Love Isn't Enough

Six years.

It had been six years since I last saw her or had any kind of communication with her. I had ignored all her messages and mails, deleted them without even reading them, cutting off and wiping away anything that reminded me of her. I burnt her clothes, smashed all our photo frames - I stopped eating those foods that reminded me of her.

I was that furious. Betrayed.

How could she do that to me?

I loved her so much. Fuck, I still loved her. Ever since I had kicked her out of my place and my life, I missed her, really missed her. I was messed up, she had ruined me for every other woman. I was depressed for the past six years, and no one could help me out of it.

No one, except her.

I still remember the last day I saw her: her beautiful, rosy cheeks were pale, lacking the flush that was always present on her face whenever she was around me. Her blue eyes were dull, as if they had lost their twinkle. I had always thought that those twinkling stars were just for me.

Who knew that I was too stupid to fall for that twinkle of greed, mistaking her every emotion as love.

Love.

Not just a day ago I was ready to lay my entire world at her feet. Not just a day ago I had eyes only for her, and I was blindly and madly in love with her. We had our perfect little uncomplicated love story, a whole future planned ahead of us.

She destroyed it all in just a single day.

I let her go a long time ago, but I knew that a small part of me still wanted her, even after all the things she had done to me.

No. It didn't matter if I loved her or not. The hatred and the angst was still buried deep within me and I knew I wouldn't let go until I get my revenge.

My revenge, for breaking my heart.

****************************

"Sebastian?"

Reece appeared at the door of my office, his face glowing with what I could only call happiness. He wasn't displaying any such emotion on his face, but it was quite noticeable that something good had happened to him. At first, I was confused as to what the fuck he was doing here, but then I remembered that sometimes Reece liked to disturb me now and then.

He had no business at my workplace and secondly, he was quite a busy person himself.

"What are you doing here?" My tone wasn't welcoming at all. I was not in a mood to entertain friends and I didn't want to ruin Reece's happy face.

He rolled his eyes, "Nice to meet you, too, buddy. I was just checking in if you weren't too busy."

"I'm very busy."

My reply was immediate, and I went back to the file that needed my attention. We were going to meet in the evening anyway, if there was something he wanted to tell me, he could tell me then.

It was not like I was very busy, but everyone knew that I became a different person at work. Reece, more than anyone, knew that during work hours, I didn't want any interruptions if it wasn't anything urgent.

And if I was not working, I hated getting calls from work.

"You always are." He smirked, and took a seat on the couch right across from my desk, "But since you are all alone, I think you can spare your friend a few minutes to talk."

Now, what he was going to talk about?

Reece was probably going to tell me what had made him look happy and I was genuinely curious. Months of going through the torture of seeing him waste himself away and them him turning up looking so clean and tidied up a week ago was a surprise in itself.

He was happy now, and I had missed this face of his for quite a while. We had all pressed him into telling what had triggered his sudden change, but he refused to tell us anything.

He was only very determined to win his girlfriend back when he had come back from wherever a week ago, and he had been busy the entire week pursuing her.

Now he looked happier and I wanted to know what had happened. I knew that Amelia and he had sorted things out two days ago, so something must have happened today to make him come here all the way to my office.

Reece was a wonderful man, and just as amazing was his girlfriend Amelia. Both of them had been close to me in the past six years, and were the only ones who could get me away from my work and make me want to enjoy my time a little. They had been the ones who had brought me out of my crazed, obsessed haze when I had broken up with my ex.

I didn't even want to go there now.

"Of course, Reece," I closed the file I was reading and put it aside, "That is, if you also tell me where you had disappeared before and what had happened there."

"I see you still want to know." He had a teasing lilt to his words.

I narrowed my eyes, "Of course, I want to know. You disappeared from the face of the earth in god knows what condition. And you come back after weeks, completely different and determined. You are happier now, Reece, I want to know what happened there. We are all happy for you but we were all so fucking worried and you didn't even think about calling us and informing us that you were fine!" I gritted out.

"Hey, I'm sorry," his mouth pressed in a thin line, "I wasn't thinking about anyone else, I'm sorry." He sighed, "But I will tell you what, or rather who, helped me get myself together."

"I'm waiting," I leaned forward of my elbows and focused on him.

"I was in Seattle." He started, "Drunk out of my mind; I don't even know how I ended up there. I got caught in the wrong situation, was beaten up." I winced – he had never said a word. I could have helped him. He could have stayed here and we could have found someone here, "Some kind Samaritan took me to this hospital where they had this counselor of sorts."

He gave me a weird look right then, and I was pressed to ask, "So this counselor helped you?"

"Yes," He nodded, "I'm glad I wasn't addicted or anything, or that would have taken a long period of time. My only issue had been my breakup with Amelia and I got an unbiased opinion from the counselor, and well, some good, eye-opening suggestions gave me hope that Amelia and I could be together again."

Well, the counselor must have been a smart person. He made Reece drop his pride for Amelia – none of us could do that.

Amelia and Reece had always been the perfect couple, so perfect that I was always green with envy whenever I had been around them. They always reminded me of what I once had, what had been destroyed, only because a certain blue-eyed beauty couldn't love me enough to be faithful.

It was hard to believe when things ended between me and her. I don't even remember how I coped and moved on.

That's why it was even harder to see Reece and Amelia separating, because I had found myself living vicariously through their love life. That was the only way I could forget.

Both of them had been caught in a web of lies and misunderstandings, and when the web had finally cleared, they both had already said and done things to each other, that had broken them, but not beyond repair.

However, both of them were a little too proud to come back and talk things out.

"Was he a relationship counselor?" I asked him.

"No, not really." Reece shrugged, "But has wonderful a wonderful insight. I think you'll like him. Maybe you can talk about your... issues as well?" he hinted.

I wished that I could say that Noelle and I were caught in the web of lies and misunderstandings, too. But everything was crystal clear and there was nothing to sort.

It had been six years since I last saw her. If there had been something repairable, it would have been fixed years ago. I was sure she had already moved on.

"I don't think so," I shook my head, "There's nothing to talk about."

"You want me to show you a mirror now?" He said, "Look at your face. I didn't even say anything directly about your ex and you already have that face you make - sad, lonely and depressed." His tone softened, "Do you think you can forget the entire ordeal by just, immersing yourself in work and other people's lives? You are doing a wonderful job, with your business, those shelters, orphanages, but you have to stop overlooking your own needs."

"Whatever you just said, I never expected this to ever come out of your mouth. This counseling shit doesn't suit you." I smirked.

"Shut the fuck up."

I shook my head, "If there was ever a chance of me forgetting her, I would have been able to do that long ago. I have given up hopes of moving on."

"So you are never going to fall in love again, have a family, start over with someone new?"

Just the thought made me cringe. What Noelle and I had shared, I knew no one else would be able to compete. And to know that a connection of that kind could be broken, left me without hope – I didn't want to invest so much of myself in a relationship ever again only for it to result in so much pain.

I was good enough with animals, children and other people from whom I didn't have to expect anything in return.

"Okay, agreed you don't want to move on." He looked at me, "At least you would want to see this guy. He's important to me as well and I would want him to be at my wedding. I want you two to meet before that."

There was nothing wrong with a harmless meeting.

"If that's the case, we can go this weekend, arrange a dinner or something?" I suggested.

Reece smiled and nodded, "You are a little dense, Sebastian, you know?"

I was confused, "Why?"

"You didn't pick up on my hint. I'm getting married, idiot, Amelia said yes!"

I ignored the envy that was trying to seep and rounded the table to meet my friend in a congratulatory hug. He had been so happy when he came in, how could I not guess that?

"Congratulations, Reece."

The news was no surprise. He had made it clear that he was with Amelia for life.

"Thanks, man, people are saying this is too fast, but we just don't want to let go of each other at any cost." He grinned at me.

I nodded. "I'm happy for both of you. I need to meet Amelia, too, and congratulate her."

"Sebastian?"

"Yes?"

"Be my best man?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, "I thought that spot was reserved for me. You are going around asking?"

His eyes were fucking watering. Weddings, making everyone cry.

"Well, I was just confirming."

***********************

"So, when are we going to meet this man?" I asked Reece as we drove around Seattle.

"Okay," his tone suggested that what he was about to say next was going to piss me off, "I didn't tell you about one little thing, Sebby, and you have to promise you won't punch me in the face."

"Why don't you start with telling the truth?" I narrowed my eyes, clenching my fists in case I already needed to punch him.

"Well, this counselor is a woman, not a man."

I stared at him, "Why would I punch you in the face for that?" I asked him, "Wait, you aren't setting me up with her or something? Now that would make me want to punch you in the face."

"No, no, no," He gulped, "I just want you to meet her. I don't think she's single, anyway."

"Good for you." I said, huffing. He knew what I went through and how difficult it all was for me. Even though he wasn't there when we were together and when we broke up, but out of all people, he knew the most, and he knew how much I abhorred the thought of going through all of that again. "When are we going to meet her, then?"

"I have a feeling she'll chicken out if I ask her right away, but maybe we should surprise her at the hospital." He said.

"Cornering her like that wouldn't be a good thing to do." I suggested, "Let's just see if she's comfortable seeing us? Ask her beforehand."

Reece shrugged, "If you say it that way, we'll ask the receptionist to inform her beforehand. If she doesn't want to meet, she'll say, okay? She's not someone you can corner – very stubborn. Does what she wants."

"Whatever suits you. I just want to get this done with."

Reece gave a smile that made me a little nervous.

What was he up to?

We reached the hospital in no time and suddenly I was feeling nervous. I had nothing against hospitals, but here I was feeling the tension seep into my bones.

Something was going to happen, I couldn't put a finger on what, but the feeling wasn't going away.

"I'll just make a call to her and be back okay?" Reece asked.

"Why don't you call her in front of me?"

"Alright," he shrugged.

He turned towards me and chose the contact while I looked around to see what was making me so nervous, I couldn't find anything, not even a person who was staring at me. Everyone was minding their own business but I was still feeling uncomfortable.

Maybe I was going to be sick.

"Hey, doc." Reece greeted with a wide smile on his face. This woman must be really good at what she does – the hospital looked like it only hired the top professionals and Reece seemed to be fond of her.

Maybe this woman Reece was talking about was my mother's age and this idiot was just pulling my leg.

"Long time no see?"

She said something from the other side, I couldn't hear.

"Well, we have crossed all those miles to come see you." Reece replied.

Again, I couldn't hear what she said.

"No, it's not Amelia with me." Reece gave me another weird look that made me more nervous. What was wrong with me? I was rarely uncomfortable, "I have a friend I want you to meet."

"Tell her my name, Reece. She might recognize me." I smirked. I was well known, I just didn't know if people knew me all the way till here.

Reece hesitated for a moment, but then said it anyway, "His name is Sebastian, Sebastian Daniels. You might have heard of him."

Now I could clearly hear a loud gasp from the other side. So people did know me here.

She said something to Reece, to which he replied, "I thought you weren't busy?"

Now that was not a reaction I expected. I thought she would be more eager to meet me now that she knew my name. Guess, there are some people who are not very interested in meeting famous people.

"Don't force her if she's uncomfortable," I reminded Reece again.

"Okay, so we will meet you later." He nodded and hung up. He turned towards me, "She needed to go somewhere, but she has an off tomorrow. So we can meet her tomorrow in the evening."

"Or maybe not, Reece." I pointed out, "She doesn't seem too inclined to meet or she could have just shown her face for a minute and at least greeted us. I think we should go back." Reece looked disappointed, "And it's no big deal. We'll meet at the wedding anyway."

Reece nodded, "I'll just have a word with the receptionist and be back."

I nodded and waited at the hospital's entrance for Reece to come. Why he didn't inform her before we wasted our time and traveled all the way down here, I didn't know. He wasn't even telling me what was exactly going on in his mind about this entire ordeal.

I just wanted to go back home now.

Just then, I felt a niggling sensation at the back of my head, and then the moment I turned around, a small, soft body collided into mine.

Beautiful, blue eyes looked up at me and then disappeared as she muttered an apology and ran away.

Whoever that woman was, just a touch and a look from her was enough to get my nerves skyrocketing and for my brain to go haywire.

Coming here was definitely a bad idea.

But something inside me was making me want to stay and explore some more.