Unanswered Question

She was outside, waiting for her fiancé who was running late. He was outside, waiting for his date who he knew would never come. She was wearing a striped turtleneck sweater and jeans. He was wearing track pants and an oversized t-shirt. She had just moved back to California after studying in New York for four years. He had lived in California his entire life. They were both at the same fair, in the same city, at the same time, waiting in the same place. But it wasn’t until he looked over his shoulder, searching frustratedly for his date, that he saw her. 

“Oh my god, Riley?”

Her head turned quickly, expecting to see her fiancé. She saw her high school boyfriend instead. “Max? Hi! How have you been?”

Max walked over to her quickly. They shared a quick embrace, but it was awkward. He cleared his throat. “I’ve been good, how about you? How was New York?”

Riley smiled. “Best four years of my life. I really miss it, but I missed California more. I actually moved back here with my fiancé a few months ago.”

Max shifted uncomfortably. His stomach twisted into knots. “Wow, you’re getting married? That’s great.” But, for some reason, it didn’t seem great to him.

“Yeah! Well, we’re not getting married right away, but he wanted to propose before I started medical school since it’s going to take up most of my time.”

“So you are following your dream of becoming a doctor. I’m glad.”

The two smiled at each other. For a moment, it felt just like old times. Then, Riley broke eye contact. “So, what are you doing here?”

Max grinned sheepishly. “I’m supposed to be on a date but...she’s not coming.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. She was kind of annoying anyway.”

The two laughed, and Max stared at Riley longingly. Seeing her again had brought back all their memories from high school. Things had always been good between them, and he realized then that he couldn’t remember why they had broken up. 

Max turned and looked at the fair behind them. “Hey, I know this might sound kind of weird, but do you want to hang out for a bit?”

She frowned slightly. “My fiancé is supposed to come soon.”

“I’m sure he won’t mind if you hang with an old friend while he comes.” he persisted. 

Riley hesitated, but then nodded. Max smiled, and they headed to the fair. 

It felt just like old times. They played all the games they had enjoyed as kids, and laughed throughout the night. By the time they chose to take a break, they had won eight prizes. 

Riley checked her phone and frowned. Max felt his heart leap. “Is he still busy?” She nodded, and he felt satisfaction creep into his chest, although he knew it was wrong. 

Riley seemed disappointed, but the feeling disappeared from her face quickly. “Oh my god, is that ice cream?”

They went to buy ice cream, and Riley clutched her giant prize plush tightly in excitement. Finally, Max allowed himself to voice the thought that had been dancing around his mind all night. 

“Riley,” he began carefully. “Why did we break up?”

Riley reached to grab her strawberry cheesecake ice cream over the counter, and froze when she heard his question. “What?”

“Exactly what I asked. Why did we break up?”

Her fingers tightened around her cup of ice cream, and she held her plush close to her body. She started walking quietly, and looked at the games instead of at him. After a long pause, she said, “I guess we broke up when I moved to New York.”

“But was that the only reason?”

“It was. Everything else was...great. If I had stayed…” But she trailed off. 

His heart beat rapidly with excitement. “Riley, I can’t help but think that if you had stayed, or if we had tried long distance, or if I had left with you, you would been wearing my ring instead of his.” 

Riley swallowed her ice cream nervously. “Max-”

“Am I right?”

“You’re confusing me.”

“If you’re confused, then-”

“Please just stop.”

“Sorry.”

They walked in silence for a long time before anything was said again. 

“Look,” Riley started. “Maybe things would’ve been different if I had stayed. Or if we would’ve tried. I don’t know; I’m not sure. Or maybe they wouldn’t have. Maybe we would’ve broken up for a different reason and it would’ve been worse.”

“You’re my biggest unanswered question.”

“And you’re mine. But that...doesn’t matter now. I have a fiancé. I’m getting married. We have to forget about it.”

He wanted to argue. He wanted to tell her to leave him. He wanted to beg her to give him another chance and he wanted to try again. After all those years apart, he had never forgotten about her, and he knew that he never would. She would forever remain the love of his life. But instead of saying all of this, he said, “You’re right. I’m sorry. You’re engaged and I need to respect that.”

Riley stared into his eyes deeply for a few seconds. Then, her phone buzzed, and the moment ended. “He’s here.”

Max’s heart dropped, but he faked a smile for her sake. “Okay. Well, I should go home now. I hope you have a good date.”

He waved and started walking in the opposite direction.

“Wait.” Riley called. He stopped and turned back to look at her. She hesitated, and then said, “I’ll see you around?”

Max smiled. “Yeah. Sure.” 

They waved to each other once more, and Max left quickly. He didn’t want to be there to watch Riley’s fiancé arrive. Hearing her talk about him had been hard enough. Max kept walking until he arrived at the bench he had been sitting at when he first saw Riley. Everything looked the same as it had in that moment, but the sky was darker now. Max sighed deeply and leaned against the back of the bench. His eyes closed, but then opened again when he felt his phone vibrate. It was a phone call from his date. 

“Hello?” he asked dejectedly. 

Then, his date proceeded to apologize for five straight minutes, even crying at some parts. Max had a strong feeling the tears were fake, but he forgave her anyway. She insisted on rescheduling the date, and he agreed reluctantly due to her persistence. When she hung up, Max sighed again, and covered his face with his hands. 

He was going on a date with another girl, but Riley would always be his unanswered question.