feel the real pain until their bags are packed and they're long gone.

Me, I'm far too British, read reserved, to do anything like that. I would rather suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous love than let someone know they bored me to tears. Sorry, where was I? Greece. That's right. Wyn was glad to see us, sorting out a spare room in a friend's house where we could stay. Nothing glamorous, a double bed which Chrissy and I shared, a small wardrobe and an equally small chest of drawers. We didn't bother unpacking as we only intended staying a few days. Plus, Wyn's American friend was rocking up that weekend, so we needed to be out before she arrived.