Chapter 59
Chapter Fifty-Nine
SAM
Day Twenty-Two
‘Ollie told me he regrets how he handled the way you two broke up,’ I say on the evening before the wedding. ‘He wanted me to pass that on.’
Will forks his bowl of pasta, lost in thought. After a few moments, he finally replies, ‘That man can never speak his mind.’
‘A lot of this has been because of miscommunication,’ I say. ‘Some things should be addressed head-on.’
Will sighs. ‘Ultimately, I think that’s what broke us. My inability to voice how I felt, and Ollie’s inability to voice his own concerns. Until it was too late. It’s why it hurt so much.’
‘We’ve all been there with that hurt. It’s a killer. It plays on your mind and destroys you from the inside.’ I reach out and stroke Will’s knee. ‘I won’t ever hurt you, Will.’
Will peers at me. ‘Thank you. I wish I could say more, but my mouth is full of pasta.’
He’s spending the night at mine, before the wedding goes ahead tomorrow.
I thought it might be a nice way for him to take his mind off his role, off the finality of Ollie’s decisions.
I truly know Will is over his ex, but I also understand that it’s not as simple as being able to accept everything all at once.
‘I’m getting closer to working out how to move here long-term,’ Will says, shifting the conversation, sounding brighter. ‘Progress is being made.’
‘You know I can’t wait,’ I say, but I bring us back to the now. ‘How are you feeling about tomorrow?’
‘I’ll be glad when it’s over and done with, to be honest.’
‘Yeah, me too.’
Will laughs. ‘Sorry I’ve dragged you into my mess.’
I pat his knee, rolling my fingers up his thigh. ‘You coming here has been the best thing to ever happen.’
Will eyes the smudge of paint on the side of my hand. I’ve been working away on the painting of him in my spare time. I still won’t let him see it. Not yet.
‘There’s not many people I’d give up my whole life for.’
‘You’ll have a better life here,’ I say. ‘I promise.’
It’s hard not to think about our future. I’ve lost Will once before and I don’t want to lose him again. But we’re still early days, a whirlwind summer bringing us together. When things calm down, who knows what might happen?
All I know is right now, the excitement I’d been craving has come.
It’s fulfilled. And I can take stock of everything I have, the shop downstairs, and see it with renewed enthusiasm.
Life takes you in different directions, and plans you make don’t always come to fruition. But that doesn’t mean you’ve failed.
Here, in No Name Coffee Shop, watching a romcom with Will in my arms is exactly where I’m meant to be.
This is how it was always meant to happen.