Traveler - The Price (Book 3)
Chapter 24

The souls recognize each other by the vibrations, not by the way they look like. But why the most beautiful souls are always the most tormented ones?

It had passed two days, and Aaron was ready to leave the hospital. Deby helped him with his stuff and James with me were waiting in the hall. Ivy and Andy had avoided each other those days.

Until we arrived home, no one said anything. It was an awkward silence, that predicted something even stranger. We hadn’t entered in the house for two minutes when Ivy walked inside.

“I need to talk to you, Jo!”

We walked outside, leaving the others to get cozy. Ivy looked scared, sad, but I saw a shadow of happiness on her face too, and if she was asking for advice from me, she truly had a problem.

“I avoided Andy as long as I could, but I’m done with that! Today I’m telling him how I feel. And I would have said to him even if I wasn’t pregnant!”

I didn’t know how to react when I heard that. Ivy had a problem bigger than mine, and that made me feel awful for complaining to her a lot lately.

“I don’t care if he doesn’t feel the same way, but the situation is too tensioned for me! I want to know the truth so that I can move on with my life in a way or another!”

“Ivy… I need a minute to get used to the news. I think it’s better to tell him. I don’t know what he’s going to say, I’m not sure if he feels the same, but at least you will be relieved.”

“Yes, but things have complicated too much!”

I wouldn’t have thought about something like this ever, but life was following its usual course, and it had big plans for Ivy. That was an ordinary life, but that seemed weird and terrifying now, but even though, it was different and better than before.

“If we are in the moment of truth, I don’t know if you noticed, but I have always had an attraction for Andy. I know it wasn’t right, but it was that something that attracted me to him after Kate left. I knew it wasn’t the right thing, so I didn’t say anything ever. But it looks like the destiny knew what I wanted, and when the world was back to normal, I was here, and I had all I wanted.”

“At one point, I saw you two were getting closer, but I couldn’t imagine something like this. But Andy is a good man, and I am sure he will be an amazing father. I would be so happy if he feels the same way about you. At least one of us should be happy.”

“I knew that if I pushed him a little closer to you, he would remember. You were the first one who tormented him in every possible way. Don’t take it personally, but if there was someone who could make him remember, you were the one! I had that feeling, and even if I was afraid of the consequences, I had to do that for him! You’re the one who made us all remember. I don’t know how, why, but I only knew that everything is about you.”

“Not everything…”

“Whatever. The point is that you brought our lives back. Our memories. Thank you.”

I was trying to give her good advice, but I wasn’t sure how good it could be when I saw Andy stopping the car in front of my house. It looked like he had fixed it sooner than I expected. I waved at him, and I let them talk. Before I got inside, I heard Ivy grumbling “Oh, God!“.

I found Aaron sitting on the couch. Deby and James were whispering something in the kitchen.

“What happened?” I asked Aaron, seeing him concerned.

“Deby just said that she wants to break up with me, but that she can’t tell me why.”

I was shocked because I expected her to tell me before she makes that decision. I looked into the kitchen, and she made a sign with her hand that she was ok, but I knew her and I knew that it wasn’t easy for her. I sat next to Aaron.

“Are you ok?”

“Maybe it will sound careless to you, but I’m fine. I don’t know… I think I should feel something, but something’s wrong with me.”

Before I could respond, I saw him smiling.

“At least some of us are feeling good” he says pointing the window.

I saw Ivy and Andy kissing. “Well, this is a happy ending!” I thought, and I smiled.

“So, what’s with you and James?” asks Aaron out of the blue.

“What? Me and who? God, no! James and I have a lot in common, that’s why we became friends in the first place. James likes someone else.”

“Ah, I thought…”

“No! He’s not my type.”

He put on a smile, then a sad look.

“Even if I feel good talking to you, I have to unpack my bags from the hospital and to go to sleep. I’m exhausted.”

“Okay” I said and I got up.

I approached the kitchen’s door, and I saw him walking up the stairs. He winked at me, and he disappeared. When I stepped into the kitchen, Deby was struggling to hide some tears.

“Why did you do that?”

“Because it was the right thing! I think I will move in the living room for a while or I will talk to Ivy to take me at her place.”

“Ivy and Andy are together for real!” I said with a smile.

“Good! Finally, some good news!”

“There’s more. Ivy’s pregnant. I don’t know if she told him, but she wanted to.”

“God! I don’t know what to say, but I think this is good too if you say they are together.”

“Yes. I’m happy for them.”

“So, I can’t go there either…”

“But you can stay here.”

“I can’t. It won’t be easy for me to live under the same roof with Aaron. I don’t know how could you, but I don’t have that kind of power.”

“You can come and stay at my place” says James. “I have a couple of rooms, and I think we will get along well. That if you don’t want to stay here or to go to Ivy’s place. It’s just an offer.”

I was laughing on the inside, and I knew James felt that. He was agitating, and he didn’t know how to fix the situation.

“I think it’s a good idea. I will come tonight if you help me with the luggage, she says. And if Aaron didn’t fall asleep in the room… Anyway, if Jo trusts you, I trust you too. It’s not like you are some psychopath.”

“Thanks for the compliment, I guess…” he grumbles.

We all headed to her room. When I looked out on the window, I saw Andy’s car gone, a sign that they went home to settle things. In an hour and a half, the room was empty. Aaron didn’t sleep in it but the one next to it. He probably thought that Deby wouldn’t want to share the chamber with him, or it was the other way around. Anyway, I helped them with the bags, and we took them to Aaron’s car.

“I hope he doesn’t mind if I borrow it until tomorrow” she says.

“I hope everything will be okay. You can come back anytime you want!”

“I hope he remembers… I want everything back to normal. Thank you for everything.”

“Thank you too, Deby!” I said, and I hugged her.

I saw James struggling inside when I told her those things. I winked at them, and I got back inside. The things had an unexpected way to sort out exactly as they were supposed to. I got into the shower, and I spent there some time, reflecting on life matters. I put on a pajama with Donald Duck, which I didn’t remember buying, and I went to bed.

In the morning, I woke up very relaxed. I went downstairs to make some coffee, and I heard the bathroom’s door. Aaron was up. I had completely forgotten that he was in the same house with me. Something started rolling inside my stomach, but I put the coffee cup on the table, and I took a deep breath. I heard his steps on the stairs.

“Morning” he says.

“Morning. Deby left last night. James offered her a place to stay for a while.”

“I heard noises, and I figured she was going to leave. That is why I left that room anyway. Now I feel odd to be here, but I hope you have a house to sell for me. With this thought I came here, anyway.”

“I have one that will be ready within a month, but until then you can stay here. It’s fine.”

“Thank you” he says. “If I haven’t come such a long way with all my stuff if I haven’t put my house on sale… maybe I would have left this town. But it seems that the destiny wanted me here for a purpose so that I will stick around.”

I handed him a cup of coffee, and I sat at the table. He opened the fridge, and he started laughing. He took out a box with a piece of cheese that wasn’t good to eat anymore, and then he threw it in the bin.

“I think we will have breakfast in town” he laughs.

“Ah! After all that happened these days, I forgot we still need food!”

I went to change my clothes, and when I went downstairs, I saw Aaron waiting for me in the lobby and ready to go. Then I remembered we didn’t have a car.

“Oh, Aaron, I think we will walk. Deby borrowed your car.”

He rolled his eyes and confirmed. We started off by foot, looking for breakfast. Finally, we entered Andy’s bar, where we knew we would replace something to eat.

“Hey, how are you?” asks Ivy happy.

“Who had a beautiful night?” asks Aaron.

“You can say that too” she blushes.

“I’ll go and see how’s Andy doing” he says.

I remained there with Ivy, who sat in Aaron’s seat.

“So, everything worked out perfectly! I will stay at his place!”

“I’m happy for you! I saw you last night on the window. Did you tell him everything?”

“Well, look how it all went. I wanted to tell him, but he took me by surprise. He said that he knows the situation is odd, but he got used to me in all this time, and he wants to give us a chance, that he started feeling things. And when I heard those things, I was so happy that I forgot to tell him the rest. Then it felt weird to open up the subject again, so I figured I could wait a day or two.”

“I think he will be happy.”

“I hope so. I don’t want to ruin things.”

“It will be fine, you’ll see.”

“Where are Deby and James? She called that she wants a day off.”

“Deby broke up with Aaron last night, and she moved to James’s place. He’s very excited because you know he likes her for a while.”

“Maybe something will turn out with them. But you and Aaron? Did he remember anything?”

“Nothing” I grumble.

Ivy saw unusual the whole James situation. She couldn’t understand how a man could feel what I felt. The same thing thought the others, besides Aaron, who had no idea about what was going on. They all saw James different since they had found out the truth. They had welcomed him into the family, and I thought that was a good thing.

After the breakfast, I called Deby. She said that James was a good host and everything was fine. I wasn’t expecting something else. Aaron stated that she could use his car as long as she needed it because, after all, he was the one driving her car when the accident happened.

We headed home. On our way, we stopped to the corner shop to get something to eat. When we arrived at my place, I remained on the porch, and I sat on the swing. For a moment, I thought that he was going to join me, but he entered. He started unpacking the bags. I was looking at him through the window, and I imagined how we got to this point. It would have been nice for him to know who I was, to have a life together, to remember us. My thought had gone too far.

It was already afternoon, and I was still outside. I saw the door opening, and Aaron appeared there, holding one of my jackets.

“I thought you might be cold” he says sitting next to me.

“Thanks” I said.

I was thinking how I hid my feelings because I didn’t want to hurt the people around me. Even with all of these, things worked out pretty well.

“I always wondered what’s up with you” he says. “You’re a weird person, but not in a bad way. I heard that you ran after the one who hit me with the car. Oh, and you got arrested, but Ivy didn’t explain why.”

“I pushed a doctor, and I stole a car.”

“Now you confirm me what I just said earlier” he laughs. “Seriously now. What’s up with you?”

“I think I’m trying to adapt.”

“Where are you coming from and where are you heading? You’re a mysterious person.”

“I don’t know what I am going to do with my life, but I realized something these days.”

“What?”

“Everything is about that one person, the one you want to share your happiness with, the one you want there in the most important moments in your life.”

“Do you miss this person?”

“More than anything in this world…”

He grabbed me by my shoulder, and he fixed his eyes on me. I saw something in his eyes, something that I had never seen before. I had no idea what it was, but I knew I wanted to tell him everything then and in that moment.

“Who’s this person you’re talking about?”

I waited a couple of seconds in silence, and when our eyes met, I told him exactly what I felt.

“You” I responded.

Maybe the tension of that moment made him not to hear what I had said because he didn’t blink an eye. He wasn’t surprised. He put his big arm around my neck, and he kissed me. I was the shocked one. I wanted to tell him that we were not doing something right, that he had just broken up with Deby, but he cut me off.

“ I know that what we’re doing here is wrong, but why does it feel so right?”

I didn’t know what to answer because I didn’t want to ruin the moment. It was such a weird feeling to tell your mind to stop loving someone when your heart still does. I thought it was the time to do something about my happiness and take a chance.

Aaron was staring at me, waiting for an answer. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, and he squeezed my hand.

“How could I forget?” he asks opening his big and blue eyes.

“Do you remember?”

“Yes. God! How could I do all of that? I can’t believe all the things I put you through!”

I felt like it had been finally made justice. Faith was on my side this time, and I was incredibly grateful.

“You were the one who found the way back. That’s all that matters now.”

He stood up, and he put his hands on his head. I approached him.

“It’s no one’s fault for it. This was my punishment. The weird thing is that neither of you should remember anything, but you all did.”

“The others?”

“You’re the last one…”

He nodded his head as a disapproval, but he grabbed me in his arms.

“This time I will promise you this. I will never let you go.”

It was the dawn, and the red light was shining on our hugged bodies. My soul was filling again with happiness, and this time I hoped it was for good.

If you ever fall in love, fall in love with a person near you feel like home, who knows how you drink your coffee, who comes back to you regardless how tormented your soul is, who would do anything to see you laughing. Fall in love with someone who puts his head on your chest to hear your heart beating, who kisses you on the forehead, which makes you wonder why were you afraid to do these things before.