Avery trusted her heart to a man who promised her forever. When he betrays her trust, should she stay and rebuild what was broken or let go and move on?
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Prepare to be swept away on a rollercoaster of emotions as Avery engages with the comp...
"LET'S CALL OFF THE wedding. I can't marry you, David."
Avery's voice was calm yet ear-splitting. She sat up straight against the headboard in the bed. She didn't spare even a glance for David. She was crying but kept her eyes focused beyond the hospital wall fronting her.
David felt defeated. The calmness in Avery's voice was like arrows piercing every inch of his body. Intense and excruciating. It wounded him beyond he could imagine. This time, he couldn't hide. He found himself on a dead end. His trembling body shuddered, followed by a deep and uncontrollable sobbing.
"Ave, babe... I can't. My life is nothing without you. Please..."
His voice was lined with desperation. When he lifted his head and stared at her, he remembered their first face-to-face conversation in the office dining room. The feeling of butterflies and flurries she caused in his stomach, the echoes of her naïve yet charming laughter that were always music to his ears. He felt everything all over again. Just this time, the gorgeous smile on Avery's face was gone.
"He doesn't know what he is missing if he won't look for you." He told Avery these words when she mentioned that her then-boyfriend might have broken up with her. Before I cheated on you, I should have thought I could lose you. The words kept echoing in his mind. But the irony of it all was that both of their actions were bound by one thing—time.
Because of his actions, David was too late to realize he was losing the only woman he promised to love. Because of her inaction, Avery worried about losing herself if she kept allowing the only man she adored to stay in her life.
Outside the hospital room, Shelly was in tears. Her heart was bleeding for Avery. She heard everything. Though in the last few minutes, no words had been said between the two inside. For Shelly, the silence, the cries, and the sobbing from both spoke volumes.
When Art clasped his hand with hers and wiped her tears with the other, Shelly gazed at her husband's face. She was thankful for the man he had become, continuously proving that he deserved her forgiveness. But Shelly wouldn't say it, not yet. She wanted Art to learn from Avery and David's story.
"It sucks, you know. Sometimes a man only realizes what a woman brings to the table when that woman packs up her shit, or worse if she finds another table to bring it to." Shelly gasped as she remembered how Avery went through hell upon discovering David's betrayal. The struggles her best friend had to overcome to trust again. In the end, Avery suffered for nothing but to get hurt again.
Art sighed. Shelly was right. He was one lucky prick. It wasn't too late when he realized Shelly's importance. He got the time to rise above his mistakes before he could have gotten too deep, like where David was now. But, on the other hand, maybe David took Avery's silence on it all for granted. Another lesson learned, Art told himself. Never mistake a woman's silence for her weakness or innocence.
Sometimes fate has its own game; we can only wonder. In the same space, only divided by the hospital walls, four lives had experienced the same, but each saw the importance of time from different perspectives.
Shelly valued the chance for her husband to have witnessed what David had gotten himself into because of his poor life choices. Art felt gratitude, realizing on time how important having Shelly in his life as his wife was. David drowned with regrets for overestimating Avery's love for him. And Avery hoped that her decision wouldn't be too late or wrong.
Why do they still choose to do so despite knowing they could lose someone they love by hurting them? Why is it always too late before one realizes the importance of someone in their life? These were the questions that Avery was asking herself. Suppose she would reference David's answers. Why cheat on her? She wasn't the reason, and it just happened. When asked about hiding the pregnancy, he said it scared him to tell her. In his thinking, lying and hiding things that would hurt her was protecting Avery.
"Babe... Ave. Please." David's voice was lined with remorse. His grip on Avery's hand tightened. "You're the only woman in my heart. The only one I will ever love."
In tears, Avery poured her heart out. "Maybe our love for each other was never enough. I believe you love me. I feel the same for you. But sometimes, even when we love each other, letting go of each other is the best option."
"No! Babe, no." David's tears were unstoppable. His whole body trembled as his lips peppered Avery's hand with tiny kisses. "I can't!"
Avery started brushing his hair with her other hand. "We have to. We need to. While we still have love left for each other."
Like a child, David clung more to Avery. "Never will I abandon my son. The baby's mother knew it all along. We agreed I would only take responsibility for my child. It was my fault for not telling you about it immediately. I was so scared that you wouldn't understand since your forgiving and trusting me again was already too much. I thought it would be easier for you to accept once we were married."
"David, look at me." Avery removed her hand from his clasp and cupped his face, making him look her in the eye. "That's what I'm trying for you to see. Your intention, perhaps, was not to hurt me. But since you got into a relationship with another woman, everything, and I mean everything that you did from then on, was based on lies. And in the end, it hurt me more."
"But I promise... no more secrets... I'll be honest, babe. Give me one last chance."
Avery smiled at him, eyes welled with tears. She touched his cheek, down to his jaw and his lips. "How I wish this time was as easy as the first. When I discovered you were cheating, I believed I was at fault. That's why I kept giving and exerted more effort to make us work. I thought forgiving you would change things."
"It changed me. I realized then that I only needed you. I ended everything when I told you I ended it. So please, think about our baby."
"The baby will be fine. I'll take care of our baby. I need time for myself. You also had time with your newborn. Being a husband may not be for you right now. But please be a decent man. Be a good father."
David took Avery's hands from his face and interlocked his hands with hers. "We don't need to cancel the wedding. You can have the remaining two months before the wedding for yourself. Just take a break, please, Ave."
Before Avery could say something, Shelly entered the room with a phone in her hand. "Ave, your mom is on the line. She wants to talk to you."
Their silence and anxious faces reflected Avery and David's unreadiness in getting a call from the person Shelly had just mentioned.
"Hello, Mom."
"Hi, Muffin! I'm with your mother-in-law right now. We just got your wedding invites from the planner. You'll surely love it! The design came out so pretty! And don't forget our dinner this weekend. We can't wait to help you with the invites and the guest list. Kiss David for me. Bye! Love you!"
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