Chapter 10: The Walk Back
667 Words
Dinner ended, but neither Camille nor John seemed eager to leave.
The conversation had reopened old wounds, but somehow it had also brought a strange sense of peace.
For the first time in years, there were no misunderstandings between them.
Only the truth.
As they stepped outside the restaurant, the evening air was cool and gentle.
For a moment, they simply stood there.
“Thank you for listening to me,” John said quietly.
Camille looked at him.
“I didn’t come here for you.”
A small smile tugged at the corner of John’s lips.
“I know.”
“I came for answers.”
“And did you get them?”
Camille thought for a moment.
“Some of them.”
John nodded.
“I guess that’s better than none.”
They began walking slowly toward the parking lot.
The city lights glowed around them, and the streets were calmer now.
Neither seemed in a hurry to say goodbye.
“Can I ask you something?” John said.
Camille glanced at him.
“What?”
“Are you happy?”
The question caught her by surprise.
She looked ahead, thinking carefully.
“I think so.”
John waited.
“Ethan is kind,” she continued. “He’s patient. He respects me.”
John nodded.
“He sounds like a good man.”
“He is.”
A silence followed.
Then Camille asked the question she had been avoiding all evening.
“What about you?”
John gave a small shrug.
“What about me?”
“Are you happy?”
A sad smile crossed his face.
“I have a good job. A nice house. Good friends.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
John looked away.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he sighed.
“No.”
Camille’s heart tightened.
“No?”
John shook his head.
“I’ve learned how to live without you.”
His voice was calm.
“But I never learned how to stop missing you.”
Camille immediately looked away.
The honesty in his words affected her more than she wanted to admit.
They continued walking in silence.
Soon they reached Camille’s car.
Neither moved to leave.
Neither wanted the night to end.
Camille held her keys tightly.
“I should go.”
John nodded.
“Yeah.”
But neither moved.
A few seconds passed.
Then a minute.
Finally, John spoke.
“Can I tell you one last thing?”
Camille looked up.
“What?”
John’s eyes met hers.
“If Ethan makes you happy, I’ll respect that.”
His voice was steady.
“I won’t interfere in your relationship.”
Camille felt her chest tighten.
“But?”
A faint smile appeared on John’s face.
“But if one day you realize there’s still a place for me in your heart…”
He took a step closer.
“I’ll be here.”
Camille’s breath caught.
The look in his eyes was enough to make her heart race.
Not because she didn’t understand what he meant.
But because she did.
Completely.
For a long moment, they stood there staring at each other.
The world around them seemed to disappear.
No cars.
No people.
No noise.
Just the two of them.
And all the feelings they had spent years trying to bury.
Finally, Camille looked away first.
“I have to go.”
John nodded slowly.
“I know.”
She opened her car door.
Before getting inside, she turned back one last time.
John was still standing there, watching her.
The same way he used to years ago.
The same way a man looks at the woman he never stopped loving.
Camille quickly got into her car and closed the door.
As she drove away, she looked in the rearview mirror.
John was still there.
Standing alone beneath the streetlights.
Watching until her car disappeared from sight.
And for the first time in years, Camille allowed herself to wonder…
What if their story wasn’t over yet?
- Writer
