Epilogue
Lola
There are three things you should know about me:
1. I believe in love with all my heart.
2. Every night, I dream about the Prince Charming that I get to spend the rest of my life with.
3. I’m a walking contradiction.
And upon further thought, there is one last thing you should know about me. I received an envelope a couple of months ago and all it held was a feather and a piece of paper. On the piece of paper there was one sentence. One sentence that I think about every day. One sentence that I dismiss from my mind whenever it starts to make me warm and cozy or whenever it starts to make me worried and afraid. I keep the letter because as much as the writer is correct, he is also wrong. I read the letter whenever I want to remind myself of who I am and where I’ve been. I read the letter to remind myself that I’m not perfect. I read the letter to remind myself that life isn’t black and white. Love isn’t perfect and Prince Charmings are just regular men. I read the letter to remind myself that I have my happily-ever-after and that it’s all I could have ever asked for. Yes, when I read the words in the letter, it makes me pause. The writer, you see, wrote one simple sentence: “In the darkness, you will always remember me.” And he’s correct. I will always remember him, but not for the reasons that he thinks. In the darkness, I remember the confusion. In the darkness, I remember the exact moment that I realized that Xavier was a mortal—a human being like me. That he made mistakes and I made mistakes and that was okay. As long as we could both forgive and forget. As long as we could grow. And grow we did. Yes, Stephan had touched a primal part of me that took me on a short walk on the dark side, but the memory of that walk only made me stronger. The memory of that walk made me realize that I had the best man in the world. The memory of the feather and the memory of the darkness only showed me that I’d kept the one man in my life who was right for me. Xavier Van Romerius was my Prince Charming and the fact that I’d captured his heart was the only thing that mattered. I smiled every time I saw that letter now because it reminded me of where I’d been and where I am now. I smiled because it made me excited for my future. I smiled because it reminded me that I’m engaged —for real this time—to marry the only man I’ve ever loved. The only one who can really turn me on, heart and soul. I smile because I know that when I walk down the aisle at my wedding in front of all of my guests, including Stephan, I’m not going to be the one thinking about what went on in the dark.<3