“What are you doing on the floor?”

I startle and rock back onto my heels with my knees tucked beneath me and my hands braced on the polished wood as I look up.

A man stands over me.

Tall. Broad-shouldered. Expensively put together in a way that’s not obviously flashy.

My body betrays me.

Heat rushes through me, making my pulse spike. My breath hitches and my chest tightens in a way I don’t understand.

It’s something I’ve never experienced and it rocks me.

I know this man.

I just don’t know how yet.

He steps closer, his eyes still on me, while I still struggle to breathe, to move, to say a word. His light brown hair is neatly styled, and a light shadow of stubble along his jaw catches my attention.

Sets my heart racing.

His eyes are dark green. At least I think they are. He stops inches from me, and I’m still staring up at him, frozen, because there’s something about his demeanor that is familiar.  In that moment, my breath stalls, and goosebumps sprinkle up all over my skin.

It can’t be.

When he holds out  his hand to help me up, I don’t take it, because all I can hear is the warning sound of my insides ringing like a five-alarm fire. I refuse to take his hand and get up slowly. My hands are dirty and dusty, as are my dark clothes. I frantically try to get the dust off them, because the way my insides are vibrating I can’t look at him.

“It is you,” the stranger says, making me look at him. And then I realize, he’s not a stranger. I know this man. Or, at least, I knew the teenager he once was. The one who kissed me and left an indelible imprint on my heart and soul.

“It’s me. Zach. Zach Knight,” he says, easily, confirming all my worst suspicions.

So it is.

Zach Knight.

The teenager who stole my heart, then crushed it.

How is this happening?

“What  were you doing on the floor?”

“I-I …” My mouth has dried up, and my speech? Incoherent.

“I can’t believe it’s you,” he says. “I can’t believe it’s really you, Maya.”

He pronounces it perfectly. Mah-ya. The way I taught him.

“What were you doing crawling about on the floor?” he asks again.

“Looking for something,”  I mumble vaguely, confusion swirling around my body leaving me rudderless and a mess. Why is he so happy to see me? He’s grinning from ear to ear, as he steps forward and puts his hands on my arms, looking down at me, shaking his head, like he’s just unearthed some buried secret treasure.

“What happened? You vanished without a word.”

I open my mouth. We can’t have this conversation here, now, after all this time.

His words overwhelm me. This entire evening has completely overwhelmed me. So much has gone wrong, and yet, this, now is so unexpectedly crazy, it makes the entire evening feel surreal.

I try to tamp down the excitement ripping through me, tangled with shock because he’s grown now, yet as I stare at him, I see flashes of the teen I used to know. It’s still there, the green eyes, though the hair is a little darker than what it used to be. He’s so tall and handsome, and he’s looking at me like he’s so happy to see me.

My heart drops in my chest, and I swallow with difficulty, trying to make sense of this vision before me, not daring to believe my eyes as images suddenly flash through my mind.

The first time I saw him I was standing outside the library, a place I wasn’t supposed to be in.

I hadn’t stepped in it.

The door was open and I stood poised just outside, looking at the array of bookshelves, filled top to bottom.

Zach appeared out of nowhere.

“Why don’t you go in?” he asked, casually. Like it was the most normal thing to do.

For him, maybe.

Not for me.

I was about to tell him I couldn’t, but I didn’t like that we couldn’t, and if the son of the man who owned this place said I could, then that was good enough for me.

So I walked into the huge room. High ceilings, and the biggest, tallest bookshelves I’d ever seen. A couple of leather couches. Soft lamps.

I started looking around, my fingers feeling over the spines of books, the scent of musty old books and paper lingering in the air. He watched me, a smile lingering on his lips. “You seem so excited.”

“It’s … beautiful.”

He shrugged. “It’s a library.”

It wasn’t just a library to me.

He told me I could borrow any book I wanted. I told him we were forbidden from even being in here.

“You can borrow anything you want, just don’t get caught.”

That’s what he said. And that was good enough for me.

Tethered to that memory are others. The library. The greenhouse. The kitchen. Hot summer days.

“All this time,” he chuckles softly. It’s too much to take in. His voice is deeper now and he’s also filled out more.

“I-I never thought I’d see you again,” I say, my voice too breathless, giving away too much of my inner turmoil.

A few times, after moving back to New York, I wondered if I’d ever run into him again. I purposely didn’t look up anything about the Knights, because I was so consumed by resentment. Though a tiny part of me did wonder if I’d ever see him again.

“I’m so happy to see you again, Maya.”

I’m not, so I don’t say the same thing back to him. I don’t share his happiness. He has a lot to be happy about. The son of a wealthy man, Zach has known trauma. But he’s just another fucked up billionaire with unlimited amounts of wealth to use as a band-aid over his problems.

“So, how are you?” he asks, breaking out into a full wide white Hollywood smile.

Where do I even start? He has no idea, he never will.

“I …I’m working … I can’t be talking to you,” I start to say. My gaze quickly scans him. He looks like a million dollars. Not a hair out of place, and wearing a big, shiny, blingy watch that’s probably cost more than my year’s rent. I suddenly feel self-conscious as I smooth a hand over my wild hair, and try desperately to brush off the dust on my skirt.

“Looks to me like you’re running the show.” He looks around our makeshift office.

I gaze at him, remembering when I last saw him. Mom and I leaving the place where she worked, Zach’s home, the Knight Estate. My eyes locked on the sad green eyes of the only friend I had here. He waved to me, looking calmer than I expected.

Just as quickly, the memories fall away, and I’m left with a sense of extreme loathing for this man, and his family, and what they did to me and Mom. I ease my arm out of his grip. “I need to go. I’m working. I can’t stand around talking to you.”

“But it’s been so long since—”

Katherine suddenly appears out of nowhere. “Maya, don’t annoy Mr. Knight.”

Zach doesn’t even glance at her, not even when she rests her hand on his arm. He so casually, with a shrug, gets her to remove it. I can’t believe my eyes. Then Cecil appears and pats Zach on the shoulder.

“Zach, my good man.” Zach turns, and shakes Cecil’s hand.

“I need a private moment. I’ll find you, Cecil. We’ll talk.” Just like that, Cecil obeys and leaves us. Katherine follows, looking confused, a curiosity in her eyes that wasn’t there before. She’s wondering why someone like Zach Knight wants to talk in private to me.

I see it first hand, how this man has power. Suddenly, he’s all grown up, and his voice, his demeanour, who he is, can make someone like Cecil move.

“Can we talk somewhere, in private?” He looks at me as if I’m the only person here at this event, and the thought of talking to him alone sends a wobble through me.

“Zach! There you are.”

Two beautiful women appear on either side of him. I’m amazed at how popular this man is, and when I glance at the women, I do a double take. They’re identical twins.

“Are you hiding from me?” one of them asks.

“Or me?” the other one asks.

He looks flummoxed, and I use this to make my exit, because this man is exactly who I knew he’d grow up to be. Another billionaire playboy I can’t stand.

“Looks like you’ve got your hands full,” I mumble. “See you around.”

I don’t wait for him to reply. I turn and rush off, heart pounding so hard it feels like it might explode.

The last thing I want is to stand here, talking to Zach Knight, alone.

Not now. Not ever.