And the hardest part

Was letting go, not taking part

Was the hardest part

And the hardest part

Was letting go, not taking part

You really broke my heart


Eight years later

Anne woke up before her alarm, as always, wishing she was able to sleep more, as always. She could have stayed in bed a little bit longer if it wasn't for Mary's lunch invitation.

"Marie," she corrected herself.

Ever since she had come back from Switzerland, her little sister had been insisted in being called like that.

Anne sighed and got off bed. Her week at the hospital had been hard, and she was looking forward to a drama-free weekend. But there was always drama with Marie.

She took a quick shower and ate breakfast before heading to the yoga studio. She usually went there three times a week, after work and Saturday afternoon. Anne's therapist had suggested it after his departure and it turned out to be the one thing that made her not to think of him.


The months after his departure had been hell, but she made it through. Mostly alone, but also with the help of the therapist she had seen when her mother had died. Mae was still in New York so Anne had had to managed with the aftermath by herself.

She knew she needed closure, the therapist had said so as well. However, she gave up looking for him after many unanswered calls, texts and emails; and she was too proud to call Jonathan to ask if he had travelled to California.

Despite all the sadness that still resided in her heart, Anne decided that she needed to move on with her life and bear the consequences of her decision.

She graduated from Harvard with the highest honors, spent the summer at the Hamptons with Elisabeth and Walter, who never mentioned a word about the boy who had been to the gala, and then finally moved to Cambridge, England, hoping to start anew.

But the feeling of hopelessness never truly went away.


Cambridge was not at all what she had expected.

People at the Sanger Institute were nice, but she never truly made friends. She would spend some time with her lab mates and with the other fellows, yet never reached the level of confidence and familiarity she had had with Mae. The city was beautiful but the constant change in the weather affected her mood. So, for the next four years, she buried herself on her research.


Anne was supposed to get a post doc after her PhD, but she decided not to do it, despite the encouragement of the doctoral committee.

She had realized that it would take time for cancer research to have an impact in the life of the patients and the field was filled with scientists with the same goals as her. She wanted to be more involved with people so she decided to get a masters in Genetic Counseling.

She was accepted to the masters in the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and returned to New York for two years, during which she lived home again.

Walter had resigned himself to have a scientific daughter, who now, instead of working on a research institute and be famous, as he hoped, would be working in a hospital. Of all the options of employment, Anne had preferred to go back to Boston and work at the Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Yes, it had been hard at the beginning, being back to where it had all began and ended. Despite all, she loved the city and she relished in the good memories.

Even if she felt lonely sometimes, Anne enjoyed her job, felt she was helping people, and was content with her life.


A year after starting at Brigham's, Mary ("Marie") called and announced she was moving to Boston, because her husband was starting the American branch of his company.

During her time in England, Anne had seen her often and became aware of all the changes in her sister after all the time she had been far from family. Not all was bad, but she wished Marie would have more aspirations than to become a housewife. In particular a rich housewife.

After boarding school, Marie had stayed in Switzerland for college and had met her future husband, Charles Buhari. He was the son of a Nigerian entrepreneur and was bound to expand his father's investment company to America. They had gotten married right after college and welcomed their first son, Henri, soon after that.

The whole Elliot family had been taken aback by the turn of events but welcomed the new additions to the family. Especially with the money and status they came with.

It looked like Marie had everything she wanted. At twenty-four, she was married, had a beautiful (and spoiled) three-year old and had a great house in the suburbs of Boston.

Given the proximity, Anne saw more of her sister, maybe too much. She had become the emergency nanny, helper, doctor. Every time she did not feel well or saw something strange in her son, Marie would call her sister for help. Anne had lost count how many times she had explained she was a doctor, but not a physician. And yet, she was there whenever her sister called.


Anne pulled up at Marie's house, and as soon as she knocked on the door, she was welcomed by Charles.

"Oh, Anne! Thank God you're here! Maybe you can calm your sister," he said and let her in the house.

"What happened?," she asked and walked towards the kitchen where she had just seen her sister go.

"You know my sisters are coming to lunch, right?"

"Yes. Marie told me they were in town."

"Well, it's not just them. I just found out that my mother travelled as well, and you know how Marie gets with her."

"Yes, I know," Anne replied. She had only seen Charles' mother twice and that had been enough that the woman did not like anything less than perfect. Anne loved Charles, but could not figure out how his occasional cluelessness came to be with the mother he had.

She looked down at her outfit. If she knew that Rose was coming, she would have chosen better clothes than the purple pants, beige oversized sweater and the knee high boots she was wearing. Those would have to do.

"So, Marie is freaking out, because we don't have any help today and she doesn't think she can attend six people properly," Charles continued.

"Six people?," Anne counted in the head and was one person short.

"Oh, yeah. I invited a friend, before I knew about my mother. He's a very nice man, you know? And single. Maybe you'll like him," he added playfully.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't play matchmaking with me, Charlie. I have enough with the people at work."

"Okay, okay. I was just making a suggestion."

A loud sound came from the kitchen and Anne rolled her eyes.

"I'll go help my sister," she said.

"Thank you. I'll go find Henri and make sure he's presentable," he added with a quick hug to his sister-in-law.


In the kitchen, Marie was opening and closing cabinets without taking anything. Despite all her knowledge about genetics, Anne was always amazed by how different her sisters were. One was blonde and pale, one dark-haired and tanned, while the younger was a brunette with wavy hair and hazel eyes.

"Hello Marie," Anne greeted, causing her sister to immediately turn around.

"Oh, thank God you're here early," Marie exclaimed and immediately hugged her.

"No problem, Charlie already told me everything. How can I help you?"

"I'm looking for the saucer she gave me in the bridal shower and I can't find it."

"We'll find it, don't worry."

While Anne was inspecting the cabinets, Marie kept complaining about how there was nobody to help her today, how her mother-in-law had arrived unannounced, that Henri kept going outside and getting dirt and snow on his clothes, and that Charles had also invited a friend visiting from California at the last minute.

Eventually, Anne found the saucer, arranged the table and went to the nearest store to get more wine and drinks. She took her nephew so that he would not get dirty again and his parents could get ready for their guests.

She did not know how responsible she looked, picking up three bottles of wine and a six-pack of beer with a three-year old in tow, so she let his nephew choose a dessert and make funny faces to the cashier.

They walked back to the house, with Anne carefully watching after her nephew, but as soon as the little boy saw his house, he let go of her hand and ran to his father.

Anne was about to yell after him and then her breath caught in her throat.

Standing right next to her brother-in-law was Frederick.