A Broken Woman’s Love Story

Sienna’s POV

“He’s close. Too close.” I thought to myself as my gaze locked with his, my heart pounding in my chest. I felt like I was frozen and even though my head screamed at me to push him off and get back on my feet, I couldn’t move.

Instead, I was teleported back to the moment nine years ago, when we had met for the first time at a children charity event. He had caught me this same way when I almost fell to the ground and the moment had lingered. It was as though the world had faded around us and I had been mesmerized by the cold depths of his forest green eyes. And the feeling of his strong, masculine arms around my waist. It was like a scene straight out of a fairytale storybook.

Maybe that was the reason why our love story came to an end too early. Because it was only just a fairytale.

The cab man’s voice cut through the moment.

“Hey you! Who the hell are you?!” He barked at Roman who smirked at me again before helping me steady to my feet. Once I was back on my feet, he disentangled his hands from my body and faced the man. The smirk on his face was now replaced with a cold expression and tightened jaw.

The cab man opened his mouth to speak but Roman’s intimidating glare seemed to scare him and he went mute again.

“Why are you harassing a woman in the middle of the street? Have you no shame?” He asked the cab man, his tone low but carrying a warning danger that I was sure the cab man perceived.

I wondered why he was standing up for me. Wasn’t he supposed to avoid me as the ‘evil twin sister’ that I was?

“She owes me money.” The man cleared his throat and grumbled as he backed off a few feet away. “I’m just trying to get paid.”

Roman shifted his gaze to me. “Is this true?”

I nodded with a deep exhale that was supposed to calm my nerves. But it barely did anything to make me feel better.

“I misplaced my purse.” I explained. “Only discovered that it was missing when I dropped off from the cab.”

Roman looked back at the man, reaching into his trousers pocket and pulling out some crisp dollar bills that he threw to his chest. The man struggled to catch them from falling but it was an unsuccessful attempt.

“Keep the change.”

The man’s eyes darted to the dollar notes, then back to Roman and I before snatching the money off the ground. With one last glare our way, he stomped back to his cab and drove away, his tires screeching as he sped off.

Once he was gone and the onlookers had dispersed too, I sighed heavily in relief.

That was close.

“Are you okay?” Roman shifted his attention back to me again and I nodded my head almost immediately. I pasted a small smile of gratitude on my face.

“Yes. Thank you for your help.”

“You don’t have to thank me for anything, Sienna.” He replied, shoving his hands into the pockets of his tailored grey trousers. His white shirt was rolled at the sleeves, revealing strong, tanned forearms. I was almost reminiscing on the moments in the past when I had touched, felt and kissed those arms, when Roman’s next words pulled me out of my dirty mind.

“I understand you’re not so bright and thoughtful. The least you could do is try to be more careful and less careless. Okay?”

Wait. Did he just call me dumb and stupid?

“Excuse me?” I shot at him, feeling my pride bristle. Folding my arms over my chest, I glared at him. “What do you even know about me?”

“Oh, trust me, Sienna. A lot more than you think.”

“Are you talking about the things you’ve heard about me from Sabrina?” I scoffed in disbelief. “You really are dumb and easily manipulated, aren’t you?”

“And what do you mean by that?” He raised a brow, clearly entertained. His lips were twitching as if he was fighting back a grin.

“Just forget about it.” I exhaled again, certain that he was just trying to get on my nerves so that he could prove himself and Sabrina right.

Without intending it, my eyes darted towards the boutique where the glass display was showing off rows of shiny sneakers lined up. My face fell in disappointment and I looked away again.

How was I supposed to afford Livvy’s sneakers when I had just misplaced my money? Maybe Roman was right about me. Maybe I was careless and stupid.

Roman seemed to catch up quickly and his eyes moved to the boutique briefly before looking back at me again.

“You came here to get shoes?”

My lips tightened in a line and I hesitated from replying to him. But what was the point in hiding it now? It was better to get it off my chest and mourn my stupidity and incompetence as a parent.

“Yeah.” I admitted, biting my bottom lip as I stared at the ground, embarrassed by my own self. “It’s my daughter’s birthday today. I thought I would surprise her with a new pair of sneakers before heading to work. But now, I’m stuck with no money, no phone, and I’m already running late for work.”

Yeah. My life was a total disaster.

Roman’s gaze flickered to his black car parked just behind us and before I could process what he was about to do, he stepped forward and took my hand into his. My body heated up instantly at the feeling of his fingers clasped tightly against mine.

My eyes snapped open in shock and confusion.

“Wha… what are you doing?”

“You said it’s your daughter’s birthday, right?”

Our daughter, Roman.

But I did not correct him. Instead, I nodded my head in response.

“Then, let’s get her those shoes.” He said and then began to pull me gently towards the boutique.

“What…? No. Wait…” I stuttered as I followed him like an indecisive lamb who was being led to the slaughter. “I… I didn’t ask for your help…”

“You don’t have to.” He answered me as he led me inside the boutique. “It’s my little gift to your daughter. And if you’re also worried about running late to work, you have my assurance that I’ll drive you to the company myself. You won’t get into trouble.”

I opened my mouth to argue again but my tongue was unable to form a single word.

As we entered the boutique, one of the sales attendants rushed to welcome us.

“Good day, sir. Good day, ma’am. How may we help you? Would you like recommendations on what to get for your child?”

I blinked. Our child?

Beside me, I could feel Roman tense too. But he quickly recovered and cleared his throat.

“We need the best quality sneakers you’ve got. For a girl.” Then, facing me, he added. “What’s her shoe size?”

“It’s a size three.”

“Okay ma’am.” The attendant nodded and gestured that I followed her. “This way, please.”

I followed her obediently, my eyes landing on the bright display of children's sneakers on the shelves. The attendant and I spent a few couple of minutes scanning the shelves for the perfect sneakers for Livvy, until my eyes landed on one.

It was a bright pink shoe with glittering stars along the lines. A small smile crossed my lips as I pulled the pair out. Livvy would absolutely adore these.

“You’ve got quite a good eye, ma’am. This edition is one of a kind. Your daughter would absolutely be in love with them.” The attendant chirped in and I lifted my gaze to look at her, my smile broadening.

“I’ll take these.”

A short while later, Roman and I were standing in front of the register.

“That would be three hundred and ninety nine dollars, sir.”

The cashier’s words felt like a bomb in my eyes and my eyes snapped wide open at once. Nine hundred and ninety nine dollars for a pair of sneakers?! Were they supposed to be some magical pair of shoes? What were they trying to do? Rip us off?!

“Alright.” My eyes widened even more in shock when Roman dipped his hand into his breast pocket and pulled out a black American Express Centurion card. “Here you go.”

“No. No. No. No.” I reached for his hand and pulled him back a little. Ignoring the confused look on his face, I leaned in and whispered. “You can’t pay for that. That is too expensive. I know a boutique where we can get cheaper…”

With a roll of his eyes, Roman ignored me and faced the cashier again, giving her a go-ahead signal with a single nod of his head. I watched in astonishment as they debited his card and handed the shopping bag to him.

“Thank you for patronizing us, sir. Do have a lovely day.” She smiled at him.

Without a word, Roman took my hand again and led us out of the boutique. Once we were outside again, he freed my hand and handed the bag to me.

“Tell Livvy that I wish her a happy birthday.”

The shock in me slowly dissipated, to be replaced by an aching, bleeding heart and eyes that were slowly turning teary.

Never in my life had I dreamed that Roman would be wishing his own daughter a happy birthday. After he had disappeared, I had thought that was the end. But now, here he was eight years later, gifting and wishing a happy birthday to a girl he had no idea was his biological daughter. Although it felt painful, I was grateful that Livvy and I could experience this moment.

My lips parted as the temptation to reveal to him everything I knew about his accident and memory loss, came over me. But I stopped myself immediately. It would be silly of me to let my emotions control me and put Livvy and I at risk.

Why was life always hard on me? What did I ever do to deserve this sort of heartache and complications?

I felt a tear slide down my eyes without any warnings and a confused look crossed Roman’s face.

“Are you crying?” He asked. “Why? Did I say anything to upset you?”

And then, without thinking twice, I ran straight into his arms with teary eyes, wrapping my arms tightly around him in a hug.