The One That Got Away

THE WEDDING

Layla gave a look around. Everything seemed in place. She moved behind the bar to turn the remaining lights off. Then she walked out, closing and locking the Next Round's door behind her.

She was working there for the past two years. After graduation, she tried hard to find a job relevant to her degree, but with no luck. The economic crisis that had hit the country hard made good jobs rare to come by and good salaries even more so. She ended up occupying herself as a bartender, going from bar to bar to another bar, until an opening occurred at her favorite one. She relished at the opportunity and was now practically running the place.

She got to her car and headed home. To her apartment. These past two years working in the Next Round had provided her the means to be finally able to live alone and have a much-needed space and a much-needed independence. When she announced to her parents, at the age of twenty-four, that she was moving out to live alone, she expected all the overreacting and endured it stoically. According to her mother and father, she was supposed to leave the nest only as a married woman.

Speaking of marriages... She unlocked  the apartment door. Once inside, she tossed her bag on the couch and went straight to her bedroom. There, on the little table beside her bed, lay the envelope with the invitation inside.

She picked it up and returned to the couch, grabbing her bag. She searched for the phone. When she found it, she tapped Liv's name on the sliding list.

A sleepy and irritated voice answered. "Some of us have to get up early in the morning."

Layla giggled. "Do you believe I got an invitation? The bastard invited me to their wedding!"

When no reply came from the other end, she spoke again, faking a few sobs. "Liv? Did you fall asleep on me?"

"No!" came the husky whisper. "I'm just stunned!" Layla heard her yawning. "But really, I need to sleep. Tomorrow, usual time and place?"

***

The Parrot was their new favorite cafe, where they would meet once a week during the afternoon after Liv's work and before Layla's shift at the Next Round. Small, quiet, with some of the best coffee in town. Layla's eyes drifted to the cream envelope that Liv was holding like a grenade about to explode. "Do you think I should go? You know, to demonstrate that I don't care anymore."

"I don't know" -Liv tossed the evil thing on the table- "can you handle it? Can you handle seeing them getting married?"

It had been well over two years since Layla had broken up with Lucas. Way too much time to not be able to handle it. They had a passionate but tormenting relationship that didn't last long. She had loved him, but she never received that love back. She always felt, during their time together, that he had never really left Sofia, a feeling that caused all the trouble between them to begin with. After their breakup, he reunited with his ex. Their upcoming marriage now all the more proof that her instinct back then was right.

"I think I need to go. To close the circle and move forward." Layla glanced at her friend, who seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. Maybe this would be her closure. The closure of a time in her life that left her in a cold and dark place. A place she had to struggle hard to escape from. Suddenly, she thought of Alex. His death had driven her straight back to Lucas. Holding on to his friend was the only way she had found to survive the immense loss.

The pain of his absence was so intense, even after all these years, she could physically feel it. If only she had stopped him that night, if only she hadn't refused his company, everything would be different. The ever consuming guilt returned to settle inside her stomach.