The Winter Project

49. Stephanie

Stephanie had been more than surprised to receive the invitation from Minoru, and had questioned whether or not it was right for her to attend. She wondered whether his girlfriend would have been uncomfortable with her presence, or whether it would be difficult for her to travel with her son. She had been lucky this time, and he had been no trouble at all on the journey. After careful consideration, she felt that attending would give her the final piece of closure that she needed to come full circle on her journey since she had taken on the world as an independent woman, not as an accessory of another person.

Her pregnancy had not been easy. She was continuously beaten with sickness throughout the entire nine months, coupled with ridicule and judgment from those around her. However, Stephanie had not once felt defeated. Every time somebody had judged her, she had pitied them for caring so greatly about her when she cared so little for them. Every time she had woken up and felt violently sick, she had reminded herself of the reward that would come from her strength. On the day her son was born, she had felt whole, and that feeling had not left her since.

As she sat in the wooden chair with her son on her lap, she did not care that Hitoshi was sat only a few feet from her, whereas a year ago she would have been plagued by the idea that he was not talking to her, judging her from afar. She did not care that she knew nobody else around her and did not feel in the slightest bit socially uncomfortable, because all she ever needed was her son, sat on her lap and smiling up at her as he tugged on the collar of her dress. She once thought that being in love with a man and having that love reciprocated was all that she needed, and that it would lead to her other dreams coming true. Now she knew that all she had ever really wanted was to be a mother, and her idealisation of the perfect husband was just something she used to think was a prerequisite for that.

When she first saw Minoru walking towards the pier, she felt her stomach twist rapidly as it had always done, but it faded almost immediately after it happened, and she was nothing but happy for him. He looked healthy and happy, smiling widely as he always did. He was dressed in a blue suit with a white shirt and brown leather shoes, and he looked more handsome than she had ever seen him look before and yet she had never loved him less.

To her left was a redheaded woman who was polite and friendly, making faces at her son to keep him entertained. A man sat down to her right and introduced himself as Ricco. He was tall, with dark brown hair in thick curls that framed his face and almost covered his eyes. He had mesmerisingly dark brown eyes, and Stephanie found herself far more interested in him than the woman to her left with whom she had previously been making small talk with. He was also infatuated with her son, and asked if he could hold him. Stephanie obliged, and watched as he bounced her son up and down and allowed him to tug on his hair. His eyes showed a very faint sense of sadness, and Stephanie wondered what had caused him so much pain that it was visible through his eyes as he engaged in a pleasant interaction with her child.

She was distracted by the sight of the woman she had once loathed the thought of walking past her to stand in front of Minoru, and found herself intently analysing her to see if she had been worth all of the anguish. Stephanie had of course hated this woman before she had even existed, always imagining Minoru dating another woman and dreading how much pain it would cause her. As she watched the woman who Minoru had deemed worthy of spending the rest of his life with, she was aware that she actually felt fond of her for relieving Stephanie of spending a lifetime with a man who did not deserve to be loved by her as deeply as she had loved him. The woman was beautiful in every sense of the word; long and straight brown hair with faint blonde tips, tied loosely and mostly hidden under a sheer white veil. Her eyes were wide and her face glowing in the sunlight. Stephanie had always feared that the woman that would follow her would be beautiful and that she would hate them for it, but now all she wanted to do was congratulate her and empower her with the compliments that she was thinking. She made a note to herself to tell the woman afterwards how truly incredible she looked as she stood up there, waiting to dedicate her life to somebody Stephanie had once loved.