Prologue
June 2023
People will forget what you say. People often will not remember what you do. But people will never forget how you made them feel. There are people who are lucky enough to have already found the one for them. There are also some people who are still searching and then there are people who gave up altogether. But the absolute worst thing to be is one of the people who found that person, but let them walk away.
My mother always said "Never regret any decision you make whether it's good or bad" and I tried living by those words the best I can. Ever since I can remember. But making the decision I did five years ago changed all that. It's making me question everything. And now, I wake up with an all consuming hole of regret in my heart.
The loud music from the stereos yanked me out of my thoughts and I suddenly remember where I am. Oh, that's right. Hanging out with friends at a bar. Not my favorite thing to do but a must to have a social life which, besides my career, is all I have.
"This has been a really fun night guys but I have to work tomorrow so I'll go ahead" I told my friends as I stood up from the bar stool I was perched on. I need to get out of here to clear my thoughts and I could not think of any other excuse.
"We've barely even begun! It's 11pm for crying out loud" one of my friends exclaimed.
"You know how I am" I winked and traipsed out of the bar.
I shook my hair, straightened my dress and took a moment to get my bearings. Whew, bars really aren't my thing. It gets me all disoriented.
I decided to go buy some coffee before heading to my car. Coffee places are one of my favorite spots to just breathe. To me, the smell of freshly brewed coffee is one of the greatest inventions.
"Cappuccino for Annabeth" the barista bellowed. It took me a while to get up from my seat because I was trying to plug in my phone. But when I got to the counter, my drink was gone.
"Um, do you know where my drink is?" I asked the barista.
"I just left it there" he shrugged, not really caring.
I frowned. Where is it then? I looked around and that's when I saw him standing across the room looking exactly the way he looked the last time I saw him. The image of him, standing at that airport, looking at me with hopefulness and longing, etched in my brain forever. A million questions and a million emotions raced through me just at the sight of him. How? When? Why? I wanted to run to him. To hug him. To tell him I'm sorry. My legs turned to jelly and my heart felt like it's gonna come out of my chest.
Before I could even begin to gather my thoughts, he started walking towards me, "Cappuccino for the lovely Annabeth?"