Meeting Luke in 27 Days

Chapter 8: First Love

"Your first love isn't always the first person you kiss, or the first person you date. Your first love is the person you will always compare everyone to. The person that you will never truly get over, even when you've convinced yourself you've moved on." - Unknown

***

I went inside the coffee shop and saw that familiar person sitting at the corner with a coffee in his left hand and his right hand tapping on his iPad. "Adam." I called as I approached him. He instantly looked up to me and smiled.

"Hi, A. How are you?" He asked when I took the seat in front of him. He went all the way here to the Philippines from Singapore just to talk to me.

I smiled at him. "I'm good. You?" I paused. "It's good to know that you've chose to spend your 3 day vacation here to talk to me than be with your family." I told him with a hint of just kidding tone in my voice, though we both know that it's true. He was about to speak when the waiter approached us and asked for my order.

"I'm sorry for everything, A." He told me as soon as the waiter left us."I'm sorry, I've hurt you physically and emotionally before. I didn't mean to do all that, I'm sorry." He told me while he's looking straight to my eyes like he's pleading for my forgiveness.

My relationship with Adam was actually a mess. We didn't had a perfect one as everyone knew. He used to hurt me physically whenever he was consumed by jealousy and anger. That's the reason why we decided to have a two bedroom apartment, so that I have somewhere to at least run to when he got angry. And the reason why we finally broke up three months ago was when I left him in our apartment, I found out that everything about us, in the almost two years of being together, was a lie. I used to wonder why I can't meet his parents and why I can't go with him in his country during our vacation leave, he was married with another woman and they have a son.

"I'm sorry for lying to you." He finally said.

I hold the back of his hand on the table, "I forgive you." I smiled at him. "It's okay now, Adam." I paused. "I mean, it sucks that you lied but I knew that the feelings that we both had before was real."

"Thank you." He said with a smile but his eyes showed sadness and regret.

"So-" I was cut off when the waiter appeared beside our table with the strawberry milkshake that I ordered. "Thank you." I smiled at the waiter as he left us.

"Maybe you were right all along." I told him, I didn't even tried to look straight into his eyes because I'm ashamed of it, of me.

"What do you mean?" he asked, confusion is visible in his eyes.

"It's Luke. I-I'm going to see him in some days." I confessed.

"And?" His eyes were filled with curiosity.

And I think, after all these years, I still love him. All of your 'assumptions' are correct, Adam. All of them. And I'm sorry. My mind shouted, but I can't tell it to him. Not Adam. "And, nothing." I ended.

He smirked at me while he's stirring the remaining coffee in his cup. "Meeting him again matters for you because you still love him. You've always loved him, A." I was about to deny it when he stopped me. "Don't try to deny it, I know you very well. I've been living with that fact for the last two years of my life." A sad smile formed his lips.

*

It's already dark when the school's event ended. True to his words, Luke drive me home. On the way home, the road looks like in a middle of forest, big trees on both sides of the road and no light posts.

"Thanks for letting me drive you home tonight." Luke said while his eyes in focused on the road.

I looked at him and smiled, "I think I should be the one thanking you." I chuckled.

He suddenly stopped the car on the side of the road and shifted on his seat to face me. "Amethyst, about what you saw at the back stage, she's my cousin." He paused. "She dropped by since the school is open because of the event. And I don't exactly know what you heard when you came there but she was telling me that she wanted to meet you and..." He stopped and looked at me. "What?" He asked me with a hint of irritation in his voice. Who wouldn't get annoyed anyway, I was looking at him smiling like a creep while he was there... explaining.

I bit my lower lip to stop smiling but I can't help it. "Nothing." I finally told him and faced the window beside me to look outside.

He kept quiet for a while but I can feel that he's staring at me. He reached the car compartment in front of my seat and opened it. I can't clearly see what he get since the light inside the car is off.

As if he read my mind, he suddenly opened the light and I saw that he's holding a box, a jewelry gift box. "For you." He said, then he placed the box on my lap since I am too dumbstruck to react. "I actually love to see if you'd like the thing inside that box." He said as he grinned at me.

I opened the box and saw the a beautiful silver necklace with a letter A pendant. "This is for me?" A very smart question from me, yeah?

His eyebrows kind of furrowed, "Oh, you didn't liked it?" He asked, sadness and disappointment were clear in the sound of his voice.

"No- I mean, yes. Yes I like it." I paused. "It's beautiful, but why are you giving me a gift? It's not my birthday yet." I know that this is too much but please tell me that you like me too.

He smiled at me, the kind of smile that reached his eyes. "You like it?" It's more like a statement rather than a question actually. He turned off the light inside the car and started the engine. "Now, let's get you home." He said in a very happy tone, like I just made his day.

"Thank you." I muttered.

"You mean a lot to me, Amethyst." It's almost a whisper though I heard it.

*

I instantly touched my necklace's pendant. And muttered, "I'm sorry, Adam." My eyes started to burn.

"Give it a shot this time, A." He smiled. "You've had enough of waiting." Then he stood up and kissed my forehead.

"Good bye, Adam." I whispered as he left.