Maybe Someday

If someone had told an adolescent Ellen she’d be living in Paris one day soon, she would have thought they were crazy. She was a small town Canadian girl. She was simple. She hadn’t been in any groups, clubs, or sports in high school, nor had her grades been anything more than average. Moving to Europe had never been something that had crossed her mind as a possibility. Furthermore, if someone had told Ellen she’d fall in love with a Parisian man, and she’d stay there with him, she would have thought they needed to be institutionalized.

Yet, that was exactly what had happened. The study program she had chosen to focus on at University (literature) had offered the semester abroad in Paris at the last moment, and with nothing to keep her in Nova Scotia and with the encouragement of her family, Ellen had eagerly accepted the once in a lifetime opportunity.

As the semester flew by, the young girl had dreaded leaving Paris. To her surprise, the students were offered an extension, if they wanted, and Ellen had immediately signed up. She had fallen in love with the country of France, the city of Paris, and the people. It was an easy decision.

Pierre had come into her life not long after. After signing the extension – and being the only American student to stay – she had gone out to celebrate with the local friends she had made. The bar and restaurant the group had chosen was Pierre’s place of work at the time. While going to business school, he worked as a manager at the popular eating spot, saving up money to one day open his own restaurant, which had always been a lifelong dream of his.

The celebrating group had caught his eye, especially the beautiful, blond-haired and blue-eyed American girl. The party seemed to be surrounding her, and as she laughed and smiled with her group of friends, Pierre decided he had to meet her.

Easily sweeping her off of her feet, Pierre continued to work towards opening his own restaurant as Ellen worked toward her degree. She helped him, and he helped her. Falling in love had not been a hard thing for them to do. For Ellen, though, as much as she fell for Pierre and had seen herself starting a life with him, she could never completely forget about the boy who had grown up next door.

Pushing the memories of Paris from her mind, Ellen let out a large sigh. Sitting on the couch in she and Sid’s condo, she felt like her cell phone was glaring up at her from its spot on the coffee table. She glared down at it, as if the thing was taunting her, but it was only a reminder of what she had to do. Rubbing her temples, she looked at the time to see that Sidney would be home in less than an hour. If she wanted to ease the awkwardness between them, she would have to make the phone call she was dreading.

It had been a week since her complete revelation that she was meant to be with Sidney and she always had been. He was the one who had always loved her, and she had always loved him, even when she thought she had moved on. After he had pulled his lips away from her after his confession, he gave her a choice. She could either break things off with Pierre to be with Sidney instead, or she could go back to Paris. He didn’t want any of her if he couldn’t have all of her.

Usually Ellen was against ultimatums and thought the people who gave them were only selfish and out for themselves, but she knew that if anyone had a right to give her an ultimatum, it was Sidney. He was only trying to protect himself and protect his heart from getting broken, and for that, she couldn’t blame him. She didn’t think anyone else would either. The decision had turned out to be an easy one. It had always been Sidney.

Taking a deep breath, she picked up her phone and dialed Pierre’s number. She knew doing it over the phone was probably a coward’s way out, but she knew if she tried to end it face-to-face, she wouldn’t be able to do it. She inwardly groaned when Pierre answered on the first ring, his voice worried as he let out an airy, “Ellen, I have not talked to you in so long.”

“I’m sorry,” she told him, being honest.

“I was beginning to think you had forgotten me,” he laughed, making Ellen’s stomach churn in guilt.

“I have something to tell you, Pierre. I haven’t been honest with you.”

“Okay…” he said slowly, obviously unsure of how he should react.

“When I told you that Sidney was just an old friend, I lied,” she started, waiting a second to see if he had a reaction. When he said nothing, she continued. “We were head-over-heels in love as teenagers.”

“So, you moved to Pittsburgh to reconnect with your ex boyfriend..?”

“Technically, yes,” she started.

“Do you know how that sounds, Ellen?”

“Yes, but you have to know I didn’t come to Pittsburgh with bad intentions, Pierre. Please,” she pleaded.

He sighed, “I do, but I don’t believe something hasn’t happened. You would not be making this phone call if nothing had happened.”

“I still love him, Pierre.”

“And he loves you,” he told her. “How could he not? I know, Ellen. I know what he sees; I see it too.”

She winced, “Don’t make this harder, please.”

“So, that’s it?” he asked. “We’re done?”

She paused, her heart beating in her chest, “Yes.”

When she heard nothing in return, not even a loud breath, she looked down at the screen of her cell phone only to see the call had been disconnected. Nodding sadly, she put her phone down and gripped her knees in her hands as the tears came down her cheeks in waves. She knew she had done the right thing; it was painfully obvious, but ending a four year relationship that had been healthy, strong, and loving would never not be a sad thing.

Eventually though, after her tears stopped flowing down her face and memories of Paris stopped flashing through her head, she realized that for the first time since she was seventeen, she again belonged to Sidney and he belonged to her. Only a few seconds later, she heard keys jangling outside of the condo door, and a wide grin spread onto her face. She stood up from the couch as Sidney walked in, his head down as she closed and locked the door behind him.

Before he could look up, she launched herself into his strong, muscular arms. Despite not expecting the sudden impact, he caught her easily, grinning at her as she hugged him tightly. “Whoa, there, El,” he laughed. “What’s this for?”

Her smile widened, if possible, her blue eyes locking onto his brown ones. “I am so in love with you,” she told him.

“I’m in love with you, too,” he answered immediately, despite his confusion over the situation.

Saying nothing else, she pressed her lips again his, her hands squeezing at his back muscles. He returned the kiss for a few moments before his mind got the best of his actions, and he pulled away. “Ellen,” he said. “I can’t.”

“No,” she said, sliding down from his arms. “You can.” He stared at her in confusion as she rushed to grab her cell phone, opening her recent-call list and showing Sid Pierre’s name. “I called him. It’s done. We’re over.”

Sidney’s eyes widened as a million things went through his head. He wanted to know how, when, and what had happened, but he was too overcome with emotion to care. Grabbing her and pulling her into him, his lips were on hers. When she pulled away from him and grinned up at him, he let out an excited laugh as he held her tightly.

Her eyes twinkled as she studied his face, “You’re still the same Sid I remember, you know. Underneath this facade, you haven’t changed at all.”

“Neither have you, El. I guess that’s why we’re supposed to be together, right?” he asked, kissing her again.

“After all this time, we’re together again; I can’t believe it.”

“I love you,” he told her, pulling her into his bedroom as he dropped his keys and cell phone onto his dresser. He sat down on his bed and Ellen sat next to her, her hand weaving into his hair and her head resting on his shoulder. He laced his hand with her and brought their entwined hands to his lips, kissing her knuckles. “I’ve been waiting for this, you know. I’ve been waiting for you to come back to me.”

Ellen nodded, a grin on her face and a few tears springing to her eyes. Pulling her into him, he kissed her again. Like so many times before, he cut her off with a kiss before she could say anything, but this time she didn’t mind.