#ILoveYou #YouLoveHer

#TheOneThatLiterallyGotAway

Nathaniel

"I have this fantasy that I'd run into him. Maybe I'm waiting at a crossroad or something and then I'd look up and I'd see him, and he would see me, see me as something other than a friend and then cue fireworks," she laughed. "And some really cheesy but upbeat love song, and then roll credits. They don't need to tell you that it's happily ever after, because you just know that it will be."

Michelle had told me one day before she left four years ago.

"How will you run into him? You're leaving."

"That's the serendipity part, the romantic part."

"Wouldn't you wonder why he's there in the first place?"

"It doesn't really matter why he's there. It could be a business trip or a family vacation or whatever. That is besides the point," she answered with a shrug.

Fantasies usually don't translate well to reality. After she told me that, I told my parents that I wanted to visit Mich and they agreed.

I didn't tell Mich that I was visiting though, I wanted it to be the surprise she wanted. But once we got there, I realized that her cellphone number no longer worked and free wifi was not that easy to find.

I did wander around her city a good while, but I guess serendipity only happens in movies. In real life, even planned ones don't work out so well. That or maybe I wasn't a very good planner. Maybe I should have taken lessons in stalking first.

The One That Got Away - the person that you could've ended up with but didn't, because of one reason or the other.

Mich is the one that literally got away, by moving to another country where she doesn't speak the language and doesn't know anyone.

I have to admit that there are times when I'd find myself thinking about what could've been, but that's it.

She was gone, and I moved on. Or at least I think I did.

_

"I'm back," she said with a grin. And then she's back, and she brought coffee and bagels.

"How long are you staying?" I asked.

"For good," she replied.

"Did you get cream cheese with that?" I asked as I take the bag of bagels from her.

She scrunched her nose. "Shoot! I forgot."

"That's okay, sad bagels are better than no bagels," I said. "As long as you didn't get the multigrain ones..." I waved a multigrain bagel in front of her.

"I thought that we should be healthy... or something," she shrugged, picking up another bagel from the bag and taking a bite. "I'm sorry about the cream cheese. This is a sad bagel."

"So what made you decide to come back?" I asked.

"Work," she replied.

So that's what could've convinced her to come back. Definitely not her parents, definitely not me.