I let the news sink in. It could’ve been me, and I’m glad it wasn’t. I respond, sincerely, “I’m happy for you.”
“What about you? Have you met her yet?”
“Who?”
“The girl. The soul mate.The one.”
“You don’t believe in fate.”
She tilts her head. “Maybe I’ve changed my mind.”
I don’t have to think too hard about it. “Yeah. I’ve met her.”
I think she’s about to walk off, but then she turns around. She takes off her sunglasses, and so do I. Her eyes are as beautiful as I remember, an intoxicating blend of purple and blue. They’re not the cool, calm-before-the-storm gray I want in my life, though.
She comes and sits on the ledge next to me. “And?”
“And what?” My breakup with Halston is on both our shoulders. Just like with Sadie, I put a lot of stock in fate, in meant-to-be. I trusted that love was enough, even though I knew better. “I fucked it up. Is that what you expected to hear?”
She sighs, fidgeting with her sunglasses. “Of course not.”
“What’s wrong with me, Sadie? Why can’t I get it right?”
She smiles softly. The baby has made her warmer, I think. “I’m so sorry for how I hurt you. It was brutal. Nathan was my priority, and I didn’t have the time to let you down easy. But you know . . . Nate and I, we’re so happy now. And we’re not.”
My body tenses. I don’t want to hear this. I don’t need to know how content or miserable she is.
“Because that’s love, Finn. We work at it every day, still, even though we both understand that the other person isn’t going anywhere, even when times are tough.”
“What are you saying?”
“Happy endings don’t exist. That’s your problem. You thought you and I would ride off into the sunset and let fate take the reins.” She squints out at the park and shakes her head. “Nope. Fate doesn’t stick around for happy endings—it only gives you the opportunity to work for one.”
Sadie’s been in Halston’s shoes. She’s had to withstand the pressure of being ‘the one.’ I know I lay it on thick. I expected to save Halston, and for her to save me. So that I could have my fairytale. And that’s not exactly fair.
Sadie slips her sunglasses back on. “I have to get back to work, but I have a feeling you’ll be okay. If she’s really the one, you’ll get her back.”
Halston is my soul mate, love of my life, my future. She’s a handful and a lot of work, but I’ve made it this far. Sadie’s right. Why would I give it up to fate now, knowing that fucker’ll fumble the ball?
She stands and continues down the sidewalk.
“Sadie?”
She looks back at me. “Hmm?”
“Thank you.”
* * *
The next morning, I admit to myself I don’t really like tea. Not every day. Even though it’s painful to be there, I miss Lait Noir. It can’t be any worse than being at home, so I get my laptop and camera and head down the street to the café for the first time since Halston left.
There’s nowhere to sit. It was idiotic to think fate had reserved me a table in a coffee shop or a bench in a park.
Honestly, what the fuck.
I check to see if my secret windowsill is open, so I’ll at least have a place to wait for a table to open up.
But what’s on the ledge sucks the breath right out of my lungs.
