Charlie Wyman was not a man who was used to being afraid, but standing outside the offices of the New Yorker had him terrified. She was in there…Sophie. They had met and gotten to know one another while helping Charlie's grandmother Claire find her long lost love of 50 years past, Lorenzo. Claire and Lorenzo had just gotten married, with Charlie walking his grandmother down the aisle, all the while looking around for Sophie, the one person he longed to see again, more than anything else in the world. When Claire had told him she sent the invitation to Sophie, he had anticipated she would attend. To his dismay, she never showed.
'She's engaged,' he kept mentally telling himself. But no matter what his common sense was telling him, he couldn't get the kiss they had shared one clear, starry night in Siena out of his head. He had long since realized his initial annoyance with Sophie had stemmed from an attraction he felt almost from the start. As he got to know her, the attraction had turned into more. Charlie had been a man of reason since he lost his parents at an early age. He didn't have time for the more frivolous emotions like love. And yet, when he thought of Sophie, love was the only way he could describe his tumultuous feelings.
"I'm so sorry Charlie, I really thought she would be here," Claire had told him after the wedding. "Me too Gran," he replied. 'At least I hoped she would,' he mentally added. "Charlie, there's only one Sophie. What are you still doing here?" "You said that before when she road off with Lorenzo's son. I went after her and saw her with her fiancé on the balcony of their hotel. She's engaged Gran, that has to be the end of it." "I saw the two of you that night in Siena," Claire admitted. "You looked at each other the way Lorenzo and I do since that night. And she was crying as she left that day after she had spoken with you. All you need to do is go after her and tell her what she means to you. Things will work out Charlie, I'm sure of it." "You're telling me to fly to another country to find the woman I love, tell her that I love her and hope she feels the same?" That was the first time Charlie had admitted his love for Sophie out loud. Claire smiled a bit at that fact, but didn't acknowledge it. She merely replied, "I did."
That one little reminder was all it had taken for Charlie to gather up his courage and go after Sophie. Now, standing outside the New Yorker, he was becoming more unsure of himself by the moment. Would she be happy to see him? Would she feel the same way about him? After a few wavering minutes of should he or shouldn't he, Charlie remembered Claire's words, steeled himself up and walked inside to find the woman he loved.