Winter was sitting in the corner of her room, crying her eyes out. Just the thought of staying away from Zane was scary, and the thought of breaking up with him was scarier.
What if he actually breaks up with me? What will I do?
She loved him so much, although she had yet to tell him that. She didn't get the opportunity for it, either. His mom died, and she couldn't bring herself to tell him in such a situation. He ought to think she was pitying him.
But now her relationship was falling apart due to their career choices. He wanted to study at Harvard University and become a neurologist someday, and she wanted to run many hotels and resorts. They had planned it all together. When she was staying at his place, they used to talk on the balcony sometimes. And one time, she told him about her wishes and she blurted out that she wanted to go Cornell University in New York, which he encouraged her to turn into a reality. Back then, she still wasn't sure of her feelings, that's why she dug her own grave.
Now all she wanted was not to get accepted into any other better university than Boston. That would be the safest way to secure their togetherness.
Hearing soft sobs from outside, Carla knocked on Winter's door. Winter wiped her tears and quickly opened the door, letting Carla in.
"Why were you crying, dear?" Carla inquired, taking a seat on the bed.
Winter hugged Carla and sniffed. "What should I do?"
Over the last month, Winter had gotten pretty close to Carla and didn't hate her anymore like before, rather she was like a mother-figure to her now. Her father had also started to act less harsh than before.
Winter told Carla everything from the start. After listening to everything, Carla patted her head and said, "Never choose relationships over career."
"I know, but he means so much to me. I can't imagine living without him for so long." Winter cried.
"You can balance it by staying in a long-distance relationship then," Carla suggested.
Winter shook her head. "I hate long-distance relationships. I won't be able to see him whenever I want to. I won't be able to touch him. If he doesn't pick up my calls or I can't pick up his calls, we won't be able to talk for the whole day. How frustrating would it be!"
"Look, dear. At first, you both need to stand on your feet, then you can plan ahead. You two have your whole life ahead of you. And Zane is aiming to be a doctor, which means his studies would take way longer than yours. He won't be able to support you during that time, so you need to be capable of doing that yourself. You don't want to be a burden on him, do you?"
Winter lowered her head and thought about it. Logically, Carla was right. A long-distance relationship would be better for the two of them. Yet…
"But wouldn't I be able to stand on my feet if I study in Boston? It's also a very good university. What makes it worse than Cornell?" Winter pointed out.
Carla smacked her head lightly and said, "This girl… You had Cornell University in your head when you came here from Bangladesh." Winter tilted her head in confusion, and Carla huffed. "Only Zane can make you understand."
Winter pouted.
Just then there was a knock on the window. Winter got up to check. She opened the window and saw a dark figure on the lawn. She tried to adjust her vision to see the man clearly. That's when she heard a hushed voice, "Come down, Winter."
A smile blossomed on her face. "He came out of the house," Winter murmured under her breath.
"Who's that?" Carla asked, peeking at the dark lawn.
"My Romeo," Winter beamed and hurriedly went out of her room.
"Hey, David is going to chop your limbs if you go out now—" Carla stopped speaking as Winter was already gone like a breeze. It was past midnight yet Zane came and Winter went out to meet him. Love indeed made people go crazy, especially teenagers, Carla thought.
Winter quietly stepped out of her house and saw Zane pacing back and forth in the front lawn. She did come here in a hurry, but what was she going to say? She immediately regretted coming here unprepared.
"Hi, Winter," Zane greeted awkwardly.
Well, she wasn't the only unprepared one. They were really like two peas in a pod.
"Hey, Zane." Winter waved at him reluctantly and tried fixing her messy hair.
"Um, wanna take a walk?" he suggested, and she nodded. He put his jacket on top of her thin pink tee and said softly, "You should have worn something warmer."
"I got too excited when I saw you," Winter mumbled, playing with her hair.
They both started walking beside each other on the pavement of her lane, silently.
"I'm sorry," the two of them spoke up together.
"I'll go first," Zane let out and she nodded. "I'm sorry for even uttering the word 'break-up'. My mind must have stopped working. I should have tried making you understand in a calmer way rather than wording it out like that. It's just that…" He let out a breath and continued, "I don't want you to sacrifice anything for me. And if you do make sacrifices for me, I want to be able to do the same for you. In this case, I can't do that, so I won't let you do it either."
Winter listened to him carefully and understood what he was saying. She would do the same thing if she were in his place; she wouldn't let him sacrifice his dreams for her.
"I understand. And I'm sorry for being so irrational. It's just that I didn't want to be apart from you. If we were to stay away, I don't think I will be able to handle myself," she let out.
"Says who? I think, no, I'm sure that you can handle yourself even when you will be away from me. You are strong enough, and when you need me to be there for you, just give me a call. I will try my best to always pick it up," he told her.
"You are right." Winter smiled and wrapped her arms around his. "But you can't ever break up with me," she pointed out.
"I won't," he answered and kissed the top of her head. "As long as you don't want it," he added.
"No, even if I want to break up, don't let me. I'm pretty irrational sometimes, but I'm sure that I won't ever want to part ways with you," she announced.
"Why, are you that attached to me?" He raised an eyebrow in amusement.
"You bet I am." She grinned. "How are you feeling?"
"Much better."
The two of them talked for quite a while under the moonlight, talking about their career plans and how they will maintain their relationship. After all, they couldn't sacrifice either of them.
°°°°°
The next morning, Winter received mail from three universities. She gulped, not wanting to check them out right away. That's why she brought her laptop to the café to check out the results with everyone else.
Surprisingly enough, Zane came to work that day after more than a month, which made her feel ecstatic. If he didn't come today of his own accord, she would have dragged him there by his collar.
At first, Winter checked the mail from Boston University into which she was accepted. There was a burst of squeals as Leon and Lucy congratulated her.
Please don't get accepted into Cornell University, Winter prayed and opened their mail while Zane was watching her like a hawk with his arms crossed and no expression.
Her eyes widened as she read the letter. She gasped and cupped her cheeks, tears welling in her tears.
"What, you got rejected by Cornell?" Lucy let out in worry.
"Sis, don't worry. At least you got accepted into the other university," Leon consoled.
"No, it's not that. I did get accepted," Winter cried out and threw her arms around Zane, letting her tears fall.
It had only been a hypothesis until now. But it was a fact now that she was going to study in New York while Zane would be in Boston, and it hit differently now. She had to be apart from him for three years. They still had roughly three months together before they had to part, yet she was already starting to miss, and she was sure that Zane was feeling the same turmoil.
In between their career and relationship, if they chose to break up they knew that they would be able to focus on themselves more, that they would stop worrying and thinking about each other which might become an obstacle in their life. But when they were with each other, all their problems were gone like a breeze. Therefore, they were willing to bear that obstacle with a smile on their face.
