Page 65 of Vitamin Sea
She raised an eyebrow in response. The last time she had seen him in person, he had intentionally not called her by her nickname. He had used her full name. A strategy, she was certain, to hammer home the fact of how his feelings towards her had changed.
Why was he suddenly calling her Chlo?
“Oh, it’s fine,” she said in response before pausing. “I was a bit confused as to why you wanted to meet for dinner.”
“Ah,” he leaned back self-assuredly. “Why don’t we save that conversation for when we get our mains.”
She shrugged in reply: “Okay.”
They passed the time engaging in small talk until their meals arrived. Liam, careful to avoid any mention of work, likely owing to the fact that he was dating one of his colleagues, had asked about her work, family, and friends.
“You look great,” he said sincerely. “I mean that.”
Chloe, mid-drink of beer, snorted into her glass.
“If I remember correctly,” she said after taking a drink, “the last time you saw me I was crying my eyes out and had mascara, eyeliner, and tears running down my face.” She paused to let that fully sink in. “It’s a low bar in comparison to that, so it doesn’t take much to look great,” she said dryly.
Liam hung his head.
“I really am sorry about that.” Remorse was evident in his voice. “Do you—.” He was cut off by Chloe raising her hand in a ‘stop’ motion.
“Let’s wait until after dinner, shall we?” she said eyeing up her mushroom ravioli. “This is one of my favourite meals and I don’t want it being ruined by whatever it is you’re going to say.”
He considered this for a moment and then nodded before tucking into his Cornish hen.
Several minutes later Chloe leaned back in the booth, her stomach full of ravioli. She dabbed at her lips with her napkin before setting it back down in her lap.
“Dessert?” Liam offered.
She shook her head no.
Even if she had been in the mood for dessert, there was no room for it after the ravioli.
“Okay.” He put his fork down and fortified himself with a drink of wine.
“Listen, Chlo,” he began as she reached for her beer.
Her stomach immediately tightened in anticipation. Not knowing why he wanted to meet for dinner had been bothering her for the past few days. Now that the moment of revelation was at hand, she was apprehensive.
“I want to apologize, from the bottom of my heart, seriously, for what I did to you seven months ago.” He looked into her eyes. “It was wrong, it was stupid, and to date, it is the biggest regret of my life.”
Chloe felt the wind rush out of her chest.
He was doing this? Liam wasactuallydoing this?
“I think just with the pressures at work and everything, and approaching such a milestone anniversary, I panicked. I know it was wrong. Iknewit was wrong. I treated you badly the last six months we were together, and I’ll never forgive myself for it.”
Chloe struggled to keep her expression neutral.
It really was wild how life worked. She had spent months pining and tens of hours daydreaming about the very thing that appeared to be happening right now. Daydreaming that Liam would come to his senses and realize that he made a huge mistake. Realize that he loved her and that he wanted to be with her. Grow old with her, have a family with her.
And now, it appeared her daydream was coming true. Several months and one Jack later.
“I’ve thought a lot about our relationship and what I did wrong and about how much I regret letting you go,” he said sincerely. “And I want you back. I want another chance. I love you, Chlo. I want to marry you. I want to go back to the way things were, but I want to make them better. I want to make up for the way I treated you and spend the next fifty years of our lives making you happy. Kids, adventure, growing old together—I want it with you, Chloe. I want it all and I want it with you.”
Chloe sat there, too stunned to speak. It wasn’t often she found herself stunned into silence, but Liam had managed to do it to her twice in the span of a few days.
“I—I . . .,” she stammered. “I need to think about this,” she said desperately. “I need some time.”
