A Chance to be Loved

Chapter 3 - New Discovery

It was ten past twelve when I bid goodbye to Mrs. Andrews; a bit later than my usual end of shift because I still have to wait for Anne to arrive. Anne was the other assistant who worked part time for Mrs. Andrews. I met her in an art gallery where I used to display some of my paintings. It was my sunset paintings which caught her attention and she bought one of them. It was quite tough living in England on my own, so I took the initiative to use my talents to earn some money. Due to financial issues in Anne's family, she needed to work part time in the bookshop to support her studies. Just like me, she was also a dreamer. I am comfortable hanging out with her because I can relate to her at some point.

As I walked out, I took out my mobile from my jean's back pocket and checked my messages; I found out that it was all from Tia.

"Samantha!!! Please pick up your phone!"

"I need you right now!"

"Please pick up!!!"

"Can you come back here please?"

"I have something to tell you! Urgent!"

I have a bad feeling about this; knowing Vince's side of the story and Tia's messages, it was confusing. I ran as fast as I could, I didn't really understand what I was feeling. I was confused and nervous; worried and I felt a knot of pain in my stomach. I never liked situations like this, it is terribly horrifying. I opened the door of the coffee shop and looked for Tia, but she wasn't at the counter.

"Tia! I am here now! Where are you?" I shouted, feeling worried.

Tia suddenly answered, "In here! Hurry Sam!" she said as she peeked out her head from the computer in front of her. I sat on the sofa in her office and waited for her as she took out an old photo album from her drawer.

"Is there something wrong? You know I don't like it when you're like this," I said as I seriously looked at her.

"There's something I wanted to tell you. I don't know where to start, I know you might get mad at me, but I think it's time for me to let you know. Before anything else, I want you to calm yourself," she said while tears flowed down her face.

"I will try to understand whatever it is, just please don't cry," I wiped her tears. I went to the kitchen and made cups of tea to calm ourselves. Tia looked outside the window as she took a deep breath.

"He's back now," she said while holding the photo album tight.

"Who's back? Could you be more specific please?" I asked but she was silent.

"If you're not ready to tell me yet, you can tell some other time. Don't force yourself," I gave her a warm embrace to comfort her.

"No, I need to tell you now. Okay, umm, well, this morning someone came here to give me this letter and it's from Xander."

"Xander?? You mean Alexander Douglas? Your ex but not really your ex?"

"Yeah, Alexander. The one and only Alexander."

"He left you while everybody was busy preparing for your wedding, but it was you who called it off. What does he want now? Tell me??"

"Well, I have to show you something first." Tia opened the last page of the photo album and showed it to me. It was her last picture with Xander three years ago when he was gone unexpectedly. They looked happy and in love. They were madly in love. But he left a note in Tia's car seat saying,

"I am not leaving you, I'll come back. Just please wait for me no matter how long it takes. I love you forever, my Tiffany. I am sorry with all my heart; I hope you will forgive me. Not for now but hopefully someday."

I finally understood why Tia rejected a lot of nice guys in the past. I was encouraging her to find someone new, but she wouldn't listen. She was in love, madly in love with Xander.

"Wow! When was this? Why didn't I know about this?" I asked sarcastically.

Tia took a sip of her tea and then she put the cup back on the table. A bit nervous, she looked at me straight and said, "I know why he was gone but I decided to call it off, I mean the wedding, so people around me won't blame him. I don't want everybody, especially my father, to think that he left me without any explanation so I took the risk of calling the wedding off even though we had already sent out some of the invitations. Two months before our wedding, Xander's father had a heart attack and was in a coma. He is next in line to manage their business, he told me everything about it and I decided to let him go for a while even though it hurts me so much. I know nobody waits forever and I never know what will happen to us when we are away from each other. I just hope for the best."

"I know how your father is; I think it was the best thing to do for a situation like that. Besides, everything is okay now. Our family had moved on from it. So, what is your plan now? What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I want to see him so badly, but I am not ready yet. I need enough time to be ready again," she answered while holding a piece of paper. It was a letter from Xander but the writings on it were just a few sentences.

Tiffany,

I hope you are well while reading this letter. My dad has been well and has fully recovered. He will be back to business in no time. I will be seeing you soon my love! I love you!

Forever yours,
Xander xxx

"So, that's it? Will he be back here in England? But I wonder what autumn looks like in Germany now. I know Xander is British slash German so he must be enjoying his German life somehow," I said while handing back the letter to Tia.

"Of course, it's beautiful. Autumn will always be beautiful in your eyes though. I can't wait to see him, but I don't know when I will be ready to see him again. After all what had happened, I don't think he has the time to enjoy it," she said while smiling.

"Alright, my dear cousin. Let's stop this drama now, I haven't eaten lunch yet and I'm already famished. You know where to serve lunch," I told her while standing up and I headed outside of her office.

"Yeah I know, because it's the only table which is always "Reserved" that's why nobody dares to sit on it," she fired back while laughing.

I smiled as I looked back on her and I went straight to sit on my favorite spot. I found a receipt on top of the table and as I was about to throw it away, I noticed some writings at the back of it. I read it and brought it back to the table.

"Happiness? You don't want love? Love can be happiness too."

It was weird. Who could be this person who left this? And my sticky note was gone. I decided to keep the receipt and I also left a reply saying, "Why? Have you ever been in love and got hurt but still felt happy?"

I am quite excited to know the answer regarding the question I left on the table.