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She was always apologizing for nothing, as if everything was her fault when it wasn’t. This… this was, in fact, my fault. The fact that her master plan had derailed, I was to blame. That family and home she spoke of included me. It stung, knowing how one bad decision had changed the entire life story for someone I wanted nothing but the best for.
“How can I help?”
“You can’t, Milo.”
Her words paralyzed me. Immediately after the pain, I numbed as she continued.
“Not this time. This is something that I have to fix on my own. I waited so long and I can’t tell you why. I don’t even know. But I do know that I’m done waiting. I’m ready to hold my daughter or my son in my arms for the first time and I don’t want to be thirty-seven when it happens. So, let’s talk about something else. Please. I got so carried away. I’m sorry.”
“Stop apologizing for expressing yourself. I asked and you unloaded. I’m appreciative of your ability to flow so effortlessly as I listen.”
“It’s always been so easy.”
“What?” I questioned.
“Talking to you.”
She looked up at me, sipping again. Those eyes of hers had always gotten her in big trouble, and tonight, I didn’t think things would be any different.
“Yeah? Because I remember a time you wouldn’t.”
“Whose fault had it been?” She tilted her head, waiting for a response.
With a nod, I leaned forward and let her have that one. We both shared gazes as silence toyed between us. After a few seconds, she ripped her eyes away from me. I watched her chest rise and fall, dramatically. She was a mess inside.
“I’ve missed you,” I confessed, slamming my back against the chair again as I rubbed a hand down my face.
“Milo, please,” she begged.
“Would you prefer I lied?”
“I’d prefer you didn’t make this night harder than it is already, is all.”
“Watching you from afar isn’t as nearly as glorious as the front-row seat. You’ve grown into an even more stunning being than I had imagined.”
Blushing, she sucked the skin of her teeth before responding, “Admittedly, I knew you’d become every bit of the man you are today.”
“Remind me to write you a check for your contributions to this man.”
“Ahhh. Stop it. I didn’t do much. That was all you, Milo. You’re brilliant. Til this day, I’ve never encountered anyone as sharp as you.”
“Nature, have you forgotten you started college at sixteen?”
“You were fifteen,” she reminded me. “I wasn’t quick enough.”
We both joined in laughter as memories of our college days soared through our heads. It was much different from those around us, being that we were the youngest students on campus. It was part of the reason we bonded. And after years of friendship, we sought out more of each other. Our relationship was blissful until it wasn’t.
The food arrived before I was able to conjure a reply. The smell of sizzling steak made my stomach rumble. I could hear the evidence of its medium-well nature on the skillet it was still being cooked on. Before it was set in front of me, the waitress set the seafood pasta on the other side of the table. Nature pulled it closer, lowering her head to take a whiff.
“If there’s anything else I can get for you all, just flag me down or request it from the tablet,” our waitress said, pointing to the tablet we’d placed our order on. “Another round of drinks is on the way.”
“Thank you.”
“Thanks,” Nature added.
We fell into comfortable conversation as forks began clinking against the glasses our food was in. Those sad eyes began to sparkle again, glistening as she spoke and listened to me do the same. Her cheeks lifted and fell more times than I could count.
Two hours and too many glasses of liquor later, the check had been settled and I watched Nature wobble out of the door as I held it open. My heart pumped with joy and sadness, simultaneously. I wasn’t prepared for the night to end, and neither was I willing to push past boundaries that Nature had put into place.
