Okay. I don't normally like ambiguous endings, but this is the finish to this story before the sequel. As for will they end up together?: I am like A. I know all, but no-one else does. Or something to that effect. Anyway, y'all should know by now I own nothing. Wait, I tell a lie: I do own Aria's fiancé. And, you know, don't kill me. Please. I like my life. Thank you to HarrylovesGinny09 for helping me with the ending when I had a bit of writers' block. Much appreciated. Thanks for all the feedback, it all makes my day. There's a surprise at the end of this chapter: see if you can tell what my intent with the last three paragraphs (in italics) is. SolitudeMyLove suggested it, so I delivered! It's my insurance policy: this way, I will do a sequel. Promise to Shakespeare or y'all can send A after me. Anyway, enough from me.
Ezra collapsed in his motel room after his conversation with his mother, exhausted. Rather than try to unpack, he curled up on the uncomfortable bed and rehashed everything that had transpired when he went to England.
Much like he had before, he recalled the time in fragments. Aria's engagement ring… her unfriendliness… her icy, professional demeanour…
For the next week, Ezra lived out of his suitcase.
One day he was digging through the messy suitcase, looking for a clean shirt, when he found the new journal he'd picked up at a random bookstore some days ago. Every page was perfectly blank, and there was nothing to indicate that it had been a gift from Aria.
It seemed fitting that he use this journal to start writing. A blank book was somehow equal to the proverbial clean slate, and it begged to be filled with a story. Ezra had held off writing anything until he was sure he had a story to tell, and now he did.
It was the first time in a while that he picked up a pen and started writing again, his hand racing across the pages.
Time passed in a blur, and when he finally sat back from writing with an aching hand, he couldn't have said whether he'd been writing for five minutes or five hours.
Out of habit, his thoughts drifted back to Aria. If she read this, maybe it'd help her understand my side of things before we broke up….
Reviewing his notes, he noticed how frequently heartbreak came up as a theme.
In that case, this would be a story about a couple who were in love, but the male protagonist would be the one left heartbroken after his girlfriend left him to pursue career opportunities. Then, his heartbreak would be renewed all over again after he flew overseas to visit her, only to find her engaged and not at all the woman he once knew.
If she was happy, he'd find a way to get through somehow.
Aria holed up in her office, planning lessons although she really didn't need to. Mostly, it was just a distraction from seeing Ezra the other day. She'd been startled to see him, caught off guard by such a prominent figure in her past.
The entire interaction had been strange. He hadn't been his usual articulate self even before he noticed her ring. Then he saw it and bolted as soon as she'd confirmed what it was. It was completely unlike him: surely he'd at least want answers about why she left or what she was doing?
He had to still care, she brooded, especially if he flew to England just to see her.
The door handle creaked and she tensed, an old reflex from during high school when she was dealing with A: her fiancé Dave slipped through the door and stood in front of the desk, holding one hand suspiciously behind his back. He always had the habit of sneaking into her office as if he was a high schooler sneaking around, which she loved.
He stepped forward, covering her eyes with his free hand and placing something on the desk-she heard a faint ping as something metal-sounding dropped onto the desk. Stepping back, he watched her reaction.
It was a delicate silver charm bracelet, with three charms-the Eiffel Tower, a book and a cupcake. Three things that were significant to them: six months ago, after dating for almost a year, they'd gotten engaged on the Eiffel Tower. The cupcake was a symbol of the first time they'd kissed-one night he was trying to make cupcakes to impress her and decorate them fancily, then after the cupcakes failed, she leaned over and kissed him. From there, their relationship progressed well. And the book was a symbol of how they met in the first place, when she was in her first year of her thesis-he'd been searching for the book that she'd been holding in a bookstore and they'd argued briefly about who should take it. Finally the store assistant stepped in with another copy, and she impulsively asked him if he wanted to go for a coffee.
From the first date, she'd been in love with him. She loved how he wasn't exactly the same as her-in fact, he'd done a doctorate in art history.
When he asked her on an actual date, she'd been thrilled. Partly to get over Ezra, and partly because the whole idea of going out on a date in public was still so new to her. She loved going out to dinner, holding hands occasionally, and not worrying about who might see. This seemed to her the best way to start a relationship, rather than years of sneaking around and secrecy.
On their second date, it occurred to her that people did this every day. She suggested seeing a movie as well as dinner-she wanted people to see them together. Their relationship started easily and naturally.
In short, it was the exact opposite of how her and Ezra's relationship had started. And she loved it all.
After a year of dating she sensed a shift in their relationship. He was a year older than her, so completed his thesis the year before she did. He seemed to want to make what they had official, while she was still working on her thesis. They travelled together often on the weekends, slipping away, grabbing the first train leaving the station. Half the time they barely packed anything, just a camera, a book and something to write or draw in.
They told each other everything, even their deepest secrets. He knew all about A and even the fact that she dated her high school English teacher. She knew how he'd risked being disowned for studying art history instead of law, as his father wanted and that he used to pretend to be the child his parents wanted him to be, rather than being himself.
One Friday evening, she arrived home to her flat to find him there, with a couple of bags packed. This wasn't unusual-they sometimes did this to surprise the other. What was unusual was that he seemed determined for some reason, as if there was a particular train he wanted to catch; then, when they got to the station he headed straight for the train and handed over tickets when normally they would ask at the desk where the trains were going and then pick a place.
This time, he didn't say where they were going or what they were doing. The next morning it was still dark when he woke her, coaxed her to get up and they left the hostel. It turned out they were going to the Eiffel Tower to watch the sun rise, after he'd called in a favour, and once on the highest level of the tower, he proposed.
Of course, Aria said yes straightaway.
A few days later, her supervisor told her that because of the progress she'd made on her thesis, she could potentially finish the entire thing within what remained of the academic year. Working even harder than she did before, she completed her thesis and graduated, accepting a job teaching at Oxford for next year.
Now, she had a wedding to plan.
At the moment they were thinking of eloping, to save the hassle of having to worry about if family and friends would be able to make it. If they had the wedding in America, Dave's family might not be able to go, and it they had it in England, her family and friends might not be able to make it. As a result, it seemed more reasonable for them to elope and then travel, visiting first his parents to break the news and share photos, then visiting her family and friends.
A thought occurred to Aria-if they eloped and no-one knew, then there wouldn't be anyone available to speak up and try to stop them from getting married. That was definitely a bonus, especially since Ezra had visited. When she'd brought up his visit to Dave, he'd suggested that Ezra might try to stop the wedding.
Aria didn't know about that, but then she wasn't exactly in a position to judge. With the exception of that strange visit, she hadn't spoken to him in two years and even then, they hadn't talked properly.
Keeping that in mind, she resolved to stop thinking about Ezra entirely and focus on her wedding.
Ezra had worked endlessly for days at a time on his writing, and finally graduated to writing on his laptop. By now he had a full novel written, completely about him and Aria. It was stupid, he knew-she was getting married. At some point, she'd be gone from his reach for good. He knew she wasn't likely to cheat. He also knew that she wasn't one to renege on plans she had made, which meant it would be much harder to win her away from her fiancé.
He worked through the sheaf of paper he'd just printed, reviewing it and mentally drafting enquiry letters. Hopefully he could get it published and be able to send Aria a personalized copy. It was lucky that he had some friends who worked in the publishing industry and might be able to pull some strings.
Since he'd not been able to explain himself to Aria in her office, he would have to take the next best thing of explaining himself in a book dedicated to her.
Ezra finally allowed himself to take a break from writing and let his mind wander, letting himself imagine what might happen once Aria read the novel and it's dedication.
Aria walked into the room, somehow having managed to track Ezra down. Maybe she'd contacted various family members and searched online to find him. He looked at her, realizing immediately that she was the Aria he knew all those years ago. Her hair was long and she was dressed in one of the same quirky ensembles she always used to wear. Her left hand was absent of any rings, with the exception of a piece of costume jewellery on her index finger. She stood silently for a minute, clearly deciding how to word something she wanted to say.
Her voice was the same warm, soft tone it had been before, and she sounded happy when she told Ezra that she'd left her fiancé.
These words reverberated through Ezra's head in the moments before he crossed the room to her, kissing her, and all thoughts ceased when she kissed him back.