The Devil's Good Girl-Chapter 207: Let you go

"Fil!"

Fil looked back upon Vincent’s call, only to roll her eyes as she hastened her pace. Even though she knew that Vincent would just jog to catch up, she still tried for the sake of sending the hint he wouldn’t pick up.

And she was right.

"Hey." Vincent caught up, smiling as he walked beside her. "Are you trying to avoid me?"

"Yes. You just caught your ex with her new man," she returned without casting him a look. "So, I’m trying to save my face before anything hits the fan."

Vincent laughed. "You’re not going out with Michael."

"Yes, I’m not."

"Fil."

"Vincent, look." Fil stopped and faced him, raising her hand to stop him as well. "Just to be clear, I’m not getting back to you. You can apologize all you want, but I’m not getting together with you even if you cry blood. So, whatever you think what I am doing in Michael’s place at this hour, I don’t care. I’m not explaining myself."

Vincent opened his mouth, but couldn’t utter a word.

"So, please, stop following me." After saying her piece, Fil turned around and walked away.

"I’m not trying to do or think of any of that," he said as she marched away. "I’m following you because I think... we should talk."

Fil rolled her eyes as she slowly turned around. "Talk? About what?"

"Fil, I know I screwed up big time and I regret it to this day."

"Please don’t let me hear a word of you wanting to fix it or giving you your millionth chance.."

"No." Vincent rushed to her and said, "We have been in a relationship for a very long time and how we ended was messy."

"Most breaks up are messy."

"I know, but I think we need to close that Chapter properly." He calmed down. "Three months is a long time to cool and clear my head. I was a douchebag, a jerk, a piece of trash. I didn’t take care of you and just took everything for granted. I know we broke up because I accused you of ridiculously impossible stuff — not just once. But I also know that was just the last straw, and you weren’t just overreacting over one thing."

It would be a lie to say that Fil said she wasn’t surprised. She didn’t expect this from him and by the looks of it, he looked sincere.

"I lost you. I get it. And as much as I hate myself for this, it was all my fault." He nodded. "I just want us to sit down and talk, give ourselves closure, hear a proper apology, a little bit of catching up, and be good so we could both move on."

"I already moved on, Vincent," Fil remarked gently but firmly. "But I can spare you half an hour."

The slight down curve on his lips slowly turned upside down. "That’s all I’m asking. There’s a cafe around here. You’ll like it there."

With that being said, Vincent and Fil took a two-minute walk to the cafe while talking.

"Coffee at this hour?" Fil pointed out as Vincent returned with their orders. He ordered a cup of espresso while he got her a cup of tea.

"Where do you think I’m heading after this?" he humored. "I got things to do."

"Then why were you at Michael’s?"

"I have to tell him something, but that can wait."

"You have to tell him something? Or do you want to hang out with him?" she guided the cup to her lips, giving him a suspicious look. "Aren’t we talking about closing this Chapter? There’s no need for you to lie."

"I’m not lying. I did come to him for a reason, and it’s not like that."

"Oh." Fil rocked her head as he licked her lips. "Okay."

"So?" Vincent leaned back with his coffee. "How are you?"

"Good."

"Just good?"

"Vincent, what do you want to hear from me?" She tilted her head to the side. "I got an offer, and I worked remotely. It was great so far. I mean, the people I work with are a brilliant and amazing bunch — here and on the other side. My team here is doing their best to reach our every deadline and the team over there respects my professional opinion in every project."

There was a smile that Fil could never fake and that was whenever she talked about something she was passionate about. Vincent noticed that and smiled in satisfaction.

"It seems like everything is more than okay," he said. "I’m relieved."

"Me too." Fil smacked her lips. "How about you? How were you?"

"Should I talk about work like you? Or more personal stuff?"

Fil raised her brows, giving him a knowing look.

"Work is great. Still the same. I closed quite a few partnerships," Vincent hummed as he thought about the past three months. "But despite that, I never felt like they were worth celebrating."

"Vincent."

"I had a realization these past three months, Fil. That is, I let my work control me instead of me controlling it. I put off a lot of things to the side, thinking all those things and all those people will always be there. I was wrong. People aren’t things that when you put them in one place, they would stay there unless someone else moved them to another place." Vincent offered her a bitter but genuine smile. "There’s only so much one can take and I exhausted every chance and opportunity I could to fix us while it was early."

"Whenever I think about it, I understand you more," he added. "If anything, I don’t understand why you put up with me that long. If I were you? I would’ve broken up with me way way before you did."

Fil kept her lips in a tight, thin slash while observing him. For the obvious reasons, she couldn’t help but think Vincent was telling the truth. He got himself together like he used to.

"You loved me," he breathed out. "You truly, deeply loved me without conditions. Thank you for everything. I would regret losing you for the rest of my life, but I’m letting you go."