Deciding to come to the banquet after all, I stepped into the room where it was hosted, feeling a sudden rush of adrenaline in my system.
Maybe I could do this. I thought to myself, holding my purse tightly to my shoulder.
Twirling the necklace on my neck as I sat down in one of the reserved chairs, my nerves were on high alert, noticing the tv cameras and people I didn't even know, walking around the place like it was nothing to them.
The banquet was being held at one of the most recognizable hotels in the southeastern part of the United States and surely it was going to create a lot of buzz in the state.
Scratching my left cheek in anticipation, they probably were only here for the guest speakers and nothing else.
"What can I get for you to drink?" A waitress brought me out of my thoughts as she now stood at my table.
"I'll just have the water with lemon," I smiled respectively at the young lady, watching as she wrote my order of drink down.
Looking up from her notepad, she trailed her eyes to the next person. "Alright, what would you like to drink sir?"
Blocking myself out of their conversation, I trailed my eyes around the room, taking in the beautifully decorated space.
Our university's colors were well represented tonight, especially with the gold silverware complimenting the dark purple tablecloth.
To say the least, they went big, and I could tell by the ice sculpture of a tiger in front of the room.
"Welcome to the annual LSU Alumni Banquet," the president of LSU coughed into the mic after awhile of us nodding our heads to a live jazz band."I want to personally introduce a special guest who meant so much to this university."
Feeling the dryness in my throat, where was my drink when I needed it the most?
"Everyone give a round of applause to the star of the New York Giants, Odell Beckham Jr.!"
Clapping my hands together like everyone else, I completely stopped breathing when I saw the person that had my heart on lock since freshman year of college.
With the new tattoos on his body and the growth of his blonde tipped hair, he still looked handsome in my eyes.
"You okay Ms.?" The man beside me noticed the look on my face. "Do you need some fresh air?"
"I'm good," I breathed out after a while of just staring at the stage or the person on it rather.
"Hi. How are you guys doing tonight?" He grinned at the crowd with his million dollar smile.
Hearing the replies from everyone in the room, he looked down at the podium for a moment before bringing his eyes to my table.
Not even having the courage to avert my attention from him, he licked his lips while shaking his head.
I felt a little hot under his gaze right then, but what was I expecting?
In a positive note, I always felt some type of way every time I was in the presence of him.
He just had that effect on me.
"I would like to thank the University for inviting me to speak at this dinner tonight even though I didn't even graduate," he joked, earning a few laughs from some. "I also want to take this time to say a few things to a woman that means so much to me."
"Y/n," he sighed while staring directly at me. "I want to say that these last four years has been the longest and toughest years of my life," he paused for a second before continuing. " I would always beat myself up after long nights, thinking about the promise I made to you at this great university. You're probably married now, but I just wanted to let you know that I still love you and I think about you every single day."
Hearing the words that came out of his mouth, the feelings in my heart started to swirl out of control.
Wiping the now formed tears from my eyes, I wasn't expecting this at all.
Trying to figure out who he was talking about, guests around the room started to look around, asking the people sitting by them if he was talking about them.
Being disappointed when they found out it wasn't them, they took their attention to another table, asking the same question.
Getting up from the seat in a rush, I grabbed my purse from the table, wanting to leave this place as soon as possible.
I couldn't take it and I was running away from him again.
"Y/n!" I heard his voice rang from the lobby area as I pressed the elevator button every few seconds, getting angrier that it wasn't cooperating with me right now.
"What do you want Odell?" I mumbled to him as he turned my body around to face him.
"Why you keep running away from me?" He asked with a frown. "What do I have to do to make you see that I care for you, better yet love you y/n?"
"I-I don't know why" I looked down at the ground before he brought his fingers to my chin, making me look up at him.
"Maybe I'm scared to love you," I whispered truthfully. "What if I'm not the right person for you?"
"Baby," he sighed, not even caring that we were starting to create a crowd. "I can't have you out of my life again. I have already lost you once."
"What if we fail?"
"We won't." He kissed me on the lips like his life depended on it. "I promise."
_______
Cliche as hell, but who cares.
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