You Took My Heart by Surprise

Stirring the milk into her tea, Emilie peeked around the small café, at least a little grateful for the moment to herself. She knew that people meant well, in light of her breakup and the discovery that she was expecting twins, people just wanted to keep an eye on her, but she was grateful to have a second to herself. She had a lot to mull over and wanted to do it without people pressuring her to make a call one way or another.

She hated it, the way things were was not how she had imagined they would be 14 months after she had met Sergio, but she knew she needed to do something. They weren’t comfortable, every time she saw Sergio, things seemed to get that little bit worse, and she wanted to at least put a stop to things getting worse, even if she couldn’t quite make them better. She wanted them to at least be able to talk to one another before the twins put in their first appearance.

Reaching into her bag which sat on the chair beside her, she collected the book that she had started and set it on the table, flicking to the page she had left off at.

“Always with your nose in a book”

Emilie jumped a little at the sound of Sergio’s voice, her blue eyes jumping up to his face which sported a warm smile.

“You never could go ten minutes without reading. I used to think you liked those books more than me” he teased.

Emilie’s cheeks warmed a little. “What are you doing here?” she posed.

“I was out shopping with Pilar” Sergio noted, shifting Emilie’s bag to the floor so that he could take the spare seat “But she said I was being useless so I came in here to grab a coffee. What are you doing?” he posed.

“Hiding” Emilie mused “My papa spent the morning at the shop and I know Isla’s itching to come over when I get home. I love that they are concerned, but I needed a second to myself” she admitted.

“I can leave you to it” Sergio offered, gesturing with his thumb over his shoulder.

Emilie shook her head. “It’s fine” she noted.

Sergio nodded. “How’s your bump feeling?” he quipped.

“As good as ever” Emilie replied, subconsciously brushing a hand over the small bump which had formed on her stomach.

Sergio nodded his head slowly before a small silence fell over them, something which Emilie greeted with a small sigh. She wanted to talk to him, she wanted to tell him all of the things she had admitted her father, but she couldn’t quite get the words out. She didn’t quite know what to say to him.

“Are you sure that you’re Ok, Emmy?” Sergio posed as he took a sip from his coffee cup.

Emilie nodded, shifting slightly in her seat.

Sergio shook his head. “You’re really not going to make this easy, are you?” he murmured gently.

Emilie sighed. “I…I don’t quite know what to say anymore” she murmured “Part of me thinks that this is right, that being apart is for the best but…but another part of me…”

“Thinks the same as I do” Sergio finished for her “A part of you regrets that it ended” he added with the slightest of smiles.

Emilie sighed. “I…I just…I don’t know what it is that I want” she admitted gently “One second, I miss you and the way things were, but then I get into my head all over again and the doubts get to me” she explained haphazardly.

Sergio sighed. “I really don’t know how I could make you see yourself the way I see you” he noted “Emmy, I lost count of the amount of times that I had to tell you that my feelings towards you weren’t just going to fall away the second someone else came along” he added.

“You’re the one who’s dating someone else” Emilie pointed out as she took a sip of her drink.

Sergio closed his eyes briefly. He knew she had him there.

“I’d love it if this was some simple thing that I could get over in the blink of an eye, Sergio, but it just isn’t. I’m insecure about us, about me, and I can’t seem to shake it, no matter how many times you look at me and tell me that I’m the only one you want. I get into my head more than I should, I let people get into my head, and in the end, the only thing I was ever going to do was hurt you, the one person I had no intention on hurting whatsoever” she explained carefully.

Sergio listened to her carefully before he stretched a hand across the table, capturing hers which fiddled with the mug of tea she’d bought for herself. “I hate that you can’t see yourself the way I see you, Emmy” he murmured “I hate that I can’t make you see that you’re smart and funny and kind, but most of all, I hate that you can’t see there is no one else I would want to spend my days with than you. What I’ve done since we ended things hasn’t been the most helpful, I’ll admit to not thinking it through, but it doesn’t mean that I just stopped caring, Em. My feelings towards you are…”

“Complicated” Emilie finished for him.

Sergio shook his head. “They’re simple” he noted “As simple as they ever were” he added with a slight smile.

Emilie mulled over his words for a moment before she sighed. “You still think…”

“I have no doubt” Sergio smiled “And I know now that a little part of you thinks it too. There’s something here” he added.

Emilie’s cheeks warmed, a sight that made Sergio chuckle. “You know I am right” he added.

Emilie shook her head. “I don’t want to rush into something just to screw up again” she mumbled “I don’t want to risk us falling apart now that we’re stuck with one another” she added, her hand once more gently brushing over her bump.

“Whatever we do, it will be thought out and planned meticulously, Emmy” he assured her, his thumb rubbing the back of her hand as a hopeful expression grew on his face.

Emilie nodded her head slowly before she peeked over towards the door, spotting a familiar brunette whose appearance caused her to pull her hand away from his. “You have something else to handle before we even talk about us, Sergio” she commented before she shouldered her bag, walking past Pilar who moved to sit ahead of him, offering him a bright grin. Sergio watched Emilie go for a second before he turned towards the other woman, knowing that Emilie was right.