Chapter 42
Maxime
With arms outstretched, I step onto the road, right into the bus's headlights, and lock eyes with the driver, determination in my gaze. My heart races as the distance between the vehicle and me steadily decreases. This may be crazy, but letting Aurora disappear is not an option.
For over four years, I've been tormented by the question of why. If there's one thing I've learned from our shared past, it's that we mustn't shy away from life's difficult questions.
Today, she will give me answers. She must, so I can finally find peace and move forward.
The bus driver stops, takes his hands off the steering wheel, and presses a button. The front door hisses open.
With a brief nod, I board the bus. "Please wait a moment," I say to the driver and march purposely toward Aurora, who stares at me as if I were a dangerous serial killer. "Come."
She shakes her head, and her nostrils flare. Murmurs arise all around, but I'm not interested in the gossip of other passengers.
"I just stood in front of a moving bus," I say with a controlled tone. "Do you really think your 'no' would impress me?"
Tears fill her eyes, and she presses her lips together. But she does it anyway. With a trembling breath, she pushes herself up from her seat and leaves the bus with me.
The other passengers applaud. "Finally," whispers an elderly lady, clutching her handbag tightly against her stomach.
As we pass by, I apologize to the bus driver and step out into the twilight behind Aurora.
She wraps her arms around herself, her expression desperate as she looks around. The bus's engine hums deeply, and then it departs.
I stop at a safe distance from Aurora. "Why?" I repeat because that's the only question I want an answer to. Everything else doesn't matter.
She doesn't run away this time, and I know it's time. Finally, I will learn the truth.
She lowers her eyes. "I'm so sorry," she whispers, barely audibly. "I thought I was doing it for you."
Bullshit. I look up at the sky, its darkness swallowing the last rays of the day. "Oh, that's so generous of you."
"I believed you'd be better off without me," she says.
My God, what is she talking about? In what version of our life could that ever be true?
"Yeah, that makes total sense…" I raise my eyebrows. "And you decided that all on your own before you vanished without a trace?" Anger rises hot within me. Who does she think she is?
She paces back and forth in front of me, fists clenched. "You don't understand," she begins, only to interrupt herself. "It's not like…"
"How I think?" I interject sharply. "How do you even know what I think, huh?" I've done everything for this woman. Fulfilled every wish. I thought we would grow together in our destiny, and that it would ultimately bond us even stronger.
What a fool I was.
"I don't." Her voice sounds weary. Out of nowhere, her shoulders slump forward, then she signals for me to follow her.
We leave the bus station in the direction we came from. "I want to hear the truth, Aurora," I say, trying to remain calm. "The whole truth."
As we walk, she sneaks a glance at me. "Are you sure?"
With my gaze fixed on the ground, I nod. "We shouldn't prolong this any longer. Just say it." So it can finally be over. That's all I want. To be free again. Free to live. And free to love.
She sighs heavily. "From the moment I first met you, a part of me knew you were the love of my life."
Why is she bringing this up now? Does she expect me to tell her that I felt the same way? That a part of me still can't stop believing it even though I don't understand why? Definitely not.
"Stop that," I say. We turn into a side alley, and the intense scent of flowers fills my nose.
