Without You

Seven

Ian and I were curled up on the couch, watching a movie when a series of knocks rang throughout the apartment. Ian twitched slightly in his sleep. I carefully moved so he was still sleeping peacefully on the couch and so I could get up without disturbing him too much.
When I opened the door, I was somewhat surprised to see Lianna. She had said that she would visit to meet Ian but I wasn't completely sure if she was being serious. She had always made plans with me years only to bail claiming that she wasn't serious. "Hey Li, why didn't you tell me you were coming?" She waved at me and stepped into my apartment with a small suitcase in tow.
She scanned the apartment, shifting the backpack on her shoulders. "Wow, this is pretty nice." I shushed her and nodded my head towards Ian who was now snuggling a pillow. He's so cute she mouthed. I led her to the guest room where she both sat down on the bed. "I'm sorry for intruding on you, but I couldn't help it. I have some news but... I am completely exhausted, so you have to wait until tomorrow." I hugged her and wished her goodnight before I headed to the living room to put little man to bed.
                          ***
The next morning, I woke up to giggling. I quickly got ready and walked into the kitchen and spotted Ian and Lianna giggling. "I hope you guys aren't up to anything too mischievous." They both gave me a small grins that was nearly identical to one another. "How about we get started on breakfast then we can go to the park?" Ian nodded rapidly and slid off the counter to get the supplies to cook.
We all pitched in to cook breakfast which included pancakes, eggs and bacon. Once we were all well fed and dressed, we began walking towards the neighborhood park that wasn't too far from where we lived. "I have something to tell you... don't get mad." We sat down on the park bench as Ian ran to the swings where some of his friends were playing as they pushed one another. "I know you said you didn't want a private investigator but..."
I smiled as she bit her lip and looked away. "I figured you would. You've always ignored me and have done things despite my opinion. So I kind of figured that you would either hire an investigator or investigate on your own." My sister-in-law turned to look at me with her mouth wide open.
"You made me worry for nothing? I thought that you would be mad at me for doing the opposite of what we talked about." She relaxed into the bench and pulled out her phone. "This guy is apparently the best in the business around here." She revealed a few pictures on her phone of who resembled her parents. "He managed to somehow track them down. Those are my parents." She scrolled down the email the reveal more photos. The one that caught my eye was one with Evan. He had his arm wrapped around a blonde woman's waist and his eyes trained on two kids before him. They both resembled the woman with them. They both had blond hair as well as a light skin tone.
The next one was outside of an office. This one showed their faces. From what I saw, the woman was beautiful. Her blonde hair fell to her back where it sat in waves. Her porcelain skin made me feel insecure of my scars from my childhood as well as the stretch marks gained from her pregnancy with Ian. The woman's hand was wrapped around his arm as she looked up at Evan. His eyes were trained on her as well, smiling wide. I blinked and glanced at her hand, recognizing the large band on her left ring finger. Unconsciously, I touched for my rings that symbolized Evan I's love.
"Evan, this is really unnecessary." I talked out into the darkness. How did so let this idiot convince me to put a blindfold on. "If I break something, I will break yours right back!" I yelled out into the darkness. Before I could threaten him any further, I felt his hands on my hip.
"As long as I'm here, I won't let that happen." We walked a few feet before we came to a stop. "Happy Anniversary babe." The blindfold fell from my eyes to reveal a beautiful view of the sun setting in the distance. There was a plate of hot steaming food on a small round table with two chairs beneath the white cloth. I felt the floor move. Looking around, I noticed we were on a boat, a yacht to be specific. I couldn't help the large smile that appeared on my face as I turned to hug the man of my dreams.
"I love you. You are are honestly the best thing that has ever happened to me." I leaned forward and pressed my lips against his. "Lets eat before the food gets cold."
We flew through the appetizer and the main course while cruising the the ocean (Evan had rented the boat which came with a certified driver). Evan placed a triple chocolate cake slice before me while he placed an Oreo cheesecake in his seat. "You really must love me..." I forked a piece of cake into my mouth. Closing my eyes I let out a moan of satisfaction. "Like really love me." When he didn't respond, I opened my eyes to find him kneeled on the floor. "Did you lose something?" He mumbled something and I turned back to my cake. "For a second there, I thought..." I looked at him again to see him kneeling on one knee, holding a ring box.
I was in shock. The ring was simply beautiful, it was a silver band which was covered in small diamonds with a larger diamond in the center. It beautiful. "Yes!" His mouth was shocked, moving like a fish. "What? Oh gosh, you were going to say something. Sorry, go ahead." He looked completely out of his element. "You don't have to have some fancy ass speech of how much you love me and blah blah blah. I already know."
He cleared his threat, looked down and once he raised his head, a radiant smile was there and I couldn't help but smile as well. "Mya, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" I nodded and screamed a yes once again.
An hour later, we settled on the deck, glasses of wine in our hand while looking out into the ocean. It was now mostly dark and the main source of light was the moon (and the boat's light). I glanced down at the the ring. Gosh, I couldn't believe that I was engaged.
Evan made his way towards me and set his hand on my hip and his head on my shoulder. We stood there for a while before he broke the silence. "I never want to leave this moment. Beautiful woman, beautiful view and delicious food." I laughed as he popped a chocolate covered strawberry in his mouth. Somehow, he managed to still be able to eat; I was completely busted and could hardly walk. "I love you My. You are the beautifulest women, inside and out."
I laughed. "Beautifulest? I hope you don't use that in court."
My fiancé kissed my cheek, smiling. "Of course not. I reserve that word for you." I smiled and enjoyed the view and the comfort of my fiancé for the next few hours before we had to back to reality.
"I guess he moved on..." We were silent for a while. "He's married?"
Lia bit her lip and tilted her head. "Almost. They're engaged." We didn't talk for a while as I thought about the pain I had been going through the last few years. I had been grieving his death while he had been dating and having the time of his life. I shut my eyes, realizing that I had wasted these past four years on someone that had probably forgotten about me.
"Ice cream?" Ian's green eyes looked at me. A flash of Evan appeared, leaving me paralyzed for a second. I snapped out of it and smiled and stood up.
"Of course."
The three of us headed to the vendor who was resting under a large tree only a few feet away. Lia and I both got dippin dots while Ian settled (after much debate with himself) for a chocolate fudge popsicle. As I reached for my pocket to grab a few bills, a man handed the woman who was in charge a twenty bill, telling her to keep the change. I turned around, glaring at the man. "I can manage to pay eight dollars for ice cream, I-"
He managed to interrupt me. "I'm just helping you out, I have to do at least one good deed for the day." I watched in shock as he walked away, eating his own popsicle. I ate as I walked to the bench where Ian and Lia had returned after receiving their ice cream.
"Who was that?" Although it was a simple question, her face showed her implied message.
I kneeled in front of Ian, wiping his face of the sticky liquid. He had managed to get it on his face as well as clothing. "I've never met that man before... don't get any ideas." Ian ran off to play once again, putting his stick in the garbage on his way. We were both silent, despite Lia's curious gaze that was directed at me. "How'd you even find this Investigator? I have to pay you half by the way."
She shook her head. "My boyfriend's dad is a retired PI and offered to do this for me as long as I promised cute grandchildren." I nodded my head, turning my head towards the kids playing once more.