Destined

by Bella Emy

  Destined? Destined… that was the exact thing I had said to Grayson. We had been destined to meet, but my reasoning had been different than what Gary believes. He believes we were destined to meet because Grayson is one of the great loves of my life. I have always believed you only get one true love in your entire lifetime. I believe meeting Grayson again now was to show me not to ever get involved with anyone else because Luis is the only one who I was meant to be with. But still, I won’t get into that now with him. I need to let him enjoy his holiday with his family and not ruin another one for him, as I have so many Christmases in the past.

  “Gary, my love. I’ll see you soon. Merry Christmas,” I say and hang up the phone before he has a chance to say anything else to change my mind.

  10

  “Flight number 656 to New York, boarding in twenty minutes. All passengers please find your…” the blaring intercom informs.

  I continue sitting in my green plastic chair waiting for them to let us know we are now boarding. I can’t wait to get back home and put this disarraying mess behind me. If anyone knows how to pick a disaster, it’s me. No doubt about that. My life the past couple of days is living proof of that.

  I look out toward the window, and I see airplanes lined up, ready to take-off, one after the other. I lift my hand and tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear when I suddenly stop. It somehow reminds me of the last time when Grayson had done it. He had looked so intently into my eyes, and I could have sworn he was ready to tell me that he loved me. I choke up and take in a deep breath. I must have been insane or completely out of my Goddamn mind to believe love was out there waiting for me once more. My days of being loved and sharing them with someone else are gone. It’s not meant for me. It’s not in the cards for me. I am meant to be all alone, missing Luis for the rest of my life.

  With the back of my right hand, I wipe at a tear that had managed to form while I had been away, deep in my thoughts. I sniffle and pull my phone out of my pocket. Going through my contacts, I hit the call button once I come across the person I am looking for.

  “Bells? Hey! How are you? London treating you good?” my brother, Dylan’s, voice comes through the receiver. With everything that happened, I had never called him or the rest of my family to wish them a Merry Christmas. Most likely, he and Amber are with the kids over at Mom and Dad’s house. With my luck, this one phone call will be the only one I need to make to wish everyone a good holiday and let them know I’m on my way.

  I hear the twins screaming in the background and Amber telling them she’s going to tell Santa to come back and take all their gifts away.

  I giggle softly at the bizarre image that comes to mind of her chasing two five-year-old wild boys with a pillow, running around Mom and Dad’s living room. My sister-in-law never spanked the boys, and if she did, you’d best believe she’d do it with a handkerchief or something like that.

  “I’m good, D,” I lie. “I wanted to wish you guys a Merry Christmas,” I say. It’s true, but I’m hoping he doesn’t hear the sorrow in my voice that I’m trying to disguise with my quiet laugh. I need this facade to work so I don’t worry him.

  “Bells? What’s the matter? You don’t sound good. What’s going on?” He’s pushing. He knows me too well to fall for this. He knows something is up. How can I blame him for asking me what’s wrong? If the situation were reversed, I’d be doing the same thing.

  I sniffle again. Hearing my brother’s voice and him knowing something is wrong is too much. I should have known better than to think I could hide this from him. He knows me too damn well. He and I are practically one in the same.

  “Anabelle, please. Tell me what’s wrong.”

  I hear him move around and all of a sudden, it gets quiet on his end. He must have left the room to go somewhere quieter to speak to me.

  I let out a long sigh and realize there’s no use in lying to Dylan. What good is it going to do? “You’ll never believe me, but I met the guy responsible for Luis’s death.”

  That does it. The waterworks explode, and I’m crying like a baby.

  “What? Oh my God, Ana, are you alright?”

  “Not really… we hung out a few times… I was beginning to catch feelings for him and…”

  He is the one to sigh now. “Oh, Anabelle. I’m so sorry.”

  Another announcement comes through the intercom again, but it’s not for my flight.

  “Bells, are you at the airport?” he questions. Yeah, I guess I failed to mention to him that my vacation was being cut short.

  “Yes, D. I’m coming back home. My flight boards in about,” I give my wrist a flick and look down at my watch, “fifteen minutes or so.”

  “Okay, Okay. I’ll pick you up from JFK. What’s your flight number?”

  I give him the information he needs and agree to see him when I land back home.

  After we hang up, another announcement comes through, this time telling me that my flight is about to board.

  I stand up and grab my carry-on, when suddenly, I hear my name being called from the distance.

  “Ana! Dr. Davidson! Wait!”

  I spin around just in time to see a frantic Grayson running toward me at full speed. Once he reaches me, out of breath, he bends in half.

  “Grayson? What are you doing… how did you even know I was here?” I question. How the hell did he know I was here now?

  Huffing and puffing, he pulls himself up. “I went… to the… hotel. They told me… you had already… checked out.” Finally, catching his breath, he continues. “I had to find you, Anabelle. I had to see you once more and tell you how I feel before you go.”

  “What are you talking about? There is nothing to say. It was all a mistake. The last couple of days should have never happened. I have to go,” I say as I’m about to begin walking away.

  Before I have a chance to take even my first step, I feel his arms pull me close to him and wrap around my waist as he says, “You mean, this was a mistake?”

  His lips crash into mine, and all I want to do is pull away. He fights against me, holding me tighter still, and before I know it, I give in.

  As our lips and mouths move together, all the emotions for the day come flooding out of me once again. I want this kiss. I want this feeling. And most importantly, I still want him, no matter what the past may have been.

  Slowly, he pulls away. I can see his eyes match mine: red and watery. His determination shows on his face. He had been focused on getting to me in time before I left, and he made it.

  “Anabelle… I need you to know… I want you to know… I love you.”

  Those three little words leave his lips and hit me like a ton of bricks. How could eight little letters form such powerful words?

  “Grayson…” is all I manage to respond.

  He comes closer to me and grabs my hands in his. I’m almost hyperventilating. The moment is too real, too much. I feel like I’m about to totally lose it.

  He looks deeply into my eyes and says, “Baby, I love you. I knew as soon as I saw you that you were the one for me. Please, you’ve got to believe me when I tell you I didn’t realize who you were ‘til it was way too late. I had already fallen for you. And now, here I am, ready and willing to let you know that if you go back home right now and leave me here, this will be the greatest mistake of our lives. I need you, Ana. I am so sorry for the hurt I caused you and your family. I am so sorry. I wish there was something I could do to take away the pain I caused you. Four years is a long time. Four years, your life changed, as did mine.”

  Images of Kaylee flash back into my mind. The poor little angel… his baby girl. How could I have been so insensitive?

  “Last call for flight 656 to New York… last call for flight 656 to New York…”

  He looks at me with the most pitiful look and says, “I guess this is goodbye. I’ll love you forever, Anabelle Davidson.”

  He puts his head down and turns around. He walks away slowly, and suddenly, I feel as though I can’t
breathe. My heart races and I’m struggling to catch my breath.

  “Grayson,” I say, but it only comes out as a whisper. He doesn’t hear me as he continues walking further and further away from me. I stumble forward trying to reach him.

  I try again, “Gra-Grayson!” I say, more audibly this time. Yet, it’s still not loud enough for him to hear me, but somehow, some way, something inside has told him to turn around and he sees me trying to reach out to him.

  His eyes widen in disbelief as he rushes to come to my aid, when I finally am able to call to him loudly enough. “Grayson! Grayson!”

  “Ana!” He catches me in his arms.

  I throw myself into him as my arms wrap around his body. I don’t want to ever let go of him. I never want to let go of this man. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” I whisper-shout.

  He pulls me away and shakes his head. “You have nothing to be sorry about, sweetheart. I was the one to cause you pain. You did nothing to me.”

  I’m crying once more. “Yes, I did. I didn’t want to hear you out when you told me about Kaylee. How immensely insensitive of me to think this was only about my pain and my hurt. You suffered a great deal back then, too. I should have been there for you. I should have held you. I’m so sorry.”

  “Shhh, baby. No more. I’m here for you.”

  “Grayson, I-”

  I’m cut off by the intercom announcing that I had missed my flight. My plane is on the runway, ready to take off and here I am standing in tears with a man who has changed my life in so many ways.

  “Oh, no. Baby, your flight is gone. Come, let’s go see if we can get you on the next one… hopefully they’ll let us…” he begins to tug me toward the counter, but I stop him.

  “No,” I say, wrapping my arms back around him once more. I want to be engulfed in his embrace.

  He looks at me in disbelief. “No?”

  “I don’t want to leave,” I confess, with one of my own smirks.

  “You don’t?” His brows furrow.

  I shake my head back and forth. Reaching up onto my tippy toes, I let my lips crash into his. Parting them slightly, I insert my tongue into his mouth where his immediately wraps around mine. I savor the taste of him, relishing in the feeling.

  Once we pull away, he smiles down at me and I smile back. “What was that for, Ana?”

  “That’s for us to pick up where we left off last night.” Images from our previous night together flood my mind. No more than a few seconds later, my panties are dripping and drenched. “Take me back to your place,” I demand.

  A devilish smirk forms on his face. He can’t hide that smile from ear-to-ear if he wanted to. “Are you serious?”

  “I’m so serious. Mr. Ramsey, I want you… I love you.”

  He picks me up from underneath my arms and spins me around. As he slowly brings me back down, our mouths meet yet again in the most romantic kiss I’ve ever had in my life.

  As our lips part and we pull away, he grabs my hand with one hand and takes my suitcase in his other. We begin making our way out of the airport and walk toward his car. I don’t know where this new adventure will take me, but one thing is for sure: I don’t want to be away from Grayson’s side ever again.

  I feel him gently squeeze my hand and say, “Dr. Davidson, I love you, too.”

  The End

  Afterword

  Thank you for taking the time to read

  Destined.

  If you enjoyed this story, I would love to see what you thought.

  Please consider leaving a review.

  Reviews help an author so much!

  Thank you!

  ~Bella ❤

  About Bella

  Bella Emy is a USA Today Bestselling Author.

  She loves all books, but her favorite genre to read, as well as write, is romance. Bella loves creating heartbreaking stories that will deeply touch her readers, but in the end, a good HEA is usually the turnout.

  Whenever Bella is not typing away on her computer with a nice hot cup of coffee, she loves spending time with her family and friends. Her favorite places to go are the movies, the beach, or just on a good plain old road trip. Some of her must haves are coffee, chocolate, pizza, music, & movies.

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