heaven

one

"And then after dinner we were looking at houses on my laptop," I said. "We found this one that we really liked and he said he would call the realtor this morning to ask about seeing it."

Ben patted my arm and handed me another tissue.

"So he brought everything with him?" he asked, looking around my apartment.

I nodded. "I have no idea where he went," I said. "I can't get ahold of him."

Suddenly, my phone buzzed. I looked down and saw that I had a text from my best friend since high school, Jayden.

"Jayden just texted me," I said as I opened it. She and Cameron had always been close friends, so I was hoping she might know where he had gone.

"What'd she say?" Ben asked.

I read the text out loud.

"Gabriela, I'm so sorry to tell you this but I can't leave you in the dark. Cam and I are together now. Actually, we have been for a few months. We decided to move to Chicago to be closer to his family. Anyways, I know this is hard for you but just know that I love you and you will always be my best friend. I just had to follow my heart and that meant being with Cameron. Please don't try to contact him or expect him to come back. We are happy here and are going to start our family together here. I hope you understand."

I tossed my phone onto the couch and buried my head in Ben's chest, crying. He hugged me and we sat down.

"I- I don't know what I'm going to do," I said, "We were together for four years. We were going to get married and have kids and-"

"Beth, listen to me," he said. "You'll be ok. I know he seemed perfect but clearly he wasn't right for you and this is just a step on the way to finding the one who is."

"He was my everything. I felt like-like I was in heaven when I was with him. I just can't imagine feeling like that again with anyone else."

Ben held my hands and looked at me. "You will. I promise. Now, you need to get your mind off of everything. Care for dinner tonight?"

"I would love that," I said. "Can Mike come too?"

"Sure," he said, smiling. Mike was Ben's boyfriend, and I considered them to be two of my best friends. I knew having dinner with them would be good for me.

Later that evening...

I pulled into the parking garage and took the elevator 7 floors up to my apartment. I was feeling ok, but as soon as I opened the door and saw the missing pieces, I broke down. I ran to the bedroom and laid down on my side of the bed. His smell was still faint on the bed.

Suddenly, I had a flashback to our first night in this apartment, which was only 4 months after we started dating.

"I'm so proud of us," Cameron said, smiling at me. I looked over at him and smiled back. I couldn't resist pecking his lips. I cuddled up close to him and we both dozed off. I had never been happier.

I looked over to his side of the bed. I noticed that the nightstand drawer was slightly open and something was inside. I sat up and slowly opened the drawer. There was a small package, wrapped in red with shiny silver ribbon. I instantly teared up. It was the same wrapping he used for each one of my Valentine's day presents. I loved it so much the first year that he kept using it. It was still 3 weeks from Valentine's day- he must have gotten a present for me already.

I was confused as to why he would get a present for me if he was with Jayden. Did he not want to leave me? Did she pressure him into it?

With these thoughts running through my mind, I began to unwrap the package. Inside was a handwritten note. It read:

Bethany-
I bought this for you 2 months after we started dating and I planned to use it to propose one day. I sincerely hoped that day would come, but I realized that Jayden and I had something special that is just too hard to explain. I know you don't want to hear about that so I'll just get to the point. I'm so sorry I've hurt you and I want you to know I do love you and I am so glad we dated when we did. I know you will find a man much better than me. I didn't want to leave this way, but it was the only way- for reasons you'll find out soon. Anyways, I couldn't return the ring so here it is. Throw it away, sell it, keep it, I don't care. I'm so sorry again.
-Cam

Underneath the note was a beautiful diamond ring. I absolutely loved it. I considered what to do with it and finally decided to keep it. I don't know why I did. I never wanted to wear it, even thought it was gorgeous, but I didn't want to get rid of it. It's a kind of keepsake, I guess.