My Ex-Girlfriend’s Older Sister Got Stood Up At An Art Gallery… So I Asked, “Can I Sit with You ?
Chapter 12
Two years after the gallery incident, Amelia and I returned to the Marlowe for another exhibition.
This time, she wasn’t waiting for anyone.
She was hosting it.
The gallery was full.
Executives.
Artists.
Friends.
Family.
Sophie stood beside Clara.
Lucas was helping with the foundation.
Everything had changed.
Amelia looked around.
“Do you remember?”
“The painting?”
She shook her head.
“Me being stood up.”
I smiled.
“I remember.”
“You looked so awkward.”
“You were crying.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You were.”
She laughed.
Then a young assistant approached.
“Ms. Carter, someone brought a gift.”
Amelia opened the box.
Inside was a small bronze sculpture.
A note was attached.
Some people arrive late. Others arrive at exactly the right time.
She looked at me.
“Did you do this?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
We checked the note.
No name.
The handwriting looked familiar.
Amelia’s face changed.
“My father.”
I stared.
“Impossible.”
The note had been placed that morning.
But her father had died years ago.
The investigators confirmed it wasn’t him.
Still, the mystery bothered us.
Then Clara found an old journal.
A page matched the handwriting.
It was a quote her husband had written years ago.
He had planned the sculpture.
But he’d never delivered it.
Amelia smiled through tears.
“He was trying to tell me something.”
“What?”
“That timing matters.”
I laughed.
“That’s convenient.”
She nudged me.
“Don’t ruin the moment.”
We returned to the main hall.
The painting from that first night was still there.
Amelia looked at it.
“I still hate it.”
I smiled.
“So do I.”
“Want to leave?”
“Not yet.”
She took my hand.
“I like this place now.”
“Why?”
She looked at me.
“Because it reminds me of the moment I stopped waiting for someone else to choose me.”
I squeezed her hand.
“And chose yourself.”
She nodded.
“Then you sat beside me.”
“And asked a very brave question.”
She smiled.
“Can I sit with you?”
I nodded.
“Anytime.”
