Nova wrapped her hair into a scarf with a cute bun in the front. She put on her favorite pink goddess dress that still hugged her curves and left to go to the bar. Her heart led her to The Patrick's Pub and that was where she spent many nights drinking with Zachary there.
When she sat down at the bar, she closed her eyes. It was like she could feel his presence around her. Zachary would always pulled her close to him and told her to loosen up. "My supernova girl," He always teased her by singing a song from a Disney movie they always watched, Zenon: Girl of the 21st century.
She sat at the bar staring at her phone, lost in her thoughts. "Damn, Zach is really gone, and I didn't get to say goodbye," She said, to herself out loud.
"Do you want a Rum and Coke, Nova?" The bartender asked her.
"Yes, please. How you been, Asia?" Nova asked. She had been working there for years.
"Good girl. How are you? I haven't seen you here in a while. I am sorry for your loss," Asia said, as she placed the drink in front of her.
Nova wondered when she would stop hearing that. Everywhere she went everyone said that to her and it's been a month. She guzzled down her drink without hesitation.
"Thank you. Another Rum and Coke please, " Nova requested. She wondered how someone who just inherited ten million dollars could be so down in the dumps. She searched her name on Twitter and saw all of these random people talking about her.
It felt weird to see so many opinions about who she was to Zachary. No one would ever know the extent of what they had.
Why did she feel bad for being called a mistress, when that's not even what happened? Not to mention that she was still grieving from the loss of Zachary.
So many emotions were coming back regarding memories of them together. She suddenly remembered the first time they hung out in 8th grade playing video games in his bedroom, which turned into her first kiss.
"You taste like chocolate," Zachary had said. This was the exact phrase he said after they kissed which had broken the awkward silence. Nova found herself grinning thinking about that moment. She hadn't thought about that in years.
Asia placed her new drink in front of her. She sipped on it slowly, still thinking about Zachary.
"Nova?" A short Caucasian man said, causing her to turn around.
Nova stared at the man. She immediately noticed that he looked like the split image of Zachary. The only difference was that he had dark brown hair, and was much shorter than Zachary.
"Greg, it's so nice to see you. Didn't know you still lived in Neptune City," Nova excitedly said.
Greg gave a toothy smile. "Nova! I haven't seen you since Zachary's funeral. My brother always spoke highly of you."
"Yeah, I know and we didn't really get to talk, but how are you doing?" Nova hugged him to express sympathy and concern. She knew that it had to be harder for his family because he was so well-loved.
Greg made an exasperated gesture. "It's been challenging to say the least, but I know Zach wouldn't want me being down every day."
"Yeah, he wouldn't want anyone crying over him. So full of life and love," Nova replied.
"His wife was a pure bitch! My mom told me he left you everything and that bitch got nothing but the house," Greg said.
"Yeah, it was such a weird experience."
"But, Nova that's what he always wanted. He wanted to take care of you because you were the only one who believed in him. Even when he was a horrible wrestler. He couldn't take a bump for shit at first, and you still stuck by him. Those first ten matches were trash," Greg laughed.
Nova joined in his laughter. "Yeah, it was definitely a rough start, but he always wanted to be with the WWE. His dream.."
"Yeah, sometimes I wonder if he would have just stayed on the indies would he still be here with us," Greg said.
There was silence between them. No one could predict what would have happened if he took another path.
"He wouldn't have been happy," Nova admitted. She enjoyed talking with Greg, because of the close relationship he had with Zachary. So, he knew about her relationship with Zach.
"You're right. I just feel bad for the kids. He loved those kids. He gave me some money a couple of years ago for their future. He wasn't happy with Ashley. He only married her because she got pregnant after their one night stand," Greg admitted.
Nova never knew anything about his wife and didn't hold onto any hope when he came to him. "Wow, that's interesting. Zachary always called me after the breakup. Even up to this year, but I wouldn't respond," Nova paused for a moment. She didn't want to cry over him at the bar. "I wish I would have answered the phone."
"It's okay. We didn't know we would lose him so soon. Don't worry though. His spirit is always with us," Greg said.
Nova raised her glass. "Yes, he is." She sipped her drink and closed her eyes.
***
"Girl, you need to learn how to swim! What if I'm not here and something happens," Zachary held her waist tight while they were in the South Beach water in Miami.
"But it doesn't come easy to me!" Nova whined. Swimming was harder than she thought. She just couldn't trust herself enough to let go.
"Baby, trust me. You'll be fine," Zachary told her.
Nova looked up at his blue eyes and she gave it another try. She let go of her feelings and boom it happened. "Oh shit, Zach I'm swimming!" Nova said as she swam around Zach.
Zach looked at her as she swam. He couldn't have been more proud. "Told you! All you had to do is trust," Zachary caught up to her in the water.
***
Nova opened her eyes. "Did you know Zach taught me how to swim?" Nova asked.
"Yeah, took your ass hours. Where were you two? South beach right?"
"Yes! South beach. That man was patient though. I loved that about him."
"You should have stayed with him."
Nova felt like her heart stopped when he said that. "You don't what was going around the time we broke up."
"You guys loved each other. Everyone knew it."
"Zachary was too jealous. Just because a man doesn't hit you, doesn't mean everything is perfect," Nova replied.
"You were his soul mate, his twin flame."
"Don't guilt me into saying if we would have stayed together then he would be here. We don't know that and you don't know the extent of how he embarrassed me."
"Tell me then..."
