Song: Cannonball by Little Mix
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He looked handsome, like always. Magnificent and beautiful as he listened to the reporter. His hazel eyes, that I fell so deeply in love with staring intently at the person in front of him. His face contorted in concentration as he answered the question.

I wondered how he was doing? How was his life going? Was he happy? And did he remember me?

"Isn't that your hot ex?" Said Leigh from beside me.

Leigh knew about my past, and I knew about her's. As our friendship grew we learned to trust each other. It was nice to have someone who I could share personal things with.

My eyes lingered on Carter, his hair not in the rough state they usually were.

"Yea, its him" I replied, finally shifting my eyes away from the screen.

"You never told me he was a ceo of one of the biggest conpanies in the world"

"I...I didn't know myself, he must have taken up his dad's position" I replied, stirring my coffee so the sugar can dissolve.

"Anyways, would you like to drink some coffee? My treat." I said looking at Leigh woth a smile.

"Um..not really but if your using it as a way to to change topics, of course"

I shook my head on her words and motioned the waiter to come.

"One more cup" I said handing him the money.

....................................

I erased the paragraph I had written for a second time now, irritated because I couldn't focus on my work. I leaned back against my chair and closed my eyes.

The image of Carter from before invaded my mind, strong and sharp. I opened my eyes and sat up straight, refusing to think about him. Refusing to acknowledge that it was because of him that I couldn't focus on my work.

It had been long since I last saw Carter, to be exact, three and a half years. The last time I saw him was at Drake and Ally's wedding. We didn't talk, not even a hello or nod. Just stolen glances from across the hall.

It was hard seeing him then, he was still fresh in my memory. A year and a half was not enough for me to forget him, to move on. He looked as breath taking then as he looked now.

I hadn't contacted him since I left. I called him once few months after I shifted to Canada, a call purely out of sheer desperation. I remember missing him became too much for me and in the middle of the night I dialed his number in hopes that maybe everything will be okay again.

He didn't pick up, neither did he call back. I deleted his number after that so I wouldn't embarrass myself by calling him again. I wonder if I call him today, will he pick up?

A part of me still resented him. How he was able to move on so quickly, forget me completely like I was never there. Like we never happened. Something that was so difficult for me to do.

I shook my head and sighed. Carter was a distant memory now and I can't go for a walk down that lane. What if it becomes too much again?

My thoughts shifted to Ally now. It has been years since I talked to her too. We didn't patch up as we should have before I left for Canada. But she did come to the airport to see me off and she remained in contact after. I was glad she invited me to her wedding and I made sure I was there for her big day.

But meeting her again made me realize that things had changed, distance has made its way between us. After her wedding we lost contact too, busy in our lifes that didn't include the other.

While I did talk to Ally after I left, Drake became a complete stranger. He had been extremely angry at me for leaving them all, for leaving Carter. And that anger of his was still present when I met him at his wedding.

Mason on the other hand was still a dear friend although we didn't talk much either. He had completed college  back home, majoring in maths. These days he was in australia for his job and even though extremely busy we tried to keep up with each other. 

"Hey" came Cole's voice and I jumped up.

"You scared me" I said looking at him.

"Sorry" he said giving a cheeky smile.

"Lost in thoughts?" He asked grabbing a chair and sitting next to me.

"Yea I was just thinking" I replied.

"About what?"

I hesitated for a moment and then replied: "back home"

He nodded at my words, "do you miss it?"

"Yeah, I do, sometimes alot. But I try not to think about it"

"Would you like to go back?" He asked staring at me intently.

I thought for a moment about his question. Would I like to go back? To a place that I spend my childhood in, a place that still had my mother, a place that I had the best memories of my life in. It was also a place that was now filled with friends turned strangers.

"Doesn't matter, I don't have time to go really." I replied with a smile.

He nodded with a smile of his own.

"So for our second date, I was thinking maybe we can go for a movie."

"That seems like a nice idea, is it one of the films you're suppose to review?" I said leaning back in my chair.

Cole was part of the team that wrote  movie reviews for the magazine. That meant getting to see every movie that was released free. Every weekend they went to see the new releases, something that Leigh looked at with longing eyes.

"No, of course not. Its a date Eva, not a work engagement" he replied looking offended.

"Okay then, we'll watch a movie" I said, the pieces of my past that had managed to sneak out going back to their place now.

.....................................

I was standing outside the principal's office of the twins school, waiting for her to call me in.

My eyes wandered down the hallway at young teenagers, lost in a world of their own. I stared at a group laughing at something one of them said and a couple holding hands while looking at each other lovingly.

"You can come in now" said the principal's assistant, coming out of the office.

I nodded at her with a smile and then moved towards the office. As I entered the room, the first thing I noticed were baby blue walls and flower pots placed in a line on the window sill. Daniel was sitting in one of the two chairs placed in front of the principal's desk.

"You must be Eva, Daniel's sister" said the principal, a women in mid 40s.

"Yes, that's me" I replied.

"Please, sit" she said, motioning her hand towards the empty seat next to Daniel.

I nodded and sat down in the chair, glancing at Daniel who was trying his best to avoid me.

"So, what did he do?" I asked, looking straight at the women in front of me.

"Daniel why don't you tell your sister about the incident yourself" stated the principal, a few hair strands sticking out of her neat bun. Her smile gentle.

"I got in a fight" came Daniel's short reply.

"He punched his classmate in the face"

My wide eyes turned towards Daniel, my mind refusing me to believe the principal.

"He was saying mean things to me" said Daniel hurriedly.

He finally faced me, his pleading eyes asking me to understand.

"That is no reason to hit someone, we have always taught you to be nice to people"

He turned away, his gaze settling on the floor below.

"What do you say Daniel?" I said, prompting him to speak.

"I'm sorry"

"And?"

"And I won't do this again"

I turned to face the principal, still in shock of what Daniel did.

"I'm extremely sorry for his behaviour, it won't happen again. I will also make sure he apologizes to his classfellow"

The principal nodded at my words.

"I will just suspend him for today but he will have to do detention the whole next week. We have strict policy's against behaviour like this is."

"I understand" I replied.

"I hope this won't happen again" said the principal facing Daniel.

"Yes, Mrs Steven" replied Daniel.

We got out of the office, walking out of the school to leave. I didn't say anything, neither did Daniel. We sat in the car, Daniel in the passenger seat beside me. After letting a few moments to pass I turned towards him.

"What the hell Daniel?" I said.

"He said I was terrible at playing basketball, that I would never make it in the team and he called me a loser. He wouldn't shut up Eva" said Daniel, coming up for his defense.

"Daniel Evan's you do not hit people no matter what" I said flustered by his actions.

I looked out the window at the kids playing.

"I had to leave work for this"

"I'm sorry Eva, I won't do it again" came the reply of a sulking Daniel.

I moved my hand towards him and ruffled his hair.

"Promise me you won't ever hit someone" I said holding out my hand.

"I promise" he replied, taking my hand to seal the pact.

"Want to get some ice-cream?"

Slowly the frown on Daniel's face spread into a smile as he nodded vigorously.

After eating some ice-cream and taking some with us for the rest of the family we went back home. I listened to the countless stories of Millie and helped her do her homework. Daniel got scolded by dad but it was fine, he wasn't too harsh. He never is.

After dinner everyone went to their rooms, ready to call it a day. I layed on my bed, the light from the moon seeping in through the curtains. My thoughts drifted back to Carter and I groaned. I didn't need to think about him. We're worlds apart now, living our own lives. There is no reason to go back and think of times that have been spent, that won't come back.

Pushing everything away from my mind I closed my eyes, instantly feeling sleep consume me. As I was drifting away I heard the faint sound of home phone ringing downstairs. I entered the sleep world, not paying much attention to the bearer of bad news.

........................................

Hello everyone. Chapter 2 is up and I hope you all like it. I want the story to go smoothly, not too fast or slow, I think its very important for a story to be good. The next chapter is going to be an important one, that gives shape to the whole story really.
I also wanted to make one thing clear. This is NOT and will be NOT a ceo, billionaire kind of story where Eva will turn out to be an assistant to Carter, my plot is actually heading in a very different direction. Carter's father was a huge businessman  so it only made sense that he took over his business.
My sister read the first few chapters of 'This Love' again and told me they were terrible which lead me to read them again and honestly, they're REALLY bad. I have no idea why you all read it till the end, I would have left after the first chapter. But I will be editing them, to make them better for other people who might want to read.
Thankyou again for reading this and liking this. That's all for today, have a great day everyone.

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S. Maham Fatima