The Love Letter He Wrote for Me Went Viral

"Theo Bennett, you have to love her for another ten years. And another. And another." Ten years ago, when he folded that line into a letter, I was standing right next to him.

Ten years later, the letter was trending, and the "her" in it had become Isabelle Duval in everyone else's eyes.

A coworker pointed at a photo of the two of them in Iceland and sighed. "I never would have guessed.

Theo Bennett, the last true romantic." Then she asked me, all lit up, if I wanted to come watch his shoot that afternoon. I thought about a face I hadn't seen in six years.

In the end I just smiled and shook my head. "Can't. I have to get home to my kid." Chapter 1 "Of course you are.

Total sucker for that kid." My coworker Nia, ribbing me. "But where's her dad? Why can't he take her for once?

You don't get to see the biggest name in the business every day." My hand paused on the mouse.

I gave the last part the shortest answer I had. "He's pretty busy." Nia took the hint, let it go, and went back to scrolling.

Except she scrolled for a bit and couldn't help coming back to share the gossip. "Okay, did you know? When Theo Bennett first started out he had a girlfriend who was a nobody.

They were crazy about each other. Nobody knows when they broke up. "And now somebody dug up that Isabelle Duval knew him back in college, so now it all lines up.

Secondchance romance, and both of them at the top now. Oh my god, I'm obsessed." I couldn't keep my eyes on the screen after that. I thought about Isabelle Duval.

The shy, softspoken girl I remembered. I was the one who introduced her to Theo Bennett. She went red in the face and handed him a love letter.

And then, once she found out what he was to me, she ran. Now she was somebody who could stand next to him as an equal. It landed on me all at once.

All these years, and I was the only one still standing in the same place. When I didn't react, Nia leaned in, puzzled. "You're the one who's always reading secondchance romance.

How are you not saying anything?" My smile came out a little bitter.

However much you love a secondchance romance, you probably don't want to watch your ex have one with somebody else. I shut down my computer and stood up. "It's lunch.

Let's go eat." The clumsiest subject change in the world. Lucky for me, Nia never said no to lunch. She was up immediately, and Theo Bennett went straight out of her head.

I just didn't see what was coming. We came back from lunch, we were waiting on the elevator, and the doors opened with a chime. And there, inside, was Theo Bennett's face.

The car had come up from the parking garage. Five or six people were standing in it, loud and lively. He was in the middle. Ball cap, mask.

The eyes were exactly the way they used to be. We looked straight at each other before either of us could stop it.

I looked away first and turned, on instinct, to get out. "I think I left something—" I didn't get to finish. Nia grabbed my arm, thrilled, and hauled me in.

She had never met a stranger. Not even standing in front of a star the size of Theo Bennett. She didn't lose her nerve for a second. "Hi — you're Theo Bennett, right?

The notice said four o'clock! The notice lied to me! "Oh — can we get a picture?" I edged into the corner and quietly pressed twentyone.

Someone from his team moved to turn her down, gently. "Sorry, right now isn't—" "Sure." Clear, cool voice. Nobody in that elevator seemed to expect him to say yes.

For a second it went completely quiet. Chapter 2 Nia was the only one left making any noise, thanking him, delighted.

Then came the rustle of fabric, and it felt like someone had come to stand beside me. The picture was over and he made no move to step back to where he'd been.

I didn't turn my head. I stared at the floor numbers. Sixteen. The person next to me spoke without warning. "Do you two work in this building?" Nia answered, delighted. "We do!

We're on twentyone." "Are you coming to the shoot?" "Oh, no. Different department." "Okay." And on that last word, another chime. Twentyone.

I was the first one out, and I let out a long breath. The doors slid shut behind me.

Nia thought of something and spun around to shout through them. "Oh — I hope you and Isabelle Duval grow old together! Be happy!" I had no idea whether he heard her.

No idea whether he recognized me. Either way, all of it had happened too fast. I didn't go back to my desk. I ducked into the bathroom.

The person in the mirror had no makeup at all, hair clipped up any old way, the plainest Tshirt and pants I owned. You could not have looked more throwntogether if you tried.

I put my hands over my face and sighed. Of all the ways to see him again. Between me and Theo Bennett, I'd say I was the one who chased him.

Freshman year, I met him at a coffee shop near campus, where he was working a shift. He was too goodlooking. Falling for him on sight was the most natural thing in the world.

So I told the whole world about it, loudly. Vivienne Coleman, freshman in media and communications, was going after Theo Bennett, sophomore in computer science.

But I had too much energy back then. Student government, clubs, every committee I could sign up for, running around being busy about all of it.

Chasing Theo Bennett got pushed to the back of the line pretty fast. So a month went by. And the progress bar was still stuck at: added him.

Until a class project needed a location, and we went to shoot a music video at the coffee shop.

After we wrapped, Theo Bennett — who never said anything to anybody — carried a cup of coffee over to me with a completely flat face. He said, "Hi.

I'm free after my shift." I said, "Oh, that's great, you can get some rest. Congratulations." "…" The tips of his pale ears went red.

Like it physically hurt to say, he got it out through his teeth. "Weren't you supposed to be chasing me?" Everything clicked. "Right!

Okay, I'll wait for you to get off and we'll go eat." And that was how we finally got to our first date. After that.

He'd send me money out of nowhere with a note: aren't you taking me to a movie? Or he'd run into me after class, apparently by accident: aren't you going to invite me on a walk?

Or, on Valentine's Day, after a package showed up that I hadn't ordered, a message: you really don't have to get me anything for Valentine's Day.

Then later on, a long stretch when we didn't see each other. Somebody put a photo of him on the campus confessions page and confessed to him.

His roommate replied in the comments. [Don't bother, man's got a girlfriend.] Somebody didn't believe it. Theo Bennett showed up himself. [Yeah.

My girlfriend is Vivienne Coleman, freshman, media and comms.] I read it and shot straight up in my dorm bed. "Guys, I think I have a boyfriend!" My roommates: "…" The beginning was too good.

It makes the ending look that much uglier.

Out of nowhere, I took out my phone and opened the trending topic about him. #TheoBennettsTenYearLetter It wasn't the first time I'd opened it.

It wasn't the first time I'd read the letter. Chapter 3 In fact, I was standing right next to Theo Bennett when he wrote that letter. By then we'd been together exactly one year.

Writing a letter to yourself ten years out had started going around campus, and somebody said couples who wrote them together would grow old together.

So I believed it completely, and dragged him off to write one, thrilled about the whole thing. I even coached him on what to put in it. "Did you marry her?

Did you take her to Iceland? Have you been beside her the whole time?" That's the line I told him to write. But "Theo Bennett, you have to love her for another ten years.

And another. And another." That one I didn't know about. He wrote it in secret, sealed it into the envelope in secret, and never let me see. Until today, ten years later.

Made public in the most ridiculous way possible. I scrolled, and found that Isabelle Duval had already been folded into the topic.

All over the timeline people were shipping her and Theo Bennett. They'd even come up with a ship name.

Just like that, neatly and reasonably, Isabelle Duval became the "her" in the letter. And from the outside, she looked like a better fit than I was.

A notification popped up on the page. Isabelle Duval had posted something new. I tapped in and read her caption. [Iceland is lovely.

So is the company.] Nine photos, mostly the usual tourist shots. In one of them, I saw Theo Bennett from behind.

Five years together, and six more years of waking at midnight out of the same dreams. That silhouette was too hard to forget.

I don't know how long it was before the screen went dark on its own. I went back to my desk and kept working. I got faster without meaning to.

That way there was nothing in my head at all. And I could clock out earlier and get home to Dot. But life seems to save its surprises for exactly the days you can't take one.

A little before five, Director Whitfield called. "The Halloran dinner got moved to tonight.

Bring the contract and the proposal down to the studio on three, right now, and we'll go over it one more time." So I wasn't getting out of it after all.

Theo Bennett was in the studio on three. When I got there, he was shooting.

The mask and the ball cap were off, and the sweatshirt had been traded for a formal suit that looked like it cost a fortune. I finally got a clear look at all of him.

He hadn't changed much. Same as before. He could stand anywhere at all and the room would arrange itself around him. Even the lights liked him better than everyone else.

He probably hadn't noticed me. There were that many cameras, and the flashes were blinding. I stopped looking and got on with my job.

Once we'd gone over the contract, Director Whitfield said, "Six thirty. Bring Nia down to the garage and wait for me." I nodded and turned to leave. And got stopped by a girl.

She pointed at Theo Bennett, frantic. "Hey — could you shoot this for me? I seriously have to pee." Before I could answer, she added: "Everybody's slammed.

There is literally nobody else." I looked around, lost. She seemed to be right.

I was about to say something and she'd already pushed her phone into my hands. "It's behindthescenes stuff for his team to post — just make Theo look good, that's all!" And then she was gone.

You couldn't have held on to her. She really did have to go. So I made myself walk up close to the shooting platform, opened the camera, and pointed it at Theo Bennett.

The man in the frame stood clean and straight, his features as deepset and beautiful as they had ever been.

When his eyes drifted over, there seemed to be something like a small smile behind them. I froze. And I couldn't help thinking.

Is it even possible to make somebody who looks like that come out bad on camera? Chapter 4 My pocket buzzed and pulled me back. It was my mom. "What time are you off?

Dot says you haven't spent any time with her in forever." I let out a small sigh. "There's a work dinner tonight, we're trying to close a deal. I don't know what time.

Tell her to go to bed early and not wait up." She had a few more things to say and I agreed to all of them. By the time I hung up, the shoot had wrapped.

The girl still hadn't come back. I stood where I was, not sure what to do with myself. Was I supposed to hand the phone to Theo Bennett? I didn't get to decide.

He was already walking over. One step. Then another. He stopped about two feet away.

If I tilted my head up even a little, I could have seen the fine hair on his face under the lights. He said, "Vivienne. Long time." It had been a long time.

Six years apart, and I'd only seen Theo Bennett through a screen.

The Theo Bennett who blew up overnight, who had millions of people behind him, who had taken home more awards than I could count. Famous young, with no one else even close.

Looked at that way. That fight we had back then — I guess I lost it. "This is your assistant's, right? She asked me to film." I held the phone out fast.

He reached over and took it. "I know. "Thank you." Our fingers touched, and something strange went through my hand. I pulled it back immediately. "It's nothing.

Took two seconds." Neither of us said anything. Then I went first. "I've got somewhere to be, so I'll head out. Good luck with the shoot." I regretted it the second it was out.

The shoot was over. What was I wishing him luck on. Theo Bennett nodded, slowly. "Mm. Good luck with work." And that was that. I turned and walked away. I touched my face.

It had gone completely stiff. I never once let myself look him in the eye. He had these beautiful eyes that tilted up at the corners.

When he wasn't showing anything, they were cold. But the second he focused on you, something fogged over in them and you got the impression that he was in love with you.

I didn't want that impression. When I got back to twentyone, Nia was at her desk, seriously editing the picture.

Editing and marveling at it. "Oh my god, he looks better in person than I thought. There is nothing to fix here." "That damn CGI face.

Isabelle Duval is eating well." She glanced up when I came in. "Vivi, did you get a picture too while you were down there? He is unbelievably hot.

Not getting one is criminal." My hand closed on my phone without me telling it to. There were too many pictures of me and Theo Bennett.

I could never get to the end of deleting them. Six years later he was still sitting in my camera roll, gathering dust, refusing to leave. I shook my head. "He was busy shooting.

No time." At six thirty, Nia and I went down to the garage. She got bored, so she started in on Theo Bennett again. "That post of Isabelle Duval's is genius.

On the surface she didn't respond to anything, but it's basically a confirmation. Not only is he in one of the photos from behind, but her sunglasses reflect his actual face.

Sneaky." She practically shoved the photo into my face. "So all of these are boyfriend POV. I'm dying." I'd missed it. He was in the sunglasses too.

Which meant whatever they were to each other might be closer than I'd thought. I looked away and said, half joking: "You should scroll this stuff less.

You're going to end up romancebrained." Nia fired back instantly. "Not as romancebrained as you. Your husband never lifts a finger with your kid." Young people think fast.

She got me. I had nothing. And right then, a chime, and the elevator doors opened. Chapter 5 Director Whitfield came out talking and laughing.

Behind her was Theo Bennett, back in the sweatshirt. I blanked for a second and edged over to the side. Director Whitfield put her hand out to him. "Thank you for today, Mr.

Bennett. It was a long one." "Not at all. You ran it well.

We moved the time on you at the last minute — thank you all for working around it." Word was some big director had asked him to dinner that night, the kind of chance you don't get twice, which was why the shoot had moved.

He'd handled it properly, though. He had coffee and pastries sent in for the whole crew as an apology. That, plus he wasn't full of himself, so nobody had much to complain about.

After the round of pleasantries, everyone scattered. I dropped my eyes too and turned to go. I didn't get two steps before my foot caught on something.

I could already see my head hitting the concrete column beside me. But what got to me before the pain did was something warm and soft. And a smell I knew.

Jasmine over cedar, very faint. The cologne I gave Theo Bennett, years ago. The person next to me maybe sighed.

Or maybe didn't. "Still exactly the same as you were?" I straightened up, embarrassed, and rubbed my forehead. "Thanks." He took his hand back and didn't say anything.

Everyone around us had stopped walking and turned to look, delighted. Nia especially. Her face was a whole event.

Director Whitfield looked at me, then at him, and finally asked, very interested: "You two know each other?" Theo Bennett started to say something.

I got in ahead of him. "We went to college together. We knew each other back then." He went still. Something empty passed behind his eyes and was gone.

Then he switched into a polite, distant register. "I've got somewhere to be, so I won't keep you.

Good luck closing the deal, Director Whitfield." The director gave me a quick, veiled look, and smiled. "Thank you.

Good luck with your dinner too." Theo Bennett dipped his head slightly, and this time he actually left. I turned and got in the car.

We'd barely cleared the garage before Nia couldn't hold it in. "Vivi, you know Theo Bennett? How do you not lead with that!

No wonder you never react when I bring him up — you're an insider. Oh my god. "Were you close in college? How much do you know about him and Isabelle Duval?

Why did they break up back then? Are they actually together now?" She threw the whole string at me and my head rang.

I picked the one that mattered. "We haven't talked in a long time.

I don't really know anything about him and Isabelle Duval." She looked ready to keep going and Director Whitfield cut her off. "That's a lot of talking.

Save it for sucking up at the table later." That shut her up. Outside the window, shadows of trees, traffic in every lane. My head was a mess.

I reached into my pocket for my phone and touched something that wasn't mine. I pulled it out. A driver's license. I had no idea when it had gotten in there.

I looked at the name printed on it — Theo Bennett — for a long time. The Halloran meeting went reasonably well. Nia handled the mood. I handled the drinking.

One glass after another, until even their VP couldn't stop complimenting me on it. I hadn't always been like that. In the beginning I couldn't hold anything.

A few drinks in and I'd be off to the side throwing up. But there wasn't a choice. Work needed it. Life needed it. So I drank, over and over. Drank and threw up and drank again.

Some nights I'd get home from it and hide somewhere and cry. By now I could put away most of a bottle of hard liquor and still get myself into a car home, clearheaded.

My tolerance grew right alongside everything else I'd learned. And I finally understood that there were some things I'd gotten wrong.

Chapter 6 Some of those choices, I'd answer differently now. Theo Bennett, for one. The breakup. A lot of things. But time moves, and you cannot pour it back. The dinner ended.

I got a car service to take Director Whitfield home. Before she left I asked her for Theo Bennett's contact, so I could return the license. I hadn't even sent the request yet.

And the person in my head was suddenly standing in front of me. Tall and thin, the brim of his cap pulled down low.

He kept his eyes lowered and spoke lightly. "Small world." Nia made a surprised noise before I could. "Wait — Mr. Bennett? What are you doing here?" "Mm. I was eating here too.

Just finished." Except there wasn't a single person anywhere near him. Nia didn't think anything of it and started up a loose conversation with him.

I wanted to give him the license back, but the timing felt wrong. So I pulled up the rideshare app instead.

Nia caught a glimpse of my screen and got worked up. "This late and your husband still isn't coming to get you?

Fine, he doesn't do the kid, whatever, but he doesn't care whether you get home safe either?

Vivi, I'm sorry, but what exactly did you pick this man for? "Even the guy I'm barely seeing knows to get out of bed and come get me. Your husband is really — you sit with that one.

God, it makes me mad." The air went dead silent. I suddenly regretted not taping her mouth shut in advance. In front of me, Theo Bennett went visibly rigid.

His face had been calm, and it split open, inch by inch. "Husband… kid?" Nia waved it off. "You didn't know Vivi's married with a kid?

Wow, you two really haven't talked in a long time. "Actually, I'm pretty sure her husband is the guy she dated in college. Mr.

Bennett, does that ring a bell?" Less than three feet between us