Jasmine was leaving the building that she worked in after her shift, and was walking to her car when she saw a familiar figure in the distance. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the 6 foot 5 frame of a man that she hadn't seen in a decade. She couldn't see his eyes too well, but she remembered how blue they were. She could remember the way he looked at her and the smile on his face that she wished he would wear more often. It was a face she wanted to forget, and just when she thought she had succeeded in moving on and forgetting, it would creep back into her mind. She was angry at herself for it because she wanted to move on. Jasmine didn't want to let what happen break her completely, like it did her heart. But he wouldn't let him know that. Not wanting to dwell on the past, she continued to her car, and heard his voice from behind her, as soon as she opened her car.

"I'm sorry." He says.

She closes her eyes and tries to control her breathing, hearing his voice again when she thought she never would. "Sorry? For what?"

Turning around, their eyes meet once again, and she lifted a perfectly shaped eyebrow at him. He was a lot bigger than when they last saw each other. He seemed older, but time had been well to him, physically. Along with the memories that came, so did the pain that he had caused her. She forgot how much she missed hearing his voice.

"I'm sorry for what I did." Drew says. "I'm sorry for leaving. I'm sorry hurting you. I'm sorry for not being in contact with you after I left. I'm sorry for everything, Jasmine."

"Let me guess, you expect me to let you make it up to me?" She asks. "I'm supposed to make it that easy for you? I'm supposed to just say 'It's fine. Let's go back to the way things were?'"

Drew looks around the parking lot. He wasn't sure exactly what he was expecting out of any encounter with her. But he knew he wasn't expecting her to be happy to ever see him again.

"I don't expect you, to not be mad at me." He says.

"Then what do you expect, Drew?" She asks. "You expect me to just take you back with open arms? Expect me to happy to see you again? Let you back into my life so that you can leave again?"

"Nothing will ever justify why I left, Jasmine. I made a mistake and I wish I never did because it cost me you!" Drew says with a bit more force than what he had wanted to. "I was miserable every day of my life after I left. It wasn't worth it. Is that what you want to hear? That it wasn't worth it? An apology will probably never be enough, but it's the least I could do because you deserve an apology. You deserve a lot more and you have the right to think that I won't ever be able to give you what you deserve. You have every right to be angry."

"You're damn right, I do." Jasmine shot out. "But you're ten years to late on your apology."

He growls and runs his hands through his hair, not caring if it messes up his hair. "No, I'm not trying to hear that."

"Why did you come back, Drew?" She asks with her accent more noticeable than before. "Just to apologize and to basically say that I have the right to feel what I felt?"

"No, sweetheart." He replies. "I want you to let me get my chance again. We're grabbing dinner this weekend."

"Don't tell me what to do." Jasmine says, with that part of her that always liked when he took control of something.

Drew could smell the faint hint of vanilla and wanted to get closer to her to smell more. "I'm not. If anything, I want you to take control and tell me what you need and want me to do."

"What if I don't want to?" She asks. "Because maybe you don't deserve anything further than today and you know that."

"Give me a chance to. Earl's at 8 pm." Drew says. "Saturday night at 8 pm."

Drew walked away before giving Jasmine the chance to answer. She let out a frustrated sigh as she got in her car and pulled out her phone to call her sister. Putting it on speaker as she turned her car, to make her way home, she was relieved when she answered.

"Nikita." Jasmine says with a smile.

"Hey, sis." She replies with a smile of her own.

They're identical twin sisters, with long dark hair, green eyes and tan skin. There was similarities in their fashion, but unless you really knew them, it wasn't always easy to tell them apart.

"I saw him." Jasmine says, letting out a tiny whimper.

"Who?" Nikita asked in their language. Hindu.

They were originally from Mumbai, India and moved to the United States when they were five years old. They've lived in Florida ever since, though they have visited their home country numerous times since leaving all those years ago. Though they learned how to speak English when they were still in India, they still had an accent that they had gotten teased for when they were younger, though they've learned how to embrace their culture and the things that make them different.

"Drew. I don't even know how he found out where I work." Jasmine replies.

"This is Drew we're talking about. Should we really be surprised that he found out?" Nikita asks.

A few beats passed by before Jasmine replied. "I just thought I'd never see him again. I had gotten to a point where I was okay with not seeing him. I was accepting it. At least I thought I was, and now I don't know."

"He hurt you so badly, J. I never want to see you like that ever again. You wouldn't eat. You were barely sleeping and he damn near broke you."

If only she knew that she really was broken. More broken than she had wanted to admit because she didn't want to show that she had been affected as badly as she had been.

"I know." Jasmine softly says. "But now he wants to me to meet up with him this weekend for dinner. He didn't even give me a chance to answer."

"You've always liked that about him. The confidence that he carries, because he jkm knows how to how to have the right amount of it, and never be cocky." Nikita says. "Drew set the bar up pretty high and you haven't settled for less, since. Well, with the exception of Tim."

Jasmine softly laughed. "Drew doesn't deserve good from me."

"Of course, he doesn't. You're right on that." Nikita agreed. "But I also know that your heart never fully got over him. Do you still have feelings for him, probably not and that's okay. But your heart never fully let him go, and that's okay, too. You can love someone, or have them in your heart and never allow them back into your life again."

"I think it's best if I just don't show up." Jasmine says.

"Without telling him anything?" Nikita asks.

Jasmine lets out a sigh. "I don't have way of contacting him. But I can't let my heart make decisions for me anymore. Not when it comes to romance, because look at how that turned out the one time I did. This is me making sure that I don't get hurt again, and if that makes me the bad guy, then so be it."

"That doesn't mean that you have to be shut yourself off to love." Her sister says.

"I'm not, though. I'm just being more careful." Jasmine says. "The way I'm doing it, is what may make it seem like that's what I'm doing."

A few moments pass. "You have today, tomorrow and Saturday to think about it."

Saturday night...

Drew sat in a booth of Earl's. It was a hole in the wall diner, which gave a lot of privacy that customers loved. The food is amazing and the style is a throwback to a 50's inspired diner. He looked at his watch and saw that it was A few minutes after 8 pm and wondered if Jasmine would come. He wouldn't be surprised if she decided to not show up. She was right when she said that he didn't deserve anything past a few days ago and he thought this was her making sure he understood that. Wearing jeans and a white shirt, Drew also had his hear slicked back into a neat ponytail. Just as he was about to start wondering if he should just order his food, and leave, a waitress came by with Jasmine behind her. He stood up and took in what she was wearing.

"Can I get you two anything to drink?" She asked Jasmine.

"If you have Coke, I'll take that." She replies with a smile.

"I'll take one as well." Drew says, and didn't even bother watching as the waitress left.

Jasmine's green eyes meet his blue eyes, and his chest hurt as his heart was beating out of his chest, it felt like. They sat down as he admired what she wore. A blue dress that reached a few inches above her knee and sandles that showed her pink toe nails. Her hair in a braid with a few curls left out, while still showing her face. As they looked at the menu, he glanced at her a few times.

"I'm glad you came." He starts off saying. "You look really nice."

"Thanks." She softly says.

A few beats passed as their eyes met and held for a few seconds before Drew spoke again. "How's work? Are you a big time engineer now?"

"I'm not famous." Jasmine says with a ghost of a smile. "But yes, I'm a Cybersecurity engineer, now and I've worked my ass off to get there."

"That's right. Always had a thing for a that type of stuff." Drew says, noticing that some habits don't leave as easily when she looks as if she wants to shy away. "But congratulations. I remember how much you wanted it."

Drew wanted her. But he knew that he had to take his time in seeing this through, while making up for his mistakes. Even if he did, Jasmine still had the power to decide if it would ever be enough and if she decided to still not want anything to do with him, it would crush him. A part of him knew though, that he deserved that treatment.

"Is tonight supposed to be your way of trying to be on my good side?" Jasmine asked.

Drew looked out the window. "No, but I don't know how to do this, Jasmine and I'll admit that. I messed up and I'm trying to figure out how to go about this because I want this to work out and I don't know if you want to even see me."

"I debated on whether I should come tonight or not." Jasmine says. "A part of me still thinks you don't deserve this. You're the one who chose your career over me, so you play a part in how this little thing goes."

In other words, Drew knew better than to make her regret coming over. One of Jasmine's favorite artists, started playing on the radio and it was a song that she knew, as he caught her singing along to several parts of the song, even as the food came around. Drew wanted to hide the smile that he couldn't help but have, but he got serious again when he remembered that her guard was still intact. She's worth it and he was willing to be patient and to try to win her heart again.