Not What I Expected

Part 7

Nicole let the tears fall down her face as she stood in a corner of the elevator and waited for it to approach the ground floor. She was so overwhelmed and she didn't think that it was possible for her heart to break any more than it already was. Nicole looked down at her phone and pushed the button to turn it on. A picture of her, Chad and Hudson huddled together and smiling at the camera stared back up at her which only made her heart hurt more.

The door to the elevator finally opened and as Nicole rushed out of the elevator, still crying, she ran right into someone who was waiting to get on the elevator. Her eyes were clouded over with tears and she couldn't tell by the muscular chest she was staring at, whose hands were resting on her shoulders.

"Nicky, what's wrong?" she heard a voice ask.

Jesus, she thought as she hung her head down and tried to get the tears to stop falling down her face, why did she have to run into him again. She had completely forgotten that Ryan was in the building. She was too consumed with her life and didn't think for a moment that he would be the one she ran into as she flew off the elevator.

"Nothing, I'm fine Ryan," Nicole said quickly before wiping her face with the back of her hand.

"That's bull shit," Ryan alleged as he grabbed her wrist gently and pulled her into a corner, "I know I haven't seen you in 13 years and things didn't end great for us, but you and Beth have got to stop lying to me. I am truly concerned about what is going on with you Nicky."

She pulled her wrist away from him and glared up at him, but what she saw wiped the glare right off her face. She looked into those dark brown eyes and all she saw was a man that she used to love more than 13 years ago. She saw a man, a gorgeous man that clearly was concerned about what was going on in her life and she could feel her guard go down almost immediately. But she couldn't let herself get too lost in the moment.

"My husband has been having an affair for the last year," Nicole replied sadly, "I am struggling horribly with the fact that I have to do what is right and try to fix my marriage. So I am sorry, but I can't be here with you right now. It is confusing me more than you know, that you should start appearing back in my life right as this horrible turn of events has occurred. I have to go now, I have an appointment to get to."

Nicole gave him a sad smile before she turned away from him and made her way outside without waiting for him to speak. If she stood there and waited for him to speak, it would only make it more difficult for her to walk away from him. She already didn't want to leave him, but deep down she knew that it was the right thing for the time being.

Ryan stood there and watched her walk out of the building. He wasn't expecting that news. He couldn't believe that Chad would cheat on the beautiful woman that just walked away from him. She was beautiful and if she was anything like the woman he had been in love with so many years ago, that was not a woman you cheated on. She was the type of woman that you wanted to love and cherish, that you would give your life for, and make sacrifices for. She was the type of woman, that if you were ever lucky enough to have one in your life, you would be a fool to ever let her go.

A fool was exactly what he was. He was that fool that let Nicole go all those years ago. He did not really have a good explanation for letting her go, although back then, his decision to call it off with her had made all the sense in the world. But now looking back on it, it was the biggest mistake he had made.

13 Years Ago

"Hey baby," Nicole called out as she let herself into Ryan's apartment, "Where are you? We should celebrate! I just finished a practical test on the human brain...and I rocked it!"

Ryan had taken the day off and still hadn't bothered to get dressed. He walked out of his bedroom where he had been doing a lot of thinking and into the living room where Nicole was taking off her runners. Her beauty, even after three years still took his breath away.