Emily and River meet in Miami, where they have the time of their lives, but it isn't meant to be: the next morning, Emily leaves for San Francisco, leaving both their hearts broken. They don't think they'll ever see each other again.
Emily goes back...
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He didn't say anything then. Instead, he took his time to think over what she'd said and came to a simple conclusion.
She was the best thing that could've happened to him.
It was shallow of him that he'd liked her from the moment they met. It had only been for her beauty—those big brown eyes, the curly strands of hair falling in her face, and her dazzling smile that complimented every feature she had and made them into something even prettier—but now he realized there was more to her than that. When she opened up to him, as she'd just done when she was trying to convince him better times were ahead, her shyness was replaced by a bubbly and enthusiastic personality. The rest of the world didn't matter anymore in that moment and it was just the two of them; if he was honest, he hadn't even listened in detail to what she'd said, mesmerized by her.
But there was a voice inside his head telling him that this too would come to an end. Tomorrow morning, she'd be on a plane back to San Francisco and they'd never see each other again. He couldn't be falling in love—not right now, not with her.
But he had.
As the conversation slowly moved from one subject to another and he saw more and more of her, his heart swelled up and he began thinking about the possibility of them together. If there was no Miami or San Francisco and the world consisted of just the two of them, they'd go to a little cafe tomorrow morning, hold hands, have a good time. They would walk the streets, chat and laugh a lot and maybe shop a little more. He'd tell Talia all about Emily and how amazing she was; how she lighted up when she was talking about her little sisters, how she had a passion for singing and could rattle on about it for hours. Or how she never got tired when he was talking enthusiastically about his love for basketball and working out, or how she loved Italian just like him and how she was a cute eater—a little clumsy too, but she fixed it with her smile. He liked watching her eat, because the tension in her shoulders finally seemed to disappear and she was relaxed.
She truly seemed relaxed as they were sitting there in the restaurant and he wondered if she'd noticed the change too. Had he caused this peacefulness within her and did that mean this feeling he had was mutual?
With a quick glance at his watch, he saw it was 8 p.m. already—much too late for his liking. Every minute that passed was one too much. If only he could freeze time and spend a few more hours with her...
She'd told him that she'd leave at 9 in the morning so she could catch her plane in time. Just 13 more hours, he thought, and at the same time he wondered why it had to be like this.
Finally, after years of struggling and his world revolving around him and his sister, he found someone who was right for him and who encouraged him to do more, someone who seemed to like him too—and it wouldn't last longer than a day.
His biggest fear was that he would forget this day. After all, it was just one day of his life and in the big picture of life, it was nothing—just another day like all the others. Would he forget about it—would he forget her?
