Post by Blissful Stories (@Blissful)

BEFORE YOU SAY GOODBYE
EPISODE 5 | PART 1: THE DATE

Maya had promised herself she would not fall for Alexander again, but when he invited her out for one evening without questions, she found herself smiling at her phone.
Just one evening, she reminded herself.
By seven thirty, Alexander was waiting outside her apartment. When she stepped out in a fitted black dress, her hair falling softly around her shoulders, he forgot what he had planned to say.
“You look beautiful,” he said.
Maya raised an eyebrow. “You sound surprised.”
“I'm surprised you still have the power to make me forget every sensible thing I've ever wanted to say.”
She laughed despite herself, and Alexander smiled. He had missed that laugh more than she could explain.
Their drive took them away from the crowded streets to a quiet garden restaurant glowing beneath warm lights. A table waited on the terrace, decorated with white flowers and candles. Soft music drifted through the evening air, while the city shimmered beyond the garden walls.
Maya looked around in disbelief.
“Alexander, how did you find this place?”
“I didn't just find it. I remembered it.”
She turned towards him. Five years earlier, they had spent an evening at a similar restaurant, talking about their future until the staff began stacking chairs around them. She had told him then that her perfect date needed good food, beautiful music and a place where she could forget the rest of the world existed.
He had remembered every word.
Dinner made the memories even harder to ignore. He had ordered the pasta she loved, followed by her favourite lemon cake. When their old song began playing, Maya slowly put down her fork.
“You remember all of this?” she asked.
Alexander looked at her as if the answer should have been obvious.
“Of course I do.”
“Even the cake?”
“You once told me you would marry a man who remembered your favourite dessert.”
“I was twenty four. I said ridiculous things.”
“You also told me you hated flowers because men used them to apologise for things they had no intention of changing.”
Maya laughed. “And you bought me flowers anyway.”
“You made me sleep on the sofa.”
“You deserved it.”
For a moment, they were the couple they used to be, teasing each other over dinner and laughing about things that once seemed important. Maya found herself leaning forward, eager to hear his stories, while Alexander watched her with the quiet wonder of someone who had been given something precious and knew he might lose it again.
Then the laughter faded.
“Why did you remember everything?” Maya asked.
Alexander set down his glass.
“Because leaving you never made me forget you.”
Her smile disappeared.
“That isn't the same as staying.”
“I know.”
The honesty in his voice hurt more than an excuse would have. Maya looked away, blinking back the tears threatening to form.
She wanted to ask him why he had abandoned her, why he had allowed her to spend years believing she had not been enough, but she was afraid the answers would ruin the only peaceful evening they had shared since his return.
After dinner, Alexander offered his hand.
“Dance with me.”
“Here?”
“Unless you have somewhere more important to be.”
“I have several unanswered questions.”
“They'll still be unanswered in three minutes.”
She shook her head, smiling and placed her hand in his.
He drew her gently into his arms as the music played. Maya rested one hand on his shoulder, trying to maintain the distance she had promised herself she would keep. But his familiar warmth made that distance feel impossible.
“You used to hold me like this whenever I was upset,” she whispered.
“I remember.”
“You would tell me everything would be fine.”
Alexander looked into her eyes.
“I wish I had been able to keep that promise.”
Maya's heart tightened. Before she could respond, he brushed a strand of hair away from her face and kissed her forehead.
She closed her eyes, allowing herself one moment of the comfort she had missed for five years.
When she opened them, Alexander was looking at her as though he had been waiting all evening to hear something.
Maya's voice trembled.
“I missed you.”
He drew her closer, his forehead resting against hers.
“I missed you every single day.”
Then he kissed her lips, gently at first, giving her time to pull away. Instead, Maya held his shoulders and kissed him back, and for a few precious seconds, neither of them seemed to remember why they had ever been apart.
When they finally separated, Alexander kept her in his arms.
“Stay with me a little longer,” he whispered.
Maya nodded, unable to trust her voice.
But just as he leaned down to kiss her again, his phone began to vibrate.

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