II
Four Years Ago
"We need to talk."
Just those four words had been enough for Carmen to lose sleep the night before after she had talked to James on the phone. And although she had tried her best to hide the heartbreaking news which she knew she would have to tell him one day, she knew that there had to be some differences in her behavior which would alarm him.
Was it possible that he already knew that she was pregnant with someone else's child?
Had Abby told him?
She had continued to panic as she walked towards the small cafe where they had always met after classes to get a coffee. The ding of the bell above the door had surrounded her as she entered, immediately hit with the warmth and comforting smell of coffee.
She had looked over at where they usually sat and found him behind his laptop, two cups of coffee before him. Taking in a deep breath, she had walked over to him and sat down across from him.
"Hey," she had said.
He finally looked up and smiled at her, his brown eyes sparkling.
"Hey."
He slid her one of the cups and she took a sip, smiling at him once the familiar taste surrounded her. He closed the laptop and intertwined his fingers before looking at her. The smile which was on his face suddenly disappeared, causing her to worry.
He knew.
There was no way he didn't know by then.
"There's something I need to talk to you about and I'm not sure when the right time will be so I'm just going to get it over with," he had said. She had slowly nodded as her heart beat rapidly, bracing herself for what she was about to hear.
"I'm moving."
A part of her had been relieved when he hadn't said anything about her current situation. However, that part of her was pushed aside by the part which felt heartbroken at his words.
"What do you mean? How can you move away?" she had asked.
"I'm sorry but this wasn't something that I expected. I mean, I went to do the internship over the summer, thinking that maybe I could get a job locally so that I could stay with you but they offered me a position at the headquarters. And as much as I want to stay with you, my future is also important."
"W-what are you saying?" she had struggled to ask.
"What I'm saying is," he had reached out and held her hand tenderly, "I have to pick between my future and you. And I've already made my decision─"
"And it's not me," she had finished his sentence for him, pulling her hand away.
"I can't believe you'd do something like this," she had said, wiping away some tears and standing.
"Carmen─"
"Don't you dare say my name."
Upon saying that, she had stood up and walked out of the cafe, not looking back once. And as she had walked away, the tears continued to flow. Not only because she hadn't been able to tell him about her situation but because of the sense of betrayal she had felt from what he had just said.
- - -
Present
His brown eyes sparkled just the way that she had remembered as she stared at them, his eyes illuminated by the dim lighting of the lamp outside of her apartment building. Neither of them had said a word as they continued to stare at each other, not knowing what to say. James turned his head away from her to look through the windshield. Carmen noticed as his grip on the steering wheel tightened.
"Thanks for the ride," she finally forced herself to say, to break the painful silence. The sound of her seat belt unbuckling filled the confined space as she reached for the door handle. But before she could open the door, his voice stopped her.
"I shouldn't have left the way that I did five years ago."
Carmen turned to face him. He looked into her eyes as if he was looking through her rather than at her before he reached out to her, gently touching her cheek. She felt the warmth of his hand radiating through her cheek, causing a warm feeling to fill her entire body. He moved his head closer to hers, until he was only a few inches away from her.
"I missed you Carmen. And I'm sorry for leaving you the way that I did."
He leaned towards her until their lips touched. Carmen was initially frozen in her seat. But a few moments later, she allowed herself to kiss him back because as crazy as it was, she had missed him too. She felt her hands moving over his body as his did the same on hers, their lips never breaking apart.
They pulled apart from each other, breathing heavily as they continued to look at each other. Carmen felt her lips turn into a smile as she caught her breath.
"I missed you too," she told him.
And that was all she had to say before he smiled and kissed her again.
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