In the Shadow of Satellites Read Free

and I bravely ignore them, walking up the wooden stairs and through the tables, entering through the back door. Ana is already there, and she turns to see me the moment she hears the door open.
    She squeals with delight, which is a little out of the ordinary, even for her. People turn to look, but I try to pretend I don’t see them. She throws her arms around me and I return the hug.
    “Babe! Oh my God!”
    Something is definitely up. She’s not this gushy usually.
    “Good to see you, too,” I say cautiously as she lets me go.
    I glance around and sure enough, everyone is watching us. I pull her off to the side as someone enters the café from the front door. The last thing I want is a spectacle, although she seems completely oblivious.
    “What’s up with you?” I ask, before I can stop myself. “Are you high?”
    It wouldn’t be the first time. She giggles, her large brown eyes sparkling. Ana doesn’t giggle like a normal person. Her giggle is deep and suggestive, almost erotic. I’ve often wondered what she’s like in bed. I bet she’s wild. From her long black wavy hair to her deeply tanned skin, she is certainly anything but tame. She has a Maori tribal sleeve tattooed down her right arm, from the shoulder almost to her wrist. Her dress sense is best described as a cross between African hippie and homeless prostitute. She lives to shock and she loves to stand out. She has a hundred times more confidence than I ever did, even before.
    She loops her arm through mine and turns me around to face the front door of the café. My heart skids to a stop. Standing there, grinning at me, is Chris.
    “Shit…” I whisper.
    It’s like the past and present are merging together, muddying the waters. I don’t know which is which anymore. Am I dreaming? It wouldn’t be the first time over the past year that I’ve seen something I can’t explain.
    Ana giggles again, pulling me tighter.
    “Do I know how to keep a secret or what?”
    Chris walks towards me with open arms. He looks different, but my unreliable brain is going in several different directions at once, and I can’t make it stop long enough to figure out why. Tears spring up out of nowhere and I can barely see him anymore, but it doesn’t matter. Ana lets go of me and he draws me into his arms, wrapping them around me in the middle of the café, in front of everyone.
    I squeeze my eyes shut and try to imagine that it’s James, not his best friend, who is holding me so tightly.
     

Chapter 3
     
     
    I let Ana take the wheel of the boat on the way back home, while Chris and I sit in the back. She takes it slow, so the noise of the outboard isn’t deafening and we can actually talk. I can’t take my eyes off Chris. I’m still trying to convince myself that I’m not dreaming. His mid-brown hair is slightly longer than it used to be, and he has an amazing tan. He also has a beard, which is new. I’ve never seen him with as much as a five o’clock shadow before. His trademark smiling eyes are still the same though. He always looks like he’s about to say something funny, or laughing at some silent joke. I’m sure that’s why he gets away with as much as he does. He’s cheeky, with a wicked streak that sometimes gets him into trouble. Luckily, he can usually talk himself out of it too. In many ways, he and Ana are the same person in different bodies.
    “When did you get back?” I ask.
    “Christ knows. What day is it today? I’m still on London time, and the flight was a bloody nightmare. I had a two day stopover in Dubai, which is the weirdest place on earth. The whole place is on steroids. It does your head in. Don’t ever go there – you’d hate it.”
    I smile weakly, still hardly believing that he’s here. I haven’t seen him since before the accident. He and James were joined at the hip, and I keep looking over his shoulder, half expecting James to be there, even now.
    “It’s Friday,” I say.
    It must be, because Ana’s here. I feel