“Ok, maybe I was smothering him a little.”
“More like a lot.”
“Ok, a lot...but that’s only because I was concerned and scared--” I started to cry again.
He brought me back into his arms. “I’m sorry. You guys are really close. I know this is hard.”
“It is,” I said pulling away, “But that’s not what I’m crying.”
“Is it because we just missed our Uber, and our client is probably going to be pissed wondering why we’re running late?”
I shook my head. “Although, that is concerning, but this couldn’t wait. “ I grabbed Chris’ hands and he looked at me in surprise.
“Chris,” I said looking deep into his eyes, “You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. You’re patient, and kind, and forgiving. You’re everything I’m not and that’s why I love you. You’re my better half and have always been. I love you for being you and putting up with me. I love you for loving me even when I was impossible and stupid and selfish. And I love you for giving me a second chance even though I screwed that up,” I paused and took a deep breath and said, “But truthfully, I’m kind of broken--” and at that point my voice broke, and I had to pause to catch my breath.
He reached up and stroked my cheek, “You’re not broken.”
“I am,” I said, giving him a sad smile through my tears, “But it doesn’t matter because being broken doesn’t make me unloveable...and I didn’t realize I felt that way until you came back into my life.”
“I have to stop you right there. You’re not broken, and you’ve never been for a moment unloveable. You’re the patient one. You’re the kind one. And you’re so strong, Sydney,”
Tears rolled down my cheeks as I listened to him, he wiped them away. His fingers across my cheeks felt like a salve on my soul as he continued, “You’re the same Sydney I’ve been in love with since grade school. And nothing has changed that. No matter how much you push me away, I’ll stil love you. No matter how much space you want, I’ll still stay beside you….but from a respectable distance, of course,” he said with a laugh. “I’m not going anywhere. If being with me is what you want, then I’m happy to spend the rest of my lifetime showing you just how loved you are.”
“You really mean that don’t you?” I whispered.
He nodded, “More than you’ll ever know.”
He pulled me to him and wrapped me in his arms. I held him tightly as if he was my lifeline, in fact all this time, I think he was.
“I guess we should get to that meeting now,” I said pulling back away from him.
He shrugged, “Work can wait, just let me hold you a little longer.”
“Does this mean you’re not moving back to the Caribbean anytime soon?”
“I never planned to leave. The business I was taking care of was arranging to move my stuff out of storage and into my new apartment downtown.”
“Oh,” I said staring up at him. “I thought you were leaving...”
“Like I said, there was no way you were getting rid of me that easily even when I saw Mark slobbering all over you.”
I laughed at the image. “So, you saw that? I had no idea he was going to do that.”
“I had to drive away, or I would have gotten arrested for assault.”
“I’m sorry, he was just there to pick up his stuff and he completely misinterpreted the moment.”
“I figured as much, but it still made me insanely jealous to see him touching you.”
“I’m sorry,” I said again.
“There’s nothing to apologize for. All that matters is that you’re here with me...now.”
“And forever,” I said, standing up on my tippy toes to kiss him again.
Someone cleared their throat and I realized then that we had an audience. A housekeeper and the front desk clerk from earlier stood there, giving us dirty looks.
“I see you found him,” she said sarcastically. “Please move along. This is the service elevator for employees only.”
“Oops,” I said, “So sorry. I didn’t notice that.” The housekeeper just shook her head, and the front desk clerk gave us a look of disdain before mumbling something about us being losers under her breath.
Chris laughed. “I think maybe we should go meet up with our clients now,” he said taking me by the hand and leading me towards the lobby doors.
“One more kiss for the road?” I said to him.
“As if I could ever say no to that.” He pulled me into his arms and covered my lips with his own.
The End
