A Chance at Love

Chapter 10

#Marcus

I could hardly believe my eyes. There she was—the woman who had been running through my mind for months, whose lips I could still vividly recall tasting. And now, she was standing right there next to Jordan's fiancée.

"Luna—how does Clara know Luna?" I asked, glancing up at Jordan while still clutching his phone.

Jordan raised an eyebrow, squinting as he reached for his phone. "Luna? She's Clara's maid-of-honour and her best mate. But," he said, peering down at the photo with a puzzled frown, "how do you know Luna?"

The taxi screeched to a stop, and I grabbed the door, swinging it open. "She's the one—the one from Edinburgh."

He hopped out after me, and when I looked back, he had a curious look plastered on his face. He went to pay the driver before turning back to me. "We might need something stronger than coffee, bruv," he quipped.

After some time had passed, Jordan and I found ourselves seated together in the bustling coffee shop, surrounded by the hum of various conversations. Despite the lively atmosphere around us, we remained silent, each lost in our own thoughts as we sat side by side.

A baby. She was expecting a child, and although Jordan wasn’t completely certain, Clara had mentioned to him that the father was a man Luna had encountered during her book tour. Had she been with anyone else around that same time? He'd like to believe she hadn't, despite the lack of reservations about being with him that night, she hadn't struck him as someone who would normally have a casual encounter like a sailor at port.

Accepting that he might be the father—and that she might be carrying his child—should have filled him with fear. Indeed, the thought terrified him deeply. Yet, despite this overwhelming fear, a part of him clung to the hope that it was true, yearning for that possibility against all odds.

"What are you planning to do?" Jordan asks softly, taking a sip of his rapidly cooling coffee.

What am I planning to do? I shrug, running a hand through my hair before letting it fall across my face. "I honestly don’t know. I’m not even sure if she’d want anything to do with me anymore. We were together, and then she just left—no note, no number, nothing."

Jordan gives a knowing nod. "I understand that, but I’ve known Lu for years. She’s not that kind of person, you know? Honestly, I was surprised when Clara told me she was expecting; she’s usually so... introverted."

I raise an eyebrow. "Introverted?" I chuckle. "That wasn’t the impression I got. The woman I spent the night with was charming, funny, and very open."

My friend agrees. "Yeah, she definitely can be like that, but usually not with strangers. Unless Clara or their friend Tiana are around to act as social buffers, she tends to keep to herself."

I fight back a laugh. Our interaction had been anything but reserved. We'd had the best s*x of my life and I could still hear the little sounds of pleasure that I'd drawn out of her.

Marcus gazed into his coffee, the sharp bitterness failing to clear his mind as his thoughts kept drifting back to Luna. The soft clatter of cups and quiet chatter felt far away, overshadowed by the nagging question: What’s next? Was he ready to face the unknown left by Luna’s disappearance, or would he let the uncertainty freeze him in place?

If she was expecting his child, what did he owe her—and the life they might have created together?

The idea of reaching out to her kept troubling him. He could easily ask Clara for Luna’s contact information, send a straightforward message—something genuine and uncomplicated. Yet, fear restrained him from taking that step. What if Luna had no desire to hear from him? What if her silence was not just an absence of words, but an impenetrable barrier he was never supposed to cross?

Marcus considered every possible way to reach out: whether to send a thoughtfully crafted message or to ask her directly, openly expressing his uncertainty and desire for answers. He questioned whether Luna would be receptive to his reaching out or if she had already moved on, having found the resolution he had been searching for. The idea of becoming a father filled him with fear, yet the prospect of walking away from Luna, of giving up on what could potentially be their joint future, was even more daunting.

He looked over at Jordan, who observed him silently, offering understanding without any hint of judgment. “I believe I have to give it a shot,” Marcus said at last, his voice carrying both determination and doubt. “I need to find out—for my own sake, and for hers as well.”

He reached for his phone, thumb hovering over the screen, heart pounding. Approaching Luna wouldn’t be simple, but the possibility—however slim—of reconnection outweighed the risk of remaining silent. Maybe all he could offer her was honesty: his hope, his fear, and his willingness to face whatever truth awaited them both.

#Luna

I was hurriedly stuffing noodles from the Thai restaurant down the street into my mouth, the heat of the spice not bothering me at all, when my phone rang—it was Clara. I answered, speaking through a mouthful of food. "I'm surprised you're still awake; it's only eleven-thirty," I joked, swallowing the noodles. The line was silent—no laughter, no witty comeback. I straightened up and set my food aside. "Clara? Is something wrong?"

I heard her sigh deeply. "Well, I just got a message from Marcus, Jordan's friend."

My eyebrows knitted together. "His friend? Why would—" A knot of worry formed in my stomach. "Oh my god, is Jordan okay?"

"He's fine," she reassured me, taking a deep, audible breath. "Jordan is okay, I promise. Marcus reached out because he saw your picture last night. Lu—he's the guy from Scotland."