"There's always gonna be that one person in your life that you can't walk away from even if you know you have to."
~♡~
Keeping in mind how hard my heart was pounding in my chest, I wouldn't be surprised if it leapt out of the cavity any moment now. To say I was having a mild panic attack would seem as though I was exaggerating, but only I knew how terrified I felt inside.
As we slowly ascended, the imbalance in my ear was beginning to grab my attention now. I was too focussed on minding my breathing to even bother grabbing a hold of my ear plugs that were inside my purse.
I should've known better than to travel alone. Especially when I was well aware of my qualms when it came to flying in an airplane.
In a desperate attempt to keep my mind off things for a while, I closed my eyes and pondered upon the thoughts that first arrived in my mind.
Back in high school, I was always sure what I wanted to be and who I wanted to be with. But like all of my other plans, they were put to trial. I no longer wished for them now. These days, I just wished for small things to happen.
Coming home to my family and talking to them about my day, celebrating Christmas and Thanksgiving with close friends and family, Accompanying my dad for his general medical check-ups - these were the few things that I knew I wished for the most at this point in my life.
I wished my job didn't consume most of my time.
Pursing acting wasn't easy for me. I had taken drama major and studied in acting school in London. After I graduated in high school, I left LA for the best and never came back until it was most necessary.
It had been seven years since I last saw my friends together. I met them separately and mostly bumped into each other in parties. I had missed most of their weddings too, because I didn't want to see him.
It was seven years ago that I last saw the former love of my life. Ethan. The name I would never forget. He was my first love, of course. And also my only love. We had a beautiful life together. We loved each other so much, despite the rivalry between my him and my brother. I loved him so much that even now, seven years post my heartbreak, I couldn't manage to lose my heart to another man.
The day of our graduation was probably the last time I ever looked at him directly. For the past seven years, I've kept myself away from him. But seldom did that work well for me. No matter how hard I tried, I would always know about how he's doing from various sources. My friends would randomly talk about him with me and how he's coping with our break up.
Although it had been seven years since we broke up, I couldn't forgive him for doing what he did. I didn't find it within myself to have the heart to let go of everything he did and bounce back in time and be with him.
In these seven years, I grew to become an actress, the profession I had always dreamt of taking up. It was probably the only thing from my teenage years that remained concrete in my wishlist.
I didn't want to be like the actresses who would sign every movie that's offered to them - I wanted to do the films that genuinely intrigued me and made me feel like it was a story that had to be told. It was perhaps this notion of mine that worked well for me in the box office.
My friends have always made plans for me to join them on their reunions but I never showed up because Ethan would be coming there too. He loved his friends and he would not just skip on the reunions because I was going there too. Most of my friends got married, and few are with kids. Apparently, it was just me who was still single and trying to get over her last break up.
Ethan took over his father's business when he was really young, right out of college. Now, he's twenty five and from what I knew, he was too good at his jon. I had never doubted his abilities - I knew how versatile he was and given any circumstance, he is the kind of person that you can count on to bring a solution. He is the man in the storm. And all the appreciation he was subjected to since he took over the company was completely justified.
Being one of the eligible bachelors in the world, he was always seen hooking up with girls but he never had a serious relationship with anyone.
I had never paid more attention to him after I learned that he was going to get married in a few weeks. I heard of his engagement and that he was not revealing his wedding date to anyone. He was going to have a private wedding with his fiance. No one even knew who the girl was.
After knowing it, I felt foolish to ever think he was stuck up on me like I was on him. He moved on and even agreed for a wedding with someone. It was almost heart breaking for me to know that the only guy I ever loved was getting married to someone else.
I blocked every source that would make me aware of what was happening in his life. It's been a week since I uninstalled every app in my mobile just so I could know nothing about him. I went to Malaysia for a long vacation alone and took my time in relaxing since I didn't have any work.
I was going to start the filming of my next movie after a few weeks so I had very little time for myself. Right now, I was flying to Manhattan to attend one of my friend's wedding. She was my college friend in London and we used to hang out together. She was a really close friend if mine but we drifted apart after being away from eachother after we graduated. But when she told me just a week ago that she was going to get married, I knew that I wouldn't miss it for the world. At least for old times' sake.
She was 24 too, and owned a boutique of her own. Although she dreamt of being an actress, she didn't actually hold onto that dream for long. While I flowed the path I always wanted to choose, she let her mind sway her passions.
I shook the thoughts off my head as my body yearned for rest. Acting on instinct, I let sleep take over my mind.
***
I entered the villa where Lindsey called me. It was a small cozy house, with numerous plants and trees around. The white marble glistened amongst the pink flowers and ribbons with which it was decorated. I smiled to myself at the beautiful sight and went inside. I quickly spotted the room which read BRIDE in italics on a black plate.
"Look who's here!" I announced my arrival and rushed into the room with one of my brightest smiles. But much to my dismay, my smile wavered away as soon as I saw the sight of the room and a weeping Lindsey in the middle of it.
The wedding gown was discarded on the floor, the white cloth making a pool of itself. The jewellery was carelessly thrown on the bed, along with the other make up products. Numerous pairs of shoes and gloves were scattered on the floor along with few more clothes.
Lindsey looked relieved as soon as she realised that it was me. It felt as though the blood drained from her face upon realising that someone just walked in when she was all deranged. When her eyes found mine, tears ran down her swollen cheeks.
"Lindsey, what's wrong?" I asked as soon as I steadied her by her shoulder. Her shoulders were shaking uncontrollably and I had to pressed my palms tighter so as to stop her shaking body.
"I'm so glad you came," Lindsey spoke through her wobbling lips. "I really needed you."
"Tell me what the matter is," I spoke impatiently. I've never witnessed any bride cry like that before her wedding. What was wrong with her? "Why is there no one in here? And where is the wedding happening?"
"In the backyard." She wobbled. "Skylar, I don't want this marriage."
Her words didn't surprise me. I was kind of looking forward to her saying this. When the girl who was expected to get married stayed in her room in a deranged state, one would get the hint that she wasn't interested in the wedding.
"I begged my father to not do this, I told him I was in love with someone else. That's why he called for the wedding early." She said, wiping her eyes with the hands. "Skylar, I don't love Parker. He isn't the one for me. I love someone else."
"Lindsey, listen to me." I said, trying to cool her down. "I know that you don't want this to happen, but it is too late. Stay here any longer and people will come looking for you. So it's better if you call your father and explain it to him before things get out of hand."
"I'm not going in there." She said, removing my hands from her shoulders. "I'm not going to get married to someone I don't love."
"I'm not asking you to get married. I'm asking you to discuss it with-"
"I'm going to run away."
My jaw almost dropped on the floor when she said that. "What?"
"I don't have a choice." She said. "Please Skylar, you need to understand this."
"I can't let you make a mistake you'll regret for life." I said, trying to shake some sense into her.
"I'm not going to regret it." She said.
"You will." I said. "Do you think running away solves the problem? It's just a temporary escape!"
"Skylar, I'm already in love with someone else. Do you think my father will listen to the end of it? He will force my hand in marriage and Parker will gladly take it."
I sighed and shook my head.
"What do you think I've been doing for the past one month? I begged Parker too, but he was too arrogant to even consider my feelings. He wants this business deal as much as I want."
"But there are so many guests in here. So many close friends and business associates of both the families are here. What if the word gets around that you ran away?"
"I don't care." She said. "Maybe my father deserves the humiliation he's going to get after I run away."
We heard foot steps trailing towards us. I sucked in a deep breath. Lindsey widened her eyes at me. "Skylar, they're coming for me."
"Lindsey.."
"Please help me run away." She said. "Please Skylar, it's my life."
"Lindsey!" Someone banged on the door. Thank god I locked it when I entered.
"I'm running. Please. Help me." She said.
She was literally begging me to save her life from being pushed into an unwanted marriage. What kind of friend would I be if I ruined her life when I could do something about it?
"Hurry up, Lindsey." I said, urging her to leave. "I'll cover up for you."
She hugged me tightly one time before leaving. "Thank you so much, Skylar. I can never forget this favour from you."
I nodded and watched her leave through the windows. I didn't know how she was going to escape from all the security. The pounding on the door grew harder as I hurried to the windows. Lindsey had a car waiting for her so she quickly got into it and drove away.
I was taken aback as the door blasted open. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I turned around.
My breath hitched in my throat when I looked at the man before me. The same grey eyes, but this time, they grew darker than ever.
"Ethan?"
He looked surprised at the sight of me.
"Skylar Summers."
It almost felt like a dream. There was something inside of me that hoped for it all to be a one of all the other nightmares I had of I meeting him again in an absurd situation, and then waking up to reality where it would just vanish away like air. But it also was so hard to regard as a dream. I was so aware of all the things that were playing through my mind that I have confined to my heart to until this moment.
How could everything that happened around seven years ago just come crashing into my mind like it just happened yesterday? How could just one glance at him stir those deep buried emotions to come back to the surface, brimming with the same level of anticipation. I remained rooted in my place and let the situation take control of it.
My mind was constantly trying to escape to all the past times I've spent with him together, with a combination of eventful days that we've been through and the pictures of him flashing across like that's all I could think of at that time. Like my entire life depended on reliving all the emotions and moments that I shared with him.
Was every break up in the world so heavy on everyone? Did everyone else feel the same that I'm feeling when they met their former love of their life that they broke up with almost a decade ago?
"What the hell are you even doing here instead of my fiancé?" He asked, his voice recuperating from the shock that he received upon laying his eyes on me.
"Lindsey.." I stammered. Where was all the vocabulary inside of my head vanish to? "She ran away."
It felt so ridiculous to even talk about it. Why was I here in the first place? Why was I being questioned on someone else's behalf? Why did his looks seem so accusing?
"She ran away?" He widened his eyes at me, his jaw ticking. He approached me in hasty stepa and came close enough for me to listen to him whisper in a dangerous tone. "What the hell do you mean by she ran away? We're supposed to get married in fifteen minutes."
"Why are you asking me?" I said, raising my voice at him . "Shouldn't you be asking yourself how you failed to understand that she never wanted this marriage?"
"Her father made a deal with me in return of marrying his daughter off. She knew it and she had no choice!"
"That's exactly why she ran. Because neither of you would understand her." I defended her. It was not the concern or love that I had for Lindsey that had me fighting for her. It was probably the urge and the wanting to contradict him that was making me oppose him in every thing he said.
"Why the hell are you even here?" He asked me. "Did you know I was getting married?"
"I would have never stepped in a mile radius if I knew you were the one who she was getting married to." I spat on his face.
His face grew grim and I could sense him heating up. I wasn't under the control when I was saying it. It took all of my energy to sustain my cool and talk to him like a civil person.
"You shouldn't have helped her run away." he said. "You put me in deep trouble."
"I don't care about it, you aren't exactly a man without a tainted name in public opinion." I said.
"This is not the time for me to fight with you." he said. "I'm going to send my men to fetch Lindsey."
"You wont find her." I said to him. "I think you can never make it back with her even if you use every power within your reach to bring her back."
He cursed out loud and broke the vase that rested on the table. The look on his face was murderous and I had to step back in an instinct. I never saw him this pissed and angry. Back when I knew him, he had his anger in control. He never let it on me in a way that would scare me. But I always heard how things changed him through the years.
I remembered my friends telling me how he turned into a ruthless business man that sees nothing but profit in everything. And that when he was angry, he was uncontrollable.
"Every time you came into my life, you ruined me." He said. "You ruined everything that I had seven years ago. You ruined the little good inside of me, the part I preserved for someone I love and now you came back to ruin the only piece of hope I was clinging onto. You are at the verge of ruining my career with your stupid revenge plan on getting back to me for what I did to you years ago."
"This is not a revenge." I stated. "I would never waste a penny on you or on something that isn't valuable for me."
Hurt flashed across his eyes before he masked it quickly. "What a foolish woman you grew to be."
"You left you're impact on me before leaving." I said.
His eyes grew darker with every comeback I was coming with. "You certainly should be worried of the consequences of ruining my marriage."
"I'm glad I stopped a friend from ruining her life." I said.
His smirk played on his face. "How would you ever save yourself from that?"
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I have the most important business men waiting for me to get married at the altar. And if the news of the bride running away breaks out, my life will be ruined."
"I don't care about anything that concerns you." I said. "I would rather be glad to see you breaking into pieces right before my eyes."
"You have no clue what you're getting yourself into, Skylar." He stated. "I wonder if your feisty mouth is ever going to beat what I'm about to say."
"You're quite foolish for someone that's going to have their career ruined in a few minutes."
He smirked. "I'm not having my life ruined, Skylar. If anyone's going to get their life ruined, it's probably you."
I frowned at him. "What are you talking about?"
"Now, I cant afford to lose my dignity in front of the people, now can I?" He said, with a wicked look. "Which means, I shall get married today. By hook or by crook."
"And how would that ever be possible without a bride?" I snorted.
"I do have a bride, Skylar." He said, leaning closer to me. "Because I'm going to marry you."