It Started. It Ended.

Tee was quiet when they first met. He seemed to be a person with stories behind his intent, distant gaze, and the polite curl of his lips when he introduced himself. He avoided eye contact,as if he were too shy, and Chiara thought he was cute. Their fate intertwined that spring, when flowers blossom, as well as love.

He was lonely. Among huge crowd of comrades who work for the same event, he stood out a bit too much. They worked under the same department, and had to take authority on handling the performances. Performances required rehearsals, and meetings, therefore these two individuals spent quite an amount of time with each other. There were always moments of comfortable silence between both, and instance liking gradually turned into something deeper.

She started to become curious, of him, of his underlying stories. Strangely enough, he told her all. She liked his frankness. She could show her weak spots and insecurities in front of him, and she liked it that he understood her struggles. Whenever they had meetings till late night, he would let her lean on his shoulder and rest. He would massage her stiff neck and shoulders, and lent her his jacket. Chiara thought he was nice and warm. So when he proposed, she accepted.

Their relationship had just officially entered the third week when Tee started avoiding meeting Chiara. Whenever she asked him out for lunch, or dinner, he would give excuses. He said he was busy. But Chiara saw his chat head constantly online on Facebook, and thought maybe he was not that busy after all. Nevertheless, she restrained herself from disturbing him.

The situation went on for a week, until Chiara texted him “I love you” before she went to bed. When Tee merely replied her a smiley face, she demanded him the “proper reply”. He refused, and finally asked her out for a talk. Chiara sixth sense was on blue code, but she forced herself to get dress and meet him. 

“Hey,” her voice quivered while she greeted him.

“Hmm,” he answered but avoid her gaze.

“What you wanna talk about? Tell me.” She barely contained her nervousness. Her fingers kept fiddling with her t-shirt. “What’s it? Have I done something wrong?”

“Why, I’m here to talk, not to punish you for anything. No, you have not.”

“Then why? Why the sudden ‘we need to talk’ message?” She searched his eyes for explanation, yet he was still avoiding.

“Let’s sit down and talk,” he gestured her to have a seat. It was after midnight and the café was vacant.

“Please, speak. The suspense’s killing me.” She seated herself in front of his boyfriend. He seemed distant and unfamiliar.

“The thing is…” he paused, trying to search for a proper word. “I think I should not have treated you like this. It’s not fair you know.”

“What do you mean by not fair?” She reprimanded. “Explain.”

“You know right, my ex-girlfriend…” 

She waited.

“I keep having the feeling that I should not have treated you as I have treated her. It hurts so much when…”

“Okay, I got it. You mean we shouldn’t DATE, right? That’s what you basically did with your ex.” 

Chiara started to lose patience. She knew too well that Tee was simply beating around the bush.

“No, it’s … you know, how I ended up losing her.” His eyes turned foggy when he gazed into Chiara.

“So what?” she retorted. 

“Please. If you wanna say something, just say it. Listen to your heart and say it. I don’t care how you gonna tell it. Just say it.”

“I … we …I can’t continue our relationship anymore.”

Chiara’s heart skipped a beat.

“What did you just say?” her words came out in a barely audible whisper.

“Let’s break up,” he said. 

“Say it again,” she stared at him in defiance. “Say it again,” she gritted her teeth while the words escaped from her lips with a tinge of menace.

“Let’s break up,” he dared not meet her gaze.

“Say it again,” she challenged him.

“I won’t change my decision,” say her ex-to-be.  

“All this while I listened to you, and now you are dumping me?” Chiara let out a chuckle. 

“Fine.” She got on her heels and spun around to leave.

“It’s late. Let me send you back,” the unfamiliar man offered. 

Clenching her fists, she turned and met his eyes. “I never needed company. I am fine ALONE.”

She left, without looking back.

At first, she thought he looked alone, and wanted to keep him company; and now, she was the lonely one. 

------------------------------- End -------------------------------------