A Second Chance To Make Things Right
Chapter 1:
"Fabian, where are we going?!" I asked through my laughter. He was pulling me by the hand through the park between our apartment buildings.
"You'll see!" he said, running faster.
"Fabian! You know I'm a klutz! If you run much faster I'll fall on my face!"
"I'd love to see that!" he laughed, picking up his speed. Suddenly, just as I predicted, I tripped over a large rock and fell. I braced myself for the impact, but it never came. When I looked up, I was in Fabian's arms. "You know, I was just kidding. You didn't actually have to fall." he said with a smirk. I smacked his arm playfully.
"I didn't TRY to fall! You were running too fast!"
"Always my fault!" he exclaimed jokingly.
"When you do that it is!" I responded, sticking my tongue out. Out of nowhere, he quickly scooped me up in his strong arms. "Whoa! Fabian!" I exclaimed from surprise. He chuckled and carried me bridal style through the park. He stopped just before a grouping of trees and set me down.
"Close your eyes." he commanded.
"Whhhy?" I whined. I hated it when I couldn't see where I was going. I was a big enough klutz with my eyes open, with them shut it was a disaster.
"Nina, don't be difficult," he said. "Just trust me." Normally I would have refused, but the look of excitement sparkling in his eyes made me do as he said. He grabbed my hand and guided me through the trees, making sure I wouldn't trip on any roots. "Okay, we're here," he said. "Don't open your eyes until I tell you!" I nodded. "Good! Okay, ready? 1...2...3, open!" I opened my eyes and gasped, my hand flying to my mouth. In front of me was the most beautiful set up I had ever seen. There was a large pond with a small island in the middle. On the island there was a gazebo decorated with little red and orange lights. There was a bridge that extended to the island, making the gazebo accessible. In the gazebo was a small table, home to a candle lit dinner.
"Fabian..." I gasped, turning to him. He had a look of triumph on his face. "Its beautiful! I love it! Thank you so much!" I said, engulfing him in a hug.
"It is nice..." he admitted. "But not nearly as radiant as you." I smiled and looked up at him. He looked so genuinely happy, it almost made me want to cry tears of joy just because of how happy his happiness made me! I know, that made no sense whatsoever. I grabbed his hand and laughed.
"Liar!" I said, pulling him towards the bridge. He rolled his eyes but chuckled a bit.
"When are you going to believe that you're beautiful?" he asked, pulling out my chair for me.
"Um... Maybe... Nope... Hmm... Possibly... Never." I responded as he sat down. He sighed and rolled his eyes. I laughed and looked down at my plate. Mmm, pasta with a homemade tomato sauce! "This looks delicious," I said. "Did you make it yourself?"
"I did," he said looking proud. "And it took a heck of a lot of work so you'd better enjoy it!" I laughed.
"But you love to cook!" I pointed out.
"Touché.." he replied, picking up his glass of wine. "A toast," he started. "To our... Uh... Second 6 month anniversary?"
"Haha, yes, to that! I think..." I responded. We clinked glasses and took a sip. It had been six months since the wedding. Six months since I almost lost the love of my life to another woman. Thank God I had the courage to object... Who knows where I'd be now? Maybe I'd be here, watching him be happy with Joy. Maybe I'd be back at my old apartment, still sad and lonely. But I don't want to think about that right now.
"Nina, are you alright? You've been staring into space for a while, your pasta is getting cold!" Fabian questioned, interrupting my thoughts.
"Sorry," I said. "I was just thinking about... You know..." I looked down and picked up my fork. I felt Fabian's hand on top of my other one and looked up.
"Nina," he said. "That was a mistake, and I'm sorry, you know that. I love you so much and I'm so glad that you did what you did! But now that's behind us and you don't have to worry about it anymore. I will not make the mistake of losing you again." He had so much love in his eyes that it made me want to jump over the table and kiss him. But luckily, I had enough self control not to do that. I didn't want to wreck the food he worked so hard to make.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be thinking about it. Let's eat." I smiled and picked up a noodle on my fork before popping it in my mouth. Holy crap, it was like heaven in your mouth! "Fabian, this is amazing!" I praised. He smiled at me, obviously happy with my reaction.
"Thank you," he said. "I'm glad you like it!"
When we finished eating, Fabian grabbed my hand and led me out of the gazebo towards another bundle of trees.
"Come on!" he said excitedly, guiding me carefully through the branches. At one point I got a branch across the face, but I didn't complain because I was just happy to be holding Fabian's hand in the darkness. Finally, we could see a light ahead of us and before long we broke out of the shelter of the trees, onto a large hill overlooking the beautiful city that was now my home.
I gasped as Fabian led me to a blanket laid out on the hillside. We sat down just as the sun began to set and the lights of the city started flicking on, like little fireflies glowing in the darkness. Talk about a cliché romance setting, but that's okay, it was absolutely gorgeous.
"Oh Fabian," I breathed. I turned to look at him, he had his eyes trained on me and his mouth was tilted in a half smile. "This is... Wow." he chuckled and lay back on the blanket. "It's amazing..."
"Yeah," he said, propping himself up on one elbow. "I discovered it about a month before you came. Even though I was with Joy at the time, I couldn't help but think of you when I saw it." he glanced up at me. "Guess that goes to show just how stupid I was for asking her to marry me." I looked down. As much as he says he's sorry and that it was a mistake, the memory still kills me. The pain of almost losing the only one I've ever truly loved was horrible. "Nina." he said, I looked up and straight into his eyes. They were burning with such intensity that I couldn't look away even if I wanted to. "I know I've said it a thousand times before, but I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I had fooled myself into believing I was over losing you and that I had fallen in love with Joy. I was stupid, and I still am for ever believing that I could live without you in my life. I can't even tell you how sorry I am..." he said, his voice cracking at the end. He looked away and I saw a tear escape from his eye. I moved closer to him and cuddled into his side.
"Hey..." I said, putting a hand to his cheek and turning his head, forcing him to look at me. I could see the pain in his eyes and his sadness just made me want to hold on to him and never let go. "I tell you this every time you apologize. I forgive you. I could never hold this against you, why? Because I love you. It doesn't matter what happened, what's done is done, it's over. All that matters is that you're here now, and I'm never going to let you go again." I said, wrapping my arms around his waist and hugging him tightly. I felt his arms around me as he squeezed me back. I tilted my head up and gave him a peck on the lips. Much to my surprise, he pulled me back and kissed me more passionately. We fell back on the blanket, and when we broke apart, we lay there looking into each others eyes with the sunset as our backdrop.