“Closure’s so important before making a lifelong commitment,” he said earnestly. “I really appreciate Tessa being mature enough to suggest this.”
Jared stared at Liam’s outstretched hand like it was a snake. “Wait, this isn’t real. Tell me this is some kind of elaborate prank.”
I grinned at him. “Oh no, this is very real. It’s a double-closure trip now. Yours and mine.”
I held Liam’s hand and walked away with him, right past security toward a completely different gate. Because yes, we were actually flying somewhere.
This wasn’t just a performance.
Let me tell you what happened the other day.
After my conversation with Dylan at the mall, I’d gone straight home and called Liam. We’d kept in touch sporadically over the years through occasional birthday texts and holiday greetings.
He was working as an architect, and as far as I knew, he was single.
“Liam, I need a huge favor,” I’d said when he picked up. “And it’s going to sound completely insane.”
I told him everything about Jared, about the secret trip with Miranda, and about how my world had collapsed just days before my wedding.
“So, you want me to pretend to be your closure trip guy to mess with your lying fiancé?” he asked.
“You still like margaritas, right?” I replied.
He laughed. “Book the tickets. I’ll meet you at the airport.”
Now here we were, walking through the airport together like we were any other couple heading off on vacation. A week in Cabo had seemed like the perfect revenge plan when I’d booked it impulsively, but now that we were actually doing this, I felt strangely calm.
My phone started buzzing almost immediately after we passed through security. Text after text from Jared.
“WTH was that back there?”
“This is completely insane, Tessa.”
“I was going to explain everything when I got back from the trip.”
“You just ruined everything.”
“Call me right now.”
I read every single message as we sat at our gate waiting to board. Each one made me angrier and more certain that I was doing the right thing. He was going to explain everything when he got back? After lying to my face and sneaking off with his ex behind my back?
I blocked his number before our plane even took off.
The flight to Cabo gave Liam and me our first real chance to talk in years.
We caught up on everything, including his job, his family, his dating life (or lack thereof), my career, and my now-cancelled wedding plans.
“I can’t believe he lied to you like that,” Liam said, shaking his head as we descended toward Mexico. “Especially this close to the wedding.”
“I can’t believe I almost married someone who thought it was okay to sneak off with his ex for a ‘closure vacation,'” I replied. “What does that even mean?”
But as the week went on, something unexpected happened. What had started as a revenge plot turned into something real.
Liam and I fell back into our old rhythm effortlessly. We talked for hours on the beach, laughed until our stomachs hurt, and remembered why we’d fallen for each other in the first place.
We’d broken up in college because I’d gotten into graduate school across the country, and long-distance had seemed impossible back then. We were young and scared and thought we had all the time in the world to figure things out.
Now, at 35, we realized we’d both grown into exactly the people we were meant to be. And somehow, we still fit together perfectly.
One week in Cabo turned into another week.
Then, Liam flew back to his city, quit his job, and moved to my city. Six months later, he proposed with a beautiful ring.
We got married the following spring in a small ceremony with just our families and closest friends.
And Jared? He sent me an email about three months after Cabo with just one line, “Guess your closure worked.”
Yes. Yes, it certainly did.
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
