Gla-amore

"You started this-no, us, for revenge?"

He sounded sad, distraught. Alyssa had never heard him like this before. "Well, yes. I knew you wouldn't like it so I didn't tell you but it's time to end it, so here we are."

He took a few steps forward, standing exactly in front of her. She ignored the distance, keeping her eyes straight forward, chest level.

"Okay, ma-maybe that's how it all started but didn't you feel anything for me in the time we were together?" He sounded hopeful. "I mean, we were pretty close."

She scoffed, her eyes finally meeting his. A twinge of pain shot through her heart at the pleading in his gaze. "Do you think this is a movie, Theo? That I took my revenge and fell in love with you along the way? Things like that don't happen in real life."

He spun around and she heard him breathing heavily for a while. His voice was calmer when he spoke again. "You were the one who said they do. You're being really cruel, you know?"

She knew. Knew all too well. "And?"

He turned back and she saw him smile at her. Of his many smiles, this was one she had never seen before. "And nothing. It just hurts a lot. I didn't expect it to."

"I wouldn't know."

His smile grew wider, more self-deprecating. "Maybe you choose not to."

Her eyes flickered to his but he had already walked away. She watched him open the door and stand still for a second before leaving the room, gently closing the door behind him.

--------------------------

Alyssa Cortez has a sinking company to save, a complicated family and an ex-boyfriend who seems hell bent on destroying the first.

Still, despite her chilly exterior, she has held on to a tiny hope for a partner. Someone to share her burden with.

So when Cupid shoots an arrow at her for the second time, she has to come to a decision.

Either make space for vulnerability and change or walk the same beaten path she has been walking on for years.