"Morning Mad " I passed her her coffee cup while she was getting her makeup done and checking the script once more before we head to the set

"Morning Am" she took a sip of the coffee "thank you for the coffee"

Something is wrong...she seemed way too tense "is there anything wrong? you seem tense"

"no, I'm good, thanks"

"Mad?"

"I'm good" she insisted and I didn't persist anymore, I just left it the way it felt like something was really wrong, but it could be too personal for me to know

"O.K"

"... I was meaning to ask you something "

"hit away "

"Are you two serious about each other? "

"me and who?"

"you and Edwin " she looked fixedly at me "I tried not to talk to you about this but I just can't seem to do that"

"what's going on?"

"he is ...confused I guess "

"about? "

"Listen, Amanda, I never wanted this to happen but somehow...I think that... I might be coming in between you two"

"Madeline, can you be more clear and stop turning around? "

"he was mad at me, said that I was confusing him about his feelings for you "

"and? "

"what do you mean AND? I don't know what to do Amanda, I don't want to come between you two, I never wanted to confuse him, I swear it was just about work an-"

" "

"BUT, you two are close and you both loved each other for years now "

"do you have feelings for him? "

"Aman-"

"

"Amanda please i-"

"Just answer the question "I was waiting for her response but she looked to the side then looked down avoiding my gaze "answer me!" I insisted

"I don't know, I'm also confused" it was more of a whisper...she turned to me then with a frantic look "but I won't do anything, I swear, I'll just leave you two be, I didn't mean for any of this to happen"

"it was bound to happen, Madeline, 'cause but not romantically .."

"no, no, Amanda i-" she started crying ruining her makeup in the process "I'm sorry i-"

"no need for sorry, actually I was going to talk to him later on about it, and I felt super sorry for having to reject him, but what must happen will happen, Madeline, so stop crying "

"But I should have never met him face to face if only I was out of his sight then you two would have ended up together so easily "

"and ended up by me divorcing again" I held her hands in mine "look, the two of us are in love with our old selves, we were somehow stuck in our past in each other's presence and we just can't seem to see clearly the one in front of us, he can't seem to see the new me Madeline, I managed to see the new him and I do like him ..but no strong feelings, no romantic feelings, I just feel comfortable. And somewhere along the way, we tried to push ourselves not to miss each other once again but maybe again we were meant to miss each other because we weren't meant for each other in the first place"

"I am so sorry"

"wipe your tears and fix your makeup we have a show to shoot" I said before I got up and walked to the door, she wiped her tears roughly before turning so her eyes could meet me at the door.

"GOD! I'm sorry Amanda, "

"I should be the one to say that .. I'm just the past, I should have stayed where I belonged, not to ruin a beautiful and bright future... So I am sorry for that..just promise me one thing "

"anything" she rose from her chair waiting for me to state my condition

"don't ever tell him that I know about you two "

"what are you planning to do?"

"just do me that favor, that's all" I smiled at her and closed the door behind me

it was like something got untangled in me, a regret I had for years was now gone...we just weren't meant for each other, nothing would have changed if I went back to him years ago and I'm happy to know that even if it's ten years late

It should all fall in place now, I should leave what's not mine

"Welcome dear, take a seat"

"thank you" the moment I sat down the waiter brought us the menus "sorry for being late" i added

"no, not at all, I know how bad the traffic is so no problem at all"

"thank you"

He started checking the menu and I did the same but he spoke diverting my attention to him "so, what is it? "

"shouldn't we talk about it while having dinner, I'm afraid you'll lose your appetite actually "

"is it about your fight with Edwin? "

"not really "

"then?"

I put the menu down and he did the same "I... I can't do this, and I shouldn't "

"what is it, Amanda?"

"you might treat me like your daughter mister Julian but he is your real son and I can't compete with that, so I'm hoping that you could just listen to me, and forgive me"

"you're trying to say that you don't want to do this anymore?"

"yes"

"the show or my son's issue"

"Edwin and I, can't happen, it just can't "

"can I get an explanation?"

"he is a great guy with great potential but not a fit for me. He is a businessman, he knows how to get to his goals but he doesn't know their effect on the people around him"

"if it's about the article then trust me he already deeply regrets it"

"I know, but I can't handle him and he can't handle me, we are way too different to match for a lifetime, we can either be friends or strangers, that's it"

"how come you are building a thick wall already? just what happened to make you settle on defense mode? what did he do, dear? "

"it's me, it's truly me, I wanted to try to make this work. we all did ... I truly thought that my life was going to its the right path and that I was back with time fixing everything all over again but it's not true ..it's just not ...I appreciate ever meeting you and Edwin, all the help, the time and the great impact you two had on me and my life, you might not even realize it but I am quite thankful for it all ..however, that doesn't mean that our beliefs and thoughts are the right choices for us ..we can't go as you planned, I'm deeply sorry to disappoint you"

"Are you sure about this?"

"yes sir, I am, and I am deeply sorry again, to repay your kindness this way"

"I said it, that you are like a daughter to me ..it doesn't matter if he is my real son, 'cause even you are someone's precious daughter and I am truly happy that you picked up yourself again and didn't follow my lead foolishly ..."

"thank you, sir "

"the steak here is good" he smiled at me warmly

"then we should have it " and I mirrored it

"by the way Amanda .. I know all about Madeline " his confession took me by surprise, after he rode his car and pulled his window down, meeting me, the dumbfounded woman who was waiting for him to leave.

"sir I-"

"I am thankful ..that you chose to let my son go and I am absolutely not upset with you in any way, so if anything, you, my dear can call me anytime if you need my help "

"thank you, sir"

"Honey! you're back?" I heard my mom yell the moment I closed the door behind me

"Yeah ma, I will change and come give you a hand" I said noticing her shadow in the kitchen while I was taking off my shoes

"no need to, Joshua already helped me fix dinner and Aiden said he would fix the table so you can just go and rest a little while it's cooking"

I got into the kitchen barley able to pull my feet to where she was before I found her washing the dishes they used "how was your day ma?"

"Good honey, yours? "

"alright"

"just go and wash up dinner is almost ready "

"I already had dinner outside" she turned to look at me with so many questions written on her face "mister Julian snow, I had something to talk about with him so I invited him for dinner "

"oh, how is it then? are you and Ed going somewhere?"

"nowhere, it's over now, it's either just friends or strangers "

"why?! what happened?"

"nothing happened"

"then why?" she wiped her hands on her apron and held my hands in hers

"that's exactly why mom ..nothing happened and nothing will so it's better to stop it all"

"Are you sure about this? "

"one hundred percent, anyway, where is dad?"

"he went to meet someone, he called ten minutes ago said he would have dinner there "

"ow" I nodded "who? "

My mom's face turned a little pale and her shoulders stiffed when my question penetrated her ears which drove my body to activate its alert mode "mom? who is it? "

"honey it's nothing ju-"

"who is it? " I insisted not liking the way her face crumpled like a used paper ready to be thrown

she heaved a sigh of defeat, her face falling along with her shoulders knowing she won't be able to hide it from me "Henry "

Now it was my turn for my face to ...