I hope you'll somehow enjoy this one.
The cold night greeted her as she walked out to a ten-story building's rooftop. She looked up to the moon, it was full and it was shining above her, giving her a soft light. She smiled a little because she knew the moon will soon be rising back home.
She crossed her arms against her chest then stood against the railing and looked down at the city lights. She couldn't help but compare it to the city lights back home. Nothing compares to the lights of the city that never sleeps. She thought.
It had been six years since the last time she saw the said city and she would be damn lying if she'd say she didn't miss it. She took a deep breath as she felt her heart ache. I miss home. She thought again.
"Alex?" A girl called out to her, pulling her out of her thoughts. She turned and faced her friend, Sophie. "Mr. Clark is here." She informed with a very precise British accent and then she stepped aside to let the mid-thirties man step outside.
"Thank you, Sophie." She called out. Sophie nodded then left. "Good to see you again, David." She smiled and pulled up a hand to shake her private investigator's hand.
"Good to see you too, Miss Russo." He smiled, shaking Alex's hand.
Alex turned back around and looked at the horizon. She tucked her hands in her jeans' pockets. "So, how are they doing?" She asked right away.
David stood at her side, looked at the horizon as well. "Your parents are doing fine. The sub-shop is still running. Your mother though is still looking for you. She sometimes walks out to the patio, sits on a chair and then starts to cry." He paused.
She held back her tears as she thought of her mom crying.
"Your father sometimes does the same thing." She nodded. "But there was one time I heard him said to your mother and I quote," He chuckled a little at first then continued, "Theresa, if Alex decided to come back home, I will kill her for making us worry so much. End of quote." He took a glance at her.
Alex chuckled as well. She can imagine her dad saying that with his face reddening from frustration. Of course her dad didn't mean that. He loves his princess so much, he can't even flick his daughter's ear when she did something wrong. All he could ever do was ground her. "How did you know he said that?" She wondered.
"I have many ways, Miss Russo." He grinned.
"That's what I thought." She grinned as well. "So, how about my brothers?"
"Your older brother, Justin just got engaged with Juliet. You remember her?" He inquired.
"Yeah." She nodded then smiled, "He finally popped the question, huh?" He nodded. She was truly happy for her older brother. She knew that he's in good hands. As what she knew about Juliet, she's a decent girl. "And Max?"
"Your younger brother is still in college. He still goes home every other weekend. Oh, and he already has a girlfriend. Her name is Maggie. They've been together for three months now."
"Really?" She giggled. "I never thought Max could ever get a girlfriend. He was such a weird kid. Do you know anything about this Maggie girl?"
"She has the same interests with your brother so there's no wonder they like each other." He snickered.
"Ah, now I see. That's good to know then." She nodded in understanding. "What about my best friend, Harper?"
"Miss Finkle had moved to Los Angeles last month when the company she worked for offered her a higher position for a newly opened branch there."
"Really? She left New York?" She asked surprised. Harper had told her a long time ago that she could never imagine herself leaving New York because it's her home.
David nodded. "What about her boyfriend, Zeke? She just left him? Did they break up?"
"No. They're trying to work things out despite of the long distance." He explained. "You know those two, they love each other."
"I know. That's why I was surprised when you said she moved to LA."
After that, there was a long silence. David just waited for the girl to ask the next question. He knew that the next person she wanted to talk about is a sensitive topic for her.
Alex's heart pounded against her chest. She was nervous again. Every time they were about to talk about her, her heart would just suddenly aches. Her lonely heart was still longing for her. It's been six years since the last time she saw her but the girl's effect on her was still the same.
She pulled out her hands from her pockets and gripped onto the railings. She pushed the lump that suddenly formed in her throat, took a deep breath then asked, "How is she?" Her question was just above a whisper.
Luckily for David, he was just standing right beside her that he was able to hear the question.
He took a deep breath as well. He doesn't know how his client would take the information he was about to give her. He knew what this girl meant to his client. "Miss Torres has two jobs. One in a small recording company and the other is in a music store." She smiled and thought, Mitchie has always loved music. "She's still in contact with your mother." He added.
"She still is?" She raised an eyebrow to David, who nodded in affirmation.
"Yes. She's still asking your mom if you have already contacted them."
"Huh." She said thoughtfully. David looked at her curiously and she noticed it. "What? Is there anything else?"
He gulped and continued, "She already moved out from her parents' house too. She lives in an apartment now..." He trailed off then looked away.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "And?" She urged. She knew there's more.
"She lives in an apartment with a guy named Shane Grey." He looked back at the girl. "Like two weeks, now."
Alex's heart constricted. Even though she knew this time would eventually happen, it still hurt her. "Oh." She looked away and tried to held back tears. She gripped the railings tightly and took a deep breath.
David continued, "In regards to their relationship, I'm still working on it. I have had tried asking some of their neighbors but most of them don't know about the two." Alex didn't comment. "Don't worry too much Miss Russo. They might be just friends, helping each other out."
Alex already stopped listening. Her thoughts were already elsewhere. The name Shane Grey seemed to be so familiar but she couldn't just pin-point where she had heard that name. Another thing, if Mitchie was comfortable enough to live with this guy, he's either a best friend or a boyfriend. She furrowed her brows as she thought of the name Shane Grey. Shane Grey. Shane Grey. She repeated in her thoughts.
"Miss Russo?" She was snapped out of it. She looked at David. "Do you have any other questions?"
"Oh. Uh..." She stammered as she thought quickly if she has any other questions to ask. "I think that would be all for now, David. Thank you."
"Okay. Just give me a call if you need anything." He pulled up his hand first for Alex to shake.
She nodded and shook David's hand. He walked to the door and went back inside. When he was out of sight, she thought of the name again. "Shane Grey." And to much of her dismay, she finally recalled who he was. She sighed, "Of course, how can I forget. The guy who made me realize how deeply in love I am with Mitchie." She muttered. "Shane Grey, Mitchie's ex-boyfriend. Great." She groaned.
She could still recall how she would always stop herself from breaking the guy's neck every time he would put his hands on Mitchie. After all she was trying so hard too to stop herself from blurting out that she was in love with her.
She literally heard her heart break. Again. "Guess they got back together. After all these years, they met again. Talking about soul mates." She held back the tears. "You have to get over it, Alex. You knew from the very start, that you and her, is impossible. It isn't going to happen. Ever." She gripped the railings tight. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths.
"Alex?" Came Sophie's voice again.
She swallowed hard, "Yeah?" She answered without looking at the girl.
"Someone's interested with your painting." She hesitantly answered.
"Which one?"
"The center piece." Her heart skipped a beat at that. She opened her eyes and faced her friend.
"Really?" She asked happily. This was another achievement for her. Her art was somehow her distraction from thinking about the other girl. She poured all her love in her paintings.
Sophie nodded with a smile.
"Alright. Let's go." She grabbed Sophie's hand and went inside.
It turned out the one interested with her painting was a French businessman. They quickly closed a deal.
After a little celebration, she went back to her loft. Back to being alone again. She sighed. Her thoughts drifted back to Mitchie again. "Let it go, Alex. You need to let it go." She said to herself.
When she rolled on her bed, her head hit to something. She sat up and saw a pad of paper and a pen beside it. An idea came to her.
She pulled out her phone and dialed a number.
"David Clark." Came an answer.
"David, I need you to come over in my loft tomorrow. I need you to do something for me."
"Okay, Miss Russo. No problem."
"Alright, thanks." She hung up.
She took the paper and pen then stared at them. "Alright, Alex. You need to do this. This will be somehow the closure you needed. Let it all go."
After more than fifty crumpled papers that had a lot of pen erasures and scratches, she finally made a clean letter. She sighed as she reread it and then put it in a clean white envelope. She wrote Mitchie Torres at the back of it then sealed it close.
The following day, as promised, David dropped by at her loft.
"Miss Russo." He greeted as soon as she opened the door.
"David, come in." She stepped aside and let the man step in.
He sat down at the couch. "You need me to do something?"
"Yeah." She nodded then walked to her room. She came back with the envelope in her hand. "I need you to send this to Mitchie." She waved the envelope. "You know her address right?" She asked, handing the letter to David.
David took it and answered, "Yes." He looked down at it. "Do you have an idea how you want me to send this? Or do you want me to just mail this?"
"No. Uhm could you uhm..." She cleared her throat. "Could you send it together with flowers? Uhm maybe you could pretend to be the delivery guy then hand it to her? I just want to make sure that she will be the one who could receive it."
David smirked at her and gave her a knowing look. She rolled her eyes. "It's not what you think. It's kind of a goodbye letter."
David frowned. "Oh okay, Miss Russo. Would this be all?" He stood up from his seat. She nodded. "Any specific flowers?"
She smiled, "Her favorite, white lilies."
David nodded with a grin. "But of course, you know what her favorite flower is." He teased.
Alex laughed, "Shut up." She pushed him towards the door. "Inform me if you already delivered it." He nodded as he walked out the door. "So I could call my parents after that."
David was surprised. "You'll finally contact them?"
"Yeah, before my dad kills me." She chuckled.
David nodded with a smile, "Alright, Miss Russo. Good luck with your parents. And I'll be in touch about this." He waved the envelope.
"Thanks, David."
"These pancakes are the best, Mitch." Shane said in between bites.
Mitchie laughed, "Uh-huh." She turned from the stove to put another pancake on the plate only to find out that the stack of pancakes she made were all gone. She gasped then yelled, "Shane!"
Shane laughed with his mouth still full then stood up. "I have to go. Just make some more for yourself." He struggled to say due to the food in his mouth.
"You're an asshole you know that?" She said and narrowed her eyes at him.
He waved his hand at her, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever." He took a big gulp in his coffee then headed out. "Bye, Mitch!"
She just shook her head after he shut the door. After making another two, she finally enjoyed her breakfast. As she washed the dishes, there was a knock on the door. She sighed, wiped her hands then walked to the door.
"Good morning, delivery for Mitchie Torres?" The guy asked as soon as the door opened.
"That's me."
"Great. Can you just please sign here?" He handed her a piece of paper. After signing it, the guy handed her the flowers then walked away.
"T-thank you." She stuttered out. She was surprised as she looked down at the expensive flowers. White lilies, her favorite. It made her think of Alex. She was the only one who knew what her favorite flower is.
At that realization, she frantically looked for a card, but she found a white envelope instead. She pulled it out from the flowers and looked at the back of it. It read Mitchie Torres. Her heart skipped a beat as she recognized the sloppy handwriting. She quickly ran to the stairs to ask the delivery guy the name of their flower shop but unfortunately, the guy was gone. She frowned since it could have been a way that would lead her to Alex.
She set the flowers on the table and stared at the envelope. Her heart was pounding against her chest. There's no way this wasn't from Alex. It was her handwriting, she was sure of it.
She slowly opened the envelope with her shaking hands. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves before pulling out the paper then slowly unfolded it.
Mitchie,
Hello. Uhm... Wow... I never thought that writing a letter is so hard. You have no idea how many papers I have already wasted. Like, I think this is my fifty-third attempt. I just don't know how to start this letter. I hope this would be the last one.
Where should I start? Uhm... Wait, do you still remember me? Because this would be so damn awkward if you don't. So uhm... It's me Alex. Alex Russo? A friend from high school? I hope you remember me now.
Again, where should I start? Maybe I'm just going to start with asking, how are you doing? I know it's been a while. I'm sorry if I just left without saying goodbye. You know me, I hate saying goodbyes. Did I worry you too? Well I'm sorry for that too.
You're probably wondering why I suddenly wrote to you when I've been off the radar for quite some time.
Well, there's really a reason why I'm writing to you now. I wanted to tell you something. What I'm about to tell you may creep you out, so I'm going to apologize in advance, that was never my intention.
I think I just need a closure for all of this somehow. I need to get this off my chest so I could move on already and get out of this insanity.
Uhm... God, why is it still so hard to say this even just in a letter? It's not like I'm telling you this right in front of you.
Okay, I guess there's no easier way to tell you this. So, here it goes... What I'm trying to say here is that I love you. I'm in love with you for years. I've meant to tell you this a long time ago, but I just didn't know how to start.
This was the main reason why I chose to walk away. I didn't know how to deal with it. And I didn't know how people would react, my parents, my brothers, Harper and you. Especially you. I just didn't want to jeopardize anything what I had with you.
And don't worry, I'm not expecting anything. I knew from the very start there's no chance that there would be an us.
Even though not having you breaks my heart, I'm still happy with where I am today. As what I have said, I just wanted to let you know that I love you.
That's it. I hope this didn't make you feel uncomfortable.
Once again, I love you, Mitchie.
Wishing you all the best,
ARusso
Mitchie softly caressed the piece of paper with her hand, then slowly folded it, tucked it back in the envelope.
She felt her tears fell down. Alex was in love with her all this time. They've been in love with each other all this time. She pulled the flowers against her chest, "Come back home, Alex. So I could tell you that I love you too."
Leave a review, yeah?
If you want a sequel, let me know. Maybe I can give you one. Just maybe.
Regarding with the next chapter of Letting Go, I'm still working on it. It would take a little longer before it will be posted. I'm sorry for those who are waiting. I was just having a hard time on how to word out the scenes that were in my head. LOL
And oh, sorry for the mistakes that you'll come across with.