She Stole The Bride

29

Amelia's POV

With two cups of coffee in my hands, I stood across the street from Syd's shop, trying to build up enough courage to walk in there and face her. When I finally walked in, I saw someone lingering around and took a deep breath when I saw Syd staring aimlessly at a mannequin. She seemed tired. But always so damn beautiful. When her eyes lifted and met mine, my chest heaved with a sudden excitement. "Amelia?" She pulled the pair of glasses from her hair and placed it onto the desk in front of her. "Hey, what are you—" she walked around her desk and towards me. I tried to meet her half way. "It's nice to see you actually."

I smiled and handed her a cup. "I wanted to see you. Is that okay?" I asked. Syd slowly nodded and looked down at the cup. "It's black coffee. I don't know what you like but I wanted to bring you something and all I drink is black coffee." I was extremely nervous. "Do you like plain coffee or do you like milk and sugar and creamer?"

Syd turned her attention to the lingering customer before looking back at me. Her eyes seemed suddenly brighter. Maybe I didn't notice how alive they were before. But her weariness seemed to disappear. "I drink it plain too, it depends on my mood. Do you—would you—" her eyes turned to the woman as she walked to the door. When only the two of us were left, her shoulders depressed. "Let me flip that sign so we can talk?"

"You don't have to do that. I wouldn't want to—"

"It's fine. It's mostly lingerers. My actual clients make appointments." Syd walked to the door and flipped the sign to closed. "I do this a lot when I'm busy." She looked back at me. "And I'm busy now."

I tightened my grip around my coffee cup. "I know that this is a little awkward," I murmured.

"It is." She led me to a chair and sat across from me. "But we can't avoid each other, can we?"

"I don't want to. Do you?"

Syd seemed to consider her answer for a moment. She sipped her coffee and slowly shook her head. "I've always wanted you in my life, Amelia. Back then and now. I've always wished that we never lost contact."

I closed my eyes as an uneasy feeling travelled to my chest. "I'm sorry that I hurt you like that."

"Thank you. But it wasn't your fault, it was mine."

I placed my cup down and reached for her hands. "Syd, you didn't do anything wrong. I wasn't ready. And I didn't know what to do. So I pushed you away. All I can ask for now, is for you to reconsider being my friend. That's all I really want."

Syd looked down at our hands before pulling away. "I'd like that. Can we promise something to each other?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't want to make the same mistakes. I want you in my life. I want to get to know you again. I'm not sure how you feel, but I think that we shouldn't ever cross that line again."

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "So just friends? Nothing else?"

Syd nodded. "That's what I want. Are you okay with that?"

"Of course." I tried to keep my feelings at bay. "That's what I want too, Syd. At least for now?"

She looked at me with a million emotions seeming to run through her head. "Let's focus on being friends. That's going to be hard enough for me."

"I know."

"I'll give you my number so we can keep in touch. Maybe I can take a trip in a couple of months to come see you."

"I live ten blocks away, Syd."

She turned to me with a notepad in her hand. "You moved here?"

"Yeah. A couple days ago. Needed something new. And I work from home, so—"

"Amelia, did you move for me?" I could see the confusion in her eyes. But also some relief.

"No, of course not. I love Miami. And it's a plus that you live here too."

"Amelia—"

"I didn't, Syd. I promise."

Syd clutched the notepad in between her arm. "I need to get back to work. But we can grab dinner sometime?"

I smiled at her. "Yeah. I'd love that."

Syd grabbed a pen and scribbled her number on a page. "Here."

"Would you mind giving me your address too?" I asked. "Since we're friends now?"

"Yeah. Uh." She grabbed the piece of paper from me and scribbled again. "Give me a heads up if you're going to show up? Miley's still, you know."

"Yeah, of course." I gripped the paper when she handed it to me. "I'll let you get back to work."

"Yeah. I can't wait to catch up more, Amelia."

"Me too, Syd."