He pulled back a bit and gently held my face in his hands as his tear filled eyes searched mine.
"I don't want to lose you either Sky. I love you so much and my heart was breaking when I thought about life without you. I don't want to be with anyone else. I promise we’ll figure out how we’re going to see each other while I’m on the road.”
I smiled at him. “I know, we can work this out.”
"You'll visit me, I'll visit you and we will be together. This, what we have, this is meant to be. I don't ever want to be with anyone else.”
“Neither do I.”
He leaned down and gently touched his lips to mine.
“I love you, Sky.”
“I love you too.”
Epilogue
Six Years Later
Katie and I ended up rooming together all four years of college and she is my best friend in the world. The summer after our sophomore year she was visiting me in Chicago and we walked by a cupcake shop and a light bulb went off at the exact same time for both of us. From that point on, in all of our spare time we created a business plan for a cupcake business, found sponsors, found a storefront in Boston and started our cupcake boutique the summer after our junior year. By the time we graduated we were turning a profit. We now have 20 stores across the East Coast and over 200 employees.
Jonathan ended up touring for three years, recorded three albums and is recognized by fans all the time who beg him to put out a solo album. He hung up the guitar to go work for his dad when two of the guys in the band got married and had babies. They decided that they didn’t want to be away from their families anymore, so the band stuck to their original plan and they broke up after the contract ended. I can tell he misses it but he still keeps in touch with the guys from the band.
We continued to see each other and the distance wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be probably because I was so busy with school and starting a business. He flew out to see me and I flew out to see him as often as we could and every time I saw him it was always better than the last time.
Katie and I live in the same condo building in Manhattan and I’m not too far from Jonathan’s condo. Our relationship is stronger than ever and I will be forever grateful to his aunt Lauren for coming to see me that day.
*****
It was around 5:00 p.m. on a gorgeous Saturday in the spring, I was checking my lipstick in the car mirror and I looked over at Jonathan, who was driving, and smiled at him. He must have felt me looking at him because he glanced over at me and returned my smile.
“What’s on your mind, beautiful?”
“Oh nothing, just thinking about how much fun we just had at Bunny’s 90th birthday party. She is a ball of energy.”
“Yeah, Nana Bunny has always been a spitfire. It was good to see everyone, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, it was. I was kind of surprised to see that your uncle Ethan has already moved onto wife number six. Wasn’t Barbi’s mom wife number four?”
“Yep, but everyone in the family knew that wouldn’t last.”
“I would say I feel bad for Barbi but she seems to be doing just fine. Did you see her on that tabloid news show the other day?”
“I did, and she seems to fit right in with the kind of stuff that she likes to wear.”
I giggled at that, I couldn’t help it. “Funny how some things never change.”
“I know. So, do you want to go for a walk in the park before dinner? Our reservation isn’t until 7:00.”
“Sure, we haven’t done that in a while.”
Ever since that first walk in the park in college when Jonathan called out Barbi, we made it a habit to take a walk in the park whenever we could.
We were strolling through the park and Jonathan suggested that we go in the Botanical Garden since we rarely did that. The flowers in there were so beautiful. We were casually walking through the garden and Jonathan pointed out a beautiful group of sunflowers.
“Aren’t these beautiful?”
“Yes, they are. They look like the flowers on my ring and necklace.”
Just then an employee walked by and said she had a package for us. I was thoroughly confused, how could she have a package for us when she didn’t know that we would be there? She handed Jonathan something and I couldn’t see what it was until he turned around towards me. There in his hand was a gorgeous bouquet of sunflowers and, once again, I knew that my dad was there. He handed them to me and I couldn’t stop smiling and I could feel the tears welling up.
“Jonathan, these are beautiful, thank you.”
“You’re beautiful, Sky.”
He suddenly got very serious. “You are everything I have ever wanted in woman. You make me a better man every day, you are my best friend, my happiness and joy, the person I cannot live without. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Before you there was no one and without you there will never be anyone else.”
He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black velvet box and got down on one knee. My heart was pounding as a tear gently rolled down my cheek. He opened the box and the diamond ring took my breath away.
“Skylar Miller, will you marry me?”
I didn’t even hesitate. “Yes! A thousand times yes!”
I flung my arms around him and our lips met in a passionate kiss.
“I love you, Sky.”
“I love you too, Jonathan.”
All of a sudden people around us started clapping and I couldn’t stop grinning as I looked around and wiped away my tears of happiness. Jonathan picked me up and swung me around.
“We’re getting married!”
I am the happiest woman in the world.
The End