A Storm Is Brewing

Crisis Talks

Stop, Leah.

"I wasn't sure you'd let me in with Sophie not being here. I'm sure you're wondering why I'm here."
"I know why you're here, Hannah." I said bluntly.
"I'm not sure you do." She chuckled, almost like she was laughing at me.
"You're here to ask Sophie to cancel the wedding, to not make a mistake. You're here to tell her that you've changed, that you've grown up and realised what's important—and that's her. You're here to take the love of my life away from me. Did I get your quiz right?"
"Yes." She whispered, taken aback by my directness.
"Hm."
"I don't get it. Why would you let me in then?" She shook her head in disbelief.
"What did you propose I do?"
"Well, you could've turned me away. Never told Sophie. Gone through with the wedding by the time I had the guts to try again. Unless you're looking for an excuse, huh?"

Fuck you, Hannah.

Stay calm, Leah.

"I love Sophie enough to respect her entitlement to a choice, even if that choice has a 50% chance of breaking my heart. I will always allow her to follow her heart."

Speechless.

"Can I ask you something, though?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Why didn't you recognise her value before all this? Before she had the multimillion-pound company? Why didn't you see her as someone too special to let go, then?"
"You don't know what it was like." Hannah sighed.

Ha, she expects Sophie hasn't told me the whole truth. She has, though, and I know she has. I trust her.

"Yes, I do. I know that Sophie worked long hours; I know that she stayed at work until half an hour before date night began sometimes. I know she didn't like taking you to family parties that her mum was at, and that made you feel like a secret. I know that she had that girl that worked in the office—Carlie—that you were super jealous of; she would text Sophie at inappropriate times, and that upset you. Sophie wouldn't report it, though, because Carlie had issues at home, and you accused her of enjoying the attention. I know that you wanted to have children, and Sophie told you that neither of you were ready for that yet. I know that you told her of the amazing job opportunity in New Zealand months before you applied and that she brushed it off because she didn't expect that you would even consider the idea. Sophie knows she wasn't perfect, Hannah, but she wasn't what you told your friends she was. She wasn't a cheat or work obsessed. She was someone others found easy to talk to and career-driven. They're qualities I love about her. My question to you is, why didn't you leave? Being unhappy in a relationship isn't a reason to cheat; being unhappy is a reason to leave and then move on. There is never an excuse for cheating. So why would you do that to her?"
"I realised what she was trying to do. She was trying to achieve all of this for us." She pointed around the room as she spoke.
"And now that she's put the hard work in, you want her back? Which bit is appealing? The fancy house? The fancy car? The big clients?"
"I didn't come here for your judgement." She scoffed.
"No, but you did come here to take my Soph back off me, so if that's what you're convinced will happen here, then I want to be sure she's going to be looked after before I let her go, if she chooses."

I knew she wouldn't choose, but I wanted Hannah to think I wasn't sure. It was the only way to have her beg as much as she could for Sophie back and then feel the rejection that Sophie had felt when she left.

"You really think she'll choose you, don't you?" Hannah scoffed.
"I hope so." I smiled.
"She hated England, you know. Said she would never, and could never, live here."

Yep, she told me that too.

"She - what?"
"Yeah. You see, that's the thing. I'm back now; I'm back in Ireland. Where her family is, where Liv's growing up, where she made her life, and where you don't have to fight with hundreds of other firms to get a client."