Ella stared at the picture as memories of that day played in her mind. No way…
Leon gazed at her from nearby as she stayed still for a while. He wanted to say something to her, but wasn’t sure where to start.
“You… you were that little boy back then?” Ella finally spoke. “How is this even possible?”
“I said I’d marry you someday.” He laughed awkwardly, not sure if she was angry or not that he didn’t tell her.
“Ha…” She covered her mouth with her hand as she thought. She glanced at him and an image of his younger self overlapped with him. “You’ve definitely… grown up.”
“Bound to happen.”
“That was that same rude butler from back then too, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
No wonder he doesn’t get along with him.
“I probably don’t have to ask, but I want to hear it from you… I wasn’t some random person to you when we met in the bar, was I?”
“No…”
“You actually remembered me from back then? It was so long ago… and you were so young. I barely remember anything from when I was eight like you were…”
“You were my first real friend. I met you before I even met Zeke, and if it wasn’t for you, I might not have even accepted him. If it wasn’t for you, I might not even be here anymore…”
“Wait… you were seriously thinking about killing yourself when you were eight years old?”
“Let’s just say it more than crossed my mind… but you showed up and everything changed. I fell in love with you that day, Ella. And I know I was a little kid then, but you never left my mind these past… fifteen years.”
“No wonder you had trouble finding a woman to marry you when you were fixated on someone from the past.”
“But the whole time I was also hoping for you to be my future.”
“That’s a long time to pine after someone, and people change, so I don’t know if I can really live up to my past self in your mind.”
“You haven’t changed that much, Ella, and I haven’t been disappointed at all. You know, I couldn’t believe it when we ran into each other that night you stole my taxi.”
“You recognized me then?!”
“You’ve matured, but you still look the same.” Her image had stayed burned into his mind the entire time.
“You’ve definitely changed.” Ella chuckled.
“To be fair, I was a kid, and you were a teenager.”
“True…”
“So… are you mad?”
Ella sighed and lightly touched the picture of them. “More flabbergasted than anything. This is all… so much… I don’t even know what to say…”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.”
“It makes more sense why you’d be so adamant about marrying me now, at least. I’m your first crush—”
“First and only love.”
She looked up at him, conflicting emotions displayed on her face. “How can you hold a torch for someone you haven’t seen in so long?”
“I do have a picture.”
“You know what I mean. Until recently, we haven’t met up in person… or online or anything, so how can your feelings last fifteen years without wavering?”
“I have wavered. I’ve tried dating other people, but I can never get you out of my head for long enough to try to have a relationship with someone else. I always end up thinking… ‘but this isn’t Ella’ and there’s no going back once that thought crossed my mind. Trust me, I know this sounds insane, but this has been my reality since I met you. I loved you before I even understood what love was.”
Ella’s heart skipped a beat, her nerves on end while she tried to take everything in.
“I’ve been so happy since I saw you again. I know you didn’t recognize me, and I can’t blame you; I’ve become such a handsome man.” He smiled at her and tried to show off his face. “And when you let your guard down a little, we seem to be great friends like we were then, so I hope none of this scares you away.”
“I know I’m a flight risk…”
“Do you feel like running away now that you know all of this?”
“I’m a little nervous, but not yet. We shared more dessert at the restaurant.” Ella couldn’t hold back a smile. “Just like we did back then. Did you do that on purpose? Have you been trying to get me to remember?”
“I remembered, but I wasn’t thinking about it when it happened… at first, anyway.” Leon shrugged.
Knock, knock. “Leon, your parents are requesting your presence once again,” Zeke spoke through the door.
Leon grumbled about being found and rolled his eyes. “Ugh… What now?”
The door opened. “I don’t know, but they’re not going to lay off my back until you talk to them again.” Zeke headed for Leon.
“I don’t like that glint in your eyes.” Leon backed away.
“If you don’t want me to get serious, you’ll go to them of your own free will.”
“Why? We talked earlier, and I’m already too exhausted…”
“Get over here.” Zeke grabbed him by the back of his neck and ushered him towards the door.
“You can stay here,” Leon managed to say before the door was closed behind them.
Knock, knock. Almost instantly after they left, someone knocked on the door.
“Yes?” Ella closed the album, and the door opened.
“It really is you, Ella.” A man with brown hair stared at her in awe from the doorway.
“Bruce?” What is this? Ghosts of boyfriends past? “What… are you doing here?”
“I saw you downstairs at the party and couldn’t believe my eyes. It’s been too long.” He sighed and entered Leon’s room, closing the door behind him.
Please let him not be crazy like Sebastian…
“Yeah, it has been a long time.” She smiled awkwardly.
“So, is it true? Are you going to marry Leon Hunt? A little young for you, isn’t he?”
“Not according to him… And yes, Leon is my fiancé. What are you doing here?”
“I’ve moved up in the world since you last saw me; I’m in with the rich crowd now, doing business high up in an advertising company.” He puffed his chest out and held onto his lapels.
“Congrats. I’m happy for you.” Surprised you could do it, but it’s good, nonetheless.
“Man…” he sighed. “I finally make it somewhere, and you’ve moved onto someone beyond me. I’m never going to be good enough for you, am I?”
“Excuse me?” Her brows furrowed as she eyed him. “What are you talking about?”
“Isn’t that why you left me? I proposed to you years ago, in case you forgot.”
“No, of course, I didn’t forget that—”
“You said yes in front of those people, and then once we were away from them, you freaked out and ran away. Wasn’t that because you thought about what life would be like with me? That I wasn’t good enough for you?”
“No… I ran away because I freaked out and didn’t feel like you were the one… or whatever.” Besides, asking in front of others puts on too much pressure!
“Do you feel that for Leon, or are you going to run away from him, too? There’s not much higher on the food chain you can go for, anyway.”
“You make me sound like a gold-digger or something…”
“Do you have any idea what I spent on you while we were going out? A ton! I racked up debt because I couldn’t afford you.”
She stared at him, baffled for a moment. “I never asked you to spend money on me. I didn’t expect you to, especially past your means. You chose to do all that even when I told you not to, and now you blame me for it?”
“I could tell you expected it. And after you ran away, what else was I going to think? Obviously, I didn’t have enough for you, and you went after someone with more.”
“I’m not with Leon because of his money.” Though I am because of a drunken night together… Although now, it feels like I might’ve eventually met up with him again anyway, since he was looking for me. We really should’ve dated normally. Wait, when did I start feeling this way? Despite wishing for a normal beginning, she knew she might run away as she always seemed to. This way, she was bound to him, so she had to give him a real chance.
“Ha… Like I believe you…” Bruce pouted.
“He’s the one that came to me…” Ella sighed. Well, this time. I went to him in the past when I saw him as a kid.
“Then why?” His lip quivered. “Why did you leave me? How could you be so cold? I thought we were in love…”
“I did love you.” Or at least I thought I did, but I could say the same for previous ones… My heart is not reliable!
“And if you weren’t ready, then say that you aren’t, don’t rip my heart out.” He was practically on the brink of tears.
“I did, but you weren’t listening.” He’s just reminding me of Nathan… I hope he’s okay.
“So it’s my fault you ran away?!”
Ugh… this is too much. Get me out of here. Her hands gripping the album shook. “I was too afraid, and you were too… overbearing and didn’t listen. We both had a hand in that failed relationship.”
“Overbearing?!”
She flinched back from his booming voice. Great, I’m stoking the flame.
“If you’d just listened to me, we could’ve been happily married with toddlers of our own running around. I probably would’ve gotten the promotion earlier too, since they always asked personal questions about our lives.”
“That’s probably illegal…”
“Things could’ve been different. My family wouldn’t shame me for being behind in life, telling me that by my age, they were married with kids in school and had a detached house of their own in the suburbs.”
“I think you’re taking things out on me that have nothing to do with me—”
“Nothing to do with you?!” Bruce yelled again, and Ella hugged the album tightly to her chest. “If we had stayed together and gotten married like I planned, my family wouldn’t be ashamed of me!”
“They shouldn’t be ashamed of you for that. Everyone’s lives go at different paces in different directions. Besides, it’s been years since we were together; you’ve had plenty of time to move on.”
“How was I supposed to just move on after you destroyed me?!” He stomped towards her, his fists clenched. “Don’t you even feel bad about hurting me like that?” He let out a low growl as he loomed over her.
Ella shuddered, her heart racing as she cringed away from him. I really do destroy people’s lives… don’t I? She couldn’t help but remember her fight with Alice. What will I eventually do to Leon? Will I leave him and turn him into someone like Bruce? “Of course, I feel bad.” She teared up, her lip quivering. “All I seem to do is mess up other people’s lives.”
He saw her tears and froze.
“I’m so irreparably damaged that I can’t seem to take the plunge.” Her breathing went ragged as the tears poured out. “Why…?” She sniffled.
All of Bruce’s anger dissipated as he dropped to his knees in front of her. “I’m sorry, Ella… I didn’t mean to yell at you.” He hesitated to reach out to her. “Please stop crying. Gah… what do I do?”
“I should leave Leon before I mess up him, too.” But I can’t… or he won’t get the company, and they’ll disburse it, causing hundreds or maybe even thousands to lose their jobs.
“What? Um… I didn’t mean that… I was just taking out my anger on you. I’m not looking to ruin other people’s relationships.”
“But you’re right… Alice was right, too… I always hurt people. I thought I could get past it this time, but I don’t know. What if it happens again?”
“Alice? That friend of yours that’s almost attached to your hip? I’m surprised she’d say something like that.” He sat down on the floor in front of her. “I screwed up too, and I keep screwing up. It’s not that I haven’t dated since you, but none have even lasted as long as ours did. And they weren’t half as good either. So I’ve worked hard to move up, but nothing’s changed. I’m sorry I took it out on you. It’s just… we didn’t exactly end on a good note, and I have a lot of leftover rage and pain sitting there from our relationship.”
“I’m sorry…” Ella wiped away her tears, but they kept falling. “I’m sorry…” she kept repeating herself.
“Come on; don’t keep crying. If you do…” he thought for a moment. “I’ll start crying!”
“What?” Since when do you ever cry?
“What? Men cry too, you know?”
“But… I’ve never seen you cry.” She sniffled.
“I have, and way more than I’d ever want to admit. I cried pretty hard after you left me, and since then, I’ll seriously cry at home after work… regularly…”
“Sorry…”
“I didn’t tell you that to make you apologize again. I was just explaining that I could start crying because you’re crying.”
Ella turned away from him. “Can you… just go?”
“And leave you here alone like this? Look, I know I’m still mad at you, but I’m not so much of a jerk to leave a girl crying on her own.”
“I hate crying… especially in front of others.”
“And I knew that, but still… Who knows who else could walk in here and take advantage of your emotional state? Damn it…” Bruce let out a deep sigh. “And I wonder why it’s so hard for me to get promoted…” he grumbled about being useless. Bruce pulled a handkerchief out from his pocket and held it out to her. “Here.”
“Don’t you need that for your tears?” Despite the fact that she was still crying, she laughed.
“Your tears are more important.”
The door behind them opened. “I’m sorry about leaving you alone for so long…” Leon trailed off when he saw Ella crying and Bruce in front of her. “What’s going on?”
Bruce flinched back, pocketing his handkerchief, and turned. “Leon…”
“Do I know you?” Leon asked. While he looked familiar, having seen him around on more than one occasion, he didn’t remember who he was.
“I’m Bruce—”
“And why are you here? And are you the reason my fiancée is crying?” Leon inched closer, his anger evident on his face.
Bruce stood and faced him. “Yes, I’m the reason she’s crying. We have some unresolved issues between us.”
Leon’s frown deepened, and he clenched his fists tightly. “Who are you to her?”
“Ex-boyfriend… ex-fiancé, too.”
Leon raised an eyebrow and glanced at Ella. “So many people want you or have wanted you, it seems… Anyway, how about you leave before I snap?”
“But I—”
“Go!” Leon growled.
“Sorry.” Bruce hung his head low as he left, closing the door behind him.
“Ella.” He knelt down in front of her. “What happened?”
Her lips sealed, she turned her head away and wiped more tears away.
“Quit rubbing so hard; you might hurt yourself.” He took her hands in his. “Talk to me, please.”
“Can we just go?” she asked, her throat hoarse and hurting because of how much she was trying to hold it back.
Leon sighed, his grip on her hands tightening. “My parents actually wanted to start planning the wedding now.” He felt her tense up. “But it’s clear we need to get you home. You’ll talk to me after you calm down, right?”
She stayed silent, unable to bring herself to look at him in that state.
“Ella.” He cupped her cheeks, turning her face towards him, and kissed her tears away. “Whatever it is, I’m here for you. Okay, let’s get you out of here.” Leon took his jacket off and draped it over her shoulders. “We’ll take the roundabout way to leave, so we shouldn’t run into anyone.” Leon took out his phone and texted Zeke. “He’ll be waiting with the car.”
Leon held onto her hand and led her silently down the hall to a different staircase behind a locked door.
What’s with this place?
“I’d call it an emergency exit, but it’s only that for those who live here, and have a key,” Leon explained as he led her downstairs. The stairs went down to an extra floor. “We have an underground parking lot linked to here, too.” He didn’t want her to get the wrong idea. “Helps with the whole escape plan thing.”
Isn’t it bad to need to have an extra escape route?
He opened the door at the bottom, and like he had said, there was a parking lot with a bunch of cars parked there.
Zeke was waiting for them, leaning on the car with his arms crossed. He was about to complain until he saw Ella’s state. He opened the back door for them and waited for them to be inside before closing it and sitting in the driver’s seat. He drove off, heading for their home.
Ella leaned away from Leon, gazing out the window with tired, glossy eyes. “Oh!”
Leon wrapped his hand around her shoulder and pulled her over to him, resting her head on his shoulder as he stroked her head. “You’re safe now, Ella,” he whispered.
Continued in chapter 21.
Christina Maharaj 