The Despair of Strangers

I don't know how to do this without you anymore...The text message wasn't meant for Alyssa. After ending her engagement to a liar and cheater, she left everything behind, moving into a new apartment and changing her number. She didn't expect to feel the words reach inside her, picking at scars never likely to heal.I miss everything about you and I won't move on. I can't move on...The messages kept coming, telling a story of loss that made Alyssa's pain feel small. When she answered the texts, she formed a bond with Derek. Derek who was not writing to Alyssa at all, but trying to deal with his grief by sending messages to his dead fianc嶪.All day today I was surrounded by people and I felt absolutely empty. Like when you went away, you took all of me with you....Derek and Alyssa became friends first, then something more developed-a connection that felt like love, but one that left them both scared, uncertain of second chances. Alyssa wanted a future with Derek, but she wondered when Emily's ghost would finally let him go.