Ray of Hope

Forgiveness

He felt his heart leap out of his chest and that old familiar burst of love for Raidyn Gonzalez was immediately back. "What are you doing here?" Although he was surprised and his heart was telling him that he was excited to see her, his stubborn brain was still angry at her sudden disappearance. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

She thought Nick looked just as handsome as the last time she saw him, with exception of the exhaustion in his eyes. If it would have been up to her, she would have run over and wrapped her arms around him. But she knew by the somber look on his face that it wasn't a great idea. She rubbed her sweaty palms together and took a deep breath.

"I..." Raidyn chewed on her cheek, with no clue on how to respond to him. "I...remembered that it was the twins' birthday."

He let out a bitter laugh, "Wow did you and Mia get together and come up with that excuse. Look...I'm not sure why you came here, but we don't have anything to talk about Raidyn." Nick stood up and headed towards the sliding doors.

Raidyn stood in front of him and pressed her hands against his chest stopping him from taking another step. As soon as her hands made contact with his chest a hot rush ran through her body. "Please...don't walk away from me."

The anger had returned. He couldn't understand what had possessed her to come back. Why till now? A whole year later. But the warmth of her hands against his chest seemed to distract him. At that moment he couldn't even look her in the eyes. So his gaze remained on the ground. "Why not Ray...you walked away from me." Swiftly he grabbed her wrists and pushed her hands away. "You don't really think that I forgot that you left with..."

"I know...I know that I messed up Nick. I ran away from the problem instead of facing it. It was the way I dealt with things."

"No shit!"

"I know that you're angry at me and I understand." The knot in her throat was making it harder to speak, and no matter how much she swallowed the damn thing wouldn't budge. "But I need you to know that...there wasn't a day that I didn't think about you, that I didn't miss you. Nick, I still..."

Nick quickly interrupted her by throwing a hand up in her face. "Don't say it." His eyes finally met hers and it pained him. "You can't just waltz back in here and think that I'm stupid enough to forgive you and...think that everything is ok...if you...tell me you still love me. It doesn't work that way Ray. You left...not only that but...YOU LEFT WITH HIM!"

There were tears in her eyes now. "Nothing happened between him and I. He was the only person that understood me at that time and thanks to him and his NOW WIFE...my whole life changed around. I'm not that same insecure...stupid girl that you met. I...I accept that our relationship didn't work partly because of me, but be fair NICK!"

He nodded his head in disapproval, although he knew that it was mostly his fault. "I am fair...and I accepted when I was wrong. This doesn't make any sense...it doesn't even matter anymore. We've changed...I have a new life. I'm a single dad and I've been doing just fine without a woman in my life. I don't need you to come and change all that. Please just go..."

"Nick, everyone deserves a second chance."

"Ray...I'm asking you nicely to please leave. Now GO!"

With a loud and desperate sigh, she shook her head in defeat. "Ok...goodbye Nick."

He didn't say anything as she turned around and slipped through the sliding doors. If he opened his mouth he would say something he didn't really mean. So, he just observed her...the swaying of her long now reddish brown hair bouncing with each step. The curve of her body, that had shrunk slightly, and her fashion which was exaggeratedly different from when he had met her.