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Back The Companion Project
Chapters (89)
  1. Dedication
  2. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  3. ONE
  4. HENRY
  5. TWO
  6. EMMA
  7. THREE
  8. HENRY
  9. FOUR
  10. EMMA
  11. FIVE
  12. EMMA
  13. SIX
  14. SEVEN
  15. HENRY
  16. EIGHT
  17. NINE
  18. TEN
  19. HENRY
  20. ELEVEN
  21. TWELVE
  22. EMMA
  23. THIRTEEN
  24. HENRY
  25. FOURTEEN
  26. HENRY
  27. FIFTEEN
  28. SIXTEEN
  29. EMMA
  30. SEVENTEEN
  31. HENRY
  32. EIGHTEEN
  33. HENRY
  34. NINETEEN
  35. HENRY
  36. TWENTY
  37. TWENTY-ONE
  38. EMMA
  39. TWENTY-TWO
  40. EMMA
  41. TWENTY-THREE
  42. HENRY
  43. TWENTY-FOUR
  44. EMMA
  45. TWENTY-FIVE
  46. EMMA
  47. TWENTY-SIX
  48. EMMA
  49. TWENTY-SEVEN
  50. HENRY
  51. TWENTY-EIGHT
  52. EMMA
  53. TWENTY-NINE
  54. HENRY
  55. THIRTY
  56. HENRY
  57. THIRTY-ONE
  58. HENRY
  59. THIRTY-TWO
  60. EMMA
  61. THIRTY-THREE
  62. HENRY
  63. THIRTY-FOUR
  64. EMMA
  65. THIRTY-FIVE
  66. EMMA
  67. THIRTY-SIX
  68. HENRY
  69. THIRTY-SEVEN
  70. EMMA
  71. THIRTY-EIGHT
  72. HENRY
  73. THIRTY-NINE
  74. HENRY
  75. FORTY
  76. EMMA
  77. FORTY-ONE
  78. HENRY
  79. FORTY-TWO
  80. FORTY-THREE
  81. EMMA
  82. FORTY-FOUR
  83. EMMA
  84. FORTY-FIVE
  85. HENRY
  86. EPILOGUE
  87. ALSO BY CHELSEA CURTO
  88. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  89. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

“Because you liked talking to me for me, just how I liked talking to you for you. You didn’t care about my name or my family’s name. Whatever gossip you’ve heard about me in bed is the last thing on your mind. You’re not conniving or spiteful. You’re the most gracious, generous person I’ve ever met, and anyone who thinks I wouldn’t want to be with someone like you or couldn’t be with someone like you, is so wrong, it’s laughable. Jesus, Emma, you could live in a box and I’d still think you were one of the most magnificent people in the world.”

My lip trembles. It’s so thoughtful. So unlike anything Henry has said to me before, yet so also normal, and I feel rocked to my core. Is he always like this, and I’ve just failed to notice? If he is, I hate that I’ve missed out on such a sensitive man, regretting every second I spent being indifferent toward him and brushing him off.

There are so many things I want to say back.

Too many words and conflicting emotions, torn between wanting to laugh his admission off and jump into his arms, seeing if he would catch me.

“I-I think you might be one of the most magnificent people in the world too, Henry.”

He beams, a joy on par with the best things in my life and the good in every day. I wish I had a camera to capture the moment, forever cementing it under the Start of a New Era of Us.

“Do you know what I was thinking when I saw you sitting in the coffee shop, wearing the same outfit RB told me she’d have on?”

I shake my head. I’ve been too afraid to ask. Too afraid to hear the truth. Not brave enough to push for details. What happens after we cross this line of sharing emotions and feelings? We can never go back to being two coworkers who exist under the same office roof. We’ll be Henry and Emma with promises and bonds and shared intimacy.

I wonder what you sound like when you come.

I shiver at the memory. How the nine words are permanently stitched into my brain, right up there with you look positively stunning.

I might need to start a dictionary of phrases said by Henry Dawson that make me crumble.