I sat down with the full intention of finishing another story, but this one popped in and had to be written. Enjoy.
Two Years
It had been two years, since they'd last seen one another. But, time had evaporated the moment their eyes locked, and it was a wondering feeling. Nothing seemed to have changed between them.
Though, he knew that wasn't true, and he had worried that there would be an awkwardness between them. But, here she was responding to him as though he hadn't been the integral reason behind her departure.
He watched her as they lunched at an outdoor eatery on the water. She was beautiful. She always had been, but now, she exuded the additional quality of ease. She was relaxed and comfortable. With herself, with life.
Her hair was sun-kissed all over, and she was wearing a portion of the sides up in a clip. Left naturally curly without any effort to tame her locks, the breeze caught them often and swirled the hanging remnants around her perfect face. She smiled and laughed more than she ever had, and she was exuberant in her tales. Much had happened in her life, since she'd parted from his company. And, though he knew most of it thanks to quips in the media, she still regaled him with her first-account perspectives.
He found himself responding in kind and laughing along with her. Ever-present in the back of his mind was the desire to have been the one to be there with her, but he was so glad to have her in his experience again that it hardly seemed to matter that he hadn't been.
Almost as soon as she'd left, she met a Greek businessman and moved to the islands. It only seemed impetuous to someone who hadn't known her very well. Unfairly, she'd been the recipient of scathing editorials on the west coast of the States. To them, she'd been spurned by one rich tycoon - himself - and quickly fell into bed with another. But, he knew the real story.
She had honestly fallen in love. And, he'd been happy for her. The contact they had kept up had been sporadic at best, but she had never completely cut him out of her life. Which, he knew, wouldn't have been uncalled-for. He'd hurt her terribly, and though he hadn't meant a fraction of what he'd been barraging at her, he hadn't been able to stop himself. In the midst of the worst tirade he'd ever been known to have, the irony that he'd directed it at the most loving person he'd ever known was not lost on him. And, curse the fortunes, it had been public. Not that it would have made it any better, if it hadn't been. But, Roy, Chris, and Murray - back from abroad to attend his wedding - had all been there, when he'd lashed out. Unrelentingly.
When he'd finished, the shift in their relationship from connected to disconnected was palpable. Something he couldn't change but certainly could have prevented.
Following was two long years of separation, and he'd regretted his behavior every day that she'd been gone. He'd missed her terribly. The place where she used to reside in his heart was a hollow filled with regret. Always in the back of his mind, he knew they would come together, again - somehow, some way - and that day was finally here. It had taken every ounce of patience he'd had, and no small amount of praying, but here she was. Talking and laughing with him like nothing had happened and emitting the same airiness as the breeze whipping around them.
Saying he loved her would be an understatement. And, right now, she was giving him the best gift he'd ever received: she had forgiven him long ago and was making it easily apparent. Yes, she'd went on to live her life in other directions, but she held no grudges. There wasn't another soul like her; he knew that for certain.
As she was neatly replacing her napkin on her lap, he said, "I love you." Genuine, heartfelt. Pure.
Looking up, she met him eye-to-eye. Smiling with the grace only she could offer, she replied in kind, "I love you, too."
In that moment, the hollow in his heart became a thing of the past.