When Stars Align

The truth.

Luca watched Amanda as she buckled her seatbelt, the air hostess fussed over her like a mother hen over her chick– all in an attempt to impress him no doubt– but Amanda shooed her away with a glare. She was still mad at him over yesterday’s events. He had come home to confront her after seeing the headlines but she’d turned the tables on him.

His eyes were still red and sore, he’d cried himself to sleep. Being without a mother himself, he knew what kind of pain Amanda must’ve gone through and was still going through. Though his pain was considerably less than hers, he hadn’t grown up with his mother’s love but she had and she could feel the abyss her mother’s absence left in her soul.

He’d only met Mrs Edewor once and she hadn’t known of the feelings he had for her daughter. She was a nice woman who hadn’t deserved to die but he couldn’t be blamed for her death, neither of them could. Fate had just conspired against her, the same way it had conspired against them and separated them. All these years Amanda had resented him and she’d still continue to resent him if she doesn’t know the truth.

“Amanda, I’m truly sorry for your mother’s death and if I could turn back time I’d have done things differently but you have to know neither you nor I are responsible for her death. You can’t continue to blame me for things I wasn’t responsible for.” She didn’t show the slightest inclination that she heard him. She kept her gaze staring out the window as the plane rolled down the tarmac, preparing for take off.

“That night, I had gotten a call from my grandmother. She wanted me to come home, my fiancée was pregnant and our wedding date was fixed.” He continued.

“ Lucia and I had been betrothed since childhood, her family and mine were the closest of friends. I grew up knowing at some point I had to marry her and I was okay with it. But as time passed, my feelings changed, I wanted more. I lost my inspiration, my purpose and decided to travel the world in search of something different. At that time, I had gotten tired of the relationship and Lucia knew it too. I planned on breaking the engagement when I got back from my travels even before we met. When I said I loved Eku, it wasn’t a lie. I still do. When I found out Lucia was carrying my child, I left, not to marry her but to find a compromise. I had every intention of coming back to you.

She turned to him with a teary gaze as the plane took off. “So you have a child with her?”

“No. Lucia wasn’t pregnant, she had only lied about it to get me to marry her. By the time I found out, I was already married to her. I had no choice, my family wouldn’t understand, they didn’t want a Rossi heir born out of wedlock.” He clenched his fist in anger at the remembrance of Lucia’s betrayal. She had not only ruined his life with her lies but that of Amanda and his son’s life.

He locked gazes with her and hoped she saw that he was telling the truth. “I couldn’t come back to you knowing I was still married to her.”

“Why didn’t you get a divorce then?” she asked.

“I wanted to. I had filed for a divorce but then I found out Lucia was sick. She was diagnosed with PNH– a rare blood disease– and she begged me not to divorce her, she wanted to die as my wife. I couldn’t deny her her last request.”

The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on him, he’d gotten married to prevent having an illegitimate child with Lucia and ended up having an illegitimate child with Amanda. He got out of his seat and knelt in front of Amanda.

“Amanda I’m really sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you. I hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me.” He pleaded, covered his face with his hands and wept, he wept for all the pain he’d put them both through.

Amanda stared at Luca as he wept, with wet cheeks and a runny nose. She’d cried so much in the span of last night to this morning than she had since she lost her parent. The resentment and a get that always bubbled in her at the remembrance was gone. Talking about the past gave her a new perspective on things; if she hadn’t spent the night with Luca her mother would still be alive, true, but she wouldn’t have been blessed with the bundle of joy that was her son.

The immense joy she always felt every time she thought about her son more than made up for all the pain she went through. She couldn’t even summon the hate she’d always harboured underneath the longing she’d always felt for him. Amanda got out of her seatbelt and knelt in front of Luca , knee to knee, she peeled his hands off his face and pulled him into a fierce hug. Together they shed tears for all the time spent apart, all the memories they shared and and the new beginning they were about to make.