Sara was exhausted but relieved after her talk with Pierre. All this time she had kept all of her emotions inside without ever telling anyone everything. Some people close to her managed to get small bits out of her but never everything.
Now there was just one more thing that needed to be cleared up and now Sara was on the high of the conversation with Pierre, she wanted to get it out of the way. She wanted it over, everything that could come between her and the two men outside of the family she loved most away before it could cause any trouble.
"Carlos, there is something I need to talk to about." Carlos looked up from his phone. He almost looked scared of what was coming next. "About Noah." Carlos had been afraid Sara would say this. He had had the feeling something more was going on since he saw Noah at the Dubois' house after Anthoine's death.
"What is up with Noah?" Sara sat down on Carlos' side of the bed.
"When we decided to file for a divorce, we were both devastated." She played with the hem of her shirt. "We were so used to living our lives together, that we couldn't imagine how it would be after the divorce. To make sure we weren't going to fall back into the rhythm of our everyday life, we set up a couple of rules." Carlos chuckled but Sara shook her head. "They were necessary, the first few weeks were hard. But we had decided to not contact each other for two months. No texts, no phone calls, nothing. After that, we didn't want to see each other for another four months, just to be sure."
"So all contact was broken for that time and then just through the phone?" Carlos changed from lying on the bed to sitting next to Sara. He didn't see where this was going and he didn't want to make assumptions. Sara wanted to talk about it so he had to do his best not to do exactly what he was trying not to do. What else did she want to talk about?
"We stuck to it and by the end of the two months, I didn't really feel like contacting him that much. I remained civil but not much more than that."
"What changed?"
"For me nothing." Carlos frowned. Then what was Noah doing at her place every day since Anthoine's accident until Carlos showed up in Belgium? Sara pulled out her phone and started scrolling through the messages between her and Noah.
"He kept texting and calling but I tried to keep it as short as possible, hoping he would get the hint. Which he clearly didn't." Sara handed Carlos the phone and he scrolled through the messages as well.
Noah: Hey, I called. How are you?
Sara: Sorry, I am busy with work.
Noah: When are you coming home?
Sara: I don't know yet
Noah: I'm sorry about Anthoine...
Sara: Thanks.
Noah: Do I need to come over?
Sara: You don't need to.
Noah: But I want to. I'll be there.
"He definitely does not recognize a cold shoulder at all," Carlos whispered.
"The message the other night wasn't as surprising to me as it was to you but still I didn't think he was that stupid seeing I told him all about you and how sweet and loving and caring you are and how much I love you." Carlos started grinning.
"How much you love me, huh?" Sara chuckled. "How much do you love me."
"Are you really going to make me tell you how much I love you?" Carlos shook his head.
"I'm really going to make you show me." Sara blushed furiously. "Come on, don't be shy." He grinned, pulling her closer to him, making Sara giggle as they both fell back on the bed. "I love you."
"I love you too." She rolled over to face Carlos and kissed him. "Like so much." She giggled and kissed him again. "I'm not even scared to say it anymore." Carlos smile widened. "Because I now know what truly loving someone means." She whispered.
"Does Noah come close?" Carlos winked, making sure Sara was very well aware that he was joking.
"He was a one, you are a hundred." Carlos shook his head but the smile wasn't going to leave his face any time soon. She was his and only his.
Xxx
"Is this a good idea?" Sara asked when she and Carlos were sitting on the sofa. They were putting their shoes back on to head out to a café to meet up with Noah. They were going to go over the text Sara had received when they were in Japan. "Because I don't really want to." Sara and Carlos had been talking about it multiple times.
Noah was a part of her past and when Anthoine had died a certain sense of stability. Now, Carlos was her rock whenever things would go different from how Sara would like to see them go and she needed to let go of Noah. Forever.
"But I'm going to have to face Ilona so many times at birthdays." She whined. "She is never going to let me go."
"That's why I asked her to come as well. You are going to say goodbye to both of them." Sara's eyes widened.
"What the fuck, Carlos!" She exclaimed. "I am not ready to face Ilona as well. Maybe in the future but not now."
"As long as you don't talk to her as well, you will never be able to close the chapter." Sara's shoulders slumped in defeat. She knew Carlos was right but she also knew that Ilona was going to make a big scene out of it. "Tonight we are going to have a night in. Your parents aren't home, so we have the place all to ourselves and we are going to just watch a movie, cuddle up in bed and just relax. Forget about a stressful day."
"Do you think it is stressful?" Sara asked.
"No, I'm a bit nervous about how this is going to pan out, but I don't see it as stressful."
"But why-"
"Because I know you do think it is stressful." He locked eyes with Sara and booped her nose. "Now, let's go, before you change your mind and start to hide somewhere." Sara pouted but stood up and took a deep breath. She was ready for this hellhole.
With their fingers intertwined, the couple walked to the café. It wasn't very far from where the Dubois family lived, so they only had to walk for fifteen minutes. The closer they got, the more nervous Sara got. Noah still had a place in her heart and Carlos knew but they had talked about it and decided that even though Noah was still special to her, she needed to close the chapter. They wouldn't keep in touch. When they would run into each other they would be civil and could catch up but no more texting, calling or meetups. They would finally sever the final bonds.
They hadn't told Ilona and Noah what they specifically wanted to talk about but either knew something was up, especially when Carlos had called Noah to ask if his mother wanted to come as well.
"Hey." Sara smiled faintly as she walked up to the table where Noah and Ilona were already seated.
"Ah, there is my dearest girl. How are you? You look horrible." Ilona then eyed Carlos up and down. "What do you need that Spaniard for. It's only going to cause you harm darling, he lives so far away." Tears were already welling in Sara's eyes but the small, encouraging squeeze in her hand, Carlos gave her, was enough to sit down and take a deep breath.
"This is what we asked you to come here for. Ilona. Stop. You don't have to judge my choice of men, I love Carlos and I am in a relationship with him. I'm not your daughter-in-law anymore, so you don't have anything to say about my life anymore and I don't need to hear anything against this." Putting Ilona in her place wasn't the hardest part. In fact, it came out a lot easier than Sara had expected. Then again, Sara had been bottling all the hard feelings against Ilona up for years.
"But darling."
"Mother, I believe she just said no buts." Ilona looked at her son in shock. How dare he put up such a tone against his mother.
"And Noah..." This time Sara was having a hard time choosing the right words. "You know you still mean a lot to me." Noah nodded, a smile playing on his lips.
"I know, you still mean a lot to me too, that's why I miss you." A tear dripped down Sara's cheek.
"And that's why I have to say goodbye." The smile on Noah's face dropped and Sara felt her throat tighten. Her knee was bouncing, but Carlos gently placed his hand on top to stop it. "I am going to delete your phone number and I am going to officially end the chapter of my life with you in it. I had a great time with you but I am with Carlos now and it is not fair to either of you to continue to stay in touch with you."
"Have you gone mad?!" Ilona exclaimed. Carlos had hoped that in the openness of the café, Ilona wouldn't completely flip out but it seemed like he was wrong and Ilona was exactly going to do that. "You and Noah were made for each other. You have known each other since you've been four and you've always got along so well. You can't break up a winning team!" People were looking and Sara could feel the eyes burning. She just wanted to disappear.
"Ilona." Carlos sounded calm and gentle but the woman didn't hear him over her shouting. "Ilona!" Ilona looked at Carlos, her eyes showing so much disgust for him that it made Sara fume.
"Noah and I were never more than best friends. Honestly, I think it is mostly your fault that we ever got married. You kept saying how in love we were and how we should be a couple and get married. Heck, you even got me as far as considering children while I was nowhere near ready for them. I am done. I am not going to let you manipulate me into anything else. I don't want to see you ever in my life again!" With that, Sara stood up and turned to Noah. "I'm sorry Noah, but it is going to be better for the both of us." Noah nodded. "I'll see you when I see you." Sara took a hold of Carlos' hand again and started to drag Carlos away from the table and the café. She was not going to look back. This chapter was officially over. A new chapter in life was about to begin.