The dim light cast a soft, golden glow over the intimate spaces of the beach at Jumeirah, where Christopher’s — my cousin — wedding reception had been a scene of joyous celebration just hours before. The gentle murmur of the waves had provided a soothing sound to the laughter and clinking glasses, creating a memory I thought would remain purely joyful changed to something that I wished I would have found out way later.
Earlier in the evening, the air had been filled with the sound of applause and heartfelt congratulations. My face had mirrored the happiness around me, illuminated by the warm light of the lanterns that lined the shore. We toasted to love and new beginnings for Christopher and Caroline, and for a moment, I allowed myself to bask in the shared euphoria, believing in the promise of a beautiful future of two people whose have been in love longer than anyone would have.
But as the night deepened and the crowd began to disperse, I found myself walking alone along the now quiet beach. The sand, still warm from the day’s sun, felt cool under my feet as I approached the villa where we were staying. It was there, passing by Raline’s room, that my world shattered.
Her voice, hushed and laden with an unspoken sorrow, drifted through the partially open door. I paused, my heart suddenly pounding in my chest, as I heard her say the words that would forever alter our future. She no longer wanted the same things I did. The dreams we had woven together, the plans we had made for our life — all of it unraveled in that moment.
A cold dread settled over me, replacing the warmth of the evening with a chilling emptiness. My mind raced, struggling to comprehend the gravity of what I had just overheard. The once cheerful ambience of the reception now seemed like a cruel mockery of my current despair.
As I stood there, frozen in place, memories of happier times flooded my mind — our shared laughter, the quiet moments of understanding, the whispered promises. Each recollection felt like a dagger, piercing deeper into the wound her words had left behind.
She didn’t answer any of it. Tears just kept building in her beautiful eyes when I asked her what’s her plan — what she want to do in the future, and now I know that we might have drifted away from each other than we would like to admit.
Ten years of being together certainly doesn’t guarantee that we’ll be spending our life together. We might have had the same dream on the future in the past, but things certainly did change.
She wants to do things for herself more while I want to make what we used to dream of coming true.
I stared at the sea for a while already. My mind went blank and I couldn’t think straight. All in my head was about how long does she have been thinking like that? How many days did she spent her days thinking that she doesn’t want me to be in her life?
