When She Was Mine

Part 15- Already Gone

We sit in a booth at a restaurant that Riley made reservations for. “Riley, I told you no surprises,” I smile. “You’re irresistible, Ryland. I just… had to,” he says. One of the things I love most about Riley is he always has a smile on his face, but today, he just seems… different.

“Babe, are you okay? You seem like there’s something on your mind,” I let out. He forces a smile and says, “No, I’m fine, babe. Why wouldn’t I be? I’m with those most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid my eyes on and I think she likes me back,” he flashes the charming smile jokingly and touches my hand.

“Riley… I…,” I begin, but the waiter comes to our table and asks for our order. After the waiter takes our order and leaves, Riley and I are alone again. “Riley…” I begin to say. But he cuts me off and says, “Ahh, I totally forgot.” He grabs the blue box I had given him earlier and unwraps the box. Enclosed is a silver, stainless steel ring I had custom made for Riley. Engraved were the words, “I’ll be your soldier.” It was a line from one of the songs the band had written.

I watch Riley’s face for a reaction and I see his eyes begin to glaze over with tears that never fully fall. Riley gets up from the table and walks to my side and sits next to me. He places his hand under my chin and pulls my face closer so he could kiss me. We break our kiss while he reaches into his pocket and takes out a small black velvet box.

“Riley, no more surprises,” I exclaimed. He laughed and says, “I think you’ll like it.” Enclosed was a beautiful silver ring with a glistening red gemstone. “A promise ring,” Riley says. My hands are trembling as I can’t fathom how beautiful the ring is. “It’s perfect, Riley,” I say and kiss his mouth. “Look on the inside,” he says. Engraved were the words, “I’ll be your soldier.” I nearly squeal. “I guess we’re perfect for each other, huh?” Riley smiles. Neither one of us knew we would surprise each other with a ring engraved with the same words.

Riley turns his whole body towards me as we sit in the booth and finally says the words, “Ryland, I love you.” Without pausing, I look at Riley and reply, “I’m glad the feeling’s mutual.” I smile and say, “I love you, too, Riley.”

We finish dinner and arrive at my house. Riley walks me to my door and kisses me good night. Before I fumble for my keys, Riley grabs my hand and says, “Ryland, I have to tell you something.” Riley’s face is full of worry again, the way he looked earlier. My heart jumps out of my chest. “Ryland,” he continues, “You know how you heard the band’s song on the radio today? Well a month ago after the band got signed, we were offered an opportunity to tour with One Direction... at first we were gonna pass up the offer, but just last week, the band and our manager said this would be great for the band.”

“That’s great, babe! Why do you look so sad, though?” I ask. He takes in a deep breath and says, “We’ll be gone for 6 months…” I feel like I got stabbed in the heart. I try to smile, but Riley seems to know it was forced, but I continue, “That’s really, truly amazing, baby. When are y’all leaving?” He looks down and says, “Tomorrow.”

Now I really feel my heart tear open. “Riley,” I start, but he cuts me off. “I’m really sorry, Ryland,” he lifts my face up so our eyes lock. “Riley, you can’t just tell me you love me, give me a promise ring, and just leave…” I feel my throat lock up. “I know, I just—“ he says, but it was my turn to cut him off. “Riley, I love you, but I don’t know what’s going to happen. You’re leaving tomorrow for six months. You’ll be half way across the world by tomorrow night. Riley, believe me I love you, but this is just crazy. You can’t just do that to someone… But there’s one month left of the semester.”

Riley is still holding onto my hands and says, “I actually finished all my school work and I talked with the professors if I could take my finals early with the whole situation and they let me turn in everything.” “What about next semester,” I question. “I’m gonna take a semester off and will take summer classes next summer,” he replies.

I shake my head and said, “So you knew? This whole time, you already knew. And you didn’t tell me? What did you think was going to happen with us, Riley?” He looked down at his hands. “I don’t know, but what I do know is I want to be with you, Ryland. I want to keep getting to know you for the rest of my life. I want to keep falling for you every day. The past 3 months were a blessing and I never want to give up what we have.” He lifted my hand with the ring and said, “I promise you I will always be with you… right by your side. Just please don’t leave me.”

My heart sank, or whatever was left of it. “You’re the one who’s leaving, Riley,” I say. I pause for a moment to let the memories of the past 3 months flood my mind.