The Next Best Thing: Part II

Seven

We got back to his apartment just after ten and I bought a plane ticket online for the next day before I went to bed.

I had yet another restless night, dreaming about the last intimate night I spent with Mitchell. He told me I was his forever that night, making love to me in the best possible way, showing me how much he felt for me. I slept in his arms, a blissful night we shared together just us two, falling in love with each other all over again.

I missed his touch, I missed his smell and I missed the way it felt to have him with me, near me. With me.

I hope he missed me too.

The sun rose with me, lying on my bed wide awake, my phone on the pillow beside me ready at any moment to call Mitchell. I was willing to talk to him if that meant I would miss him less than I already did. I waited for it to ring before ending the call - I was afraid of rejection.

Telling myself he couldn't do us again - him ignoring me by not calling back - I curled up into my small ball. I rocked myself to a short-lived nap, hoping that it would be enough for the day.

I wanted to drink something to lift my spirits, something a certain someone was really good at making.

Walking into the hallway in a shirt I had made into a nightgown - Min didn't believe in packing pyjamas - I was tying my hair in a neat ponytail when I hit something hard.

It wasn't a wall.

I stumbled into a tall, chestnut haired man with dark blue eyes and a very friendly face. He resembled one of Min's friends, a Sebastian Weiss, whom Min and Rae had attended high school with, a senior when they were sophomores. I remembered him because he was one of the first guys Rae ever tried to set me up with.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there," he apologised with a smile. His eyes became small slits, his long eyelashes probably obscuring his view.

"You wouldn't have even if you tried. She's very small," I heard Eoin say behind him, coming up to us.

His height threatened that of his friend, Eoin's shoulders where his friend's neck began. Being the only five foot person in the room, I was intimidated by their giant statures.

"Be polite and introduce me to your friend, Eoin," I responded.

"Zoe, this is Sebastian. Sebastian, meet the lovely Zoe." So it was Sebastian. Rae would have had a field day.

Eoin briefly explained that Sebastian was one of his family friends. "Bash stopped by to find out why I was spending so much time at home."

"I see he has his hands full with you so I'll leave you two lovebirds to yourselves," Sebastian said, kissing my hand in passing.

"Oh, we aren't together."

"Of course not," he replied sarcastically in his wry British accent. He said goodbye to his friend and let himself out of the house.

I was left standing in front of Eoin, an amused look on his face and one of surprise on mine.

"So you've met Bash."

"Min and Rae tried to set us up once upon a time. Turns out he had a girlfriend," I said.

"You mean his lady friends? He doesn't date, Zoe."

Of course he didn't. With looks like his, why would he want a stable relationship when he could have everyone he wanted? His smile could bring about world peace, he was that pretty.

We went down to the kitchen and I made him feel obliged to make me his amazing cappuccino. "I'm going to start charging for my barrister work, Zoe. I don't come cheap, you know."

He told me about his plans for the day, the married couple routine we'd fallen into. He was going to work for a few hours after breakfast. "I won't be gone for long though, darling."

"Come back to your beautiful wife as soon as possible," I played along. "About that though, I'm actually leaving today. I can't avoid going home forever and I need to go back to work."

"I thought I'd have to get you a key," he smiled. "Goodbye, Zoe."

He left me with a hug and a promise to call when I landed. My suitcases were still packed and I just threw on an outfit that would be the most comfortable for a two hour flight.

I caught a taxi to the airport with time to spare, my inner demons forcing me to buy all the gossip magazines I could find. Most all of them were following Mitchell and Paisley's alleged relationship, providing juicy albeit false information for their gullible readers.

I knew it was wrong of me to follow this ridiculousness, making me hate Mitchell more, something that was almost impossible.

I had never known love until I met him. I never had a real relationship that made me feel remotely close to what I felt for him. Just thinking about him spurred on those feelings, embracing me with a warm hug and the best kisses I'd ever had.

I missed him.

I decided to forget about killing myself by thinking about what was going on in his life, and I felt the urge to converse with a foreign stranger.

I found a New Jersey native anxious to get back home, excited for her son's first day at school. One old man told me his life story, many life lessons in abundance. He told me more than once to never let go of my ultimate source of happiness. "Your life is pointless otherwise."

On the way home, I thought about my ultimate source of happiness, my Mitchell and how my life would be pointless without him. I knew I would always love him but maybe we needed to find our own individual happiness.

I checked myself into a hotel when I landed, unable to call my friends. I still needed to be alone with my thoughts before I could face them, red-eyed and emotionally exhausted.

None of them could provide me what I craved - carts of room service to make up for all I lacked, a boyfriend being number one on the list.