It happened on a Tuesday.
One of those slow days where nothing really happens, but you're oddly okay with it. I was halfway through lunch with Mia, the sun finally showing up for the first time in days, when my phone buzzed.
Just once.
I ignored it at first. But something—some instinct—made me check it anyway.
It was him.
Aiden:"Hey. I'm sorry. Things got messy here. Can we talk?"
Just like that.
No explanation.
No timeline.
No "I missed you."
Just... Can we talk?
My hands went cold.
"Is it him?" Mia asked gently.
I nodded.
She didn't say anything. She just looked at me the way people look at glass that might crack if you breathe too hard.
I didn't respond to the message.
Not right away.
Instead, I closed my phone and focused on finishing my lunch.
Because I wasn't the same girl who waited by the door.
I wasn't the girl who saved him a seat, even when he'd stopped showing up.
I was the girl who learned to sit alone—and be okay.
And maybe, just maybe, that's the girl he needed to meet now.