7. The One That Got Away

The meeting was still weighing heavily on Julia’s mind, but leaving the office helped and so did the thought of a honey lavender latte from Cuppy’s. She knew that many people found this place tacky and kitschy. But the quaint second-hand furniture and smell of coffee with various flowers lifted her spirits every time. And while worries about work cannot easily be switched off, they can be easily overshadowed by bigger drama.

One honey lavendar latte for Julia!

Julia walked up to pay but the barista told her that it had already been paid for and pointed to a guy standing behind her. The familiar voice brought back mixed feelings and as Julia turned around:
“Romeo! What are you doing here?!”, she exclaimed, looking at her freshly tanned ex-boyfriend in shock. Meanwhile, Romeo grinned ear to ear.
“I’m back. I climbed the Vinicunca in Perú and as I was standing on the top, surrounded by beauty and colour, I realised that I had made a mistake. This trip, leaving everything, leaving you, helped me realise how grateful I should be for my life here.”

Romeo took Julia’s hand between his own and looked at her while pulling puppy eyes. Julia was still in shock. Half a year ago, Romeo had decided that he didn’t want to take over his father’s business, and that having everything planned out just wasn’t for him. Also, that his relationship with Julia was in fact just holding him back. So he wrote her a break-up-note and left. He turned off his phone number, deleted his socials and was completely off the grid. For a while.

Two months, many tears and drinks on Julia’s part later, Romeo reappeared. On social media. Standing with champagne in his hand on a yacht. Surrounded by beautiful girls in bikinis. Julia had called him out in the comments for a while, until she realised that it didn’t give her the satisfaction she had hoped for. But seeing him like that made it a lot easier to move on.

“I know you saw some of the pictures from Buenos Aires. But that was just me trying to fill the emptiness I felt after leaving you”, Romeo said in a soft voice. Julia pulled her hands out of his and shoved them into her coat. And of course, she felt a fortune cookie. She had no intention of getting into a conversation about this with Romeo but he saw the cookie and snatched it away. He broke it open and read aloud: “The One Who Got Away.” Romeo smiled at her and made a stomach churn. Julia turned to the barista and gave her some cash: “Look, how about I pay my own latte and you keep what he gave you as a tip. I just don’t want to accept a drink from him.”
“Of course, love. I’m sorry”, said the barista, feeling bad, but Julia smiled at her. She didn’t mean harm. Then, she turned to Romeo.

“Listen, if I’m the one who got away, it’s in the sense of a true-crime documentary. You told me in a note but I’ll tell you to your face: We’re don.” Julia looked back, raised her cup and smiled at the barista and walked out.