You are in Love

listenback

Owen got out of the cab and checked into his hotel room. He had gotten the email from Katie, but he hadn't opened it yet. He paced back and fourth looking at the notification, and finally swiped it open. He sat on the end of the bed and looked at it carefully. There were three voicemails there, one that was fifteen seconds, one that was twenty, and one that was roughly four minutes long. Owen tapped the longest one, but paused it before he heard her voice. I have to do this, he told himself. So, he set the phone down beside him and with his head in his hands listened. 

"No one wants to let go. You've got to fight against your every instinct, and that's hard to do." Her voice was breaking, but she kept going. "No one wants to admit to themselves what's actually true. So I'll push through the pain, and say 'I"m done' and walk away. It's going to hurt, but it's what I have to do. I feel better already, well that's a lie, but I feel at least a little lighter just by deciding I've left you behind. I have room in my head, now that getting you back isn't taking up every inch of my mind and my heart." By this point in the message it was obvious that she was crying. "It's strange to imagine my everyday without you, and it's strange that I don't have a clue what will happen when I hang up, but I know for sure that it's what I have to do. I'm leaving now, I'm putting one foot in front of the other now. You and I both deserve to let each other go, and build better versions of ourselves on our own... somehow." She took a long pause, there was a lot of sniffles, and deep breathes, "but if you're still listening, I still love you- I think I always will."

The voicemail ended, and Owen sat with tears in his eyes. It all made sense now, why she had stopped returning his calls, why they had drifted so far apart. I should've listened to this sooner, I could've stopped all of this. He fell back on the bed, upset and frustrated with himself. This had made some things so clear, but others so much more confusing. If Cristina had meant all this, why did they fall so easily back into old habits? If he had been there, would things be different? If she said she would always love him, what exactly does Cole mean to her? 

Owens head throbbed with unanswered questions, and racing thoughts. He sat for hours trying to process, but he only confused himself more. He decided he would go down to the hotel bar for a drink to try and clear his head.