PART 7
Six o’clock rolls around and you’re standing in front of her apartment, waiting for her to answer the door. You’re about to bare your soul to her, but strangely, you don’t feel nervous at all. Maybe it’s not so strange. It just feels right. Why shouldn’t it? Even though you’re technically still married, the woman you really love is just a few feet away, and finally, you are going to tell her how you feel. Years of wrong will finally be righted.
She answers the door, and you can tell by the look on her face, she was expecting you. Her eyes sparkle, the earlier tiredness completely gone. You haven’t seen her eyes sparkle like that in a long time, and it takes your breath away. Just stand there silently until she smiles, exactly the way she did when you found her at the destroyed SD-6 office the day after the Alliance was taken down. “Hey,” she says.
“Hey,” you say, still breathless. Just stand there for a long moment, taking in her beauty in the semi-light. Notice how she’s gazing steadily back at you. Finally break the moment by taking her hands. “Lets go for a walk.”
She breaks away from you. You panic a little, wondering what that means, as she rushes back inside. Laugh at yourself a little as she returns quickly, her key in hand. She closes the front door behind her and locks up. Watch her hands intently, as if what she’s doing isn’t a mundane, everyday act. She turns to face you and takes your hand in hers.
Notice how when you walk with her, it’s not awkward. Sometimes when you walk with someone, it’s weird, because you have different walking tempos. It’s not so with Sydney. Everything, even your walks, fit together perfectly. As you linger over the thought that, with her, everything is perfect, the sharp, salty smell of the ocean hits your nose.
You’ve arrived at the perfect time. The sun is starting to begin its fiery descent into the horizon. The ocean is an explosion of reflected reds, oranges, and yellows. “Wow,” Sydney says, awed. You nod in silent agreement. This is better than you could have hoped. After a moment, she tears her eyes away from the brilliance to look at you. “So why are we here?”
This is it. The big moment you’ve built up in your mind. Everything, ever since that fateful October day you first laid eyes on her, all of it comes down to this. Turn to face her. Take a deep breath. And go. “Syd, I know I should have said this a long time ago, and when I wanted to say it recently, you wouldn’t let me. But there’s nothing left to stop me now, so I’m going to say it. And you have to know I mean it, absolutely. I love you.”
Great chapter!!! I loved it!!