Say That You Give Me Another Chance

* Sorry Ari, we had to cancel our shopping plan. My boss called me for a job at the last moment.*

My best friend texted me. We decided to spend some quality time since we were so busy in the past couple of months but her boss called her at the last minute so now I am here, alone. I don't know what to do now. I don't want to go shopping alone but I also don't want to go home right now. I was thinking how to spend my day alone and then suddenly I remembered that a new book store had opened in town which was a few blocks away from my current location so I decided to go there.

As I stepped inside, I instantly inhaled a fresh smell of books and wooden furniture. My eyes set on the decor of the book store. Books everywhere, shelves covering every surface apart from a narrow strip of floor used for walkway. Books were stacked in piles on the floor, the stairs, EVERYWHERE. Why can’t I have a huge room in my house that looks exactly like this place? I thought.

I walked straight to the romance section. I always loved to read romance novels. I picked soulmates by Aries Angelo. This is one of my favourite books. I always wondered if there are soulmates for me somewhere who will love me like no one else can. My forever one.

" Still love romance novels, I see" I heard a deep voice beside me and I froze. I knew that voice, I hadn't heard it in the past five years, but there is no way I'd forget it.

"Ariel?"

I slowly turned towards the voice to see my highschool love, the person who I thought was my soulmate. "Erik?"

There was a smile on his face. His black hair was messy but kind of beautiful. And his brown eyes were set onto me as if he was looking through my soul. Seeing him there at that time, it felt as if all the old memories had become fresh again.

I met Erik in highschool. He defended me from bullies, our friendship started from there and soon we became best friends. We were inseparable.we almost did all the things together. And at one point I fell in love with him. Yes, I fell in love with my best friend.

I thought nothing could get more cliché then.

I remembered one night we were at my home. I was reading soulmate and he was lying beside me. His head on my lap. I glanced at him and his face was looking so peaceful. I don't know what happened to me. I leaned in and kissed him. He suddenly opened his eyes and got up, I felt so embarrassed about what I did. I started crying. He sat beside me and said that it's ok and he is not angry about what happened, but I know he was confused and nervous so I gathered up the courage I had and told him about the crush I had on him.

I remember I asked him "do you like me?" He didn't say anything and then he got a call from someone and he left. After that night I never saw him. After a couple of days I heard from a friend that he left the town. No one knew where he went, it was like he just vanished from earth.

I still remember how I was feeling at that moment, so broken, so lonely but most importantly rejected. I used to ask myself if the thought of dating me made him so sick that he had to leave the town.That he did not try to contact me even once. I also felt betrayed because he was my best friend. If he didn't like me, he could've told me. Yes, I would've felt a little bad but I would've understood.

"Ariel...Are u listening?" His voice pulled me from my thoughts.

"Sorry...w.what are you saying??"

"I asked how are you…"

"Ohh..I am good. How are u seems like u are back in town"

"I am good too...And yes I am back at town this bookstore is mine"

There was so much tension in the air, I felt so nervous standing in front of him. I just wanted to leave. "I think I should leave now..It was good to see you" I said and started walking towards the exit suddenly he grabbed my arm "wait...I want to talk to you ari...I want tell u what happened after that night"

"I don't think it's necessary now... Because it has been many years since that night, and you should forget about it." I said as I pulled my arm from his hand and started walking.

"My mother died that night"

I stood frozen on my spot. I did not know what to do or what to say. "y..you..your mother…" " yes ari...My mother. Do you remember that night I got a call from someone...Well that call was from my dad.

He told me that my mother had been in a bad accident and her condition was very serious.That's why I immediately left for my home town."

"But by the time I got there it was late. My mother had already left this world and me.My father could not bear the shock of my mother's death and started to get sick.

So to take care of him I decided to stay there."

I was completely shocked. Here I was thinking that he betrayed me when in reality he was strangled in his own troubles. "Why didn't you tell me.." I whispered. Words weren't leaving my mouth. I was in pain but this time I was feeling his pain.

"I wanted to tell you, but the truth is that after losing my mother it felt like my whole world had crashed and I isolated myself from everyone and everything, we were really close. And I didn't want you to cope with MY mess."

I put my hand on his cheeks "I am sorry for your loss...I am sorry that I wasn't there when you needed me the most. But you don't have to face the problems alone. I'm always there for you."

"I feel guilty that I wasn't with you when you were going through this." He wiped my tears and said "you don't have to feel guilty because you were always with me"

"What do you mean, I was there?"

He put his hand in the pocket of his jeans and pulled out something and kept it in my hand

"My bracelet….I thought i lost it"

"No, it was always with me whenever I felt afraid, it gave me courage. It gave me confidence but most of all it gave me hope that we will meet again so that I can give you the answer to your question which you asked me that night."

And once again I stood frozen. Suddenly my heartbeat increased. It seemed like my heart would come out.

"Ariel I like you...No actually I love you. I ran away from my own life and happiness but I won't repeat it. I loved you since the day I first saw you. But I was so afraid to tell you. I thought if I confessed my feelings to you I might lose our friendship. But that night when you kissed me and told me that you liked me I didn't know how to tell you how happy I was."

I was completely blanked. I didn't know what to say. The truth is even after so many years I was still in love with him. Deep down I know that he is my forever, that he is my soulmate. And now that he confessed that loved me too I was speechless.

"I..I..Don't know w..what..To say…"

"Say that you give me another chance. I want to win your heart once again..I already lost you once..I don't want this to happen again...please."

"Yes...Yes I will give you another chance because I still love you...I love you Erik"

He came closer to me and wrapped his lips on mine. The kiss was so soft and full of love. He then pulled away and rested his head against mine.

"Have dinner with me," he said suddenly, not a question.

I nodded shyly."okay".

And little did I know right then that it was the real start of our story. Because sometimes you have to lose something to realize just how much it meant to begin with.

As we headed to the exit of the bookstore our hands brushed with each other and I locked my pinky finger with his...