Satellite Souls

The Waiting

Fiona’s POV

“Lydia! You’re back” I ran over to her to give her a huge hug but I could tell she was not in a great mood as she brushed it off swiftly.

“Hey roomy, whatcha doing?” She replied unenthusiastically.

“How was your vacation? Are your parents doing okay?” I asked her curiously.

“Yeah, they are fine. How have you been? How’s the wedding planning going?” She shifted her focus to the wedding talk. A talk I wasn’t ready to have with anyone else before I had spoken to Charlie himself.

“They are still pending” I replied truthfully. Lydia hastily pushed her suitcase inside her room and walked towards me. Her demeanor had changed, and she appeared to be in a rush. She dashed over to the couch and jumped on.

“So what have you been up to?” She asked.

“I . . “ I began to say.

“You what?” Lydia asked again.

“I don’t think I can go through with this wedding, Lydia” I finally gave in and admitted the truth to her.

"Fiona, having cold feet is a pretty common thing. But you care about Charlie, and he . .loves you. Isn’t that all what a girl could ask for? Her prince charming?” Lydia bellowed.

“But, there is something you should to know” I cleared my throat to spill out just how the past month had gone by. I couldn’t keep everything in anymore. She had to know about Aiden.

“Oh my gosh, look what I found between the cracks of the couch?” Lydia exclaimed. She held my necklace at the palm of her hands.

“My necklace . . .” I said quietly, wondering how she was able to find it there when I had checked the same location over five times already.

“Wear it, I’m sure you’re feeling this way because you feel hollow, Fiona. You miss your mom. But I’m sure wearing the necklace will make you remember that your mom will always be with you. You’re allowed to feel scared but you don’t have to be.” She lent the necklace to me. I gazed at it, having the sudden urge to put it around my neck.

Lydia assisted me in putting the necklace on. I felt happy that I had a piece of my mom with me during what’s to come the following days.

“You know as the maid of honor, Charlie gave me the responsibility of inviting his God mother to the final dress fitting this week” Lydia spoke bluntly.

“Lydia, I don’t think . . .” I began to say, but I couldn’t help wonder who Charlie’s god mother was. “Charlie has a god mother? He never told me”

“Well, she just flew in from abroad. And since Charlie is busy with work he asked me to arrange this meeting. He said, you’ll love meeting Hila. She’s apparently the best”

“I don’t want to meet anyone. Lydia, you have to listen to me . .”

“I am . . listening, Fiona. Look at me, there’s only one week left and you’re going to give this week all you’ve got. You have to pull through, okay. You owe it to me, to Charlie and his family. It’s been a stressful month, with the planning and everything. You just need to give it time.”

I wanted to ask her so many questions, but I kept my mouth shut for some reason. I was exhausted and dizzy. I tried to speak with Lydia throughout the night, but she was too jetlagged and decided to head to bed.

I pulled up my phone to see where Aiden was, but my clumsy fingers slid, and the phone screen cracked.

“s**t” I yelled at the phone. I tried to turn it on, but the damage had already been done. I returned to the room and glanced at the luggage I had just opened. A voice in my head told me that now was not the time to pack, and I reluctantly agreed. I assumed I'd tell Lydia first, then start packing, since I hadn't told her about Aiden yet. That way I wouldn’t have to hide and pack.

I stowed the suitcase and gazed out the window at the night sky. With a chuckle, I remembered Aiden's scenario of my phone dying and searched the sky for the satellite.

A smile flashed across my face when I finally saw it.

“I hope you’re okay” I whispered looking up.

“I miss you” I whispered again with a tear dropping from my eyes.

It had been a long day, and I was feeling exhausted. I got dressed to go to bed. The dreams had stopped since Aiden’s arrival and VA hasn’t made an appearance in a while. While I felt alone, I wasn’t feeling lonely anymore. I had hope for the future now and I was finally living freely in the present. All I knew is that I couldn’t wait to see him again.

- - - - - - -

Aiden’s POV

The sound of soothing music rippled across the room, as Rebecca approached me seductively. My back was to her, but her finger drew my gaze to her eyes.

“I know I’ve been neglecting you Aiden. Let me make it up to you” She whispered.

I slowly brushed her hand away and walked past her to get to the room. I knew I had to pack up and leave but before that I really wanted to sit and talk to her. I knew I couldn’t do that when all she was trying to do was seduce me to bed with her.

“Aiden, don’t walk away from me” Her voice was stern this time. She put on her robe and sat down on the couch. “I don’t understand, what’s the matter with you?”

“Listen Bec, there’s just no easy way to . . “ I began to speak but she immediately interrupted me.

“Oh no you don’t! You don’t get to disappear for a whole month, come back and then break up with me, with no explanations!” She shrieked.

“You’re right, I don’t” I agreed. I sat on the couch opposite of her. Taking a huge breath I continued, “I’m sorry Bec, I just can’t do this anymore. My heart is somewhere else”

“I . . I don’t understand. You had a ring picked out . . You were going to propose . . “

“Because I thought that’s what you wanted. I didn’t think about what I wanted, who I wanted” There is a bad guy in every story and I knew by having this conversation, I was going to become one in Rebecca’s book. To be quite honest, I was ready for it. For the first time, in a long time I was happy to know what I finally wanted in life.

“Who is she? Someone from work?” She asked quietly.

“No one you know. Listen, I’m truly sorry. I am. I don’t want to hurt you in any way” I held her hand and stared at her truly meaning those words.

“Yeah but you did, Aiden. I knew our relationship was far from perfect. But we always had respect for one another. I always knew I could fully focus on my career without worrying about you cheating on me. Because you’ve been a gentlemen throughout this entire relationship. And now, you just drop this bomb on me, like I’m just going to be okay with it?” She buried her face in her palms.

“I don’t expect you to be okay with this. I needed the month to go and clear my head. I went to get some closure but I discovered so many things about myself. And honestly, for the first time in my life I chose myself. I’m sorry if that’s selfish.” I replied. Our relationship was more of a business agreement more than anything else. An agreement she orchestrated and an agreement which was built on her rules.

“Selfish? No. You get to have your happy ending. I mean, am I mad? Yes. Am I hurt? Yes. But I didn’t think this was how our relationship would come to an end. You falling in love with someone. I knew it would end eventually, I mean, we aren’t toxic to each other but this was more of a convenient arrangement. My pride is hurt, yes. But I can’t imagine my life without you, Aiden. We’re such a good team”

“I’m so sorry, I really am. Yes, we are good team. But you’ve got to open your heart too Bec. You can’t just settle to being comfortable with someone. What about love? I know you well enough to know that you long for it too”

“I do but work is so . .” She began but this time I interrupted her.

“Well then as your boss, I command you to take your annual leave. Let Xavier your assistant, handle your work. Go on a vacation, meet new people. Open your heart and just be free. Do it.” She looked down as I spoke but slowly nodded her head.

“Listen, I’ll still be there for you and you’ll see me in office. And speaking of office, we got audited?” I tried to change the subject because this was the first time I had seen Rebecca vulnerable. And I knew she was having a hard time with it.

“Yeah what a horrendous week that was, I handled it with Greg, the accountant. He’s cute. I wonder if he’s single” She flashed a side smile.

“Greg is gay and happily married. Maybe you should try online dating” I chuckled.

“I . . . damn I haven’t dated in a while. I’ve been so consumed with work, I guess I’ve never stopped to think how going on dates feels like” She replied.

“There is a sweet person underneath all that hard core exterior, I know that. And I’m sure you will find that person who sees you for you” I gave her a hug.

“Freaking hell, whoever she is. She better be well damn worth it.” She hugged me back tightly.

“She is” I thought to myself.

I didn’t think this conversation would go like this at all. Having this talk with her made me feel at so much ease. I knew it’d take some time for Rebecca to come to terms with it. But deep down I knew she and I could end things maturely and still remain good friends and work professionally alongside each other.

I gathered my belongings and chose to move into the newly purchased penthouse.

Now, it was simply a matter of waiting for Fiona.