Wooing the Ex-wife

Liza was nervous. In fact saying that she was nervous would be an understatement. Liza's relationship with heels had always been messy and the fact that she was wearing sky high heels only increased her chances of falling flat on her face or breaking her ankle, she took each step carefully as she walked down towards the isle. Wedding bells were ringing around and the whole place was full of people. There was a smile on everybody's face and they were carrying beautifully wrapped presents, their shiny wraps glistening under the soft rays of the setting sun. It was an evening wedding.

She could hear the faint crash of waves which were crashing with each other creating soft music. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She tried to focus anywhere except of the fact that she could tip anytime and make a fool of herself. The wedding march started and a beautiful piece was played on the piano. Liza's hold on the bouquet in her hand tightened. Soon they were at the isle and Liza released the breath she had been holding.

Jonathan tightened his tie and gave himself a once over. He was wearing a charcoal gray suit with a grey vest and soft salmon shirt under it. He had no idea why he had agreed to do it. He ran his hands through his hair giving them a messy but stylish look and left. The wedding he was attending was on a beach in California. Initially he was against the idea but then Alice had insisted that he should go. He wondered why Alice wanted to put him through so much torture, she knew he would hate attending the wedding and yet she had insisted that he attend it.

He took a seat at the back. He was also carrying a gift like others. He had never imagined that after so many years of chasing, it would finally come to this. He looked around lazily trying to find a familiar face but finding no one worth talking to he pulled out his cell phone and called Dave inquiring him about how things were going. Jonathan was forced to put down the call when the wedding march started playing and the bride entered with her bridesmaid. It was then when Jonathan saw her.

It had been four years since he had last seen her. Her hair were down in beautiful curls, her eye brows were furrowed as she tried to focus on not tripping. She looked like a vision in her dress. He had pinned over her for four years only to find her at the place he had always refused to visit. He wondered if it was too late now, if she had someone else to love. His heart insisted on whisking her away from the wedding but a rational part of him snubbed that urge. He looked at her as if he had seen the sun for the first time and suddenly his world felt brighter. And then a shot of pain shot through him as he remembered the words in her last letter. She would never accept me he thought. He watched as she reached the isle and let out a breath of relief, it wouldn’t have been evident to anybody else but to Jonathan it was clear as day, his eyes were focused only on her. She wasn't looking at him. She was staring straight in front of her and he wished that he could look in her warm chocolate eyes even if it was just for a moment.

The whole wedding ceremony was a blur. Liza trance like state was broken as she heard the words 'I do' being said. She looked at Krista standing before her. She looked beautiful in the wedding gown. Krista and George leaned in for a sweet kiss as the priest pronounced them as man and wife. Liza hadn't even realized that her eyes were slightly moist. She had never been very close to Krista, she had always been her bosses’ daughter to her. When Krista had asked her to be one of her bridesmaids, Liza had been shocked but she had agreed. Liza pulled up her salmon colored gown slightly as she got down from the isle. She walked took a glass of wine from the waiter that was passing by and found a secluded corner. She didn't know anybody except the people the publishing house did business with. Margaret the former editor in chief had retired a month back and in her place Liza had been appointed. Liza had been extremely happy when she had been given the news. She finally had everything her dream job, an awesome family everything except love. She looked at people dancing. Fairy lights lit up the make shift dance floor and soft songs were playing in the background as couples swayed to the music.

"May I have this dance" a voice asked. She looked up to see that a very handsome stood in front of her. She recognized him as the best man. "I am sorry but I don't dance" Liza said politely declining his offer. Although he was attractive Liza didn't have even slightest interest in him. "Aw come on only one dance. Please." he said. "Okay, but just one dance" Liza relented. He led her to dance floor and they began swaying to the music. He had his hands wrapped around her waist and she put her hands on his shoulders. "I am Steve by the way. Steve Clement" he said. "Steve Clement as in author of the 'A million miles away' Steve Clement" Liza asked. "Yep, the one and only" he replied smirking” you are not old" she blurted out. "I mean I thought that the writer of such a wonderful book would some experienced old guy but you are pretty young" she said "thank you for the Complement" he smirked "it was not a complement. I was merely stating a fact." Liza threw back. "Whatever you say. I know I am attractive. Anyways what's your name?" he asked "Oh, I am Liza Nestor. Editor in Chief of The Book Worm publishing house." she replied. "Oh so you were the one who sent back my first draft saying that a kid could have made less mistakes" he arched an eyebrow. "Oh no. That was Margret but I wish it had been me." Liza giggled.

Jonathan had always thought of Krista as a nuisance. She was the wild child of Leslie Santiago. Tabloids were always full of her new misadventures and her latest boy toys. It had come as a shock to Jonathan when he had received her wedding card, announcing her wedding to George Hamilton. George was one of the most disciplined man Jonathan had ever met. He was responsible and serious nothing like Krista and he wondered how a man like George had fallen for a girl like Krista seeing them dancing together anybody could tell that they were in love. Krista glowed with happiness as George swayed her to the rhythm. Soon his eyes slipped to the couple dancing close to George and Krista.

He saw as Liza danced with some guy, moving gently to the music. They were laughing over something. Jonathan wanted to go over there and snatch her away from him. His hands fisted and suddenly he felt himself move forward towards Liza. "Can I cut in?” he asked. His eyes fixed on Liza. "Yeah sure" the guy said. "I hope we see each other again Liza" the guy said winking at Liza and Jonathan resisted the urge to punch him in the face.

Liza stared at Jonathan unblinking. She didn't even notice Steve leaving, her eyes stayed fixed on the man in front of her. The man who she had given her heart, the man who had broken her heart and the man who still somehow made her heart flutter. "Long time no see Liza" he said as the couples around them continued to sway blissfully to the tune of music unaware of Liza's thudding heart and Jonathan's nervous gaze as they stood in front of each other for the first time after four years.

Liza stood there speechless as Jonathan said the words. Her heart was racing at the speed of a mile per second and the loud thudding of her heart made it impossible for her to hear anything. Jonathan’s lips stopped moving and she assumed that he had stopped speaking and was now waiting for her to say something but she stood there silent, words had left her the moment Jonathan had arrived. Jonathan’s nervous gaze met her undecipherable eyes and both of them stood still, despite of the music playing in the background and the people laughing and talking, all they could hear was pin drop silence. It could have been a few seconds or it could have been a few minutes , Jonathan and Liza were unaware of how much time had passed as they stood frozen in the middle of the dance floor, till a couple bumped into them.

It was then they realized that they had been standing there on the dance floor unaware of the clock ticking way and people dancing around them. They apologized and quickly hurried off the dance floor. Liza leading the way. She had no idea how to react, so she just kept walking towards the beach without turning back to look if Jonathan was following her. What do you say to the man you had left without telling anything and who also happened to be the only man you had ever loved?

Jonathan followed Liza quietly. He had given in to his urges of keeping Steve away from Liza without thinking of what Liza’s reaction would be. She had written in the letter that she had forgiven him but would never acknowledge their relationship again. He had no idea how she would react now .Would she greet him civilly or would she shout at him or she would blatantly ignore him. He got his answer, when Liza came to a stop. They were on the beach at a little distance from the wedding. She turned to look at him and asked “What the hell were you thinking Jonathan, appearing in front of me from thin air?” Now that he looked closer he could see that Liza looked different, she had an air of confidence around her, her hair were now longer, he could see the hazel highlights in her hair from up close. “You look different” he said instead of answering her question. ‘Of course I look different. It’s been four years Jonathan.” Liza replied exasperated as Jonathan examined her.

She was no longer the insecure , shy woman who had let him trample her, She wasn’t intimidated by the fact that Jonathan stood there examining her with his piercing green eyes in fact she took the opportunity to check out Jonathan. He looked the same to her. His brown hair were still styled messily, his clean cut suit suited him well if anything he had gotten even more fit in the past four years and his strong jaw looked as smooth as ever. The only difference she noticed was in his eyes. They held a maturity that they did not hold when she had left him. He looked wiser but along with wisdom he also looked colder. The Jonathan she had left was warmer than this Jonathan, he had now turned into a ruthless businessman.

She had heard the success story of his company. How it had risen in four years from a small company to now a multinational company. The media followed Jonathan and his every move. They had named him one of the most eligible bachelors: rich and handsome. Liza was thankful that whatever had transpired between them had been kept a secret. Four years ago, ‘West industries’ had been a small company among many others who were trying to survive in the city of New York, at that time no one was interested in knowing what was happening in Jonathan’s life and therefore their divorce had gone unnoticed. Everybody knew that Jonathan had a wife once but nobody knew who she was or what had actually gone down between two of them and Liza was thankful for that. Liza was brought out of her speculations when she heard Jonathan grumble something under his breath. ‘I am sorry, what did you say?” Liza asked. “It has been Four years 3 months and 23 days since you left” Jonathan replied.

Liza was shocked to hear his answer. 'Was Jonathan still hung up on their past ?' she thought. Seeing Jonathan standing before her was giving her a weird feeling. It was as if, her past and present were intermingling at the horizon in form of Jonathan. She had tried to forget her past but she couldn't because she had realized that good or bad every memory was worth keeping. She had thought that if she ever saw Jonathan again either she wouldn't even acknowledge or she would say a few choice of words which would even put sailors to the shame but now she stood before him at beach, her heels digging in the soft sand , waves crashing into each other , without any words.

The sun had now set, only a light pinkish orange glow remained in the sky to remind them of its presence They stared at the blue sea in front of them as froth like waves crashed into one another. There was another stretch of awkward silence, both of them stared straight ahead, sneaking glances at each other. “I have been Planning on signing a deal with Leslie, so when she invited me to her daughter’s wedding I had to come” Jonathon said breaking the silence. “Oh” Liza replied falling back into silence as each of them stood facing the sea. “I need to go back to the wedding, Krista would be wondering where I am” Liza said breaking another stretch of awkward silence. “You should probably head back then” Jonathan replied his voice low. “Yeah, I should.” Liza said willing her feet to move as her body resisted.

She wanted to say so many things to him, things that she couldn't say four years ago. She wanted to shout at him for ruining the beautiful fairy tale they had been living, for not trusting her enough, for not coming to her when he needed support but she couldn't speak. She wanted to slap him and punch him but at the same time she wanted to hug him. It was as if all the feelings she had buried down had slowly risen up, it was all very confusing, her thoughts were scattered and she knew that it was better to leave before she did or say something that would jeopardize the present she had created for herself. “It was nice seeing you Jonathan” she said and she walked away from him, towards the wedding.