Classmates were having a laugh at me during the reunion, thinking I was still a nobody But the next morning, they spotted me on the front of a top business mag.
“Harper? Emily Harper?! You actually turned up?” Liam Carter forced a grin, but his eyes stayed icy. “Lads, look who finally made an appearance!”
Emily paused at the restaurant door. Fifteen years gone, but his voice still had that same sneery edge from uni days. She took a breath and stepped inside.
“Hi, Liam. Hello, everyone,” she said, steady as anything, though her heart was hammering like mad.
The place was lit soft and warm by hanging lamps. Nearly their whole year had crammed around the long tablefifteen-odd faces, familiar but distant, like old polaroids faded at the edges.
“Em!” Charlotte Bryantthe only real friend left from back thendarted over. “So chuffed you came!”
“Couldnt miss it,” Emily smiled, feeling some of the knot in her chest loosen.
“Sit with us,” Charlotte tugged her toward the table. “We were just reminiscing about surviving Robinsons stats module.”
Emily sat, aware of the sideways glances. Next to Liam was Sophie Whitmorecourse stunner back then, now a polished woman with flawless hair and a faintly worn-out look.
“You havent changed a bit, Emily,” Sophie said, all polite charm. “Still so quiet.”
“You look lovely too, Soph.”
“Whatre you up to these days?” James Turner asked, topping up wine. “Still off saving the planet?”
That tonesame one theyd used to rib her about her eco-startup pitch in third year.
“Near enough,” Emily said, taking the glass. “Ive got a small business.”
“Let me guess,” Liam leaned in, “something to do with those compostable coffee cups you banged on about?” He chuckled, and a couple others joined in.
“Spot on,” she replied, cool as you like.
“Profit in planet-saving now, is there?” Liam pushed.
“Some wins, some losses,” Emily shrugged.
“Well, not everyones cut out for the big leagues,” he smirked. “Im heading a division at TechFront, Daves got his own firm”
“Remember when Emily botched her dissertation defence?” Jessica Ainsworth cut inSophies old shadow. “She proper froze mid-calculation!”
“Not quite,” Emily corrected gently. “I got a 2:1.”
“For you, that was a fail,” Liam jumped in. “Specially after all that future of sustainability spiel.”
A thick silence dropped over the table. Emily felt her face go hotsame as in lectures when theyd all sniggered.
“I recall Emily cracking that econometrics problem even the tutor couldnt solve,” Thomas Greene said quietly from the far end.
Emily blinked at him. Hed always been the quiet onenever expected him to remember a thing.
“That did happen,” she smiled.
“Right, enough nostalgia,” Liam raised his glass. “To fifteen yearsgone in a blink!”
Glasses clinked. Chat veered to safe topics: jobs, kids, old uni disasters. Emily relaxed a fraction but still felt like the odd one out. Same as ever.
“Married, Emily?” Sophie asked as talk turned to footie.
“No, not yet.”
“Kids?”
“None either. Work keeps me busy.”
“Bless you,” Sophie said, genuine pity in it. “Ive three under ten. Liams always at the office, but we manage.”
Emily nodded, tongue-tied. By their metrics, she was a proper “saddo”no ring, no brood, just work.
“Need some air,” she said, slipping out.
The terrace was crisp and quiet. Emily breathed deep. Whyd she even come? To feel like the awkward fresher all over again?
“Room for one more?” Thomas appeared with two coffees. “Thought you might need warming up.”
“Ta,” she took the cup. “Got a bit stuffy in there.”
“Not just the heating,” he smiled. “Liam hasnt mellowed.”
“Some things dont.”
“Others do,” Thomas studied her. “You have. Stronger. Sure of yourself.”
“Really?”
“Dead sure. Not just the fancy suit. The way you hold yourself.”
“Youre more observant than I reckoned,” she grinned. “Honestly? Barely recalled you before tonight.”
“Fair,” he chuckled. “I specialised in blending in. Especially round Liams lot.”
“Everyone was a bit scared of him.”
“Except you,” he said, unexpected. “Stuck to your guns even when they took the mick.”
Emily opened her mouthbut Charlotte burst onto the terrace, waving her phone.
“Em! Why didnt you say?!” She shoved the screen at her. “Thats you!”
A business mags homepage. Front and centre: Emily in a sharp blazer. Headline: “Green Gold: How Emily Harper Built a £40m Empire from Eco-Innovation.”
“It, er, just published,” Emily mumbled. “Wasnt planning a fanfare.”
“Not planning?!” Charlotte hauled her inside. “Everyonelook at this!”
Pandemonium. The phone did the rounds. Faces flipped from shock to outright gawping.
“This real?” Liam looked like hed been slapped. “Forty million?”
“Company valuation,” Emily said evenly. “Not my bank balance.”
“But you own it?”
“Majority shareholder, yeah.”
The silence couldve choked a horse. Sophie kept glancing between her and Liam, like the maths wasnt adding up. Someone whistled low.
“So all those times we took the piss about your tree-hugging schemes” Liam started.
“I was busy building,” Emily finished. “Same as you lot.”
“Forty mil, though!” Jessica squeaked. “Thats mental!”
“Twelve years of grind,” Emily said. “Plenty of cock-ups the mag left out.”
The vibe shifted like the tide. Suddenly everyone wanted ear-timesuddenly theyd “always known shed smash it.” She humoured them, but the backhanded praise left a sour taste.
As the crowd thinned, Liam sidled up with a whiskey.
“Always said youd go far,” he lied, smile oily as ever.
“Funny,” Emily met his eye. “I remember you saying Id tank.”
“Banter, Em, just banter,” he waved it off. “ListenTechFronts got contacts in cleantech. Maybe we could”
“Best be off,” she stood. “Early meeting.”
Outside, she nearly collided with Sophie, smoking by the door.
“Had no idea,” Sophie muttered, not looking up. “That youd well. Done all this.”
“Its just work, Soph.”
“No, its not,” she finally glanced up. “Thing is, I dropped out second year for Liam. Thought hed be the big shot. And now”
“Youve got three amazing kids,” Emily said softly.
“Yeah, but” Sophie trailed off. “Doesnt matter. Justproper chuffed for you, yeah?”
Emily nodded and flagged a cab. Then Thomas appeared at her shoulder.
“Walk you?”
“Please.”
They ambled down the lamp-lit street. He told her about becoming a forensic accountant, moving to Edinburgh, his messy divorce. Emily listened, realising this quiet bloke had always been decentshed just been too busy dodging Liams lot to notice.
“Kept your third-year paper,” he admitted suddenly. “The one on circular economies they all ripped on.”
“Why?”
“Was genius. Always knew youd blow them away,” he grinned. “Just never had the stones to say.”
“And I never had the spine to see who was actually in my corner,” Emily brushed his arm. “Cheers for telling me.”
At her hotel, they swapped numbers, made breakfast plans.
Next morning, she found a few stragglers in the restaurantLiam and Sophie included. The magazine with her face on it sat blatant on the table.
“Morning,” Emily nodded, joining Thomas.
“Sleep alright?”
“Barely,” she admitted. “Brain wouldnt shut off.”
“Good thoughts or bad?”
“Bit of both,” she smiled. “But glad I came. Like finally slamming that textbook shut.”
“Ready for the next chapter?” he asked, warm.
“Maybe,” her smile widened. “Well see.”
From the corner of her eye, she caught Liam showing her photo to some poor sod at the next table. But for the first time in fifteen years?
Didnt sting a bit.
