Everyone in the audience chuckled and nodded. They had probably all been exactly there. Bex knew she had.
“And some of it is actually incredibly terrible advice, but you don’t know that yet, so you follow it and everything goes wrong?”
More nodding from audience, this time a little more emphatically.
“It was kind of like that, only so much worse. And instead of a business, it was a woman I’m in love with. And instead of just being clueless, I was also a jerk.”
Her eyes went wide, then she turned to Peyton and then to Timini, Addison, and Ian. Did Roman really just say he was in love with her?
“I assume this woman we are talking about is Bex Sterling?”
Roman nodded.
“And did I hear you right? You love her.”
Roman let out a breath and shook his head, like he was still in disbelief with it all. “It’s pretty impossible not to fall in love with someone like Bex.”
Bex gasped, and her hand flew to her mouth. Her eyes started to water, and she blinked fast, trying to clear her vision so she wouldn’t miss one second of seeing Roman.
“I’m impressed. It takes a lot of bravery to get up here and announce it to everyone.”
“Actually, it doesn’t. I want the world to know. I want my peers to know. I want my family and my employees and my friends and all the Bexlandians to know that I am in love with Bex Sterling. It isn’t brave of me to say it now; it was cowardly of me to not say it before.”
Tears spilled onto her face. He was in love with her. And not only that, he wanted people to know.
“When you say ‘before,’ were you talking about that night at the awards?” When Roman nodded, he asked, “So what changed?”
“Me. Like I said, I was a jerk, and I was rude, and most importantly, I was wrong. It took a lot of intense soul-searching, setting boundaries with certain people, choosing which voices I’m going to listen to, coming to some realizations, and making a plan going forward.”
Tarak nodded. “Sometimes when we mess up badly, that’s what it takes. Tell me: if Bex were here now, what would you say to her?”
Roman looked right out into the audience. “I would tell her that she’s the most amazing woman I’ve ever known, and that I admire everything about her. She’s organized, patient, dreams big, sets goals, works hard, and accomplishes everything she sets out to do. I have now watched nearly every video she has ever posted, and I can say without a doubt that she has created an amazing channel with incredible content, and I have a crazy amount of respect for what she does.
“No matter how busy she is, she’ll drop everything to help out someone in need. Whether it’s someone wanting advice while she’s waiting in line, someone needing a shoulder to cry on, an email asking for help, or her nephew, who needed an adult to attend a sleepover at the aviary with him when his mom was out of town—even though Bex is terrified of birds. She’s willing to help out regardless.
“She’s got strong opinions and she isn’t afraid to share them. Even when her opinion is the unpopular one. She fights for what she thinks is right. She stands up for the little guy. She pushes people to be better and brings out the best in them. She has definitely brought out the best in me.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “I mean, before her, my personality only came out in my choice of socks.”
Tarak and the rest of the audience laughed, and so did Bex, as she wiped away at the tears spilling onto her cheeks.
“And I love her completely. I want the whole world to know it. I am hoping that it is never too late to fully apologize and make up for the mistakes I’ve made.”
The audience let out a collective “Awww!”
She couldn’t stay seated any longer. There was too much space separating her and Roman, and she needed there not to be space. Tarak looked out into the audience and made eye contact with her. He didn’t look at all surprised that she was there—almost like he had known she was there and where she was sitting all along. He gave her a single nod, like he agreed that it was time for her to come up.
She started making her way to the center aisle, as Tarak said to Roman, “Do you wonder what she would say if she were here?” Then he turned to the crowd. “Audience, what do you think?”
They all cheered and clapped as each person between her and the aisle moved bags, shifted their knees to the side, or stood up to let her past. She was pretty sure she stepped on a toe or two, and even hit her arm against the back of a guy’s head at some point, but she finally made it to the center aisle. She rushed up toward the stage, wondering how she was going to get up there, when one of the event center ushers held both arms out the direction of the stairs. She didn’t even have time to step into the front aisle, let alone head for the stairs, before Roman jumped off the stage and met her, front and center.
His face was so full of love and apology and hope that she reached for it, putting a hand on each side of his face, crushing her lips against his. She was vaguely aware of a roar of approval coming from the crowd, but it fell away. Off in the distance. All she could focus on was Roman’s arms around her, his lips against hers, a confirmation that everything he said was true and a promise of an amazing life together.
When they finally broke for air, they kept their foreheads together, breathing hard. A smile spread across Roman’s face, and she couldn’t help the one that spread across hers. Besides the cameras that were filming all sessions of the conference, she was sure that there were more than a few cell phones out, recording their reuniting.
“You just kissed me in front of a very large crowd.”
“I hope it goes even more viral than the memes. I want everyone to know I love you.”
“And I want them all to know that I love you just as much.”
The smile on his face was so beautiful, she wanted to stare at it for hours.
Roman glanced at the doors at the other end of the center aisle. “What do you say we go find someplace else to be?”
She nodded and put her hand in his, threading her fingers through his, and they walked to the doors together.
24
Roman
Roman and Bex stepped out into the lobby before any of the sessions ended, so the area had a lot fewer people than it would in just a few minutes. He led her down the wide halls to an ice cream kiosk he had found earlier. They didn’t have Ben & Jerry’s flavors, but they did have blueberry, raspberry, and vanilla flavors, so he had them put the three flavors together in a bowl for Bex, and make a chocolate chip cookie dough bowl for him. He’d paid for them and asked for them to be ready at about this time.
When they stepped up to the kiosk, the young man working grinned as he handed the ice creams to them. He slipped the guy an extra $10 tip to say thanks.
A few minutes later, he and Bex were sitting on a bench in a secluded little spot he had found earlier where they could talk. It overlooked a patch of grass, a few shrubs, and was shaded by a giant tree. They were both quiet for a moment as they took their first bites of ice cream, then he turned to her.
“What I said in there was just a start in my plan to make things up to you. I really am sorry for the way I behaved and the things I said. I would also like to apologize for taking nearly two weeks to say that. There were so many things I was wrong about, and I wanted to make sure I got them right first. I didn’t want to give an apology that wasn’t one hundred percent genuine, or to make hollow promises. I love you and I respect you, Bex. And I promise to always try to show you and anyone watching exactly how much I do.”