Tragic and Wonder: An Un-Fairytale [On Hold]

Chapter 26- Denver Part 3

I was speechless. I could not believe what he had just blurted out. I had tears silently streaming down my cheeks. My heart was pounding so loud I thought he could hear it, and I just looked at him with my mouth slightly opened like I was about to speak but could not find the words to say.

"Oh Jade, I didn't mean to make you cry. Please don't cry." James pleaded quietly to me. Just then my phone went off. It was my alarm to check on Mr. Lewis. Talk about poor timing.

"I-I...I will be right back. I need to make a call." I said and rushed out of the coffee shop to call Mr. Lewis. He answered after the third ring letting me know he was up. When he heard something in my voice, he said he would be to the coffee shop in ten minutes. I simply said okay and went back in.

"I am sorry about that. I had to make sure my boss was up and ready to go for our meeting later. I need to order his drink. I will be right back."

"Oh, I see." James said awkwardly. I went and ordered Mr. Lewis' coffee, then headed back to the table.

"So..." He was trying to fill the discomfort between us but was struggling. I sat there for a little while trying to gather my thoughts. The barista brought over the coffee to us, smiling politely at us and headed back to the counter trying to stay busy without being too nosey. With a deep breath, I began.

"James." I said a little shakily. "I want you to know that I am genuinely happy for you. It is great that you have been sober, and I hope that you are able to keep that up. That really is great news. And I am sorry that I never allowed you, or both of us really, that closure on our relationship. I was hurt. You hurt me so badly. I couldn't think straight. I was so distraught that I drove aimlessly for most of that day. I felt betrayed. I lost my trust in relationships. I still have a hard time trusting anyone to date them. In fact, I have not dated anyone since then and I am okay with that. I know that you did not mean to hurt me that much, but you did. And it isn't fully what happened with you that made me this way. What you did was just the straw that broke the camel's back. Before that though, remember me telling you about the guy I liked that I couldn't ever date? Well, that guy ended up marrying my best friend. So, I guess you could say that I have a pretty bad luck when it comes to love." I said with a sarcastic chuckle.

"Though, I guess I should be saying 'thank you' to you. When it all happened, it led me to be where I am today. I love where I am and I love my job and it takes most of my time, which is fine because I haven't really had the desire to put myself out there again anyway. I guess what I am saying is, it is okay James. I am glad you are better and that you are bettering yourself. Hold onto that and your wife and child. She sounds like she is great for you. I am happy for you. I meant it when I told you that I wished you the best. I still do wish the best for you." I said before pausing to collect the emotions that were flying around my head and heart, trying to organize them back into some sort of normalcy.

"And, yes, I do forgive you, James." I said, feeling a heavy burden finally lifting off my shoulders. "Can you forgive me for leaving things the way I did?" I asked, knowing I had hurt him with my sudden disappearance.

"Yes, Jade. You didn't need to apologize for that. I deserved it and I forgave you a long time ago." He said with a small smile on his face. I smiled back in response.

Suddenly, I noticed a presence standing behind James.

Mr. Lewis was standing there with his mouth agape, looking at me with the saddest eyes I have seen on him in a long time, since Eva and their baby passed away.

Great... How much did he hear me say? Talk about embarrassing. I thought.

I could not stand the thought of him knowing how pathetic I truly was. My love life was practically non-existent. Scratch that. It was non-existent. Aside from the year of dating James, there was nothing to my dating life, let alone "love life". This was going to be a horribly awkward day. Luckily, I would be going back to Grandma's and would have a week to compose myself before having to face Mr. Lewis again.

I looked at Mr. Lewis and his dumbfounded look not wanting to believe that he heard my confession to James. James, now realizing that someone was standing behind, turned around to look. He seemed confused as to who was staring at me with such a look of shock, that he turned quickly back to me. He moved so fast it looked like he could have given himself whiplash, or at least that horrible feeling you sometimes get when you turn your head fast and just right. Seeing his gaze come back to me, I quickly pulled my pathetic self, back together to avoid any more awkwardness than what this day already held instore.

"Umm..." I cleared my throat. "James, this is Mr. Lewis, Harper Lewis, my boss."

"Hello, Mr. Lewis." James said.

"Uh, yes." I quickly said feeling my face turn a cherry tomato red. "And Mr. Lewis, this is James...um...He's um...well..." I continued the introduction only to begin to mumble not sure what to say.

"He's the ex-boyfriend?" Mr. Lewis offered with a smug smile and eyes that held an emotion I have not seen before, stunning James a bit.

Mr. Lewis quickly held out his hand and James stood to shake it. And I thought I was embarrassed before. I thought. At least they are being civil.

"James, it was pleasant meeting you. However, I think I need to steal Ms. Williams back now to attend our meeting." Mr. Lewis said, giving me a slight nod signaling me to get ready to leave.

What in the world is going on? I have never seen Mr. Lewis act like this. This is the most unrefined I have ever seen him. He is usually so well put together that you cannot tell what he is thinking or feeling, but this? It is almost as if he is being a bit possessive or maybe jealous? I have no idea what is happening. I need to get out of here without any bloodshed or more tears. I then looked at the time sightly baffled. We had more than enough time before the meeting began, but I was thankful for the quick exit Mr. Lewis provided.

"Umm... Yeah... Nice to meet you too." James said almost questioningly before looking back to me.

"Jade, I meant what I said. I am grateful for everything you taught me and am terribly sorry for everything that happened." James said with a sudden sadness to his eyes. "Please stay in touch if you would, Jade. I would like to know what you have been up to and how your family is doing."

"I appreciate it, James. I will try to stay in touch. I truly am happy for you and I do forgive you. However, I do need to leave now. Thanks for talking with me and letting us have some closure that I didn't allow before." I said, standing up. James walked over to me. He gave me a small hug and whispered into my ear so that only I could hear him.

"Jade. I am so sorry for everything that I did to you and for hurting you. I wish you all the happiness in the world, Jade. Take care of yourself, please."

"Thanks James. I will." I said, hugging him back while holding in more tears that threatened to fall in streams from my tired eyes.

"James." Said Mr. Lewis sternly with a nod.

"Harper." James replied.

And with that we left the coffee shop.