Heaven Won't Be The Same

Lucy Chen knew she would see him. It was not a rarity, but it was something that she thought about. She grew nervous wondering how he would react when he saw her. Would he think she looked pretty? Would he track his eyes over her frame? Would he pay special attention to her lips if she chose the right shade of lipstick? Would he smile at her? Would he try to talk to her? Would their conversation leave her happy or sad? The answers would be revealed soon enough. She steeled herself to walk into the church where there would be plenty of her colleagues and him. She walked through the creaky, heavy, wooden doors, heard an organ playing over the chatter, and saw flowers adorning the aisles and altar along with plenty of people sitting down in the pews, and him. Tim Bradford. He was standing at the end of the aisle looking handsome in a black suit with a silvery grey tie and matching pocket square.

It was always the same rush of emotions when she saw him whether it was at work or not; she felt her nerves buzz and her heart quicken until her brain caught up with the reminder of who they had become to one another.

He was her EX-boyfriend.

That left a bad taste in her mouth and sent a lasting sting through her. At least the half smile he offered her blotted out some of the pain.

He walked up to her and said, "You look beautiful."

"Thanks. You look great." On reflex, she reached up and straightened his tie.

It was selfish, but he loved watching her help him. "Thanks," he murmured.

"No problem." She could feel the heat of his gaze on her skin and how her cheeks pinked up in response. Lucy dropped her eyes to her dress and noted, "We're matching," as she smoothed her hands over the sides of her silvery grey dress.

"We are."

"Great minds, I guess."

"You're the one that bought me this tie, remember?"

"I do. I thought it would bring out your eyes, and it does."

He eyed her body slowly and commented, "That color brings out your...everything."

She wanted to spin around and allow him to continue checking her out, but that probably only would have made her swoon even more. "Stop," she whispered.

Making her get nervous was so cute. He missed that, but then again, he missed everything about her. "We should probably sit down before everyone notices that you're upstaging the bride."

Lucy playfully whacked him with her clutch. "Stop being so damn charming."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he feigned innocence.

She rolled her eyes and walked around him to find a seat in a pew. Though she expected him to join her, he sat down in the same row across the aisle instead, because they were not a couple, and they did not need to sit together. Surrounded by all of her colleagues that were in attendance at her fellow officer's wedding, she felt like everyone was staring at her. The news of their breakup had circulated about as quickly as the news that they had gone public as a couple. Everyone knew. Everyone knew, and they were watching how they were matching and not sitting together, and she wanted to shrink out of view. Thankfully, the organ music grew louder to signal the commencement of the wedding ceremony, and Lucy finally felt like no one was paying attention to her and Tim anymore.

When the ceremony ended, everyone was ushered down the corridor to the reception hall, and Tim could not help but keep Lucy within his field of vision regardless of who spoke to him during the cocktail hour. He observed her socializing, sipping, and laughing, and he considered going to her, but it was hard to strike up a conversation with her. He was unsure what to say to her; the most important things on his mind could not possibly be communicated in the middle of a wedding reception, but a casual conversation was hard to strike up with her, so instead, Tim remained on the other side of the room and resorted to watching her to feel close to her. Every since they went up in flames by his own hand, that was what he resorted to.