She just didn’t believe it.
And maybe some people would see that as denial. Maybe there were people who would hear about the breakup and think that she was only standing upright, working at her desk, because she didn’t believe in reality.
Maybe she didn’t believe in reality. She believed in herself, though.
And in the end, she believed in Cody. Believed that he was good. Believed that he was something altogether different than he seemed to believe.
He was afraid, he wasn’t bad, he was a traumatized kid inside, he wasn’t actually incapable of love or feeling or any of the things that he thought.
Maybe it would take time. She wanted him, it was true.
But what she wanted more than anything was for him to be healed. What she wanted more than anything was for him to finally be able to accept love, even if it wasn’t from her.
Evenif.
She opened up the reservations tab on her computer and started to look at the incoming people for the week. Most would come in on Friday evening, but there were a few on Thursday. And she needed to look at the special requests and just confirm with concierge that they had been arranged.
She made a couple of notes on a sticky pad and tore it off, ready to walk into her concierge’s office when the doors opened.
She looked up, and she felt like she was having an out-of-body experience.
Because the person who walked through the doors was genuinely the last person she had expected to see.
Not just in the hotel, but in the state. On this side of the country.
Aiden.
His face was so familiar, and yet, a stranger’s now.
Because it was like he was from another life. Another time. Not just three months ago, but an eternity ago.
He didn’t seem quite as tall. She was very aware of how lanky he was, mainly because Cody was just so big and broad. Not that she was trying to be mean, she wasn’t, but there was just a faded quality to him, and she had a feeling it had nothing to do with him specifically, and everything to do with her.
He had once been the centerpiece of her life. And she had made an image of him out of his best attributes. Had maximized those, held onto them, and intentionally diminished every bad quality.
Because it was the way that she kept things going. Because it was the way that she convinced herself she was living in a fairytale.
And that fairytale had been really important to her then.
It wasn’t now. Not in the same way.
She was more open to things being complicated. Messy.Because she didn’t feel quite so desperate to wrap everything up in a bow.
She trusted herself too much for that.
Just like she trusted herself now, standing there looking at the man she had once placed all of her hopes and dreams in.
“What are you doing here?”
Her immediate worry was that he wanted to contest the divorce. Wanted something from her. The thousand dollars he’d left her when he’d taken everything else?
What?
She didn’t even need any of that, she just felt worried. Like he might sweep in and try to take this job, or something.
“I got the papers,” he said.
Only then did she realize how tired he looked.
