Page 75 of When Forever Falls Apart

I motion for her to take a seat at the table, then open the refrigerator to see what I can prepare. My head is fucking clouded, unable to think of anything besides the half-bottle of rum on the counter calling my name.

“So, this is where you’ve been.” Nicole’s eyes wander around the small room, a mixture of disappointment and resentment etched on her face.

I slide a bottle of water across to her, and somecaneléI prepared earlier. I was trying something new, and the easiest option is to offer it to her rather than worry about cooking something else.

I settle into a chair across the table, watching her take a bite. She nods with approval, then carefully licks her lips as if to entice me.

“This isn’t Paris,” she states, her eyes narrowing slightly.

“What are you doing here?”

“What did you expect me to do?” she challenges, frustration creeping into her voice. “You refused to talk to me, and when you left Paris, everything was said with heated tension. Are we really going to throw away everything between us because you’re scared? I’m scared, too, Elliot. I just don’t understand why we can’t be scared together. We were supposed to build a new life in Paris. Leave the States behind.”

My fingers tap against the table in a restless rhythm as I stare at the woman I once envisioned a life with. We had a great life together. She’s everything I thought I wanted in a partner for life.

Say it… Just say it.

She’s not Madelina.

Nicole is not the crazy best friend of your sister you can’t stop thinking about.

“Dammit, Nicole. You can’t just waltz in here—and expect what from me?”

Nicole’s eyes blaze with frustration. She is usually calm and collected, but the long journey here and my lack of empathy have pushed her to the breaking point.

“Expect you to be a man?” She briefly shuts her eyes to ease her anger. When she opens them, a warmth radiates back, reminding me of our past. “One minute, you tell me you love me, and we’re planning our future together. Next, you tell me you want space? I’m in love with you, Elliot. I don’t know how else to show you. And I know you still love me.”

I freeze, caught in her storm of emotions, my gaze drifting up to meet hers. Our time spent in Paris, every moment of it, plays in my mind like a black-and-white movie. I was happy, and I had it all. But then, something changed. I saw this future with her and it wasn’t how I’d envisioned my life turning out. On several occasions, she mentioned wanting afamily. It always started as a joke, and one that I voluntarily laughed along with. Yet the more it began to eat away at me, the more I pulled away.

It’s not that I didn’t want a family, it’s that it all moved too fast.

Eva asking me to come visit and help with the café was the exit I needed. Divine timing, one might call it.

As I search Nicole’s eyes, I find myself grappling for something I can’t quite grasp.

Something I’ve discovered in Madelina.

Nicole’s fingers glide over my cheek, gentle yet electric, and I don’t flinch away. The admission of my feelings for Madelina chains me to the ground, binding me in confusion.

It was supposed to be a “friends with benefits” situation.

But now, I’ve pushed her away.

Possibly into the arms of a man desperate to have her back.

All because of the woman standing in front of me.

Her fingers reach my chin, slowly trailing toward my chest before her lips press against mine. The warmth of her kiss lingers like a nostalgic memory, the kind that makes you smile—a reminder of a time in my life when things were exciting and new.

But it pales in comparison to the inferno that is Madelina’s kiss.

It lacks the wild passion that threatens to unravel my sanity.

I pull away and gaze into Nicole’s eyes one last time.

“We’ll always have Paris, but the truth is, it’s over, Nicole.” I take a deep breath and admit the truth once and for all. “It was over the moment I left.”

“Elliot,” she whispers, desperation lacing her voice. “We can try one more time. I’ll move here, if that’s what you want.”