One Last Time: A Second Chance Romance

by Ted Evans

  She still looks so beautiful…but she’s dressed this way for someone else, isn’t she?

  I flattened my lips and turned to look at the attendant. “I came to book an appointment, would that be possible?”

  “Of course, sir. Please, let me—”

  “You’re already busy here,” I interrupted, nearly turning around to look at Brooklyn again. “You appear to be busy, if I could find someone else to attend to me…”

  “Let me call someone,” she said immediately, then turned to walk off.

  Without the distraction in the way, I could only turn back to Brooklyn. She’d stepped off the platform, and standing beside her, to my surprise, was Nora. The two of them had been best friends throughout college, and it seemed like that hadn't changed. If Nora was by her side and she was in New York, then it really must be true.

  Brooklyn was getting married.

  “Abe,” Nora said, her tone and expression cold, tilting her chin up at me.

  I smiled blankly and said, “Nora.”

  “What are you doing here, huh?” she sneered, looking me up and down in derision. “You didn’t answer the question. Are you also getting married?”

  I pursed my lips, for a moment, tempted to say that I was just to see if she would lose the haughty look on her face.

  Nora and I hadn't exactly been close. I actually met her before I even met Brooklyn when we were all in college. She dated a close friend of mine, but they didn’t last long, and after they broke up, I got to meet Brooklyn. We weren’t close at first, because all she could see was the friend of the bastard that broke her friend’s heart, but Nora moved on and things between Brooklyn and I went smoother. Nora never liked me since then, though.

  I decided to just tell the truth.

  “I’m actually here to set up an appointment for my sister,” I explained, my expression darkening as my mood turned gloomy. “She’s absolutely insistent on getting married, and absolutely insistent on getting this store, only she doesn’t have the time to come herself.”

  “And you do, Mr. CEO?” Nora retorted.

  I sighed. “Well, I am the boss, so I can find free time when it suits me.”

  Though usually I was busy, this was my sister. She tended to be extreme when she wanted things, and I was starting to think lately that maybe I indulged her too much.

  “Isn’t she a little young to be getting married?” Brooklyn exclaimed.

  I turned to look at her and noticed her stunned expression. I had been avoiding looking at her directly because I knew once I saw her face I wouldn’t want to look away. Her clear blue eyes were locked on mine, and I couldn’t help getting lost in them.

  “Um…” I murmured, dazed. “Maria…is insistent on getting married, to the point that even our parents agree. She’s too young, but she won’t listen to anyone including me.”

  I still couldn’t believe my little sister could do something so stupid. She’d only recently turned twenty-one, and she’d even paused school for the time being to get married. Whether or not she would continue after marriage, I had my doubts. All she ever did was complain about school and how she would find a husband to look after her. It wasn’t like I would let her go to the streets if she wasn’t working, the family company was doing way better than that.

  My parents didn’t agree with it, either, but Maria wasn’t the kind of person to let others force her to do what she didn’t want. I knew, their biggest fear was of Maria doing something stupid and getting herself hurt. Even if I thought it was spoiling her, there wasn’t much choice.

  I’m not happy about her marrying so young. Brooklyn and I had at least graduated college while we were still dating and talking about our future, and even then, we’d still been young.

  Too damn young.

  I was a year older than Brooklyn, so I graduated ahead of her. I was twenty-two, and she’d been twenty-one, and because of our youth we thought we could face the world together, but we were both too naïve. I didn’t want my sister to end up in the situation that I did where she had no other option but to get hurt.

  “So you’re really just going to let it happen?” Nora said with a snort.

  I shrugged helplessly, knowing nothing I said would make her look at me in a positive light, probably.

  “It is her life, so it’s not like I can stop her. She’s absolutely sure she knows what she’s doing, or so she says. So, I wanted to show her some support, as her brother.

  I don’t want it to break my family apart. My office is near here and she’s been trying to get ahold of the store to make her appointment, but their lines always seem to be busy.”

  “I am so sorry about that, sir.”

  A new voice entered the conversation, and I turned to see the first attendant had come with someone.

  “Sorry about what?” I asked, turning to the two women. “It’s only an unfortunate coincidence, isn’t it?”

  The second attendant let out a light cough, her expression looking awkward.

  “My name is Isabell, if you could please come with me, I’ll explain everything and we can deal with your appointment.” Then, she turned to Nora and Brooklyn. “Ladies, sorry to disturb you. Clara here will continue to help you.”

  I walked away with Isabell, turning once to see Clara leading Nora and Brooklyn away, probably to change into another wedding dress. I forced myself to look away, my feet feeling heavier the further from her I moved. Thankfully, we didn’t go so far that they would be out of sight if they came back out again. It would only be hurting myself to see, but I couldn’t help that either.

  Six years ago, I had genuinely loved Brooklyn. Six years later, and that hadn't changed.

  “So, Isabell,” I started. “Can you explain to me what the problem is?”

  The awkward expression on her face told me the situation wasn’t normal. I’d thought the same, and just figured Maria said it as an excuse so I could do this for her. She claimed not to have the time to do it herself, but I knew she was out with her boyfriend doing who knew what, so she talked me into doing this for her.

  It turned out, there was actually a problem with the store.

  “The issue about the cell lines, they’re not busy.”

  I frowned. “Then what exactly is the situation? Because my sister complained she’s been trying to make a call for an appointment for a few weeks.”

  She ducked her head. There was a tablet held in her hands, and her hands tightened on the device.

  “On this issue, I am very sorry. The issue is actually with our cell lines, they’re currently not working. We’re still in the process of getting them fixed, and we only realized the problem when walk in clients walked in and let us know this week. We hope this inconvenience won’t make you change your mind about working with us.”

  I put my hands in my pocket, only mildly interested in this whole thing.

  “The issue wasn’t your fault. And my sister is set on working with you, so it’s not a problem. But please, have them fixed or give me a number that does work in case my sister needs something.”

  “I’ll handle that right away,” Isabell said, raising her head and lifting thee tablet up. “As for the appointment, I can handle that now. Can you let me know whatever time your sister would find it appropriate?”

  I wasn’t really sure myself, so I took out my cell and texted Maria. We communicated like that, with Isabell asking for details and me getting Maria to give me the information. Brooklyn went through three other dresses by the time we were done.

  “Please thank your sister for choosing to work with us, and we look forward to seeing her.”

  With a nod of her head, she walked off.

  Now that I was free, I could pay my full attention to Brooklyn and Nora. They must have finished trying on dresses, because they were just standing around talking to the assistant. Technically, my job here was done, but I didn’t think I could just leave. Even if there might not be hope for us after all these years, I was incapable of giving up without
a fight.

  I hesitated until the attendant left them, then I approach.

  “Are you ladies ready to leave?”

  Nora sneered, but Brooklyn caught her arm and she settled down, stepping back with a pout. Brooklyn looked up at me with a calm smile.

  “Did you sort out all your problems, already?”

  “I managed to work something out,” I murmured. “Brooklyn…you seem like you’ve been doing well.”

  At some point, I’d even hoped that she was unable to forget like I was. Only, thinking that way was unfair, wasn’t it? If I couldn’t be with her, then she deserved to be happy with someone that would treat her right. That was the attitude I was supposed to have, anyway. I just didn’t like the idea at all.

  She smiled mysteriously. “I have.”

  I frowned slightly, wishing she would elaborate more. What do you mean by that smile, and what do you mean by ‘you have?’

  She wasn’t even going to ask how I’d been the past six years. Even knowing I didn’t exactly deserve it, since I had been the one to end things between us back then, but I couldn’t help feeling a thread of disappointment.

  “Can I ask if the two of you are busy right now?”

  Brooklyn looked at Nora. Her expression was complicated, but I could see the contempt she felt for me and the care she felt for Brooklyn. I stiffened, wondering if she would get in my way and what I would I would do if she did. If Nora was around, Brooklyn and I talking for more than a few minutes wouldn’t be a simple thing.

  In the end, though, she sighed and looked at Brooklyn with eyes full of apology.

  “I actually have to get home now. Paul was supposed to call me today, and I don’t think it’s going to be a quick conversation. He’s out somewhere on a business trip and I won’t be able to see him for a while.”

  Brooklyn didn’t look happy, and I wondered if Nora had another lying, cheating boyfriend.

  “It’s fine,” Brooklyn said.

  “Actually,” I cut in. “I was wondering if you would go out with me for drinks?”

  She arched an eyebrow at me. “What, for old times’ sake?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “Why not?”

  They shared a glance, then Nora sighed and picked up her purse.

  “Do whatever you want, I need to go. I’ll come get you later, there’s still a lot of stuff left to do before the wedding.”

  My lips flattened at the mention of a wedding, and Nora threw me a challenging look as she walked away. I was sure she’d done it deliberately, and I wondered how close it was to this wedding. My thoughts started going down a dangerous direction, but I cut them off. If Brooklyn knew what I was thinking, she would probably look at me with the same disgust as Nora was.

  Besides, if she found someone she agreed to marry, could I even change her mind? I hurt her…

  My heart ached, but I realized I brought this on myself, like shooting my own foot. During our relationship and when I chose to end it, I had been too young to be making such life changing decisions.

  Brooklyn’s voice broke me out of my thoughts. “I want to head back and rest before Nora starts driving me crazy again, so why don’t we exchange numbers and we can meet some other day?”

  I was already pulling my cell out, and I unlocked the screen and pulled up a new contact page, then handed it to her. She looked startled, but handed her own cell over then took mine. First, I searched through her contacts, frowning when I realized she really had deleted my number. I didn’t still have hers in my cell, I had hoped getting rid of everything that reminded me of her would help me forget, but I still had it memorized. I input my contact into her cell, then handed it over. When I got my cell, I looked at her name and number in my contact list, and felt a little short of breath.

  “Friday,” I said suddenly, looking at her. “It’s Tuesday today, but can we meet this Friday?”

  “Sure,” she said with a shrug and a smile. “Give me a call and I’ll let you know when I’ll be free. Laters, Abe.”

  I watched Brooklyn turn her back to me and walk away without hesitation. I raised a hand to hold her back, mouth open to call her name. But I hesitated for a moment, and she was gone.

  Just like six years ago.

  Chapter Three

  Brooklyn

  I sat on the bed, hugging a pillow as I watched Nora going through my case, in a daze.

  What the hell am I doing?

  It was Friday, the day Abe and I would meet up. The whole day, Nora had kept me company, and we didn’t even talk about any wedding stuff for once. I had been panicking for most of the day, while she read me the riot act, but when I got the text from Abe, she was the first to jump up. I felt she was more anxious about this date than I was.

  “Are you sure you want to go?” Nora asked, pausing to look at me over her shoulder.

  Her question finally brought me out of myself, and I uncurled myself from the bed. Butterflies were fluttering in my stomach, and I really wondered if I could go through with this.

  “I already said I would go,” I muttered gloomily.

  “That doesn’t mean you have to go,” she said explosively. “After what he did to you, what does he deserve from you? Nothing! Brooklyn, you shouldn’t even still be thinking about him.”

  “But the problem is that I can't forget,” I sighed.

  Nora gave me a look for of sympathy, and I turned away.

  It wasn’t like I’d forgotten what Abe had done, I didn’t think that was even possible. How could anyone possible forget the worst day of their life?

  After we graduated, I knew Nora would have to go back, and I knew I would miss her. But Abe… I’d hoped he would stay with me in California. He’d told me he could find a way, and I believed him. When we graduated, I thought we had our whole lives ahead of us, and I thought he would propose. We would get married, move in together, and start a family…everything we’d talked about.

  In the end, none of that happened. Instead of the proposal I’d expected, Abe told me he had to go home.

  Abe hadn't told me much about his family before that point, and after I knew his background, I realized why. If I had known his background from the beginning, it would have been easy to think I approached him because of his family. Abe Sanchez came from old money, and his family were billionaires. With his tall build, hazel eyes, dark hair and good looks, I would have had a lot of competition over him in college, if he hadn’t been so low profile, and been the one to come onto me in the first place.

  After college, when I thought we could start a life together, Abe told me he needed to go back home to take over the family empire. For various reasons, he couldn’t commit to me.

  When he’d told me all that, the one thing I’d thought, was how badly I wished he’d come from an ordinary family, just like I did.

  “Maybe this would be good for you,” Nora said, trying to sound hopeful. She rose up and moved to the bed, sitting beside me and putting an arm around my shoulders. “You can finally have the closure you didn’t get six years ago. And if the two of you are going to talk, try to get that bastard to apologize to you for what he did. If he’d known things were going to end up that anyway, he shouldn’t have been leading you on.”

  I bit down on my lip as pain flooded my chest. That had been my biggest worry, over the years. When I fell for Abe, I gave myself over to him completely, and I didn’t think I could ever do that with anyone else. But, what if Abe never felt that way about me to begin with? He was obviously meant for bigger, better things. Someone with his background could only end up with someone from the same world as him, and he should have known that.

  So, what had those years we’d spent together been all about?

  “Let’s just see what happens,” I mumbled. “Who knows… he might be the one to bring it up. Besides, as far as he knows, I’m getting married...”

  Nora had turned my things into a mess, but I managed to find an appropriate outfit. We were going out to a bar. Since I was new in the city,
Abe had offered to pick me up, but I didn’t want him to know where I was staying, so I’d gotten him to give me the directions. As long as I got in a cab and gave them to the driver, I would make it.

  This was New York, a city that was way colder than Cali, so I only had a few dresses, most everything else were jeans and tops, and I figured it would be good enough for this. I picked up the outfit, and started changing.

  It was a red dress that clung to my curves, with ruffles down the front and long sleeves. I paired it up with a long black trench coat to keep out the chill. It was one of the few dresses I’d bought along, one that was fairly long and made of thick fabric, so I didn’t have to worry about freezing to death in the evening weather. I turned to Nora with my arms held out, eyebrows arched.

  She clapped enthusiastically then gave me two thumbs up. “You look absolutely amazing! He’s going to see you and weep forever letting you go.”

  I smiled. “Thanks.”

  There was no way I could completely let go of the anxiety, but I was going to at least appear confident on the outside in front of Abe. I looked through my shoes and found a pair of black high heels, and I pulled them on. Then, I sat back on the bed with a small bag I pulled from my luggage. Inside, I had a mirror and some make up.

  I pulled the stuff out, but as I held the mirror in one hand and a make-up brush in the other, I realized my hands were shaking. I looked helplessly at Nora, and she sighed.

  “Let me do that for you. Just sit back and relax, okay? I’ve actually gotten way better at this since the last time we met.”

  “How did that happen?” I asked, mildly curious. Nora was already good at applying make-up, just a step away from professional level.

  “Well, I have been planning a wedding, you know? And it’s not like I intend to do my own make-up. I found an artist that I’ll be working with on the day, and she gave me a few tips. You’ll look amazing tonight, trust me.”

  I was tempted to bite down on my lip, but she poked my cheek until I stopped. She directed me to close my eyes, and I could feel the brush move gently over my skin. I took a deep breath and forced myself to relax.