It Was Nice Seeing You

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 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 was 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 was 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 the 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 choices of words which would even put sailors to the shame but now she stood before him at the 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, 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.