What a coincidence. The day we eat at Cheesecake Factory, I had to watch them be happy on their date. She looked beautiful tonight. They laughed and ate and held hands. When they left, he kissed her head and held her close. I couldn't blame her. I mean, he makes her happy. Something I couldn't do.
"Cheer up. You've been down in the dumps all day," Daniel complained.
"Sorry," I muttered and continued eating.
The night was slow. All we did was eat and go home. I stayed off social media cause I knew I'd see everything about Sherlyn and Greyson. She deserved all the happiness in the world. Now she'll get it. I hated leaving whatever Sherlyn and I had on a bad note though. I wanted to talk to her and be civil. I know she already tried that with me, but I let my ego get the best of me. I texted her about a paragraph and almost 2 minutes later, she replied.
To: Sherlyn
From: Me
"I know I'm the last person you want to hear from since I bet you had an amazing night with Greyson. I just wanted to talk. You can even bring Greyson. I just wanna end things on good terms so we don't have to be awkward exes that exchange glances at parties. Plus I know you're still good friends with the boys and I don't want you to feel uncomfortable if you come to our place. Sorry doesn't do anything, but I'm extremely sorry. If you could just get back to me as soon as possible,"
To: Me
From: Sherlyn
"Denny's or IHOP?"
To: Sherlyn
From: Me
"Meet at IHOP at 8 tomorrow?"
To: Me
From: Sherlyn
"We'll be there,"
I sighed as I put my phone on the charger. Time to pass Sherlyn to the guy who deserves her. Maybe this will help me move on. Of course, it'll be hard for me to let go of her completely. To come so close to pure love and lose it so violently is something no medication can heal. I held her tight but not tight enough. She is a gift from God. My heart is broken, what beats in my chest is merely a mass of muscle that will function only until I can have her once again. We could've had a life, love, and music. I was never a sad soul, never a depressing person, but once love has gone it takes hold faster than you could ever imagine.
~Next Morning~
I woke up and got ready in a simple white shirt and black jeans with my checkered Vans. I ordered an Uber to go to IHOP. The guys knew I was gonna do something so they didn't question me when I walked out of our house. In the car, my Uber driver asked why I looked really depressed. I explained vaguely the reason. When we got to IHOP, I thanked him while getting out of the car and sighed. Only 3 minutes early. In the meantime, I asked for a table for 3. Almost instantly, I heard her laughs from a couple feet away. When I turned my head I saw her. He held her hand tight. Saying something to make her laugh harder than she already was.
"Zach," She said once she reached me.
"I put in our reservation, it's just a 5-minute wait," I say.
"Zach, this is Greyson my castmate and my best friend. Grey, this is my ex-boyfriend Zach," Sherlyn introduced us.
We shook hands and awkwardly exchanged hellos. The hostess called my name signaling that our table was ready. We followed her and sat in the booth. Both of them on one side and me on the other.
"How have you two been?" I broke the ice.
"I'm just really tired," Sherlyn answered.
"I'm fine, how about you?" Greyson questioned me.
"I'm good," I lied.
It got uncomfortably quiet as we looked at our menu's. Our waitress came and started us off with drinks. I stuck with water, Sherlyn got hot chocolate, and Greyson got a water as well.
"Why did you wanna have breakfast?" Sherlyn questioned.
"I know what I did hurt you and I know that I can't take it back. Honestly, I was scared of being in a relationship with you because you're a spontaneous soul that needs all the protection she can get. I thought I could give you that, but I can't," I started off.
My heart raced as I spoke what I've been feeling since we broke up. She looked shocked at the words that came out of my mouth. Before I continued again, our waitress came back to give us our drinks. We also ordered breakfast quickly before I poured my heart out to her.
"Sherlyn, you deserve all the happiness that the world has to offer. Your happiness has been a priority of mine the day I asked you to be mine. Last night, the boys and I ate at Cheesecake Factory. We didn't sit too far away from you guys. He said something to make you laugh and I saw that both your smiles were twice as wide as ours," I confessed.
"You looked happier," I slightly smiled.
"Yeah, I was," She smiled as she looked at Greyson.
"And I couldn't take that away from you by being selfish. So if you two end up dating, I'm happy for you," I started wrapping up.
"Greyson," I started.
"What's up man?" He wondered.
"Take care of her for me, please. She's a queen and she needs to be treated like one. Don't think she likes fancy dates all the time, she actually loves just sitting on the couch and watching movies. If she seems closed off, give her time cause she is super fragile. She has Separation Anxiety Disorder, so if she wakes you up crying just hold her. She misses her family a lot and I know how it feels. If she needs something from the top cabinet, help her with it cause she's a klutz and will fall off the counter somehow. Sherlyn loves music a lot and will stay up until dawn to get the melody out of her head. So don't blame her if she sleeps in or comes to bed late. Make sure her planner is never hidden, she can't go about her day without it. She's really picky with food so if you want her to try something, try to push her to eat it but don't force her. She loves spinach and tomatoes on her pizza unless she just wants all cheese. Chocolate ice cream might be her favorite, but she has a stash of ube ice cream to remind her of home. And finally, love her through anything. Relationships are difficult but they weren't made to be easy. She gets insecure about a lot so just reassure her that you love her," I told him.
"Zach," Sherlyn cooed.
"For the short amount of time I was your boyfriend, I was terrible but I paid attention to a lot of the little things. I want Greyson to know every little thing I remember about you so he could love you better than I did," I pointed out.
"I'll take good care of her," Greyson promised.
But if he breaks your heart like lovers do, just know that I'll be waiting here for you...