Connor stood gazing out the window of his penthouse in New York. Outside, winter had blanketed the streets in a layer of white snow, and the cold fogged up the thick glass panes. His stare was distant, his face cold and etched with the lines of daily frustration. Gone was the cheerful, enthusiastic young man he once was; that part of him had been left in the past. For Connor, abandoning his dream of becoming a star basketball player in the NBA was just that—a fleeting dream that would never come true. He had accepted his father’s offer to oversee the family’s major construction firms in Mexico, and to prepare for it, he had become a skilled architect. Now, a year later, he was ready to take his place—a position his father had been grooming him for over many years.
Suddenly, he felt a pair of hands wrap around his waist. It was Ivone, his girlfriend of just under a year. Connor kept his eyes fixed on the window while she tried to capture his attention. “I don’t want you to go. What’s going to happen to us?”
Connor tensed, and with both hands, he gently pushed hers away, stepping back from her. His face reflected a mix of resolve and exhaustion. “Your father needs to understand that you can manage his businesses from here without moving to Mexico.”
Ivone looked at him with eyes full of worry and anger. He, on the other hand, was tired. He simply ignored her and left the room. “I’m talking to you! Don’t leave me talking to myself!” she shouted, hurrying down the stairs after him.
He stopped in the living room without turning around.
“I’m not in the mood to argue. We’ve talked about this plenty, Ivone. If you don’t agree…” Connor pointed toward the door with his finger, making it clear what she should do.
Ivone’s eyes filled with tears, her face a mask of shock and pain. “Do I mean so little to you?” she demanded, on the verge of a tantrum.
Connor frowned. “I can’t stand women who throw tantrums. I’m sorry if you don’t like it, but I have to take care of my father’s business, and neither you nor anyone else can stop me.”
She rushed toward him again, clinging to him in a desperate embrace. Connor couldn’t handle such persistence. He wasn’t even sure why he was with her, but soon that would change once he moved to Mexico. Whatever this relationship—or lack thereof—was, it would end.
“I love you, Connor. You have to understand that,” she pleaded.
“I want to be alone, Ivone,” he declared firmly, and she blinked in disbelief at how he was brushing her off.
“I want to be alone tonight. Go back to your place.”
“I thought we were sleeping together,” she said in a whiny tone, one that Connor found increasingly unbearable.
“No, I want to be alone.” Connor had become a man of few words. He wasn’t sociable and had only a handful of carefully chosen friends. That, too, was a lesson from his teenage years: never trust anyone who called themselves a friend.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with you. I feel like you don’t even want me around anymore. Is there someone else?” she accused again. Connor sighed wearily, rubbing his forehead with his index finger.
“Believe me, Ivone, if there were someone else, you wouldn’t be here,” he said, looking straight into her eyes. She gasped.
In truth, he had no interest in any woman. The only one who had ever stirred even the slightest feeling in him was Ivone, which was why he’d given himself a chance to try something with her. But while she considered herself his girlfriend, to him, it wasn’t serious. You can’t love two people at once; two people can’t occupy the same heart. And his heart had always belonged to the girl with aquamarine eyes, the one he had never seen again.
“Can we have lunch tomorrow?” she asked, draping herself around his neck once more. “There are only a few days left before your trip, and I want to make the most of the little time we have.” He nodded slightly.
“See you tomorrow,” he replied without any emotion. She kissed him softly on the lips, grabbed her purse, and left the apartment.
Connor walked over to the large window in his luxurious living room and stood there, staring out for long seconds.
“Aurora,” he whispered.
“What has become of your life?”
That question haunted him every night before bed, his thoughts never straying far from her.
Will I ever be able to forget you? He asked himself constantly. He desperately wanted to tear her from his heart and mind, but no woman, despite the passage of time and his solitude, had ever managed to do that.
The next day, as snow continued to fall over New York, Connor sat in his office, his gaze fixed on his computer screen. For some time, he had been managing one of the smaller branches in New York, but Mexico would be different. There, he would become the new president of the central headquarters and oversee all the other divisions.
A call from his father, Gabriel, came as expected. Connor picked up the phone, knowing his father was keeping tabs on every detail.
“Is everything ready for your trip, son?” Gabriel asked, his voice brimming with excitement. “Mexico is waiting for you. We have many new projects, and I want you to take charge of everything.”
Connor nodded, though his father couldn’t see him. “Yes, Dad, everything’s in order. I’m excited to go, though I’ll admit I’m a bit nervous. It’s a big change.”
“I know, Connor,” Gabriel replied warmly. “But I have complete faith in you for this challenge. I know you’ll do an excellent job. I’ve been waiting for this moment for years. It’s time for you to take your place, the place of my only son.” Though Gabriel had two daughters from his new marriage, Connor, as his only son and the eldest, had always been his favorite and would remain so for life.
Connor hung up the phone and sank into his comfortable leather chair, allowing himself a moment of reflection. His thoughts drifted over his life in New York—the successes and failures—and how this new opportunity in Mexico might be the fresh start he so desperately needed.
Hours passed, and the penthouse felt emptier than ever. Connor packed his luggage with care, meticulously selecting each item and personal belonging he would take. As he did, he couldn’t stop his mind from wandering to memories of Aurora, the girl from high school, the one whose memory he had never been able to fully erase. The girl who had settled deep within his being and had no intention of leaving.