Josh
And here we are, I said it. I told her my deepest secret and just confessed what had led me to make this decision. It was her, Kendall O'Connor, who convinced me to follow my genuine desire, and she did it without even knowing about it, not on purpose, only by being herself.
I guess I've already said too much, but if I want her to start trusting me again, I have to explain myself.
"Last summer, during one of the dinners with our families, your parents started complaining that you didn't want to follow their lead and become part of their company," I remind her, looking up again.
Kendall's big blue eyes are silently staring at me. She’s frozen in place, and it seems like she doesn't even breathe, waiting for what I'm going to say next.
"And you said that you decided to be a doctor to save lives," I continue, "and then you asked them what they would think if you became a reproductive gynecologist and helped thousands of women get pregnant."
I swallow a huge lump in my throat. For some reason, with every word that I utter, it becomes harder for me to breathe.
"My father asked you then, ‘Why did you choose such a difficult job? Why don’t you become a dentist?’" I smile, replaying the events of that evening in my head. "And you said, 'A tooth is not an organ, so...’”
"A dentist is not a real doctor." She ends my sentence, and I see a slight smile appearing on her face. "I can't believe you remembered."
I smile in response, looking into her deep blue eyes, which have lashes so huge that I sometimes wonder if they are real. I would've doubted it if I didn't know her this well.
"I remember everything about you, Sapphire," I say with a hoarse voice and swallow.
My throat has gone dry, and I’m starting to get nervous. That's rare for me since I stay calm even in the most unpredictable situations.
But when I'm with Kendall, I stop being the man I've tried to become through all these years, a man confident in his every decision. I return to the boy I once was, a boy who was utterly and entirely in love with his best friend, and didn't know what to do and how to act.
Our eyes lock, and my heart starts beating a thousand times faster. Her lips part in surprise, and I swear that if the table wasn't between us, I would've leaned over and kissed her.
And then she looks away, unable to stand this emotional rollercoaster. I silently thank her for that because if it had lasted two more seconds, my heart would've exploded.
"But I still don't understand what made you decide to change your plans," she says, looking down at her plate and picking at the leaves in her salad with a fork.
"You were so passionate about it that I started asking myself if I had ever been so passionate about taking the lead in our families' company, or if I was just trying to compete with Damian."
She looks up at me again when I mention my brother's name. She's probably wondering why I would confess that I always tried to compete with my brother. When she asked me about that last summer, after I beat Damian in chess, I told her that I never considered my brother as a competitor.
I lied, of course, but I couldn't tell the truth. I couldn't confess that I started trying to battle my brother the same day I found out that she was in love with him instead of me.
I couldn't confess to her that day when her asshole boyfriend was near. But I can tell her the truth now that we're alone. Because nothing can stop me from making Kendall O'Connor mine.
"That's when I decided I wanted to be a chef," I say finally with a slight smile, and she surprisingly smiles back.
And that's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life.
"Do your parents know?" she asks, going back to eating and relaxing a little.
I do a mental fist pump because I feel like the ice between us is finally beginning to melt.
"Not yet; it's going to be a surprise for them." I chuckle, imagining my dad's face when I tell him. I always told him that he should make me CEO instead of Damian. "That's why I started saving money, in case they forbid me to go to culinary school and I have to pay for it myself."
"Yeah?" She smirks. "Is that why you upgraded us to business class?"
"No," I say after a pause. "That was because all the other seats were reserved, and if I hadn't, I wouldn't have gotten a seat next to you."
Her eyes go wide with surprise again, and she freezes. She wasn't expecting that, obviously. She starts blinking rapidly, opening and closing her mouth.
"Why? Have you prepared a new prank?" she says sarcastically after she recovers from the shock.
"I haven’t played any pranks on you for a long time," I justify myself.