I watched her slowly become aware of where she was.
Watched the confusion clear from her face.
And then?—
“Jesus Christ!” she yelped, scrambling upright as she spotted my silhouette in the dim evening light.
She stood quickly and walked toward me, her movements uncertain.
“Marley,” she said.
And my name on her lips made my heart race.
Every instinct I had screamed at me to stand up. To pull her into my arms. To bury my face in her neck and breathe her in until I could convince myself she was real.
But then reality crashed back as I remembered our fight.
Her engagement.
The wedding that was supposed to happen in five days.
And I forced myself to remain seated.
“What are you doing here?”
The words came out harsher than I wanted it to, edged with weeks of hurt and confusion and sleepless nights.
But I couldn’t seem to control my voice any more than I could control the way my pulse hammered at the sight of her.
“I came to talk to you,” she said, her voice barely audible.
“About what?” I gripped the arms of my chair. “Oh, wait, do you need my congratulations? Let me guess. The wedding planning got stressful, so you thought you’d come get a quick ego boost from your old fling before the big day?”
She flinched like I’d struck her.
Part of me felt satisfied seeing her hurt.
The other part wanted to take it back immediately.
“I’m not getting married,” she said.
“What?”
“I called off the wedding. I’m not marrying him.”
I stared at her for a long moment, my heart hammering.
“So what? You got cold feet and decided to come running to me for comfort? Planning to go back to him once you’ve worked through your little crisis?”
“No, Marley, it’s not like that?—”
“Then what is it like?” I stood abruptly, needing distance from her. “You want me when it’s convenient. When you’re scared or confused. But the moment real life calls, you disappear.”
Tears streamed down her face.
“That’s not fair.”
“Fair?” I laughed bitterly. “Really?”
