“It was mostly bad than good, Alfie. You weren’t a very good boyfriend.”
Alfie sighs, “Tell me then. What was so wrong with us?”
“There was nothing wrong with ‘us’. As always, it comes back to you, Alfie. I was committed to the relationship, you weren’t.”
“That’s not true.” He argued. “I was committed.”
Olivia laughs, “Alfie, you can’t commit to anything. It’s not just about me, you know. You kept everyone at arms length, at a safe distance where you could stay wrapped up in your little bachelor bubble. Your family, your friends… me. We were always there for you.”
“If I was ever distant, I had my reasons.”
“I know you did, you had an excuse for everything.”
“Is that how you see it?” Olivia remained silent. “Right, this isn’t getting us anywhere.”
“You wanted to talk about it.”
“Well, I’ve changed my mind.”
Olivia shook her head. “As always, you start pushing and running away as soon as things get serious.”
“Do I now?”
“Of course you do.” She said heatedly. “If you keep going down this road, you’ll end up all alone.”
“And what about you?”
“Me? I have Joseph, the love of my life and he’s waiting for me to come home. There’s no place I’d rather be right now.”
“So you have absolutely no good memories of ‘us’?”
“Ok, tell you what, there was one day.” She admitted and Alfie smiled. “The best day of our relationship, was the day I left.” His face fell. “Even though I knew I was doing the right thing, it sucked. That day only ended on a high for me, because that was the day I met him. Joseph.”
“Oh.”
Olivia got out of her seat and arranged the waiter to send something to her room instead. Before she left him, sitting staring at her dumbstruck, she turned to him once more.
“If you really care about me, Alfie. Then do one thing for me.”
“What?”
“Move on and be happy that I’m finally happy. We both deserve to be happy; we just couldn’t do it for each other.”
After tossing and turning all night, Joseph didn’t sleep well without Olivia, he finally found himself at the train station on his way back home.
“You’ve got everything?” Rhys asked.
“Yes, I’m all set.”
“The ring?”
“It’s in here.”
“Oh, good luck, dear. Call us and let us know how it goes.” Awen said, giving him a brief hug goodbye.
“I will.”
“Don’t be a stranger.”
“I won’t, Dad. I promise.”
“Okay, then get onboard. You don’t want the train to leave without you.”
Joseph climbed onboard, hauling his case up behind him, double checking – his paranoia getting the worst of him – the ring was still securely tucked away inside. After making himself comfortable, in a chair with a small table beside him, he waved goodbye to his father and future step-mother as the train slowly pulled out of the station.
Chapter 5 - Hate
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