She’s been sitting in front of the mirror for nearly an hour, deciding whether to braid her hair or just let it down. She spent 2 hours earlier changing clothes until she opted to settle with a striped blue blouse, jeans and her Cinderella doll shoes. She had been waiting for this night to come, carefully planning what to do, how to act and what to wear. Now, as she stared gloomily at her reflection, she realized all those late night sleeps had been for nothing. She’s as unprepared as ever, and she could feel her heart wanting to escape the confines of her fragile body. 30 minutes before 6 pm, she elected to leave her house. ’I still have an hour before the reunion begins,’ she said. With that, she played the entire possible scenario that could happen tonight. She will see him. He will be there with his gorgeous wife, looking so in love and perfect together. Or he will be there, alone. Or, worst, she won’t even get to catch a glimpse of him. As the stars begin to sparkle in sky, she could not make up her mind as to what picture she prefers.

He came in early, a first for him. He never really showed up on events on time. He never liked waiting, except for that one rare time, when he decided to wait for eternity, only to find out that he waited in vain. Ever since, he never had the patience to wait for anyone.

He talked with a bunch of people, most of whom, he couldn’t even remember back in high school. Then as if the world shifted its center of gravity, he saw her enter the venue. Still keeping a low profile huh, he thought. She aged, he could see that. But there was something quite disturbing about her. As to what, he doesn’t have a clue.

She saw her friends waving at her. At once, she went to greet them and spent some minutes catching up with one another. The group became bigger and bigger that she couldn’t help but want air. She excused herself and went outside hoping to gather the strength to talk to him. From the corners of her eye, she had been keeping watch on him the moment she entered the room.

“You still like the wind, don’t you?”

She need not glance back to know that it was him. He’s the only one who knows how much she loves the wind. His voice hasn’t changed at all, she thought.

“I guess so,”

By now he is just a foot away from her. She couldn’t help but wish they could be alone, if only for an hour.

“It’s pretty crowded inside, would you like to go somewhere peaceful?” he said, as if reading her mind.

Before she could even utter a word, he took her hand and led her to their spot as lovers. He wiped the swing and gestured for her to have a seat.

“I’m assuming you want to talk to me about something,” she finally said, after a moment of awkward silence.

“I could say the same to you,”

She heard him pause, and then breathed heavily.

“Well, let’s just say that tonight I finally mustered the courage to ask you this. ‘Why did you leave me?’I think I deserve a better explanation. I’m not settling with that I’m-busy-with-studies-I-have-no-time crap.”

He deserved to know the truth. She denied him that for 16 years. They were never official, they feel the same for each other but they never got to the point of being together. While on their first year in college and in different universities, one day, she just decided to end whatever they have. He tried to reach her so many times but eventually gave up. To make matters worse, she even said she loved somebody else. She did, but only after 6 years of being separated from each other. She had a few relationships after that, but always, she knew that she should be in someone else’s arms.

“I’m sorry. I know you’ve been through worse...”

“I’ve been through hell because of you.”

She can sense his hatred towards her now. “I know. I just couldn’t block news of you. I’m sorry, I really do.” She wanted to hold his hands, look straight into his eyes, but she knew the moment she does that, she’ll be vulnerable.

“I wanted to tell you the truth, but I just can’t.I... “

“You could have just told me you never loved me.”

His pitch rose. He saw her tightened her grip on the ropes, and then stood up, her back in front of him.

“That would be a lie then, “

“Oh really? I tried to win you back but just shut me out. Even a text saying ‘let’s be friends’ would have sufficed.”

He knew she was sobbing now. He wished she wouldn’t look at him. He just couldn’t take seeing her cry, more so because of him. So he turned his back, intending to leave. Before he could take a step forward, she caught his hand.

“I ,I, I just can’t expect you to wait for me for another 5 years. You waited for me for 3 years. I’ve kept you waiting for too long. I just couldn’t make you wait until forever. “

With that she let him go.

“I thought you were smart.”

He waited for her reply, but she was far too engrossed with crying and self pity. He touched her face, and just then he realized what disturbed him earlier. Her eyes weren’t the same as before. He knew it wasn’t just the tears. He could see that the light from her eyes had gone away. All he could see know is darkness, immeasurable sadness and loneliness.

“When I said I was going to wait for you for all eternity, I meant it. I thought you’ll be happier without me so somehow I made myself believe that I’m doing the best for you. When I heard you were getting married, I nearly drunk myself to death. Then I heard news of your fiancé cheating on you. You know how hard that must have been for me? I basically had to chain myself to keep me from killing him.”

He saw her mouth move to form a smile. He had replayed these moments with her for countless times. But this smile is by far the sweetest and most beautiful of all. He found himself moving closer to kiss her and stopped when he realized that he might be moving too fast.

Then she let out a laugh. He can’t believe how much he missed her laugh.

“What’s funny?”

“Nothing,” She paused. “I may sound stupid for asking this, but I just have to ask it anyway.”

“Go on,”

“I just hope I’m not too late to ask this. But would you like to continue writing our story? This time, I’ll be waiting for you.”

“You’re the smart one. I can’t write stuffs like that. But I can give you an inspiration, if you want.”

Then without second thoughts, he leaned to kiss her. He could feel her giving herself to him.

“Does star gazing sound appealing to you?”

“Sounds fun,” she said. She wanted to tell him anything will be fun whenever his around.

As they lay on the grass looking at the star that shines so bright in the night sky, she couldn’t help but think what she did to deserve a guy like him. She thanked the heavens above for giving her the chance to correct her mistakes, for letting her write the continuation of their love story, even after all these years.