The Meeting

Closure

I awoke the next morning to the smell of pancakes, Grace was no longer in bed beside me and I shook off the feeling of Leah that was lingering in my head. I went downstairs to see Grace dancing around the kitchen in my T-shirt, decorating pancakes with blueberries. I stood in the doorway, watching her every move for a few minutes before she noticed me.

"Alex! How long have you been standing there?" She covered her face.
"Long enough to know why you never became a professional dancer." I joked back.
"Well I was going to invite you to have breakfast with me but maybe there's some dancer you would rather be with." She playfully joked back but it struck a nerve. Did she know that I had been thinking about Leah last night? Is that why she made a joke about someone else?
"What - no. What are you talking about?" I stuttered back.

Alex walked towards me, slightly laughing in an affectionate way and threw her hands around my neck, giving me a peck on the lips.
"I'm joking Alex, you can chill." She kissed me again, a little heavier this time.
"Did you say we were having breakfast?" I asked, breaking away from the kiss.
"You're boring. But yes, your table awaits." She said, messing around like a little kid. I loved this side of Grace, it came out when she was genuinely happy and I knew that she was happy because I'd gone public with her last night. I think she wondered if I would ever be happy to do that, if I would ever be okay with Leah knowing I had moved on. I was, I wasn't even thinking about Leah on the red carpet but today, she's just stuck in my brain.

As we ate breakfast, I scrolled through the news headlines. I was gutted to learn that Gavin's award got a one sentence mention but my appearance with Grace made headline news in the entertainment section. Sometimes fame sucks. Why was it more important that I was in a relationship than Gavin winning an award for the incredible work he does. I sighed and continued to read the article. As I read the last line, my eyes widened and my heart began to thump.

Ex, Leah Williamson, seems to approve of the match as she liked the picture of the two and a tweet from a fan that read: It's so nice to see Alex Ryan smiling again.

Oh god. I hadn't even though of that. Should I have text Leah before I went public? Maybe I should've let her know. But then again, she didn't let me know about Harriet and we were together then.

Over the next few weeks, the guilt of sleeping beside Alex but thinking of Leah that night consumed me. I kept trying to make up for it by extravagant dates and trips away with Grace.

We flew to Tokyo to meet Ellie, she had some time off work but we hadn't actually been over to see her yet, she was always coming to us. Grace only had one weeks leave left before she would be returning to prepare for the All Irelands, meaning we would see a lot less of each other so this trip away was perfectly timed. As we walked into arrivals, Ellie ran towards us both, jumping onto us and crying (as always) at the happiness of being reunited again. She sat on top of our suitcases on the trolley and Grace ran with her, I took my phone out and recorded it, posting it to my Instagram story.

You can take the children out of Belfast but you can't take Belfast out of the children @elliegreen97 @GraceMurphyIreland

We arrived to Ellie's apartment, which was extremely clean and tidy for Ellie.

"Ellie. Do you have a cleaner?" I asked, laughing at the unlikeliness that Ellie was cleaning the apartment herself.
"No, just a very tidied BOYFRIEND!" She jumped up and down, like a little kid.
"I knew it!!!! Didn't I tell you this Grace? She was too smiley and ugh gross" I playfully returned, bringing Grace onto my side.
"Grace Murphy - you remember who set you up with this beauty before you take sides" Ellie was quick, always had been.
"That would make me not take your side Ellie, she's hard work you know!" Grace began to wheel her case to our bedroom before realising she had no idea where she was going.