She may have walked out of my life twice, but I saw something different in her eyes this morning.

She didn’t want to go.

She wanted to stay. With me.

And maybe she’s just coming to terms with what she wants and I will give her that if that’s what she needs. But I will give her something else too.

A promise.

At the park, I explain to my crew what I need to do to finish the project.

“You sure, boss? I thought we wrapped up the actual welding last week, and were just securing everything and making sure the mounting of everything is in place?”

That was the plan, but I know what I need to do to make this perfect. The cameras are all gone until the unveiling and I’m glad. I want to do this part without any eyes on me.

The sculpture is not at all what I originally anticipated. It has grown into something more massive than any piece I have ever done. Instead of a singular unit, I have hundreds of pieces working together to give a visual that I know the mayor is going to love.

He asked for a piece representing GROWTH and if I’ve done anything in the last two months, it’s that.

I came here with such a closed-off heart, and now? I’m fucking putting it all on the line.

When Mayor Gustavo first pitched the concept, I thought there was no way I could possibly pull it off.

Then I met Mia, and everything changed.

I changed.

I poured concrete in a pathway around the circumference of the sculpture park, about one hundred circular feet, and out of the sidewalk, there are metal-worked trees, vines, flora, and fauna all growing through the cracks that I intentionally added.

A concrete jungle, literally.

It symbolizes Manhattan being the place in which all people can flourish, just as the mayor suggested.

I work around the clock, wanting it to be perfect. I’m down to the wire, I realize that. My crew comes and goes, cleaning up the job site, but I’m still soldering pieces of metal together, wanting to take her breath away.

Her.

Mia.

It was her, since the moment we met. And it’s time she knows.

“You’re gonna kill yourself,” my foreman says, but I shrug him off.

There is a method to my madness. If I stop now I’ll lose my momentum.

Finally, I see the piece taking its final form. My hands are calloused--fucking worked to the bone--but an honest day’s work has never been something I shy away from.

I’m avoiding Mia, intentionally. I don’t want to talk to her until I have something real to say.

To offer.

But I find Tallie and Matty outside the hotel and drag them to a coffee shop around the corner.

“What’s this about?” Tallie asks.

“Mia, duh,” Matty says, asking the barista for a cappuccino.

“Hey, no way buddy. You can’t have coffee,” I say. “Get the kid a hot chocolate.”

Tallie smugly takes her drink from the counter.

“Tallie gets one,” Matty groans.

“That’s because I’m going to Paris next month. I need to practice being French.”

“You’re going to Paris?” I frown, taking my drip coffee from the bar, and we head to a small table in the far corner, so no one can see us. Specifically, Mia.

Tallie explains her study abroad program and how the recommendation I wrote for her helped.

“And Mia wasn’t mad?”

Tallie smiles. “No, she said she was proud of me. That I was being really brave.”

“And then they cried for like three days straight,” Matty says with an eye roll.

“Wow, that’s big,” I say, thinking about how this news fits into what I want to ask Mia myself.

“Well, she’s still stuck with me,” Matty says. “But maybe she’ll be so busy with her new job I’ll get to be home alone a bunch and play video games.”

“You’d love that way too much,” Tallie snorts. “So, Ford, what’s this secret meeting about?”

“It’s not a secret,” I bristle.

“We’re basically hiding in the corner. It’s secret,” Matty says. “And don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you’re moving back to your mountain soon. Although, I’ll never ever see you again, at least according to Mia, so I’m glad we're here. Just --why?”

His comments catch me off guard. What has Mia been saying about me? I want to ask for details, but know I need to keep on track.

“Okay, I need you to get Mia to the unveiling of the sculpture tomorrow. It’s important.”

Matty shakes his head. “I don’t know. She has tomorrow off and she’s spending all day looking for an apartment. I know because I begged her to let me stay home but she said I had to come.”

Tallie, though, asks why she needs to be there.

“Well, uh. I wanted to show her what I made.”

“That’s it?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean... I thought you and she would eventually figure things out, but after the unveiling you’re leaving. Right?”

“Technically, yeah. My work will be done.”

“Oh.” Tallie swallows. “Then I don’t know. I don’t want to see my sister even sadder than she already is.”

I lift an eyebrow. “She’s sad?”

“Heartbroken,” Matty says. “I think that’s the official word.”

Tallie elbows her brother. “Sorry about him. He’s still learning about discretion.”

“So, can you help me?” I know I’m pleading with them, but I need her there. My parents and the mayor and the television crews. “This sculpture is for her.”

Tallie’s eyes widen. “You really love our big sis, don’t you?”

I nod. “Yeah, now I just need to convince her to give me another chance.”

Matty grins. “We’ll get her there under one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“We can have one more Nerf fight before you leave.”

“Promise,” I say, knowing if I get my way, we can have Nerf fights for the rest of our lives.