Back to Square One

“What the hell happened?!” I shouted, starting to freak out. They all looked at each other hesitantly. “Hurry the fuck up!” I shouted.

“Well, we were telling Nate and Sandra about our plan to get you and Hazelyn together and how we set up this whole charade to make you guys feel like the way you felt years ago. We thought that it was gonna bring you closer together and we were gonna plan on telling you when you guys get together but-,” my sister said in one breath, but I cut her off..

“Then why the fuck is she mad at me?!”

“She thinks that you knew and made her look like a fool,” Tristan said.

“You fuckers!” I growled and jumped on a jet ski, frustratedly turned it on.

“We’re so sorry,” my sister apologized.

“We’ll talk later. I need to get that bitch back here,” I growled as I sped towards the main land.

Why is it always me going after her? Why does she not stay for the entire time so she’d know the whole story? Why does she keep on fucking running away?! Why the fuck do I keep chasing after her?!

Because you love her, dumbass

Where the hell did you come from?!

Around. Seems like you need help right now.

Shit, I’m going insane.

I jumped off my ride and onto the deck, looking around for any sight of her. I saw the jetski, but I didn’t see her. The town was small enough to travel on foot, and I decided to run towards the airport. For sure, she’d fly to Australia first, and for sure, the first flight to Australia would be in 30 minutes. It’s the flight that we take on the way back. At least it’s the flight I take back every year.

15 minutes of running and 2 miles later, adrenaline was still pumping through my veins and I pushed myself even more through the doors, running towards the familiar terminal.

Shit. They’re boarding already! I ran through the guards despite them calling after me and rushed towards the familiar gate. I saw her familiar frame, and pushed myself to my peak.

“Hazelyn!” I shouted.

She spun around, with tears in her eyes. It made me melt inside.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” she shouted.

“Hazelyn, would you please listen to me?” I begged her.

She shrugged my hands off her. “Leave me alone Jerome. I don’t fucking care anymore. Now please just leave me alone and just go!” she cried. “You’re making a fool out of me, and I’m tired.”

This ticked me off. “Would you for once listen to me?! Not even once have you decided to listen to the whole damn story. You hear part of it, you leave and make me look bad. So go ahead. Leave. Do whatever the hell you want,” I told her seriously. “You’re selfish and making yourself look like a dumbass. Your loss,” I told her.

“Hey! You!” the guards shouted.

Hazelyn was about to say something back, but I turned my back to her. “If you ever want to hear the full story of what happened three years ago, and the entire story of what happened today, you know where to find me,” I told her before walking towards the angry guards. “If you really loved me, you’d listen to me,” I told her and backed away.

“You’re trespassing!” the guard told me.

“I know,” I said rolling my eyes. Three of them grabbed me. I looked at Hazelyn, who was dumbfounded. “And that contract, Ms. Deluca? It’s been broken the moment it was written,” I said to her before the guards started to lead me out. “Relax. I’m not gonna run away,” I told them, but they dragged me all the way out the doors.

I lamely made my way back to the dock, jumping on my jet ski and made my way back slowly to the island. I jumped off and went into the kitchen, confused about my feelings. Am I mad? Sad? Or what?

“What are you doing here?!” my sister squeaked. I shrugged at her. “What?!” she shouted at me.

“She left,” I told her lamely.

“Why didn’t do you do anything?!” she screamed.

“Stephanie,” I growled. “I’ve done all I could. She doesn’t want to listen to me, fine. I’m fucking tired of trying to get her back and this whole thing, this whole trust issue, it’s not working out for us!” I yelled at her. “I’m leaving. I’m going back to LA, pack up and move to the French branch,” I told her and stomped up the stairs.



I’ve been in France for two weeks now. I sent Hazeltn all the papers for the ownership of the hotel, the house and everything else in that contract. She already started her training. I haven’t heard any news after that. All I knew was that she was in Vermont, training for the X-Games with the Frends Crew.

I’ve also been under a lot of stress because of the company. Nate and Tristan are taking over while Hazelyn’s gone, which is easier to communicate with, but I guess I was just over thinking everything.

As of now, I’m in my office looking at a stack of documents waiting to be approved and signed. I sighed and leaned back on my chair as I checked my email. I saw the most recent one was from my sister.

I opened it and it held a picture. It was just very recent. 3 weeks ago, at the most. It was at the beach, during the sunset that Hazelyn was watching it. I had my arms wrapped around her waist comfortably, the woman leaning half her weight on me. The colors of the purple-orange and pink sky glowed, and made us look like we were on a vacation brochure.

I groaned and quickly clicked the button that would close down that picture. I can’t say that I forgot about her in two weeks. Fuck no. I’ve been thinking about her daily. I’ve been thinking about how her training’s going and how she is in general. I got up, finishing the last of my paperwork for that day and fixed myself up. I fixed my tie, and grabbed my keys and wallet and walked out of the office as I waved goodbye to my secretary.

I got into my mini-cooper (as it was the most practical car to have in France) and drove aimlessly, finding myself in a familiar plaza.

Tourists swarmed the place as again went through the back gate, and admired the beauty of the place. Despite the numerous times that I’ve been here, it never fails to amaze me. I then looked at the many people around, taking the route that I took Hazelyn through five years ago, remembering the day perfectly well.

I smiled as I walked around, ignoring the stares and whispers of the people around me. I know that sounded conceited, but I’m just stating the facts. Girls swarmed me like flies. No matter how much you swat them away, they keep coming back. I was in a business suit, a totally different attire from their casual ones.

I sat down on a bench as I looked at the familiar grounds that meant so much to me. It was where I first told her I loved her, under the rain. The tower looked so different when it was full of tourists from all over the world. I sat there, reminiscing the old times and I instantly felt that pang in my chest when I admitted to myself that it’s over. That’s it. She really didn’t want me around. She’s made her choice.

I was telling myself to move on. She has, and now it’s my turn. I can’t keep on hoping and wishing that she would come back to me. If I really loved her, I would set her free.

“Excusez-moi, est-ce place est prise?” somebody asked next to me.

I shook my head no, and kept my eyes straight ahead, still deep in thought. This is it. This is the day that I’m going to face the world once again. I’m going to grow the fuck up and stop acting like such a brat. I need to pick up my life once again and make something out of myself. I had a weird feeling at the pit of my stomach, as if somebody was watching me – but I didn’t pay attention to it since I was in the middle of a crowded place.

“Gorgeous, isn’t it?” the person next to me asked, breaking my concentration.

I finally looked up at the tower that had been lit up, brightening the entire city of Paris. City of Light, they called it. I looked over to where the voice came from, and I almost jumped out of my skin at the sight. My heart started beating faster, and butterflies started flying in my stomach – my original plans completely forgotten.

She looked at me with a slight smirk on her face. She then pulled her feet up to the bench, hugging her knees to her chest. “This place… It means a lot to me,” she said as she stared up at the tower of light. “So many memories.”

“Yeah?” I managed to croaked out.

She nodded at me, and a smile graced her gorgeous face, flashing her pearly whites that the lights of the tower bounced off of.

“There was this guy…,” she paused, making my stomach drop. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back, hoping she would stop talking. “He was such an asshole, a womanizer and just… such a jerk,” she growled angrily. “He played tricks on me and made me feel like shit. He still makes me want to tear my hair out of their roots and gaaah. He just pisses the hell out of me.”

I stayed quiet.

“I don’t know what the hell got into this little head of mine, but five years ago, my heart decided what the hell, and fell in love with him,” she laughed dryly. “And this is exactly where I told him how I felt about him. And you know what? He tricked me into spilling it to him. He knew all along. He was sending me on a rollercoaster of emotions,” she snorted.

My heart sank even more that I knew it was me she was talking about. “You know what else? I got engaged to him when I was twenty,” she chuckled. “The crazy things you do when you’re young, huh? But I loved him. So much,” she whispered slowly. “And at that point, I thought ‘We’re gonna be happy’ and I thought that, that’s it. He’s mine. But nope. Fate hated us and being the coward that I am, I ran. I ran as far as I could, as fast as I could.”

“Hazelyn,” I whispered softly.

“A few months ago, when my brother got married to his sister, I saw him. I didn’t know how to react. I wasn’t ready, and I felt like I was right back where I started. I left, and I thought that I was going to move on with my life and that I was gonna start a new and find myself. Who I was going to be, who I really am. But I saw him, and everything that I worked for, for three years went to waste. The truth was, I was only me when I was with him. He brought out the best of me like nothing else could. So I treated him like shit. It was difficult, yes, but it was an instinct.

He might’ve been a jerk, an asshole, and all those horrible things… But he wasn’t that way towards me. To me, he was the sweetest, the most caring and loving guy that any woman could ask for. No matter how much I pushed him away, he was still there. No matter how many times I call him filthy names, when I was down he would just hold me and tell me that everything would be alright – no questions asked. No hesitation. I never paid attention to that. I took advantage of it. In the back of my mind, I knew that he’d always be there when I needed him. I thought that no matter how I treated him, he’d never leave. He’d always be there. He was my bestfriend. He was my everything.

A couple weeks ago, I hit the last straw and now he doesn’t want anything to do with me. And I think that’s what I needed to realize that I’ve let too much time to pass and I forgot about one promise I made to him. I promised that I’d be back one day and I’d still be his bestfriend,” she said as she looked at me, her eyes watering. A tear softly rolled down her cheek.

I reached over to her slowly as I wiped it away and smiled. I stood up, stretched and stood in front of her, pulling her up and hugged her.

“I miss you Ryan,” she mumbled against my chest.

“I miss you too Haze,” I said, kissing the top of her head and squeezing her tighter.

“How’d you know I’d come here?” I asked her.

“I didn’t. I wasn’t really expecting you to be here, and I took a walk to clear my thoughts. I was at your office earlier, but I couldn’t gain enough courage to go up to you and I hoped that coming here would clear my thoughts,” she smiled at me. “I know it was dumb and probably one of the dumbest, most selfish things I’ve done. But the thing is, I’m back, and I miss my bestfriend. I’m sorry.”

“Apology Accepted.”

That’s all I needed. She admitted it. She needed me.