He couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he glanced around the coffee shop, silently noting the couples curled up on various couches and comfortable loveseats scattered around the room. It was a great feeling, being in love. He was more than familiar with the way his heart would swell when he looked into his fiancee’s eyes and knew without a doubt that they were destined to be together for the rest of their lives.

His friends had shrugged him off when he announced that he’d bought a ring and was ready to propose. They accused him of being the type of person that just loved to be in love, but wasn’t truly ready for that kind of commitment. He hadn’t done much to prove them wrong given his track record with women but this time, he knew it was different.

The barista behind the counter called his name and he grabbed a tray with two drinks nestled inside it before making his way to the door. Just as the handle was within reach he made the split-second decision to turn back, deciding that a sprinkling of chocolate would be the perfect addition to the whipped cream covered masterpieces he was about to take out into the cold. Through the window he caught sight of her, patiently awaiting his return, her mitten covered hands gripping tightly to their dog’s leash. Not wanting to waste any more time before they were together again, he secured the lids and headed out the door.

The harsh New York City winter air hit his skin with a slap and he snuggled down further into the comfort of his hood. What he failed to see, thanks to the loss of his peripheral vision from the hood’s fur lining, was the door to an apartment building opening and a woman stepping out onto the sidewalk. Neither was prepared for the collision, Nick desperately trying to regain control of the tray of hot chocolate so he didn’t scald the woman who was now crouched down picking up the contents of her purse that had scattered across the pavement.

“I am SO sorry!” Nick exclaimed, putting the tray down on the ground so he could her clean up the mess. As he continued to drop makeup and pieces of paper into her purse he realized that she had stopped moving and was staring at the top of his head. Expecting to find a starstruck fan he put a friendly smile on his face as he looked up, but just as quickly it fell.

“Nick! Are you alright?”

He glanced up to see his fiancee headed their way and for a moment he felt butterflies in his stomach because of what was sure to be an uncomfortable encounter.

“I’m fine,” he assured her. “We’re both fine.”

“What are you doing here?” the other woman demanded, glancing between Nick and the woman who was removing her gloves in order to better brush imaginary dust off his clothing.

“Business.”

“I thought you said you were never coming back to… what did you call it? Oh yeah, this God-forsaken-city.”

Nick sighed, “Peggy, don’t do this.”

Laughing, Peggy shook her head and gave the woman next to Nick a once-over, her eyes lingering on her exposed left hand.

“Look at that ring!”

His fiancee smiled shyly and held out her hand so Peggy could get a better look at all seven sparkling carats sitting proudly atop her finger.

“Lauren,” Nick said softly, grabbing the woman’s free hand, “this is Peggy.”

“Nick’s told me a lot about you,” Lauren said cordially, not wanting the interaction to become so awkward that Nick would be distracted by it for the rest of their day off.

“All bad, I imagine,” Peggy chuckled sarcastically.

“No,” the other woman interjected. “He speaks very highly of you.”

Nick cleared his throat and bent down to pick up what had been left discarded on the ground including the tray with their cooling drinks.

“Excuse us for a second,” he told Lauren, moving just off to the side to get a moment alone with the woman who he once had made promises to that he was not able to keep in the end.

“So you’re getting married again,” Peggy stated rhetorically. “How long have you two been together?”

“I know what you’re asking,” Nick said with a quick glance back. “I met Lauren about six months before we broke up.”

“Divorced,” Peggy clarified. “We didn’t ‘break up’. We were married. We got divorced.”

He dismissed her with a heavy sigh, “Whatever, it’s semantics at this point. I loved you, I really did and maybe part of me still does in a way, but not in the right way. Look, we just weren’t meant to be. After we lost the first baby and then the second…things changed. I felt like a higher calling was sending me a sign.”

Shaking his head free of painful memories, he continued, “I can’t get into it right now, I’ve told you all this before and I don’t want to ever feel that way again. We had something so horrible happen to us as a couple and in the end it changed us both as individuals. I never wanted to resent what I had with you, so I made the choice to get out before I made your life hell and before I broke your heart any more than it already was. I hope that someday you’re able to see that I did it as much for you as I did it for me. I just want you to know that all I wanted was for both of us to be happy. We weren’t happy.”

She was silent for a long moment but finally relented, looking up into his eyes. “I do know and you’re right. It’s just hard when I see you’ve moved on to some Amazonian looking supermodel with the most perfect hair I’ve ever seen in person and what’s easily a half-a-million dollars weighing down her hand…”

“She’s a fitness model actually and she’s wearing extensions,” he corrected and they both couldn’t keep themselves from chuckling. “And as for the ring...I don’t know that it’s really about the money. Some girls like the bling which is fine, but there are others that find more meaning in a cheap piece of candy on a plastic frame and that’s just fine too.”

Peggy smiled and nodded, thinking back to the partially eaten ring pop that she still had wrapped in a piece of plastic, tucked away in a shoebox at the back of her closet with the rest of the memories from their time together.

“Are you happy?” she asked, genuinely wanting to know the answer.

Nick nodded, “I really am.”

“Then I’m happy, too. It was really good to see you.”

“Hopefully it won’t be the last time!”

Peggy smiled softly and shook her head, “You never know with us. Stranger things have happened.”