The Unsent Message

Olivia had always been a firm believer in second chances. She’d seen it in movies, read it in books—people always had the opportunity to fix things. But in her own life, second chances didn’t seem to come around as often as they did for others. At least, not when it mattered most.

It had been three months since she last saw Noah. The man she once thought she’d be spending forever with. The man she hadn’t even realized she was falling out of love with until it was too late.

As she sat at her usual café, her fingers absentmindedly scrolling through her phone, Olivia found herself looking at a draft in her messages. It was a text to Noah, one she never sent. It had been sitting there, waiting to be sent for weeks, with a simple message:

“I miss you.”

But sending it would mean reopening wounds that she wasn’t sure she was ready to face. It wasn’t just about missing him; it was about everything that came with him—the hurt, the confusion, the reasons they drifted apart. Still, her thumb hovered over the send button. Part of her wanted to reach out, but another part of her was afraid of what would happen if she did.

“Is this seat taken?”

Olivia’s gaze shifted to the voice interrupting her thoughts. Standing there, with a coffee cup in hand, was none other than Noah himself.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she froze for a moment. The last time they saw each other, things had ended in a rush of emotions, none of which were pleasant. She wasn’t sure whether she should be happy to see him again or terrified.

“No, it’s not taken,” Olivia replied, her voice soft. She motioned to the empty seat across from her.

Noah sat down slowly, as if unsure whether he should. There was an awkward silence between them, thick and uncomfortable, but also filled with something unspoken. He looked at her, his eyes softer than she remembered. He seemed different, almost like he’d been carrying the same weight she had.

After a few moments, he spoke. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you. I didn’t… I didn’t handle things well before.”

Olivia looked down at her coffee, unsure what to say. “I didn’t handle things well either,” she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. “We both let it fall apart, didn’t we?”

Noah nodded, his fingers tracing the rim of his cup. “Yeah, we did. But I’ve been thinking a lot, and I realized that maybe we didn’t give it a fair shot. Maybe I didn’t.”

The words stung, and yet, they felt like a balm at the same time. Olivia’s heart softened, but she wasn’t sure if she was ready for this conversation. She wasn’t sure if she ever would be.

“I don’t know if I can go back to how things were,” she said quietly, meeting his eyes. “We hurt each other, Noah.”

“I know,” he replied, his voice tinged with regret. “I’m sorry for that. But I’ve been wanting to apologize, and I’ve been wanting to ask… if there’s any chance we could start again? Not like before. But something new. Maybe… something better.”

Olivia felt a lump form in her throat. It wasn’t a proposal, and yet it felt like one. He was asking for a second chance, the very thing she’d been too afraid to ask for herself. But could she?

She looked at him, really looked at him, and for the first time in months, she didn’t see the man she had fallen out of love with. She saw the person she had once loved deeply, someone who, just like her, was looking for a way forward.

“I don’t know,” she said, her voice shaking. “But maybe… maybe we can start by seeing where things go. No expectations.”

Noah’s face lit up with a hopeful smile. “I can live with that.”

Olivia took a deep breath and glanced down at her phone. Her finger hovered over the draft message she had written so many times. She didn’t send it then, but as she looked back up at Noah, she realized that sometimes, the right words didn’t need to be said to begin again. Sometimes, it was about taking a chance.

And with that, she smiled.