We Were Meant to Be

96 | closure

Olivia looks lost for a moment, but then something snaps her out of her daze. She gives me a small nod. "I understand."

I lean back on my chair, and silence fills the air. Olivia is the one who breaks it.

"May I know what brought you here?"

I look up and find her staring at me.

"Knowing you, it must be something important," she says. The look on her face tells me that she's here to listen if I need her to. "You flew all the way here from Seattle despite the circumstances you just said."

I sigh, closing my eyes. I don't know how to start. Talking about our past isn't going to be comfortable, but some things need to be put to rest. This anxiety inside me needs to stop.

Another minute passes in silence. I'm about to speak when she says, "it wasn't your fault."

Her words strike me.

My gaze darts to her eyes, which turn glassy when she nods.

"You did nothing wrong," she says, knowing the question burning in my mind.

All this time, I've always wondered what went wrong with us, why she betrayed me, and whether I did something wrong or not. Those questions have always bothered me every time I think about the future because I'm afraid that it will happen again.

Olivia takes a deep breath before letting out a shaky one. She looks me in the eyes. "I knew that you loved me, and I could feel it with every fiber of my being. I felt your love for me, and I took it for granted."

I stare at her, waiting for her to say more.

"I was the one at fault." Her voice is shaking as tears fill her eyes. "I wasn't honest with you. I didn't tell you about Roman, that I was..." she falters, but she doesn't have to continue her sentence. I know it.

She was in love with him. She had always been.

She doesn't need to convince herself that she loves me anymore, which was what she always did all those years ago.

I can see again the guilt in her tearful eyes, the guilt I thought Nevaeh also had every time she looked at me. But now that I look more closely, I was fucking wrong. Those aren't the eyes of the woman who has given every piece of her heart to me.

"It was meant to be," Olivia whispers. "I'm not saying that what I did was excusable, but even if we got married that day, I think sooner or later we would part ways. You didn't belong with me, Aiden."

Somehow, I can understand what she's trying to say. Destiny, fate, or whatever it is.

I used to think that what happened to me was a disaster, but it might not have been. It might have been something that I should feel grateful for.

"Now you're in love again, and I'm happy for you." Olivia smiles through tears. "Maybe the fact that I was caught with Roman that night wasn't an accident. You were meant to be with the woman you love right now, not me."

We were meant to be. Nevaeh and I. My heart feels warm at that thought.

Olivia's words echo in my ears again, and they're more than enough for the closure I need.

It wasn't your fault.

You did nothing wrong.

I took your love for granted. 

I straighten up in my seat. "I have to go."

Olivia nods, mirroring me when I stand. "I hope that whatever it was the reason you came back here, you've got the answer you were looking for."

I'm about to turn around and walk off, but I'm not planning to do so before saying the words she needs to hear. "I hope that you get the closure too, Olivia."

She looks up at me with wonder.

"I forgive you," I say.

Those three words make her eyes go wide before tears start streaming down her face.

She cries, and she cries hard.

Her sobs break, and she chokes on her words when she says, "I'm sorry for everything." Her voice is filled with sadness, but there's also a relief.

I walk away from her, and when I step out of the restaurant, I'm surprised to find Roman watching her through the glass window.

He's standing in the deserted corridor leading to the hotel, and I'm not even sure if he notices me because his gaze never leaves her.

There's something in his eyes. Tears.

He shuts his eyes, causing them to fall as he lets out a soft cry. A bouquet of red roses is in his hand, which he grips tightly like it's his lifeline.

I never saw him in so much pain, until now. In fact, I never saw a man so consumed with his agony.

I even think that he's going to collapse.

Roman's cries echo in the silent hall, and I wonder how long he's been bottling this up. He looks like he's about to die, and the reason for that is the sight of Olivia crying.

Does he regret ever hurting her? Hurting the woman you love is such a contradiction that I wonder how badly his demon has been haunting him.

Or is it the fact that Olivia cried when she watched me leave?

Knowing that it's none of my business, I resume my steps. I genuinely wish that Olivia would find her happiness, whether it would be with Roman or not.

I swallow a lump in my throat, reminded of the days when the three of us were still best friends, laughing together and having each other's back. That moment is long gone. This is the end of our story -- the three of us.

As I head toward the lobby, the sound of Nevaeh crying when she said goodbye haunts me again. She said the same words that Olivia said.

"I'm sorry for everything."

I no longer felt anything when Olivia cried like that, but remembering Nevaeh's cries brings so much pain that I'm struggling to compose myself.

I ball my fist on my side when determination hits me. I'm going to get her back.

My real bride.