It had been two weeks since I saw him again.
Two weeks of forcing myself to act normal, of pretending his smile didn't replay in my mind every night before I fell asleep.
I told myself it was fine — that I was fine. But every time my phone lit up, I wished it was his name. Every time I passed by the café we used to go to, I caught myself wondering if he still remembered the seat by the window that was ours.
The universe must have a cruel sense of humor. Because today, it gave me another chance to see him — unplanned, unexpected, and just as painful.
I was standing in line at a bookstore when I heard that familiar voice behind me.
"Macey?"
My heart skipped. I turned around, and there he was. Liam.
Still effortlessly charming. Still everything I tried to forget.
"Hey," I said, forcing a smile. "Long time no see."
He grinned, that same warm expression that used to make my world stop spinning. "Yeah. I didn't know you still came here."
"I don't. Just… passing by," I lied, clutching the book in my hand a little too tightly.
For a few moments, it felt like the past didn't matter — like we were back to being just us, laughing about random things and teasing each other over nothing. But then he said it.
"Clara loves this place too. Maybe we'll bring her next time."
And there it was — the reminder I didn't need. The truth I kept trying to ignore.
He wasn't mine anymore.
I nodded, pretending I wasn't breaking all over again. "That's nice," I whispered, hoping he wouldn't notice the tremor in my voice.
He smiled, unaware of the storm inside me. "It's really good to see you, Mace."
"You too," I lied again.
When he left, I stood frozen, surrounded by shelves and strangers, my heart screaming words I'd never say.
It wasn't fair. How can someone walk back into your life and make you feel everything you tried so hard to forget?
But maybe that's how love works. It doesn't disappear — it just waits quietly, ready to hurt you all over again.
And as the bookstore door closed behind him, I whispered to myself,
"I'm still too late."