"I'm here due to a layover. Can you imagine my surprise when I ran in to you downstairs? I heard that you moved to midtown. This isn't midtown."
"I think I was just as surprised to see you."
"Why did you buy a place in my building? To me, that's a little suspicious." she asks, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
He laughs, "Before I made the final offer, I found out it you had been here at all, and knowing that it's been almost a year since you were here, I figured it was a safe buy."
"What are you doing to the house?" she inquires.
He takes a few steps away, trying to rub the frustration from his face, "I'm having all reminders of you removed."
Dagger number two to the heart. That one takes her breath away a little bit. "Why are you doing that?" she asks, a little upset.
"Well, to be honest with you - I'm having the whole place gutted and remodeled, but it started with the master bathroom and bedroom. It killed me to get up and have reminders of you all over the place. You decorated both the bedroom and bathroom and they reflected you in the worst way."
"In the worst way? That's kind of mean." she retaliates.
"I don't mean it like that. It just got to be too much to look at the paintings that you painted and to look at the headboard you made, the little things that are all over the house - I finally had enough."
"So you had to move here while it's being done?"
"Beth, it was a good deal. Plus, I needed a place in the city."
"You have one in SoHo."
"Dot has that one, you know that." she can see that he's getting frustrated with her.
"I'm going to leave now. I can see this heading the wrong way and I don't want that to happen. If coming down here was a bad idea, I'm sorry Jon."
She stood by the door and waited for him to respond. He's looking out the window, noticing that it's a beautiful night in the city. All the lights were coming on and it's was quickly becoming the city that never sleeps. He turns to look at her and she is half way out the door. "Beth."
She stops and turns to face him, "Yeah?"
"Don't go."
"Jon, there is nothing left for us here. You said so yourself." she reminds him of the harsh words he spoke to her earlier.
"This can't be the last time that I see you." he's walking to her and her heart starts to race. "It can't be." he gets to her and takes her in his arms.
"Jon, come on. Let me go." she pleads.
His face is buried in her hair and he mumbles, "Just give me a minute, please."
She stands there, melting in his arms with every second that passes. She knew that she missed him, she just didn't know how much until she bumped into him in the lobby. While soaking up the embrace, she glances around his apartment and she sees the picture that he took of her and Romeo on the wall above the fireplace. He's getting rid of all reminders at the house, but brings them here, she thinks to herself. Pulling away from him, she sees that he's now crying and that is never a good thing. In the time that she's known him, he's cried very few times. He's an Italian man that has great pride and thinks that a man crying is a weakness.
Reaching up and wiping his tears, "Hey, why are you crying?"
He laughs a little and says, "I don't know. I know I don't want you to go, but I know you have too."
"Yeah, we can't have it both ways. Will you be okay?" wiping another tear off of his cheek.
He nods his head and reaches for the door. "I'll be okay. Thanks for coming down to talk, I feel much better, although I may not look like it right now."
He kisses her forehead and she leaves his apartment.
The rest of the night was hell for both of them. She knew he was just downstairs and he knew that she was just upstairs. They are in the same building, but they feel worlds apart. Their love was still quite strong, but being together wasn't an option. She was going to Greece, to meet up with Dalton and she had no idea what Jon was up to. She couldn't worry about that, it was no longer her business.
Great chapter. Now that they have closure I can't wait to see what happens next.
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