A Girl like Rome

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He puffed his cigarette one more time before answering when she demanded an answer again.

“Tell me, what was so special about that girl?”, She asked in a calm tone.

He looked at the wall and pointed toward the painting which showed ruins of Rome and said, “She painted this. And she, herself was like this.”

“Like what? The painting?”, She asked.

“No! She was like the place in this painting.”, He took another puff of smoke while answering.

“Like Rome? How can a girl be like Rome?”, She blubbered.

“She was heart-broken like ruins of Rome yet she was astonishingly beautiful just like that place. She didn’t hide her scars; instead she preserved them like a monument. Her past was painful but she made it her strength. She had this hoodoo of turning everything gut-wrenching into something beautiful. She was magical”, He said in a deep voice.

After a pause, she shot her next question toward him, “Do you still miss her?”

“No! To miss her would be too mainstream”…..“I crave her”, he answered while he stood up from the bed to get another cigarette.

The Ring

It was a snowy Sunday morning. She tried to cuddle with him but he didn’t respond. She moved fingers in his hair but he kept staring on roof like she wasn’t even there. It’s been a while since he was distant and quiet. She looked out of window while lying on bed and talked to herself, “Has he stopped loving me or it is something else that is taking a toll on our relationship?” She smelled his essence and tried to calm herself.

While she was still in her thoughts, he was already up. He looked pale and blank. She got up from bed and checked the drawer. The “Ring” was still lying there. It was something that would always make her smile and hope for the good days to be back soon. It was their first date anniversary today and all she was expected was this ring from him. Just when she realized she was late, she heard the horn and rushed toward the car.

She sat next to him and placed her hand on his hand but his cold response made her withdraw. “Is the love that blossomed just a year ago was already dried? Was it her fault or just course of time that challenge every love story in some way?” she wondered. She came out of her thoughts when he stopped at flower shop and collected her favourite bouquet. It was then when her deep brown eyes sparkled and her lips gave a perfect tinch of smile with the thought of him keeping his promise of proposing her right after one year of their first date.

“He would be planning something big for me”, she were talking to herself again. Ever since he had stopped responding to her, she started spending her time wondering and talking to herself. She came out of her thoughts and noticed she was alone in car. She quickly got out and saw him walking ahead with flower in his one hand and the Ring in other. She followed him until she saw something that froze her.

She felt numb seeing him sitting next to a grave with tears in his eyes and placing her favorite flowers on it. He was on his knee and proposing ring toward her grave. He kept his promise.

Coffee Shop

 

“I saw her in same coffee shop with a guy. They were holding hands and he was whispering in her ear which made her blush as well as giggle at same time. She was looking happy, very happy indeed”.

“And what were you doing?”

“I… I was cursing myself for not treating her right when she was all about me, when all she wanted was my care and love. I was regretting for losing my moon while looking at stars. I was trying to collect pieces of my heart that were scattered in same coffee shop after knowing her alluring smile, now belongs to someone else. I was devastated in the pain of letting her go”.

“You let her go? But why?”

“I will ask this question to myself for rest of my life”.

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