Jonathan stood there as he watched her walk away again. He knew that he had to make a choice between letting her go like she had asked him to do in her letter or to go after the one woman he knew he would love forever. He didn't know whether seeing her again had relieved him of some pain and longing or had made his longing for her more intense. He remembered the scene he had seen barely half an hour ago. It had felt so wrong to watch Liza slow dance with someone else, it should have been him and it would have been him, had he not messed up the most beautiful thing that had ever happened to him.
Jonathan didn't even know if Liza had found somebody new to replace him and as much as he wanted to, he couldn't just waltz back in her life. But he also couldn't let her go. He had promised himself that if they ever crossed paths again he wouldn't let them go separate ways. His thoughts were confusing him to no end. On one hand, there was a chance that Liza already loved someone else, and going after her would only cause her pain but on the other hand, there was also a possibility that they could rebuild their relationship and have the life they had both once dreamed of.
The only thing he was sure about was that he needed to have her in his life. He had been a machine for the last four years, barely showing any emotions, meeting her again had brought him back to life, reviving all those buried feelings. He had been stupid when he had cheated on her and even more stupid when he had accused her of the same but he wasn't the same man now. He had grown and learned from his mistakes, if given a second chance he would never make them again. He checked his watch it was 7:00 Pm and he had a flight to catch, he had a choice to make. He could go back to New York and walk away from this fateful encounter or he could go back to the wedding and take a chance.
He didn't want to be the cause of more tears for Liza but he also didn't want to let go of her. He was stuck in limbo. He had taken decisions that could make or break his company without hesitation and yet here he was standing on the beach unable to decide whether to go after the love of his life or not. He took a deep breath in and closed his eyes. He saw Liza smiling on their wedding day, walking towards him in a beautiful white dress and he knew then and there that his decision had been already made. He took out the cell phone and texted Dave. 'Cancel my flight and wait for the instructions. ' This time he would stay and fight for her. This time he wouldn't let her go and with this thought, he made his way back to the wedding.Liza sighed in relief as she reached the wedding. Meeting Jonathan had been emotionally tiring. It had taken a lot of willpower to not turn back and slap him for showing his face again. Liza had said that she had forgiven Jonathan in her last letter and she truly had but that didn't mean that she was ready to face him again. Her mind was in a jumble and her emotions were all over the place. She had somehow managed to keep their encounter short and professional. After had initial shock of meeting him had worn off, she had handled it pretty well. The only thing she prayed, for now, was not to meet him again. Alice hadn't told her that Jonathan was attending this wedding or she would have never come here but then again she should have known that Leslie would have called all the people who were on top of the business food chain.
She gulped down her fourth glass of red wine as she sat down on one of the chairs near the bar. She had never been much of the drinker but tonight she would need as much liquid courage as she could get. Her eyes scoured the area looking for Jonathan and to her surprise, she felt a little bit of disappointment seep into her when she couldn't find him. She shook her head as if to clear her mind but it was already a little clouded by all the alcohol she had consumed. She got up from the seat but swayed a little as she saw the world before her tilt a little bit towards the left and then a bit more towards the right. She wondered if there was an earthquake and then suddenly everything started to spin making her lose her balance. She closed her eyes ready to embrace the pain but it never came. Instead of smashing her face in the makeshift hardwood floor, she found her face buried in someone's warm chest. She felt her body go lax in the arms of the stranger and the only words she heard were "Found you." Before her vision went blank and she fell into a deep pit of drunken unconsciousness.
Jonathan stood there like a block of ice, unmoving and frozen. He couldn't make sense of what was happening, one moment Liza was standing across him and the next she was kissing him. He hesitantly moved his lips against her. Liza's taste filling his senses. It had been so long since he had kissed Liza. He realized that what he remembered of kissing Liza was only a faded memory and the actual kiss felt so much more. He was getting into the kiss when suddenly Liza pulled away, a blush coating her cheeks."Sorry, I didn't mean to do that," Liza said backing away a bit, she was slightly out of breath and her voice was raspy. Jonathan's heart shattered at her words and the light on his face dimmed. Liza's eyes widened as she took in his crestfallen expression. "No... No...No, don't get me wrong. I didn't regret the kiss. I just meant that I didn't want to attack you." Liza said in a rush. Her blush deepening as she said the last few words. She was still wedged between the table and
Liza groaned as Alice nudged her with her footagain.They had been going over this for the past week and even though Liza wanted nothing more than to acknowledge the truth in Alice's words, she was still hesitant. It had been almost a year and a half from her break up with Steve. She was over him. She hadn't lamented on the loss of her almost perfect relationship with Steve for as long as she thought she would have. They had really fallen out of love, she guessed. She had seen Steve's picture in a magazine with some supermodel, the magazine claiming them to be an item now, however instead of feeling jealousy she had merely felt a slight tug of missing her friend. She had instead focused her attention on Jonathan sitting in front of her, stuffing his face with cupcakes she had brought. They had been flirting with each other for months now. An occasional wink, a suggestive remark, smooth comments by Jonathan making Liza blush, and of course his sincerity which was
It had been four years since Liza started dating Steve and one week since they decided to call it off. It had been a mutual decision. With Steve continuously wanting to and having to travel around the globe and Liza's desire to stay rooted in the place she called home, it had gotten too difficult for them to maintain their relationship. It wasn't that they didn't love each other anymore but they had drifted apart along the way and both of them realized that it was better to part ways as friends rather than to crash and burn later. Liza still remembered the day they had decided to break up. Liza had just gotten home from the office to find a brooding Steve sitting on the couch. She kept her purse on the table and pecked Steve on his lips. It had become a sort of homecoming ritual for her whenever Steve was in California. She loved the feeling of stability, of knowing that she would come home to find him sitting on the couch or in his study. She loved the domesticated life that they h
Liza looked at the place before her in amazement, as Steve glanced around uncomfortably, his smooth and slick mask melting away and being replaced by a man trying to impress the woman he liked. Steve had shown up at Liza's house with potted roses in his hands and a handsome smile on his face, sharp at 7:00. He was wearing black jeans with a forest green button-down, which somehow matched perfectly with the color of Liza's dress. His hair was messily styled and the way he presented the potted roses to Liza with a flourish, no one would have assumed that he was the author of a bestseller. Liza looked at him and her heart fluttered, not with excitement but with uneasiness, as to what was to come.Liza had taken the flowers from him and had handed them to Melanie, who had gushed over how cute they look, effectively embarrassing Liza and making her feel like a sixteen-year-old teenager going to prom instead of a 28-year-old grown woman. Steve had opened the door with her, with a c
Liza knocked on the cherry wood door, as she waited outside. Her face was now clean and bare, free from the disguise and the tears which had stampeded down her cheeks as soon as she had reached the safety of her car. Her dress was a little dusty from sitting down on the floor but she was sure that Melanie wouldn't mind. The door opened to a grinning Melanie with deep blue-dyed hair and a sleepy Keith attached to her hip. Liza smiled at the sight before her as Keith fussed to go to Liza. Taking Max from Melanie, she entered the house. "What's up, Liz?" Melanie asked as she sat down on a chair in front of the kitchen aisle. "I was missing you guys, and especially Keith," Liza replied, tickling Keith lightly as he let out a delighted giggle. Melanie looked over at Liza worriedly. She knew something was up. Liza never came by unannounced, she preferred to spend as much time as she could working and therefore always confirmed her visits. If there was one word to define Liza, it would be
Alice rubbed her cheeks wondering if they were still red. There was an undertone of excitement in the air surrounding her. The plastic cherry blossom tree, with its pretty pink flowers, was looming above them, and for a brief moment, Alice wondered exactly how much paper would have been wasted for making this tree. It wasn't the most appropriate thought for the situation she was in, after all, she had just been kissed.It had happened all too quickly. One moment Alice had been telling Alex how she was uncomfortable with being pressed up against him and how their position seemed to be wrong and the next thing she knew was her face being held by Alex, and his lips descending on hers. The kiss had started with Alex bent over her, coaxing her to respond, and had escalated to Alice standing on her tippy toes refusing to let Alex go. Unlike the usual cliche, Alice had been very much aware of the people around them, she could hear a giggling group of girls passing by, she could feel