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Chapter Three

Alexander Cole

•••

I drove over to the hotel with anticipation, the cool evening breeze brushing against my face through the open window.

When I arrived at the hotel, I headed straight to the bar where she waited for me.

I froze for a moment when I saw her sitting by the bar with that familiar, effortless smile that once made me lose control of my emotions and fall for her.

Leila, my ex-fiancée, the woman I once thought I’d spend forever with.

She stood when she saw me, her perfume already filling the air. “You came,” she said softly as she hugged me, as if she wasn’t sure I’d come.

We had met each other the previous night, but it was just for a few minutes. We didn’t really get to talk. I already knew she was coming back to New York though. We had been texting for a while.

I took a seat beside her as I responded, “Yeah, of course. I wouldn’t miss this for anything.”

The waiter came by, and before I could say anything she ordered for both of us, like she always did. “Whiskey for him, please.”

I smiled. “You still remember.”

She looked at me with a soft smile, “Why wouldn’t I?” She said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

When the waiter left, I leaned back on my chair studying her. My heart felt warm, I had a lot to say to her but still couldn’t find the right words.

So I finally decided to break the silence.

“Do you still remember the night at my aunt’s place, when you almost burnt the kitchen down with me?”

“Oh my God! Stop… I can’t believe you still remember that night,” she laughed, placing her hand on mine.

We locked gazes and for a moment, it felt like we were back to the old days. Like we were those two reckless people again, before life became so complicated.

The waiter brought our order and she looked away first, a shy smile on her face.

“Of course, I remember,” I replied. “You almost set the kitchen on fire trying to make pasta.”

She laughed again. God, it had been years but it still did something to me.

“You were the one who forgot to turn off the cooker.” She nudged me playfully.

“Oh! Leila, here you go. Blaming me again.” I laughed out loud.

I looked away, taking a sip from my drink.

“You look good, happier maybe,” I said softly.

Her lips curved into a knowing smile, “Thank you, Alexander. You don’t look bad yourself, you look happy and comfortable.”

I swallowed, “I don’t know about that.”

“Still lying to yourself, I see.” She teased, but there was still sadness behind all the smiles.

“I forgot how easy it was to talk to you,” I smiled, remembering all the times we spent in each other’s arms, talking about any and everything.

She tilted her head, her lips curving into that knowing smile of hers. “Maybe you shouldn’t have forgotten.”

The bar felt warm and cozy. It was the kind of place where people could easily make mistakes, but deep down, I knew I wasn’t making one.

I was where I wanted to be.

We sat close, laughed, shared soft glances that lasted a little too long. I didn’t know where it would lead, but at that moment I didn’t want to leave.

We talked for a while and it brought back certain memories I had forced myself to suppress throughout the years.

When my father told me I couldn’t get married to Leila, I was so devastated. I always thought I had freewill, but I was wrong.

Leila and I had already planned our wedding. We spent so much time and money, but everything came crashing down when I realized I couldn’t get married to her.

My father left with an ultimatum; get married to the girl he chose for me or lose the company.

It was a difficult situation and I had to settle on getting married to a stranger whom I wasn’t even in love with.

Well, she wasn’t completely a stranger, but the only thing I knew about her was her name and the family she came from.

“Alexander, are you listening to me?” Leila’s voice dragged me back to reality.

I nodded with a soft smile.

As we continued talking, I forced myself to stay in the present.

Our laughter filled the room as we reminisced about our memories.

For a second, everything faded. It was just me and her, caught somewhere between past and present.

“So what have you been up to, over the years? Tell me, I want to know. What have I missed?” I asked curiously, my eyes fixed on her.

“Uhm… nothing much. Just the old boring Leila, always trying to work.” She responded.

“You’re anything but boring,” I corrected her.

“You’re the one who’s married, Mr Alexander Cole.” She arched her brow at me.

“Yeah,” I murmured.

She looked at me for a long moment, her smile faded into something softer.

“That’s by the way,” she said quietly.

I didn’t know what to say to that. I had a feeling she felt uneasy, I could tell from her eyes that she felt uncomfortable about my marital status.

“Well, that’s about to change,” I whispered to myself.

She looked at me and asked, “Huh? Did you say something?”

Before I could say anything to her again, my phone rang. It was a call from Samuel. I wondered why he was calling. We were together a while ago and he knew I’d be meeting up with Leila.

“Excuse me… I need to take this” I said to Leila, getting up from my chair.

I answered the call and pressed the phone close to my ear, “Hey man, what’s up?”

“Are you still with Leila?” He asked hurriedly.

“Yeah, why? Is everything okay?”

“No, Alexander. Your wife just called, she asked me for your location and I..”

I interrupted before he could complete his sentence. “Wait, what!? Sophie did what?” I asked, eyes wide open. “I hope you didn’t give it to her?”

Samuel paused, then I knew he had given it to her.

“For God’s sake man! Why would you give it to her?” I asked, annoyed.

I needed to find a way to stop her from showing up. That woman was desperate and I didn’t want her to ruin things for me and Leila.