Late Now – Short Story Remorse
Photo credit: solrac_gi_2nd from morguefile.com
She had the most gracious smile and the most charming eyes. Her laugh was scintillating and her talks always witty. Everything she ever said shot me down with such amazement and I never saw it coming.
She was the love of my life. And I never had the courage to say it.
And now I never will be able to.
Yesterday, I got a call from an old friend, saying there was an important news. I was in a hurry for a meeting and so I asked him to hold on to that thought. Oh how I knew what that fateful message held.
I ran business as usual that day, without the thought of my friend’s phone call crossing even once. Coming in late, I went straight to bed, not bothering to call back.
But the next morning, I ran into him.
“Where have you been, man?” He asked.
“Business works. I got a hard life now,” I replied.
“There’s something I need to tell you.” I waited, checking my watch, with it telling me that I was getting late. I was thinking of asking him to leave me a message but blowing him off twice would be too rude.
“What is it?” I asked. He looked at me with painful eyes. And the next few words hit my heart like a bullet.
And the bleeding never stopped.
He told me that she was dead. That was he was trying to tell me all that time before. That very girl I fantasized about was gone. Dead by cancer. He said that she tried to contact me but never could. While I was busy with meeting people and flying high up in the business clouds, she was down there, reconnecting with the people she once knew. And that angel tried to find me, an earthling of no match to her.
And now I am sitting here, on the floor with photos scattered everywhere, while my people await me in their sharp suits, disappointed.
If you knew her, you would fall for her too. Over and over again. And you would just fall helplessly, wishing no one ever stops you. Because that what love does to you- takes you by surprise and shakes the darkness out of you with such immeasurable force that it becomes hard to breathe.
I was in love and a fool in love and forever a fool to never form it in words.
__END__
