Chapter 1
1305 Words
Isla’s POV
There are some moments in life that you never prepare yourself for.
Moments that feel impossible.
Moments where the past suddenly walks back into your present and reminds you of everything you tried so hard to forget.
For me, that moment happened on a Tuesday evening.
A normal Tuesday.
The kind of day where nothing seemed different.
The café was busy, the smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the air, and the sound of quiet conversations surrounded me. Outside the window, the sun was slowly disappearing beyond the ocean, painting the sky in shades of orange and gold.
The same sunset I had watched a thousand times.
The same sunset that used to mean happiness.
The same sunset that ruined me.
I stood behind the counter, checking the orders on the screen while Amara moved around the café, making sure everything was running smoothly.
“Table five needs their drinks,” she said while placing a tray beside me.
I nodded. “I’ll bring them.”
Amara looked at me carefully.
She had always been good at noticing things I tried to hide.
“You’re distracted today.”
I looked at her and forced a small smile. “I’m working.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
I sighed.
After all these years, Amara still knew me too well.
“You always do this,” she continued. “You pretend everything is fine whenever something is bothering you.”
I grabbed the drinks and avoided her eyes.
“I’m okay, Mara.”
She didn’t believe me.
She rarely did.
But she also knew when to stop asking.
That was one of the reasons she was my best friend.
Amara Flores wasn’t just the café manager. She was the person who stayed when everyone else left. She was there when I cried over someone who promised she would never hurt me. She was there when I had to learn how to live without the person who once felt like my entire world.
Noelle Reyes.
Even after ten years, her name still felt like something dangerous.
Something I wasn’t supposed to say out loud.
Something that still had the power to hurt me.
I hated that.
I hated that someone who left me could still have so much control over my heart.
“Isla.”
I looked up.
Amara was watching me again.
“You’re thinking about her.”
I froze.
I didn’t need to ask who she meant.
There was only one person.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
Amara’s expression softened.
“I know.”
And that was the thing about her.
She never forced me to open old wounds.
She just stayed close enough so I wouldn’t bleed alone.
The bell above the café door rang, signaling a new customer.
I didn’t look immediately.
I should have.
Maybe then I would have been prepared.
Maybe then my heart wouldn’t have forgotten how to beat.
“Welcome to—“
The words disappeared from my mouth.
Because standing in front of me was the one person I never expected to see again.
Noelle Reyes.
For a moment, I convinced myself I was imagining her.
That my mind was playing a cruel trick on me.
Because it couldn’t be her.
Not after ten years.
Not after all the nights I spent wondering where she was.
Not after all the years I spent trying to convince myself that I didn’t care anymore.
But it was her.
Older.
More mature.
Different.
Yet somehow, still the same girl who used to sit by the window and watch the sunset like it held all the answers in the world.
My hands went cold.
The noise around me disappeared.
The customers.
The conversations.
The music playing softly in the background.
Everything faded.
There was only her.
And the memories I spent years burying.
“Isla.”
Hearing my name from her lips felt like opening a book I had forced myself to close.
A book I wasn’t ready to read again.
I stared at her.
I wanted to ask a thousand questions.
Where did you go?
Why didn’t you call?
Why didn’t you tell me the truth?
Did you ever miss me?
Did you ever think about me?
But none of those questions came out.
Instead, I whispered the only thing my heart could say.
“You’re here.”
Noelle swallowed.
“I am.”
I laughed quietly, but there was no happiness in it.
After ten years, that was all she could say.
She was here.
Like she hadn’t been gone for a decade.
Like she hadn’t left me standing on a beach waiting for a promise she never kept.
Amara noticed the silence between us.
Her eyes moved from me to Noelle, and the moment she realized who was standing in front of us, her expression changed.
She remembered.
Of course she did.
Everyone who loved me remembered.
Everyone remembered the girl who broke my heart.
Noelle looked around the café.
Her eyes stopped at the window.
The same window where she used to sit.
The same place where our story began.
“I never thought this place would still be here,”she whispered.
I crossed my arms.
“I never thought you would come back.”
Her eyes met mine.
And for the first time, I saw something I never expected.
Regret.
“I know I don’t deserve to be here.”
I wanted to say she was right.
I wanted to tell her that she had no idea what she did to me.
But then I remembered something I hated admitting.
A part of me had imagined this moment for years.
A part of me had wondered what I would say if she ever returned.
And now that she was standing in front of me…
I had nothing.
Because anger was easier when she was gone.
Seeing her made everything complicated.
“You disappeared,” I said quietly.
Her face fell.
“I know.”
“Noelle, you didn’t just leave. You vanished.”
“I know.”
“You made me think something happened to you.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
The repetition made something inside me hurt.
Because I didn’t want her to just know.
I wanted her to understand.
I wanted her to feel every second I spent missing her.
Every birthday she wasn’t there.
Every sunset I watched alone.
Every moment I wished I could hear her voice again.
But before I could say anything else, someone called her name.
“Noelle.”
We both turned.
A man stood near the entrance.
Adrian Cortez.
I recognized him from the way Noelle had mentioned him years ago. Her business partner. Someone who helped her build the life she had after leaving.
He looked between us, as if he understood exactly how much history existed in that silence.
“I think we should go.” he said gently.
Noelle looked back at me.
For a second, I saw the girl from ten years ago.
The girl who held my hand.
The girl who promised forever.
The girl who left.
“I didn’t come here to hurt you again, Isla.”
I looked away.
“Then why did you come?”
The question hung between us.
The sunset outside became darker.
Noelle took a shaky breath.
“Because I need to tell you the truth.”
My heart stopped.
After ten years of wondering, waiting, and hurting…
I was finally going to hear the reason she left.
And somehow, that scared me more than not knowing.
Because sometimes, the truth hurts more than the silence.
Noelle looked at me one last time before leaving.
“I’m sorry, Isla.”
Then she walked away.
And just like ten years ago…
I was left watching her leave.
- Writer
