‘Not because I don’t want there to be.’ He held on tightly, forcing her to stay with him. ‘But because you deserve more than this. So much more. You’ve already watched one person you love go through this; you don’t need to subject yourself to another.’
‘That’s not your decision to make. What about whatIwant?’
‘Olivia, there wasn’t a sick boyfriend in the plan you recited to me back in Goa. All those things you wanted to do, that you aregoingto do – you don’t need anything holding you back. And that’s what I will do. I will hold you back and I will become a burden. Maybe not straight away, but eventually I will.’
She tried to argue, but he cut her short.
‘Don’t you see? You can’tplana life with me, Olivia. Nothing is guaranteed. Nothing at all.’
‘No,’ she replied firmly, decisively. ‘That’s not true.’
‘Yes, it is.’
‘No, it’s not.’ She placed a soft hand on his cheek. ‘Because what if Iplanon being by your side for as long as we’re both here? And what if I canguaranteethat I will love you every single second we’re together, and for a long time after that?’
At her words, the world around him dissolved. All he could see were a thousand shades of blue in her eyes, and all he could feel was the touch of her skin against his. She leant in, so close that he could taste the sweetness of his mother’s baking on her lips. His body, which had become a barren wasteland devoid of anything but suffering, suddenly came alive, sparkling with a delicious and intoxicating feeling of hope.
‘You love me?’
Her cheeks blushed in that beautiful, coy way they always did.
‘I thought that was obvious.’
Jacob looked at her, a reel of images flashing before his eyes.
Him rolling Delhi for the third time, wondering why he was being brought back there again. Him literally crashing into Olivia on the street. Seeing her again at the market. Their dinner together. The emails. Him rolling Udaipur. Their snippet of time together. Snatched moments, leading to something more. Building to something bigger. And then the final throw. The die that lay undecided. A fork in the road.
And what did he choose?
Whodid he choose?
‘That’s good to know.’ He nodded solemnly, feeling the final, stubborn, ingrained piece of resistance melt away. ‘Because if I’m even going toconsidergoing through with this operation …’
Olivia’s entire body froze in his arms.
‘I’m not doing it for anything less than love.’
He pulled her face the final few millimetres towards his and kissed her.
It was a kiss that he hoped conveyed everything he felt in that moment. Everything he hoped they would feel for as long as they possibly could. A kiss that took his breath away. A kiss that meant if he were to die right there in that moment, it would have all been worth it.
For her.
Every hard, scary, terrifying thing that might come his way would be worth it – for her.
One Year Later
Olivia
As she stood on the beach and looked out to the ocean, time seemed to dissolve around her.
Had it really been a whole year?
So much had changed – in fact, almost everything had changed – but this place remained untouched, with its acres of sand and deep blue waters. The smell of smoky spices and metallic petrol still infused the dense, hot air, and the sounds of oncoming traffic still blasted over the slapping beat of the waves.
‘Is it how you remembered it?’ Cece came to stand next to her, the tinkling of her beaded hair signalling her arrival.
‘No.’ Olivia looked at her friend. ‘It’s better.’
