Chapter 3 In Between Past and Present

The next few days were a blur.

Aria had told herself, after that brief encounter with Damien on the street, that she would forget about it. That she'd bury the emotions resurfacing, the temptation to revisit the past, under layers of work and obligations. She had been good at that for the last three years-burying, compartmentalizing, distracting herself with the art gallery, with friends, with everything but what had once made her feel like the center of his universe.

But forgetting wasn't as easy as she'd hoped.

It wasn't just the words he'd spoken. It was the look in his eyes. The rawness of it. The quiet honesty that had been missing from their relationship when it mattered most.

She shook her head as she walked into her office, dropping her purse onto the desk with a little more force than necessary. It wasn't like her to let something like this get under her skin. She had worked too hard to build herself back up after the divorce. Too hard to stand on her own without the shadow of Damien Westwood looming over her every decision.

"Aria? You okay?" Maddie's voice floated into the office, followed by the clack of her heels. "You've been... distracted all week."

Aria turned, offering a faint smile. "I'm fine. Just tired."

Maddie narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms. "Bullshit. You've been distracted because of him, haven't you?"

The words hung in the air between them. "I don't want to talk about him."

"Of course you do. You always think about him when you don't want to talk about him."

Aria rubbed her temples. "Maddie, this isn't just about him. It's about me. About my life now. I've moved on. And I don't need to-"

"Don't need to what? Pretend like seeing him again didn't shake you up? Aria, come on, I'm not blind. I've seen how you are when he's around. You've never gotten over him. Not completely."

"I don't need him," Aria snapped before she could stop herself. "I'm doing just fine on my own, okay?"

Maddie's expression softened, the sharpness in her gaze turning to something gentler. "Aria, I didn't say you need him. But you still want him, don't you?"

The room felt smaller all of a sudden. Aria swallowed, her throat dry. "I don't know what I want anymore. He left me three years ago without a word, without even asking me to stay. Why would I want someone like that back in my life?"

"Maybe because you're still the woman who loved him once. And maybe because he's not the same man you left." Maddie's voice was quiet now, almost too soft. "He looked... different when I saw him the other night. Like he was begging to fix something. Like he was sorry."

Aria didn't respond. She couldn't.

She didn't need to look into Maddie's eyes to know that her friend had seen right through her-the cracks in her composure, the subtle way her heart still beat faster when she even thought about Damien.

Before she could speak, her phone buzzed on the desk. Aria glanced down at the screen, her breath catching in her throat. It was a message from an unknown number, but she knew exactly who it was from.

"I need to see you. It's important. Can we meet tomorrow? I'm sorry for the way things ended." – Damien

Her heart stuttered in her chest. She couldn't believe it. Not after everything. Not after the years of silence. And yet... a part of her couldn't help but feel a spark of hope, of curiosity. It was a stupid thing to feel, but it was there, an unwelcome visitor inside her.

Maddie leaned in, glancing at the screen over her shoulder. "Well, well, well. Look who's crawling back."

Aria didn't respond immediately. She felt the weight of the decision press on her shoulders, the temptation to confront the past with everything she had learned in the time since their marriage. The temptation to finally demand answers, to figure out why it had gone so wrong.

"Are you going to meet him?" Maddie asked gently.

Aria closed her eyes, her finger hovering over the phone. The words seemed so simple, yet so fraught with meaning. She had spent so long pretending that she didn't need Damien. But the truth was, there was still a wound there, one that hadn't quite healed. Maybe this meeting could be the closure she needed. Or maybe it was the first step toward something she wasn't sure she was ready for.

She hit "reply."

"I'll meet you tomorrow. But don't expect anything more than a conversation."

She set the phone down with a quiet sigh, feeling a mix of anticipation and dread settling in her stomach.

The next day, Aria found herself pacing outside a small café downtown, her hands stuffed into the pockets of her coat. The morning sun was weak but persistent, casting long shadows across the sidewalk. It wasn't far from her office, but the familiarity of the location made her stomach churn. This was where they used to meet when things were good. This was their place, their corner of the city.

And now she was here, waiting to see him again after three years.

"Aria."

She stiffened at the sound of his voice-so low, so commanding, yet tinged with something else. Something that, for the first time in a long while, didn't feel like control.

Damien was standing by the door, hands tucked into the pockets of his tailored coat, his expression unreadable. The dark circles under his eyes were more prominent now, though, a stark contrast to the man she had once known. He'd always been flawless in his appearance, polished like the perfect machine. But now? Now, there was a vulnerability to him that Aria hadn't expected to see.

"Damien," she said, her voice steady despite the way her heart was beating a little too fast.

He nodded, stepping forward, his gaze fixed on her with an intensity that made her throat dry.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice rough. "I know I don't have the right to ask for your time, but I needed to say this. To you. In person."

Aria raised an eyebrow. "You've said everything you needed to say, Damien. Three years ago, you said it all by walking away."

He flinched, a brief flash of regret crossing his features before it was quickly masked. "I know. And I wish I could take it all back. I wasn't thinking when I let you go."

"Then why now?" she asked, her voice quieter. "Why this?"

Damien met her gaze. "Because I don't want to spend the rest of my life wondering what would've happened if I'd tried harder. If I'd just... fought for us."

Aria inhaled sharply, the words crashing through her defenses like a tidal wave. For a moment, she was back there-standing in the middle of their living room, watching him walk away without a word, just a look in his eyes that had broken her in ways she didn't know she could recover from.

"You didn't fight then," she said, her voice trembling. "You just let me go."

"I know," he said softly. "And I'm sorry. But I swear to you, Aria... I'll fight now. I'll fight for you."

Aria took a deep breath, her chest tight with emotions she had buried deep for so long. She wanted to say no. To walk away and tell him to leave her life for good. But a part of her-the part that had loved him so fiercely, so completely-wasn't ready to let go.

"Let's just... talk," she said quietly. "Let's see where that takes us."

And with that, the conversation began, not with answers, but with the slow, uncertain steps of two people trying to rebuild something that had once been broken beyond repair.