Unsettling Returns
Noelle's hands trembled as she wiped down the counter, the cloth gliding over the smooth surface, but she wasn't paying attention. Her mind was a whirlwind, her heart hammering painfully against her ribcage.
Micky's appearance—so sudden and unbidden—sent a shockwave through her entire being. She hadn't expected him to show up here, of all places. He was a part of a past she'd buried, a part of her that she never wanted to see again.
But there he was.
Micky was standing just inside the door, a wide, arrogant grin on his face, his eyes scanning the room with a self-assuredness that hadn't changed in the years since she last saw him.
The years that felt like a lifetime ago. A lifetime of hurt, rejection, and broken promises.
Her stomach twisted, and the moment felt like the air had been sucked out of the room. She glanced at Bethany, who stood next to Micky, oblivious to Noelle's internal battle. Bethany, her foster sister, had always been a source of conflict. Their relationship had never been easy, but now, with Micky back in the picture, everything was about to be thrown into turmoil.
"Well, well, well," Bethany's voice broke through Noelle's thoughts, dripping with sweetness. "Look who we have here, little Miss Sunshine herself, running a café now. Who would've thought?"
Noelle kept her eyes down, not trusting herself to look up. She couldn't. The tension in her chest threatened to suffocate her.
Micky's deep laugh echoed through the café, as familiar as the pain that had followed him for years.
"You've done well for yourself, Noelle," he said, his tone low and laced with something she couldn't quite read. "Didn't expect to find you here, of all places."
"Neither did I," Noelle muttered, forcing the words out, her throat tight. She felt the weight of every single memory they shared—the bad ones, mostly—the broken trust, the lies, the betrayal. Every one of them came rushing back, raw and sharp.
Bethany's eyes narrowed. "You've always been good at pretending, huh, Noelle?" she said, her voice cutting through the air. "Pretending everything's fine when it's not. But we both know the truth, don't we?"
Noelle's hands clenched around the cloth in a futile attempt to calm her racing heartbeat. "I don't have time for this," she said, her voice more confident than she felt.
"I'm working, Bethany. I don't have anything to say to you or to him."
But before Noelle could turn away, Micky moved closer, his presence too close, too familiar. His dark eyes never left hers as he leaned against the counter, his smile faltering just slightly.
"I see you're doing well," he said again, softer this time, his voice a contrast to the sharpness of his words earlier.
"But you've been avoiding me, Noelle. That's not like you."
Avoiding him? That was an understatement. She had done everything in her power to stay far away from Micky after he'd left her behind without a second thought.
She'd spent years rebuilding her life, piece by painful piece, and he had no right to waltz back in like this.
"That's because there's nothing to talk about," she replied, her voice firm, though the inner conflict swirled inside her. She wanted to look at him, to see the man he'd become. But she was terrified of what she might find.
Bethany stepped forward then, a sly smile playing at the corner of her lips. "Oh, come on, Noelle. Don't act like it doesn't matter. You were always so in love with him." Her tone was mocking, but there was a bite to it.
"Did you think you could just forget about him?"
Noelle's breath hitched. She didn't want to remember. She didn't want to think about the nights she had spent crying, waiting for Micky to come back, the nights he had promised her everything and then disappeared.
He'd torn her heart into a thousand pieces, and now he was standing here like nothing had happened. Like the years of pain meant nothing.
Her gaze shot to Micky, his face still betraying no emotion. "You have no right to come here," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, but the words were cutting and sharp.
"I don't care what you think, or what Bethany thinks. I moved on. I have a life now. A life you're not part of."
Micky's expression hardened, and Noelle could see the frustration beginning to flicker behind his eyes.
"So you think you've moved on?" he asked, his voice tinged with a quiet intensity. "You think you can just forget everything we had?"
"Everything we had was a lie," she shot back, the anger boiling inside her. "You left me, Micky. Without a word, without a reason. You don't get to just waltz back in and pretend like nothing happened."
Bethany scoffed. "Oh, please, Noelle. You always were the dramatic one. Micky didn't owe you anything."
Micky held up a hand, his gaze softening, though the tension still clung to him like a second skin.
"Noelle," he said quietly, "I know I messed up. But it's not what you think."
"No," Noelle snapped, her pulse quickening. "You don't get to say that now. Not after all this time. You left me, Micky. You broke me, and now you think you can just fix it with a few words?"
She turned away from him, the emotions swirling inside her too much to bear. The café felt like it was closing in around her. The chatter of the customers, the smell of pastries, all of it faded as she struggled to keep herself composed.
Sandy, who had been watching the exchange from across the room, stepped up beside her.
"Hey, you okay?" she whispered, concern evident in her eyes.
Noelle didn't trust herself to speak. She simply nodded, though the lump in her throat made it hard to breathe. Sandy squeezed her shoulder in support but said nothing.
She knew this wasn't a battle Noelle could fight with words right now. Not with Micky standing so close, not with the ghosts of the past hanging heavily between them.
Micky seemed to sense the finality in Noelle's silence. His eyes narrowed slightly, as though searching for some sign that she might still feel something, anything for him.
But Noelle couldn't give him that. She couldn't open herself to him again, not after everything he'd done.
Bethany cleared her throat. "Well, I guess we'll be going then. You've got a lot of work to do, don't you, Noelle? I'm sure the place doesn't run itself."
Noelle's hand clenched around the edge of the counter, her nails biting into the wood. She felt a deep, aching sorrow that threatened to tear her apart, but she wasn't about to let Micky or anyone else see her falter.
"Yes," she said, her voice steady. "I do have work to do. So, if you're done here, you can leave."
Bethany raised an eyebrow, a mocking smile tugging at her lips. "Fine. We'll go. But don't think this is the last time we'll be seeing each other, Noelle."
Noelle didn't respond. She didn't have the energy to. Instead, she turned her back to them and walked away, trying to ignore the sense of dread that gnawed at her insides.
As the door swung open, she heard Micky's voice one last time, low and serious: "I'm not done with you, Noelle."
The words hit her like a slap. She didn't look back. She couldn't.
The door closed behind them, and the café fell into a stunned silence. Noelle stood there, her heart pounding in her chest, her thoughts a jumbled mess of emotions she wasn't ready to confront.
The past had come crashing back into her life, and there was no escaping it.
"Are you okay?" Sandy asked again, her voice gentle but firm.
Noelle took a deep breath, trying to steady her shaking hands. "I will be," she said, her voice quiet. But deep down, she wasn't so sure.