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“Yes sir,” I say, and hang up on him telling me to call him by his name again. I grab my phone, and I run home.
There’s a note on my door: Alaric, please come up to the rooftop. I need to see you. Please. —Rochelle.
Hope surges in my heart.
I fold the note and put it in my pocket, and I take the stairs up to the fifth floor, letting my anticipation build with each flight.
She’s waiting for me at one of the outdoor seating areas, the one near the herb garden. She’s wearing a loose flowy dark green dress, and her hair is loose, and she is so beautiful. She’s been crying, but she’s not crying now.
I stop walking.
She stands up. Walks to me, takes my hand, leads me back to the bench. Sits down next to me. “I love you, Alaric.”
I wait.
“I love you, Alaric.” Her eyes seem full of light even though the night is dark. “That list of attributes I asked for? Means nothing to me. Yes, I asked for a man who had those things. But Alaric, I could never have imagined you. I could never have dreamed up the wonderful person you are, the whole mix of faults and endearing qualities, your perfection and imperfection. I could never have made you up.”
I look at her and see that she is speaking her absolute truth. She means it.
“You’re everything I ever dreamed of, and more. I couldn’t reduce you to a list, because I could never have put together someone like you. You’re not just a list. You’re better than the list.” She takes a deep breath, and her eyes water. “You’re you. You’re a gift. And I really, really love you.”
I feel a certainty in my heart. My inner self was lying to me all along.
I am worthy of love.
I am good enough.
“You are so, so worthy of being loved, Alaric,” she says earnestly. “I am worthy of being loved, too. I’m not perfect, but nobody is. We’re worthy. And we’re good enough. We’re enough, period.”
Hope is bursting loose inside me. Hope, and truth, and love, and certainty that she is a gift to me as much as I am a gift to her.
I go to my knees before her. “I love you, Rochelle. You’re my everything.”
She gets on her knees next to me, and we kiss.
And the stars begin to shine down on us with blessing.
