Episode 3 – Two Years Apart
945 Words
Celeste had always believed in seasons—their beginnings, their endings, and the quiet in-between. So when Jason vanished from her life, she tried to console herself with the thought: perhaps this season was never meant to last.
But moving on proved harder than she expected. For weeks, she caught herself checking her phone, staring at their old messages, replaying his laughter in her mind. Eventually, she tucked those memories into the deepest corners of her heart and told herself to let them rest.
Life had its own demands.
Not long after, an opportunity came—an offer from a design firm in another city. It was everything Celeste had once dreamed of: a chance to work with established architects, to sharpen her skills, to step closer to owning her own studio one day. She took it, packing her bags and leaving behind the familiar streets of her hometown.
The new city was fast, noisy, and demanding. Celeste buried herself in work, sketching late into the night, chasing deadlines, learning from mentors who pushed her harder than she’d ever been pushed before. Slowly, her wounds scabbed over. Jason became a memory she rarely let herself touch.
And somewhere, in another world altogether, Jason’s life roared forward.
After his silent withdrawal, he drowned himself in work. The Ojo empire expanded aggressively—new tech investments, luxury properties, and global ventures. Jason was everywhere, his name filling business journals and tabloids alike. Women clung to his arm at parties, his smile graced the covers of magazines. Yet none of it reached the emptiness gnawing at his chest.
Because every time he closed his eyes, he saw Celeste.
Her laughter. Her honesty. Her refusal to be dazzled by the wealth he had tried to hide. She was the one person who had made him feel seen as a man, not as a billionaire. And he had let her slip away, believing he was protecting her.
Two years passed like this—two years of parallel lives, distant yet quietly tethered by memory.
Then, one Sunday morning, fate shifted.
Celeste had returned to her hometown for a short break. The city felt different now—familiar streets with new shops, familiar faces older, but the same comforting scent of fried pastries wafting from the corner bakery. Walking along the road, she passed the Grand Avenue Mall, and the memory hit her like a wave: Jason’s car pulling up, his smile, his bold confession at first sight.
Her steps faltered.
Jason.
It had been two whole years since she had last heard from him. She wondered where he was now. Was he married? Was he still the same? Did he even remember her?
That night, restless in her old bedroom, she scrolled through her contacts. His number wasn’t there anymore—lost after she changed phones. But something inside her refused to let it end there.
The next day, she asked around. A mutual friend from the past still had his contact. Celeste hesitated for hours, her thumb hovering over the screen. Finally, with a deep breath, she sent the message.
Celeste (Text): Hi Jason. It’s been a while. I don’t know if you still use this number, but… it’s Celeste. I’m back in town.
Her heart pounded as she hit send.
Hours later, just as she had convinced herself he wouldn’t reply, her phone buzzed.
Jason (Text): Celeste…
Two dots, then another message.
Jason: I thought I’d lost you forever.
She froze, staring at the screen, emotions colliding—relief, confusion, longing.
Celeste: Maybe you had. But I’m here now.
And just like that, the silence of two years cracked open.
Their first call that night lasted three hours. They laughed like old friends, slipping back into the rhythm as though no time had passed. Jason asked about her job, her new city, the projects she had worked on. Celeste teased him about how different his voice sounded—more tired, yet still smooth.
When she asked about him, he was vague as always, brushing past details of his business empire. But Celeste had seen enough news to know his world had grown bigger, louder, more chaotic.
Still, in the privacy of their conversation, he was simply Jason—the man who once made her feel like the center of the world in a quiet café.
Over the next few days, their chats multiplied. Morning greetings. Evening check-ins. Random jokes. Celeste found herself smiling at her phone again, feeling the warmth she thought had long faded.
Yet beneath her happiness lurked a cautious voice.
He left once before. What makes this different?
But Jason’s words soothed that fear. One evening, as they spoke under the lull of midnight, he said softly, “Celeste, I can’t explain what happened back then. But I need you to know something—I never stopped thinking about you. Not once.”
Celeste’s heart skipped. She wanted to believe him. She wanted to surrender to the comfort of his voice, the safety of his charm. But part of her still guarded itself, remembering the ache of silence he had left her in.
She whispered back, “I don’t know if I should believe that.”
Jason paused, then replied with something she hadn’t expected.
“Then let me prove it to you. Give me another chance, Celeste. Let’s start again.”
Her breath caught. For two years she had dreamed of hearing those words. And now, fate had handed them back to her.
She didn’t answer right away. But deep inside, she knew the season she thought had ended was stirring back to life.
And this time, it promised to bloom stronger than before.
- Writer
