After five months of exploring almost half of Europe, everything changed entirely.

The places we visited.
The sights we witnessed.
The people we interacted with.
The memories we shared.
The love we built.

Maybe it was the savory taste of freedom or the feeling of strength I felt when the wind kissed my cheeks on that cruise ship. Bet we discovered more than the culture in every country we went to, we discovered about ourselves and how life was too precious not to remember these moments.

It was the best escape anyone could have.

It was eight o'clock in the morning when the chauffeur picked us up at the pier. "I call shotgun," Audrey exclaimed when the limousine stopped in front of us. She opened the door and went inside hastily.

"Why are you two nothing alike?" Eric jokingly told me as our heads turned towards one another at the same time.

"I don't think so," I replied, "I'm sure we have something in common, don't we, Audrey?" I chuckled while we got inside the car.

Sighing, Audrey raised a brow as she surfed through the gallery on her phone. "You know just because you two have found love doesn't mean you get to team up against me all the time."

Eric laughed and teased her in a pouty voice. He knew Audrey hated a pitchy voice, and he ravished making her mad in a good way. "Come on, Audrey. You know we're just messing with you," he said, putting his around me to keep me close. "You had your fun with several guys for five months."

"Not too much fun," Audrey interrupted sharply, moving her body to face us from the passenger seat. "Dr. Martin broke my heart. That backstabbing cheater," she cursed him while still busy on her phone, crossing her legs.

Suddenly her mood changed as soon as she discovered something worth her interest. "You two looked so good in this photo," Audrey said excitedly, showing a picture of us on her phone.

As we looked over to her phone, Eric unexpectedly kissed me on the cheek while I watched. Audrey immediately rolled her eyes and brought back her attention to her phone. "You guys make me sick," she uttered.

Surprised, I gazed at Eric and touched my left cheek where he kissed. "What was that for?"
"Nothing," he said with a grin on his face, "I just love kissing you."

"I like that too," I replied.

His memory returned to the picture. "Oh anyway — that's gonna be placed in our bedroom, hung on a large mahogany frame," he told me as light shined in his eyes.

I smiled back and nodded.

Vichtrone Avenue (Home)

"I'm so exhausted." Audrey groaned as she extended her legs on the couch. She leaned on the pillows and rested her tired arms.

"Me too," I said, removing my blazer. I sat beside Audrey and hugged her leg. Over the years, my relationship with Audrey grew and grew. She was more of a sister to me than I ever was to her.

"Someone's being too clingy today..." she teased as she sat properly beside me. "You made the right choice," Audrey said, patting my shoulder. "I'm happy for you."

"Thank you, Audrey," I replied with a smile and leaned my head to her shoulder.

"Never let that one go."

A short pause was spent closing my eyes and feeling good about having a sister. Then I asked her a question I had never asked him before.

"Audrey..."

"Hm?"

"Have you forgotten about Raymond?"

"I still think about him all the time. When I flirt with other guys, I compare them to him."

"They're all fun time to me," Audrey added. "Nothing can replace our love."

Intrigued, I met a different side of her. "How did you know Raymond was the one?"

"He was the taker of my fears."

"He made you feel alive," I said.

"Yes."

Shortly after, our conversation turned out enjoyable, reminiscing about the best five months we had. We laughed at the man who tried to scam us with portraits in Greece. He messed with the wrong tourists.

Sooner or later, I fell asleep. My mind began to wander off the deepest taverns — like it always did. Eyes were closed, but inside my head, I was far gone from home.

Five months' worth of freedom and acceptance to where the wind had taken me, and it was more than what I had dreamed of.
Five months had passed, but my heart continued to yearn for buried answers.
Five months — and I had moved on from the truth that kept me from truly living the life I longed for.

He was a significant part of my past and since I came back, I regretted the lost time wasted. All this time when I thought he was trying to reach out to me, what he wanted was to break free of me.

The roles were reversed — I was the one who was dead — longing for him was the only way I would feel alive. He made me alive.

Did I know he was gone all along? Was I in denial? Or did I merely trick myself into thinking he would always be there for me?

When I was still in the middle of dreaming, a warm palm touched my thigh. A wide smile greeted me and Audrey was no longer beside me. "Where's Audrey?" I asked Eric.

"She's gone home," was his reply.

"Honey," he whispered, "I've prepared lunch for both of us. I told Lydia and the others to cook something special."

"That's great..."

Still feeling drowsy, I stood up and walked to the kitchen. Like the gentleman he was, he pulled the chair where I sat, waiting for me to come over. The table was set with candlelights and the food was looked very tender. My mouth watered.

"Hmmm, everything smells so good," I said with anticipation written on my face as I sat down. I took the silver utensils and sliced the braised pork with my knife.

Eric was delighted by my excitement. "I'm glad you liked it."

I ate the pork dipped with marvelous sauce. I ate like a caveman. Not that I hadn't eaten a decent meal on a luxurious cruise ship for five months, it's just that my tongue was craving for something homey. This was it.

Thoughts came to mind. These thoughts had been in my mind since the cruise — about how lucky I was. Lucky enough to be treated well and new. Adorned. Reassured. Loved.

"You're so good to me. You always have." I drank my water. "Listen, Eric, about what happened during the cruise," I initiated a serious conversation, something usually discouraged to be talked over breakfast.

"What happened on the cruise was meant to be, Avery. We didn't start great, but it ended the way it should've," he said, taking a bite of the juicy pig. "You finally opened your eyes to the truth, and thank God I didn't stop."

"I'm not gonna waste this chance. This happened for a reason," he added.

"I love you, hon," Eric said from across the table.

"I love you too," I replied.

Everything seemed to work out delightfully for me. My best friend was my husband, treating me like he fell in love with me for the first time. It was safe to say I knew him inside out. The same way he knew me — bones and soul.

I wondered how different my life would've been had I known Nathan was dead all along.

Would I have been happy with Eric?

Maybe.

Would I have been happier with Nathan had I not left?

Absolutely.

Like old times, we talked until seconds became minutes and minutes became hours. Everything happened swiftly — as any other form of happiness — temporary as time.

After breakfast, we went up to the room. On the bed, we lied down, so close to each other, skin was inseparable.

"I could die right now," Eric said with enthusiasm.

"What?"

"I meant, I now have everything I want in this lifetime. I could never be happier." He widened his arms and let my head rest on his shoulders. My head was on his chest.

"Really?" I asked.

He kissed my forehead. "Really. There's no place I'd rather be."

Eric called my name as he faced upwards. He wasn't looking at me. "Avery?"

"Yeah?"

This time his head turned towards me with a huge smile plastered on his face. He held my hands and earnestly asked me the question.

"Avery Bridgette van Carter — Greddon, will you marry me for the second time?"

Taking a deep breath, I held his hands tightly as my eyes watered. I looked him in the eye and answered him firmly. "Yes."

Hours later, he went out to celebrate the proposal with his pals. Last time he wasn't able to do that. I was left alone at home to help Lydia and the other maids with the cleaning. They didn't need help in the first place, I just didn't have anything else to do.

I couldn't tell anyone about the good news. Audrey would eventually know, so as my parents and Eric's parents — soon enough the entire country. So there was no need.

When Eric left, I asked Lydia of the keys to my apartment. Eric told me before he left the keys to her, as the last choice, since Audrey was in a rush to go on a cruise. At that time, I had also been recently dumped by my lover who was a fragment of my imagination, though it caused me real pain.

She gave me the keys and told the chauffeur to start the car. I wished to take a last look at it (apartment) since I planned to sell it after Eric and I got married. I'd say it meant so much to me back then, but now, not so much.

"To my apartment, please," I told him.

"Yes, ma'am."

On the way to Taleauve Boulevard, which was not that far from the mansion, I sat silently inside the car. I was conflicted — feeling both liberated and lost.

I should've broken free from the chains of my past, especially now that I have decided to move forward from all of this. But why did I feel like I was simply giving myself what I thought I owed to her?

Facing the window, I saw my apartment. It looked obsolete and not taken care of, which was understandable. It had been months since I've been here. And even when I was here, I didn't do much cleaning. More so, I never let anyone inside clean, let alone touch anything.

"Wait for me," I said as I got out of the car. Walking up to the front porch, I jiggled the keys to the keyhole. The sound of the door opening sounded different now. I no longer associated it with Nathan leaving me, or so I thought.

The place needed a total makeover, at least for the future owners of this apartment. I went to check my room for the last time, gazing at every corner, every floor tile, every furniture there was.

As I sat on the bed, something was moving from the pile of things beside the dresser. Under the bookshelves where I used to collect my writings, a line of boxes (both large and small) appeared new to me.

Curious, I stood up and went to see what was behind them. Tiny munches and scratches and movements grew louder as I went closer. I bent forward and opened one of the boxes.

Then a small, black creature appeared in front of me. A rat came out of it, munching a piece of paper then ran away between my feet.

I tripped and fell on the boxes, hitting my head on the sturdy shelves. Shit. Fucking rat.

Standing up from the floor, I brushed the dust off my clothes and fixed my hair. I took a look at the boxes I stumbled on and noticed there were quite a number of them. I wondered what these were. Funny. I never kept boxes. I entertained myself by searching through them one by one.

Then I felt my pocket vibrated. It was my phone, and it showed a message on the lock screen. "I'm missing you already," was what it said. As I unlocked the screen, the text cursor kept blinking.

'I miss you too—'
No.
'I'll be back soon, don't worr...'
No.
I erased my message and put the phone inside my pocket, not wanting to be distracted.

My attention went back to the boxes. There was writing marked on the side. It was labeled, "OUR THINGS. DO NOT TOUCH." Seeing it made me more curious, I opened the biggest one. It was filled with lizard feces and cobwebs. Beneath the thick dirt, there was a heart-shaped golden, metal antique.

Inside, I found a small notebook filled with poems and writings in cursive. And on the front, it said, Wonderfully So.