I said I would let it happen naturally, but I suppose with him, this is as natural as it's going to get.

"You look fine," Mariam's bored voice intoned from behind me. She was stretched out on my bed, blue hair fanning my sheets as I fidgeted in the mirror of my closet door. We'd been roommates for a little over two years, both of us finishing our fourth year of university.

"I want this to be right," I reply, adjusting my shirt for the hundredth time. Maybe I should try the blue one again.

"He called you," she reminds me as she sits up. "He's called you every year, twice a year since I've known you."

I look at her, waiting for her to continue.

"And then he didn't call. So you called him,"

I blink, remembering that I am putting myself through this.

"Trust me, it'll be right. He isn't going to care about your shirt or what you're wearing or if your hair's down or up. You've finally agreed to see him."

I sigh and look back at my reflection. "It is just coffee,"

"To you," Mariam laughs, "To him, it's angels smiling down on him. It's a rainbow after the hurricane. It's—"

"I get it."

She stands and stares me down through the mirror. Eventually, she smiles. "Even if I don't get it — this thing between you two — I'm glad you're finally giving him a chance. It seems like he's worked to earn it."

I shrug and pursue my lips. "It was never about earning it," I say.

Her smile weakens a little. "Whatever you say," she calls as she leaves my room.

He's there early, which I expect. He's found us a table against a window that's in a less busy section of the coffee shop. I place my order with the barista and slowly walk over to him. I know he knows I'm here, but he doesn't move – doesn't even look away from the passerby's outside.

I pull out my chair and take a seat. He finally looks at me. I wondered what this moment would be like. Seeing him again, meeting him, talking to him. But mostly, looking into his eyes again. I figured I'd be taken back to years ago when the time was ours. At that time, when I decided to talk—really talk to him—I made it a point to look into his eyes. I got to know them quite well.

But I'm not taken back to then.

I am right here, in this place and time, with all our history behind us. And it doesn't hurt me at all.

"You look good," he says first. A small contraction of his eyes leads me to believe that wasn't what he wanted to say.

I smile, charmed by his nervousness. He sounded surprised when I agreed to meet him after all the times I had said no. "You, too."

He looked older and not in the teenager-to-young adult that I'd seen my classmates go through, but truly aged. As much as I wanted to focus on me, I still couldn't keep some of my attention off him. I'd picked up pieces from the news about his business dealings, but most of my information came from Julia supplying it without reserve. I know he's been through a lot, especially since graduating from school.

From the news, I know that he's taken control of almost half of the company, leaving his grandfather as president.

From Julia, I know he blackmailed his grandfather to get that portion of the company and that he continues to blackmail him into doing what he wants.

He did say that he had a plan. I wonder what stopped him from taking full control, which was what he originally wanted.

We look away from each other when the waitress delivers my drink, and refills the cup of straight black coffee he has sitting in front of him.

"What made you say yes?" He asks as I take a sip of my coffee. It burns the tip of my tongue, but it's made perfectly. The sweetness soothes my nervousness the tiniest bit.

My eyes widen and I almost choke. "Going straight for it, huh?" I laugh lightly, wiping my lips.

"You always said no before," he answers, "I'd almost given up hope of seeing you again. I want to know what made you change your mind."

"I want to know what made you call me regularly for three and a half years," I counter, smiling to let him know I'm not accusing him of something.

"You know why,"

He is serious, no smile or gentleness about him. Julia told me he's this way now. Even without her forewarning, I shouldn't be surprised.

"I wanted time," I reply, serious too. "But I never stopped thinking about you. I was upset that you couldn't respect me enough to let me come back to you on my own if that's what I wanted. You kept calling, reminding me that you existed, that you wanted to see me. It made me feel guilty more than anything else. That's why I said no."

"That's great, Hilary," he says, his sarcasm cuts like a sharp dagger. "I got that. It's why I stopped calling. I was starting to feel like a stalker, and I could only imagine you were comparing me to Brooklyn. But why did you call me?"

I pause, thinking of the proper way to answer. "I've never compared you to Brooklyn," I start. It is sometimes hard for me to deal with that, but my therapist had given me some tools and it's been getting easier. "Your attention toward me was different. It was just frustrating. As I said, I felt disrespected.

"But then you stopped calling. I waited, but the call never came. Then I was able to live without thinking of them. Without thinking of you, except as a passing thought."

He looks out the window. "Which is what you wanted,"

"Yeah. It is." I tell him gently, but honestly. "I don't want my life to revolve around you, is that so bad?"

"No. Of course not. I just wanted to be part of it."

"And you are. You are a part of me now. Probably always will be."

He sits back. His body language tells me that he's uncomfortable. This conversation is probably not going the way he wanted. He wants to remove himself from the situation.

"So, is that how it's going to be?"

I shrug. "If that's how you want it,"

His visage visibly breaks. He's confused and a little devastated that I would suggest such a thing.

"But these last few months," I continue without letting him speak, "I've been thinking of you more and more. I've wanted to ask Julia about you specifically. I wondered what you would think of certain things. I've gone places and seen things and wished you were there," I laugh, "I've held conversations in my head with you."

He stares at me.

"Kai," I say, finally, "I've missed you. I want to talk to you again. So, tell me," I lean forward, fully engaged in him, "how are you?"

"You've missed me?"

I nod.

"That's it, you've missed me?"

I nod again.

He smirks and my heart beats a little faster.

"Things have been good," he begins. "After you left, I let my grandfather know that he wasn't going to control my life anymore. I would be openly associating with whomever I wanted. And openly ignoring whomever I wanted."

I think about the morning I met his grandfather and was proud Kai stood up to him. I knew he would one day, but it's good to know that he did it for something meaningful. I don't interrupt his story with my thoughts, though.

"I finished school living in that house, but we avoided each other more than ever before. It felt good being able to lead my own life again, and when I turned eighteen, I moved out. I went to him with all the information I'd collected on his more illicit dealings and leveraged a good amount of the company away from him. Enough that I would have the control to influence the direction of the company, but I left him enough that he'd need to deal with the paperwork. It was shady, yes, but I've turned the company around. It's more like my father wanted, which makes me happy. And the fact that I'm not president leaves me time to do the things I want. I know he's working on a way to turn it around, gain the upper hand again. I keep up with him. It's a game we play."

"Why do you say that it was shady?" I ask. I know why I think it was shady – it involved blackmailing, which left me with a bad taste in my mouth for obvious reasons – but I want to know what bothered him about it.

"I wish I could have gotten the company honestly, through hard work, but that's not the world I live in. It's certainly not the world he lives in. So, I played his game and came out on top." He smirks again. "Even in that, it's something I'm proud of. I won."

He's not so different after all. That thought makes me happy as he continues to tell his story. Terra will be graduating this year, and Tala plans to propose to Julia. I squeal when he tells me, and he makes me promise not to tell anyone.

"Don't worry. I can keep a secret," I joke. Kai almost laughs, but it falters.

He travels a lot. It reminds me that he doesn't have to work at all. He's got all the money he'd ever need; his ownership of the company is for his enjoyment, not a necessity.

But he loves hard work and business, and he's naturally ambitious so he's been working on some things that he plans to announce within the next few years. He's vague about them and I let him keep those secrets. This is going well. We're falling into our old roles and if this continues, we'll be talking again, soon and often. There's no need to rush anything today.

He hasn't said a lot, but he asks about me. I know he's more willing to hear about me than talk about himself.

"I'm finishing my undergraduate degree in Psychology soon," he nods, as this was the obvious course for me. I'll be surprised if I tell him something he doesn't already know. Just because he hasn't called doesn't mean he didn't keep tabs on me as well. "It'll be another six or seven years of school after this, but I'm enjoying it. I want to kill myself most of the time, but it's fun."

"What are you working for?"

"I want to be a Child Psychologist, maybe a Social Psychologist. Who knows. I've still got time to decide."

"And how's your mother and brother?"

"They're really good. He's starting kindergarten soon and she's running her own business. It's small, but it brings her a lot of joy. And he makes her happy. He's just this little buddle of bliss that pops up whenever she's feeling down. The change is amazing."

"You look happier, too,"

"It's impossible not to be," I reply. I think about the strides I've made. "You know, there was a time when I was convinced I wouldn't make it out of high school, because of Brooklyn or myself," I take a deep breath, "It's kind of because of you that I'm here,"

He shook his head. "You had the final say in all of it,"

I know he won't take credit. I've made him feel too bad about the situation. "Fine," I say, "split it. It was both of us."

He smiles softly. Clearing his throat he says, "You know, I can see your point now,"

"What do you mean?"

He shrugs. "Why you needed to leave. Separate yourself from all of that, including me. I get it now. I can see how good it's been for you."

It's hard for him to admit that he was wrong then. It's hard for him to admit what he's thinking now. I'm so happy he does though. It makes me confident that this will work. I wanted this to be natural. I wanted us to end up in the same place at the same time and for it to just be there; for us to be there.

But I had to call him. I had to talk to him and see him. Maybe that's natural for us. Just because I had to force this meeting doesn't mean this isn't how it's supposed to be. This conversation, while it's had rough points, was completely us. It flowed as it did before. It was natural to who we are.

"Thank you,"

A silence falls between us. I already know, but he's still trying to figure me out. He doesn't know what I'm thinking, though he'd like to. I'm not as easy to read as I was before. When he was speaking, I could feel him holding back, but also letting go. He shared with me more than he shared with most, based on a trust he developed in me years ago. He still hopes that it's there.

It is. I want him to know that he can trust me.

"I was really nervous coming here tonight," I admit. He lifts an eyebrow, encouraging me to continue. "I didn't know what you were expecting from this or if you would be mad or if we would still be us, you know. I was scared that we'd both changed so much, that we wouldn't work."

"Was?"

"Yeah, as in no longer,"

I smile, hoping he can see what I'm implying. We still have a long way to go. There's still so much we need to learn about each other, but I'm willing to go there. I'm willing to put in those long hours and all that effort if he is. I've forgiven him finally. I can enjoy his company without being hurt by what he did. Maybe it's because I've grown, maybe it's because of time, or maybe it's because I'd rather have him around than stay mad at him forever. I understand what he did. I don't agree with it, but I understand it. And I can see he's changed. He has a different way of dealing with situations now. I want to know everything that's changed about him.

Above all, I want to hear his thoughts on things, all of his ideas. I want to see his mind working as I did before. I want to watch as he explores a new concept until he understands it completely, to its smallest then as he tries to perfect it.

I want to listen to him.

That's what I hope he sees.

Kai studies me intently, analyzing my face and my words, trying to figure out their exact meaning. He's intelligent and he knows me, so I wait for him to decipher the clues.

At last, he smiles.

An essential part of true listening is the discipline of bracketing, the temporary giving up or setting aside of one's own prejudices, frames of reference and desires so as to experience as far as possible the speaker's world from the inside, step in inside his or her shoes. This unification of speaker and listener is actually an extension and enlargement of ourselves, and new knowledge is always gained from this. Moreover, since true listening involves bracketing, a setting aside of the self, it also temporarily involves a total acceptance of the other. Sensing this acceptance, the speaker will feel less and less vulnerable and more and more inclined to open up the inner recesses of his or her mind to the listener. As this happens, speaker and listener begin to appreciate each other more and more, and the duet dance of love is begun again."

— M. Scott Peck, MD

As always, thank you to .zulka for the beta reading.

Edited 05/17/2020 - Thank you to everyone who has read and continues to read this story. For all of its flaws, I am proud to have finished it.

Original Authors endnotes: So there it is. The end. Happy enough for you, I hope. It's been a long time coming. I started the original version of this story in 2007. It gives me a warm feeling to know it's finished. I'm sorry it took so long.

Thank you for all you're wonderful reviews and replies. One of my favorite parts of this was hearing your thoughts and reactions, especially what you thought was going to happen next. I loved every minute of it. I loved getting to know you. I hope to hear from you one more time.

Konix