"What is he doing here?" Kayla wondered silently, her breath catching in her chest. It's been years since she's seen him. Six to be exact, but who's counting, right? She was counting every single day without even realizing it. When he left, he took a piece of her with him, whether he knew it or not, and now he's back.
She sees her friend Daliah making a beeline for her, eyes wide as if saying, "Oh my god, do you see who's here?" She returned the look, trying to steady her breathing. "Did you know he was back?" asked Daliah, gripping her hand. "I had no idea!" She replied, "I never thought I'd see him again."
Their eyes met from across the room, and everything came rushing back. The love, the passion, the hurt, all of it coarsing through her body like electricity, into her very soul. "Jesus, he's coming over," she said, breathless. "Do you want me to stay? "asked Daliah. "No, I'll be ok," she said, unsure if that was true.
Sam's hazel eyes were locked on hers as he walked toward her. The closer he got, the more memories returned. They were always a scandalous pair, given how the relationship had started, and the passion was like nothing she'd ever felt before, but the connection was what she remembered most. The way they always knew what the other needed without a word, how they were always there for each other even in the darkest times, the way they gravitated toward each other, even now, even after all these years. As he got closer, her heart rate quickened. She didn't know what to say or how to act. She was so happy to see him but apprehensive as well. The walk across the room seemed to be happening in slow motion and way too fast all at the same time. "Hey, " he said casually when he finally reached her. "Hey?" she thought, "That's all you have to say after all this time?" "Hey yourself", she replied. He trepidatiously reached his arms out to hug her, and as he enveloped her body, she melted into his arms like no time had passed; she was home. He smelled the same, sweet and spicy. They talked for what seemed like hours, oblivious to everyone else at the party. Of course, people were watching them, judging, gossiping no doubt, but they didn't care. They discussed their lives, jobs, and families, and then the conversation finally got real. "I'm sorry for how things ended," He said quietly. "I didn't treat you right. Can you ever forgive me?" "There's nothing to forgive. We both made mistakes. I wanted more than you could give. I pushed too hard and ended up pushing you away." She said, looking up at him through the long lashes of her big brown eyes. "No," he replied, "I was young and stupid. I didn't realize what I had until it was too late. I never should have let you go, I should have fought for you. If I could go back in time, I would have held on to you tighter." This was all too much. She had wanted to hear him say those words for so long, but everything was different now. They couldn't just pick up where they left off, no matter how much she wanted to. Daliah, sensing her distress, came to the rescue, "Hey, Kayla! I just booked an Uber. Are you ready?" Sam pulled Kayla in for another hug before saying goodbye. He held on to her so tightly. "I'll see you again soon", he whispered.
The two women were in the car for no more than 10 seconds before Kayla burst into tears. "Oh, honey, it will be ok," Daliah said as she put an arm around her friend, but Kayla wasn't so sure. She had to pull herself together before she got home, or Dean would see her puffy eyes and ask too many questions.
Dean was asleep when Kayla got home, so she decided to grab a quick shower and calm down before joining him in bed. Her mind was reeling! She could still smell Sam, so she undressed slowly and enjoyed each breath. As she was about to step into the steaming hot water, she heard a ding from her phone. Who would be texting this late? Probably Daliah checking in. Kayla picked up her phone and stared in disbelief at the notification: "Text message from Sam." How did he even get her number? She wrapped herself in a towel, sat on the floor and took a deep breath before opening it. "I want to keep talking, but I don't know what else to say." The text bubble to indicate that he was typing appeared and disappeared a few times before she replied. "What are you doing? We can't start talking again. You know where that always leads with us." Truth be told, that's exactly where she wanted it to lead, but that was impossible. "I know," he said, "but I can't let you go again." Kayla let the tears flow freely. Why couldn't he have said this six years ago? Before she moved in with Dean, before he met Marcie. When they could have actually been together. "I can't do this right now. Dean will know I'm upset, and he'll start asking questions, and I can't deal with that." "I'm sorry," Sam typed. "I didn't mean to upset you. I just don't know how to navigate this." Kayla thought for a second, then replied, "Me neither, it's ok. Maybe we just need to be careful not to run into each other, and everything will be ok." The text bubble appeared and disappeared over and over until it finally read, "That might be difficult. As of Monday, we work at the same company."