Nonrefundable
He pulled into the parking lot and began scanning for an empty spot. The crunching of sand could be heard underneath the rubber treads of his tires as they moved at a leisurely pace. Sand that had undoubtedly been dragged to the parking lot from shoes, blankets, wagons, or any number of other ways exhausted people retreated back to the car after an eventful day at the beach.
Since there was no one behind him, Fitz took a minute to glance over at the place he would be calling home for the next few days. It was hard to see anything specific from his vantage point inside the car. Added to that, it was after nine o'clock and the sun's long disappearance made it even more difficult to see clearly. The nearby hotel lights and his memory from the online virtual tour he had taken gave him enough of a clear picture of what he was looking at.
It was a nice yellow two-story house with white trim and a wrap around porch that was decently spaced between a couple of mid sized hotels. There were a few trees planted along the back, likely for the renter's privacy against the public who were permitted to use the parking lot to visit the beach on any given day too. The house was small and cozy enough to look like home, but close enough to the action that you could wander on foot to find something to do if you wanted to escape.
He recalled from the virtual tour that each of the two floors were separate lodgings, but visitors could rent the entire house if they desired. While the second floor was smaller than the first, it had a balcony off the bedroom. The main reason he chose to rent this particular property was for the rooftop deck. It was accessible from both floors, but Fitz had intentionally chosen the second because it was easier to get to.
He had planned on spending a lot of time on the roof with Rebecca. The entire reason he had diligently searched for the perfect beachfront space with the most romantic spot was that he had planned to propose to her. In his mind, the rooftop was where he would ask her to be his wife.
They had only been dating six months when Fitz made the reservations, but they would be celebrating their one year anniversary the day after they arrived at the beach house. Planning ahead was key for him in all aspects of his life. He loved her and could see himself spending his life with her. Being in his thirties, he felt it was time to start thinking about his future. Now that his career was where he wanted it to be, settling down and starting a family were next on his list. This seemed like the perfect and logical next step.
Once the reservation had been made, the ring had been excitedly given to him by her grandmother, and it had all been orchestrated to be the biggest surprise of Rebecca's life. Fitz had been all but vibrating with anticipation ever since the last piece of this particular puzzle had been put into place. He'd envisioned getting down on one knee as the sun sunk behind the watery horizon while champagne chilled nearby. It would be the perfect moment.
But four months ago, out of the blue, Rebecca had ended things with Fitz, saying that she didn't love him anymore. The pain of hearing that for the first time cut as deeply as it did for him to remember it now.
"I don't..." His head jerked back as if he'd been slapped. Confusion and shock ruled his brain as he tried in vain to make her words make sense. She may as well be speaking in another language. Staring into her eyes, he knew she was being honest with him. Brutally so, but at least she wasn't using these words to cover for another reason for ending things. The pain sliced through to his core. It was all he could do to stay upright on his feet.
Finding his voice, he said, "I don't understand."
She knew this would be difficult, but it had to be done just the same. "I know this isn't easy to hear, Fitz. It's not easy for me to say either, but the one thing the two of us have prided ourselves on is our honesty with each other."
He nodded mutely.
"I don't have all the answers I know you want to ask me. I'll answer as many as..."
"Is there someone else?"
That question stung a little. "No. Of course there isn't."
"How long have you felt this way?" He asked, impatiently.
Rebecca took a deep breath in and let it out slowly while her hands fidgeted together. "About a month."
"A month?!" He practically shouted. Lifting his arms over his head, he laced his fingers together and palmed the back of his head before turning around to pace the floor of her living room. His mind was going a million miles an hour, with endless other questions demanding answers too. One of those questions bubbled to the surface and as he turned to look at her, Fitz let it spew out as angry as it pleased. "You couldn't have been honest with me a month ago and told me then?"
"I..."
"We could have talked about it, Rebecca. I would have listened to you and done whatever I needed to make things better."
"We're talking about it now, Fitz." She tried in a gentle tone.
"Things are different now though."
"How?"
"The difference is, I'm angry and hurt and caught off guard. I've had a minute to process this while you've had an entire month! And you don't want to discuss it. You want to end it." He turned around to pace some more. There was plenty of anger seething under the surface. Well-deserved anger, his mind justified, as the feeling grew even bigger.
Dropping his hands from the back of his head, he put them palms up in the space between them. The anger was still there, but desperation was beginning to make itself known. His facial features softened and his throat felt like a vice was beginning to squeeze it shut. He asked the question everyone wants an answer to. The universal question that is most asked – from toddlers to the aged - but rarely answered in a satisfactory way. "Why?"
She sighed again, knowing she could never fully explain herself to him and that he would never accept it even if she could. The absolute last person she wanted to hurt was Fitz. He was good to her, attentive, loyal, funny, kind, big hearted, and treated her well. She just didn't feel the same way about him anymore. She felt like she owed it to him to try.
"Why are you doing this to us? I love you." He pleaded. "I want to spend my life with you."
"Fitz. Please."
Tears were very hard for him to fight off right now. It seemed like she was determined to break his heart. But he was just as determined to hold it together. To hold them together. "Did you know that I was gonna propose to you on our trip?"
"You...what?" Confusion bloomed across her face and she took a step back from him. That was the last thing she expected to hear him say. She knew he loved her, but Rebecca didn't know he had already started to make active plans for their future together. They had been dating less than a year. Marriage wasn't on her radar for quite some time.
Stunned into silence, her gaze fell from his as she let his question linger. Her head was reeling. "Wow. I had no idea."
Fitz watched a wide range of emotions play out on her face. He hoped his mention of a proposal wouldn't fall on deaf ears. He wanted to believe there was a chance, however small, that this could be fixed. In a much softer voice he began to explain. "I rented out a beach house for a week."
She momentarily felt her resolve begin to weaken, and knew if the two of them didn't talk it out now, it would only lead to more pain when they did face it. She had to tell him. "Fitz..."
"And it has one of those porches that goes all the way around it; just like you like." He sounded desperate and hated himself for it, but couldn't stop the words from coming.
"I don't know what to..."
"And your grandmother gave me her ring..."
"Nana gave you her ring?"
"...so I could propose." He took a step closer to her, giving a small smile. Tears were filling her eyes now. He was about to reach for her hands and compel her to see his side of things when he saw a look flash across her face. It was a strange combination of sadness, exhaustion, and sympathy.
He practically stumbled backwards as his eyebrows sank. "You really don't want this, do you? You don't want us? Toooo...get married and begin a life together with me?"
"I'm sorry, Fitz." She reached for his hand, but he evaded the attempt. Her green eyes shot him a look of miserable apology. "But honestly...no. I don't want that. I wish that I did because you're a great guy and you are going to make someone very happy one day. It's just not gonna be me. I don't know what else to say. I just...don't love you like that."
Fitz nodded, keeping his eyes on the ground at his feet. He didn't want to cry in front of her but he was definitely on the verge. After a long silent moment, his raspy words fell over each other. "Okay. I'll...umm," He cleared his throat. "I'll take your grandmother's ring back to her this week."
"You could just bring it to me?"
He wanted nothing more than to keep her in his life, but that wasn't what she wanted and he had to protect his heart from further damage now. "I think it's best if we don't see each other. It's gonna be too painful for me."
"I understand. For the record, I didn't mean to break your heart."
He flicked his blue eyes up to her face and the anger and hurt inside wouldn't allow him to hold back the dig. "You did though. To be clear."
She stood there and accepted his words as tears streamed down her face.
In that moment, there was little he wanted more than to watch her squirm and feel terrible for what she was doing to him. It was a difficult feeling to hold onto when the love was still in his heart. Instead of lashing out any further, he nodded and walked out the front door and drove away, leaving her standing there.
Back in the present, Fitz muttered to himself from inside his car at the beach parking lot. "Get out of the car and make the best of this non-refundable situation, dumbass."
He had been dreading this trip for the past four months. It was a date on the calendar he hated to watch creep closer. In his mind, Fitz had gone back and forth between staying at home and going. The fact that the beach house had cost so much due to it being a prime spot, in the peak season of summer, as well as him not being able to get his money back were the reasons he was currently at his destination.
Sighing loudly, he got out of the car and stretched until the hem of his gray t-shirt began to rise to the waist of his shorts. He grabbed his suitcase from the back seat, locked the car, and dropped the fob into the pocket of his shorts as he strode toward the yellow house.
Standing on the front porch, Fitz grasped the doorknob and closed his eyes. He tried to rid his brain of all the preconceived notions of what could have happened in this house had things gone the way he had planned. He was going to give it a chance, being on vacation all alone. Maybe he'd go out one night and explore? Maybe he'd go parasailing? Maybe he'd go skinny dipping in the pool? Or maybe he'd just...
"Hey! Are you going in or what?" An impatient female voice asked from behind him.
A/N- Guys, I'm super rusty with my writing, so please bear with me here. This one will be a 10 chapter mini summer story. I'd love to know your thoughts - good or bad - just please don't be hateful. I appreciate your time & hope you enjoy it
