My Dream is Coming to an End

This is my first attempt at writing a short story after many, many years of forgetting about my passion for writing. It is still a work in progress but I would love to read your comments. Thanks!



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I sat there with a smile on my face, listening to him talking on the phone. I heard him whisper sweet nothings, heard his soft laugh. So it's true...he's found someone! I thought it was just a nasty rumour, that there's someone else who can make him laugh like that. I quietly let myself out of the house. I don't think he even noticed. I needed to get out of there....



I woke up crying that night. I looked out the window and all I could see was his smiling face. How am I supposed to live without him? For two whole years my world revolved around him. Every single moment I could spare I spent it with him. My friends call him LOML - the Love of My Life. I know he loves me, too. Why else would he have spent all that time with me? Why would his best friend tell me that I was the only one who can make him laugh?



We first met one cold morning in church. That was the first thing we had in common - we preferred the quiet solemnity of the early morning mass. He approached me just as I was leaving and asked if I wanted to have breakfast with him. He said he's seen me several times there and thought we were kindred spirits, braving the cold like that. I hesitated but then he smiled that sweet, tender smile that made my heart beat so much faster so I couldn't help but say yes. That breakfast date became part of our Sunday morning habit.



After that, he'd invite me for a drive on his vintage Ferrari. I can't count the times I went with him on that car to explore second hand bookshops on tiny villages along the coast We usually stopped to have a picnic on our favourite beach, eating fresh produce from roadside markets. He'd entertain me with stories about his childhood. He and his brother were full of tricks. He told me that one day, they built parachutes out of an old tent and almost broke their necks testing them from the kitchen roof!



On rainy days we'd hang out at his place or mine. He lives in a modern architecturally designed house on top of a hill, a strong contrast to my beautiful old cottage with it's flowering vines and vegetable patch. He helped me plant those roses last spring. I thought they wouldn't survive the late frosts but they did!



Later that day, he took me to meet his parents at their 35th wedding anniversary. I was terrified they wouldn't like me. I spent ages doing my hair, perfecting my make-up, and changed my outfit ten times! He must have sensed how nervous I was. "Everything will be all right", he whispered, then he put his arm over my shoulders to reassure me.



And it was! His mother gave me a warm embrace and his dad bowed and shook my hand. We talked like old friends after that. I felt loved and accepted for who I was by his family. I told them about my own big family who lived in a small city three hours away by plane. Just before we parted, they made me promise to introduce them to my parents when the latter came to visit.



That summer was the happiest summer of my life. We watched concerts together, we swam on the sea, and I even went with him to his office party. He said he needed a driver but I was not deceived. He was not much of a drinker. He made me join the three-legged race with him. I was so annoyed because I was wearing a silk dress and my hair and make-up were again perfect that day. In the end, I couldn't say no to him. My dress was ruined when I fell in the middle of the race, but we still won. The proud look on his face when he looked at me was worth a thousand silk dresses...



But through all these wonderful times, he never said he loved me. I thought it was just a matter of time before he would say these words. I mean, how hard could it be to say those three special words that would make the life complete? It was there in the way he looked at me, smiled at me, took care of me as if I was the most precious thing in his life.So I hung on. I nurtured my dream that perhaps, someday he will ask me to be more than a friend.



But I did live in fear, fear that one day he will find another. Now that day has come. My dream is now coming to an end. I know I have to be strong, but just for a bit longer I will grieve for our lost love.