Tears escaped Alex’s eyes, so Aria reached out to gently wipe them away. He caught one of her hands and brought it to his lips, gently kissing the back of it.
Aria was surprised by the gesture and powerless to pull away. He moved their hands down to rest on the sofa between them but didn’t let her go.
“There’s so much emotion in your photos. Hearing you talk about the people you’ve met makes me want to be a part of what you do in the world. Helping people, bringing light to the darkness in a way. You have an incredible talent.”
“Thank you, Aria. That means a lot coming from you. I’ve always admired the way you treated the people around you. Hearing you say that my photos moved you… That’s something I’ll keep with me for a long time.”
Alex opened his mouth to say something but stopped. After doing this a few times, Aria said curiously, “What?”
Looking back at his hand still covering hers, Alex said, “Aria, I have to confess something to you. I had a crush on you back in school.”
“Alex! You’re not serious,” she answered, her voice lowering an octave.
He tilted his head, so they were eye to eye again.
“I am. Why do you think Sofia always ended up as your study partner?” he said nervously.
“Wait.What?How did you get Sofia to do that? And why?”
“Let’s just say that, like now, I wanted to get to know you.” His face registered no humor and Aria realized he wasn't joking. She looked out at the now-darkened sky, the moon peaking in through her window, before turning back to him.
“Why didn't you say something?”
“I, I just never got up the courage,” he said with a look she couldn’t decipher.
His thumb had started its rhythmic movement over her hand again, almost hypnotizing her. She could hear the clock on her wall ticking off the minutes.
“I had no idea, Alex.”
After a long pause, he inhaled sharply.
“It’s true.”
Aria could hear the music change to a slow jazzy piece, the soft sounds of a sleepy saxophone echoing in the quiet room.
“There was a moment, a moment when I almost got up the nerve. You probably don’t remember it. But you were at my house, working on thatPride & Prejudiceproject with Sofia,” Alex said cautiously.
Aria looked intently at him, trying to remember.
“You were sitting on the floor, and I was on the sofa pretending to read a book. You and I talked about why you loved the book and movie so much.”
She smiled at his description. Then a flash of memory made her eyes widen.
Alex smiled as he saw the recognition on her face.
“You remember.”
Nodding, she pulled her hand away and held both cheeks with her palms.
“Oh, wow. I do remember. I remember thinking, ‘Why is Alex looking at me like that?’ I thought I was imagining it.”
“You didn’t.”
His eyes moved to her wedding photo, then back to her.
“The next morning, I found out Nicholas asked you out.”
Inhaling sharply, she whispered, “Alex.”
