Part 11: Accept

By this point, you should know whether this person is who you want, or not.

By this point, you should know whether you can see a future with this person.

By this point, you should know how this person feels about you.

What is left is just to come to terms with the situation.

If you decide this person isn't for you - don't be discouraged, you know the steps to find and validate someone else. If the other person isn't into you - it's their loss. And also see point a. If you both feel the same and are interested in each other and in pursuing a relationship- congratulations! You might not need point a anymore!

Right?

11:15pm

We lay in bed, tangled limbs, naked bodies. My head was spinning and it had nothing to do with the wine from before. I felt so conflicted I might've as well split in two.

I was content. Simple as that, no other words needed. I could lay there in his arms for days and never complain. There was an aura of calmness around us, an unspoken understanding and acceptance.

But the deeper part of my brain wanted to scream. To cry even. Because it also hurt. Actual physical pain over this bliss coming to an end. And I was desperately trying to find excuses and solutions, because I had to make sense of it all.

My phone rang, but I ignored it, then his did. He checked the caller on his watch and let it go to voicemail. I think it was the longest we've been silent so far since we met.

How were we supposed to go back to normal after this?

"I don't want to leave," He said at last, kissing my fingers, which he'd been playing with.

"I don't want you to leave either," I planted a kiss onto his chest.

Another call for him. He checked again, making sure it wasn't from home and ignored again.

"Do you realize we've known each other for about twenty four hours?" He said, looking at the time on his watch.

"Is it an anniversary? Should we celebrate?"

"I thought we just did," He chuckled, referring to round two. Or three, to be exact. "Do you want wine?"

"I think I would pass out, if I drank any more,"

"You don't strike me as a lightweight,"

"Combined with how little sleep I had? It's a recipe for disaster. It's not about the amount drank, it's all about knowing when to stop,"

"Could you teach my daughter how to do that? So she wouldn't barf after every party?" I wished that I could. It felt like a little prick to my chest.

"Oh, she's in that stage already," I teased knowingly.

"Not really. She got drunk once. Hadn't been to a party since,"

"So you're one of those strict dads that ground for months and their kids lie and get dressed in the car?"

"Do I look like one?" He was sarcastic, but not offended.

"No," I laughed. "Far from it,"

"Yeah, well, the hangover was punishment enough to put her off parties for a while,"

"That won't last,"

"Of course it won't, that's why I said she needed guidance,"

"I'm sure you know enough about drinking to give her some tips,"

"I'm the old, uncool dad, remember?" It almost felt like an invitation. One I was way too tempted to accept.

"Seriously, though, you must be a child compared to other parents,"

"Yeah, I never shave," I burst out laughing and he joined in effortlessly.

"I bet half her friends have a crush on you,"

"You'll give me nightmares, please stop. Besides, I'm not cool enough for that. They have a biker dad, I'm no match,"

"He must be ancient," I kept teasing. "Besides, he can't be as cute as you," I could hear the humble embarrassment in his laughter. I loved that.

His arms tightened around me and the comfortable silence settled between us again, slowly pulling us into serene slumber.

We were brutally woken by an alarm going off and I cursed under my breath as Dylan stirred under me and picked the phone up to turn it off.

"No," I whined in protest as he tried to gently move me to get out of bed.

"You can stay in bed for a bit longer," He said into my ear, kissing my temple.

"It's not worth it without you," I replied lazily without opening my eyes.

Dylan chuckled in response, but still got up and started getting ready. He showered again in what seemed like a flash and then started to pack his belongings.

I watched him move around the room in just a towel for a while, enjoying every moment, then got out of bed as well. It took me about seven minutes to brush my teeth and put some basic makeup on, then a few more minutes to get dressed and I was ready at the same time as him.

"That's the fastest I'd ever seen a woman get ready," Dylan commented in an impressed tone.

"To be fair, how many women did you see get ready?"

"Enough to know you're quite unique," As always, he wasn't fazed by my teasing. "Unsurprisingly,"

I watched him as he ran his fingers through his hair, combing it back with some hair product to hold it in place. It wasn't immaculate, just neat enough for work and disheveled enough to be sexy. Coming into the bathroom from behind him, I wrapped my arms around his waist, without a care in the world about wrinkling his steamed suit.

This felt so natural it was astonishing. I'd never been this comfortable getting ready around a person I didn't live with. Of course, I wasn't very shy and I didn't mind a guy seeing me without makeup, but usually I would get dressed and ready in a separate room, with the door closed. He acted like it was also very intuitive to him, just getting dressed next to me, like we were longtime partners.

"I feel like we've wasted too much time on sleep," I admitted sadly.

"Don't be silly," Dylan turned around and cupped my face, as always making me look at him. "We needed sleep after all those hours,"

"I know," I sighed. "I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. After all that exercise too…" His laughter vibrated against my chest and I couldn't help but smile. I would miss that laughter, I realized.

"Let's go have some breakfast,"

It was a challenge to find a place open so early, but we've been able to find one a few blocks away, so we took our time walking there. We picked a table in the outside sitting area of the tiny cafe, an elderly couple the only other customers this early.

I ordered eggs Benedict and a cappuccino, while Dylan went for an omelette and black coffee, and we just sat there, eating and enjoying each other's company.

Conversation was much lighter this morning, ranging from music preferences, to food and restaurants. I spoke a bit more about my travel, he told me of the places he'd been to. I shared some funny stories from college years and teased him about missing out, good naturedly. He talked about the different jobs he'd had before going for his own startup. We discussed for a bit the reasons each of us went in that specific career path.

Before I knew it, our time had flown by and Dylan had to go back to the hotel to checkout and head to the airport. I insisted on paying for breakfast, although it caused a minor argument, and walked back with him. He then insisted on driving me to my hotel, even as I tried to convince him I could get an Huber without an issue.

And then we were there. No more delaying could be done. He had to go to not miss his flight and there was nothing either of us could do about it.

"Beth," He said, but no words followed. He held my hands, lacing his fingers with mine, but didn't say anything else.

"Dylan," I was just as stuck. How do you say goodbye to a person you've known for just a day, but that felt like you were losing a very in part of your life?

"I don't know what to say," He admitted in defeat, sliding his hands up my arms and to my face.

"Then don't," I was afraid to speak, my voice weak and quivering.

Dylan's mouth met mine in a glorious fusion, deep and sensual, just as all of the kisses we'd shared. There was desperation in the way we held each other, in the way we refused to part.

This shouldn't have been this dramatic. It really wasn't. It just felt like I was tearing apart, like he was taking a piece of me with him. And I was letting him.

"This is insane," I muttered into his neck, holding on to him for the last moments, in denial about what was about to happen.

"It is," He agreed, kissing my cheek and temple and hugging me to him almost painfully tight.

"I'm glad to have met you," I said, pulling away and making my best effort to smile.

"Are you?" It seemed like he blurted it out without thinking, then clarified, "I'm not sure I can go on to normal now,"

"Of course you can," I placed a hand on his cheek, affectionately rubbing against the prickly stubble. "You'll be just fine," His hand came up to cover mine, then he turned his face slightly to kiss the inside of my palm.

"You'll be amazing," He said in return, kissed my hand one more time and tore himself away, walking decisively to the driver side of the car.

I waved once, turned around and walked to the hotel entrance, to avoid watching him drive away, or to make sure he didn't see the tears filling in my eyes.

This was not some big revelation moment. It had been just a one night stand. We'd known each other for a day and a half, spent about twenty four hours awake together. We had completely different backgrounds, different lives, quite a few years apart. It was one long date and there will never be a second one.

This was not love.

It couldn't be.

But why did it feel like I just got my heart broken?

This is the end of volume I.

As I'd mentioned in the beginning, there'll be two more parts.

*Volume 2 is out - go check out How To Make A Good Decision

Please share your thoughts and opinions.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed!