What A Lie Looks Like | ✓

2.04: hayes

I should most definitely be paying attention right now, but I can't bring myself to listen to a single word the presenter is saying. Nothing is going to come from this portion because I'd already decided which manufacturer we were planning on going with for this specific drug. Still, I wanted to hear their spokesperson out. Didn't plan on being this distracted though, so I can't even say that I'm giving this guy a fair shot.

This trip was a last-second decision I made after Dad tried cornering me about Sutton. I just needed to get out of New York to clear my head. Thankfully there were business meetings already lined up for the board to attend, and I had the option to come. Quite the coincidence that Sephine is here too.

I hadn't meant to tell her that I'd been keeping tabs on her all these years through Ollie, but I guess a part of me wanted to make sure that she turned out alright. Sephine didn't deserve everything she went through. I wish my head hadn't been stuck up my ass seven years ago, and I'd stopped her from getting on the plane.

"Hello?" My voice is scratchy as I hold the phone up to my ear, struggling to keep my eyes open.

"Don't hang up. How fast can you get to Reagan International?" Cam's voice urgently filters through the speaker, and I rub the sleep out of my eyes.

"Why the hell would I go to the airport?" My eyes flit to the empty spot next to me. I run my hand over the sheets only to find that they're cold, meaning Sephine hasn't been here for a while.

"Terminal C gate thirty-seven, I'm not sure when the plane leaves."

"What the hell is going on?" I've already climbed out of bed and have started to pull my pants up as I impatiently wait for him to answer.

"It's Sephine. She's leaving."

Everything after that is a blur. My shirt is buttoned with the wrong hole leaving a sideways appearance, and I'm sure my hair is sticking up in every direction from when Sephine ran her hands through it last night.

Last night.

I didn't want to believe it was true, but it's all starting to make sense. I should have realized it, but I didn't even entertain the idea of her leaving. But once again, I'm wrong.

I hoped that this was just a cruel joke they were playing, but when I see her sitting with a ticket in her hand in the exact spot Cam said she would be, everything slows down.

My feet shuffle forward until I'm standing in front of Sephine, and the words just fall out of my mouth, "You're going through with this? I didn't want to believe Cam, but you weren't there when I woke up." Please tell me that you're staying. That this isn't real.

Her caramel tresses that I would recognize anywhere lay limp around her face, but she still looks more beautiful than I've ever seen her. "Yeah." I can't help it, but whatever hope I had of her saying something different disappears.

I lick my lips quickly as I try to keep my voice from cracking, "Even after last night?"

A single tear falls down her face as Sephine breaks eye contact with me to stare at her hands in her lap, "Yes."

And then it dawns on me that she knew she was leaving all along. But I need to hear her say it. "You knew you were leaving before it even happened, didn't you."

Still not looking at me, Sephine apologizes. "I'm sorry." Her grey eyes glance up at me, and I feel my stomach drop at her facial expression.

"Flight 247 is now boarding at gate thirty-seven." The overhead PA system echoes through me, and I can't let her leave. Not like this.

"Don't get on the plane. I don't care about what happened in Seattle. I just want to be with you." It's my last shot, and I don't know what else I can do other than hold her down until the plane departs, but then she'll just buy another ticket.