her, cool and quiet, brushing her hair against her cheeks. Everything around her-the bustle of people, the sound of p

til she reached the corner of the street and exhaled

stopped l

ed under

done wrong. It didn't feel like standing in an empty apartment with her heart ripped out, reading over a cold,

had whispered of pain, of loss, of longing. And that whisper was

ad become a woman who didn't

. She pulled it out and frown

Do I need to bring

chor through the worst of the heartbreak. Her roommat

aid he sti

appeared, then vani

you beli

Because she didn'

uch and sank into the cushions, her head tilted back, s

ed in, still dressed in her nurse scrubs, hair piled up

auvignon Blanc," she decla

up, tryin

hen took one look at her friend and ploppe

ated. "He

ld. A billboard apolo

he regretted

dying her frien

s to make th

at before Sam asked,

e real one. The one she h

now," Aria

aching for the wine

hated how easily her heart had fluttered when he spoke. How just h

finally said. "I don't k

" she gave her a look, "don't lie to yourself about what you feel.

. "Since when did

d to show up and throw a wrench in our pe

oth la

er blouse. Today was the day of the gallery exhibit-the one she'd been preparing for over the l

was going t

ual connections. Said he wan

it it, but she had dre

h the curated collection. Aria stood near the back, sipping champagne, watching her work speak for h

rful," a voice

navy suit, no tie, shirt slightly open at the collar. He loo

she said c

. A woman, looking away from the camera, her

Was Left Behind," Aria

for a long moment. "

an eyebrow.

fted to hers

ips twitching. "I

ded. "It's beautiful. In a

to the crowd. "Pa

t have made a

another sip of her drink. "I

t. I needed to see you. In you

herself. "I am doing what I love. I've

be. You're... re

he was looking at something that was

"You left before you got

"And I regret it more

a room full of strangers, caught in the t

ndo the past

'm not here to undo it. I'm

t interested i

trying to give you a reas

est was too full of emotion-old wounds

way-graceful, c

nd, standing still in fro