What Remains Of Love - Chapter 3

As though suddenly coming back to herself, she hurried toward her apartment and fumbled through her bag for her keys.

“Thank you for coming back.”

“How did you know?” She looked up into his eyes without the slightest hint of embarrassment. “You knew I had left?”

He nodded instead of answering.

After giving her a gentle smile, he said softly:

“I knew before you did. As soon as I moved in, the building manager gave me a list of the neighbors. I thought perhaps it was just someone with the same name. But you know, it wasn’t difficult for me to find you.”

“Why did you think I would leave?” she asked as she adjusted her raincoat.

— I understand the kind of person you are.

She awkwardly slipped the key into the lock. He walked away after offering her a friendly goodbye.

The old café—the place where the two of them used to meet.

He chose the chair across from her, rather than the one beside her as he had in the past.

— Why did you move away? Was it because of me?

— He… treats you well, doesn’t he? — He answered her question with another question.

— Yes, more than well. He always spoils me. — That was how women often spoke about their new lovers in front of an old one.

— Better than I did? You two look very good together.

— As far as I know, men don't like being compared. And they especially don't like being compared to another man by the woman they love.

— Since when did you understand men so well? — He smiled.

— Since I met him. He never hides his feelings or thoughts from me. That's why we rarely get angry with each other. — She answered honestly.

— While I would always stay silent whenever you misunderstood me, just to make you furious?!

— You still haven't answered my question. Why did you move away?

He quietly gazed into his cup of coffee, then raised his eyes to look at her.

— Because we don't belong to each other. We weren't born to be meant for one another. But that very fact taught me to cherish you. People cherish what belongs to them and are grateful to those who love them. But they remember even longer the affection someone gave them when, by rights, they were never meant to receive it. Or, to put it simply… they weren't entitled to a place. — He began to joke lightly.

— So that's why you chose to leave?

— If I hadn't done it, you would have had to do it. I knew that.

— Are you and her happy? Do you love her too?

— What's important to me now is my family. She gave me a family. She is the mother of my child.

She had already known what his answer would be. Men were not like women. They didn't like talking about the person they were now with in front of someone from their past. And when it came to love, even less so.

At that moment, she suddenly realized that her wish to spend the rest of her life beside him had been terribly selfish.

Because she understood that it would not make either of them love the other more. Each of them had already found a settled place in the other's heart, and she was completely at peace with that.

— You won't hate me, will you?

— No. I used to think you would hate me and want to forget me from the moment I left. — She paused for a moment, watching his smile and the barely perceptible shake of his head. — I like the responsible man you've become. It makes me respect you even more.

— I'll always remember you.

They left the café as dusk descended.

The two of them walked silently side by side along the long street. Her hand suddenly felt cold in his.

“Are you going to take a taxi?”

He asked when a green taxi stopped in front of them.

“No. You go home first. I'll call Clement to come and pick me up.”

She watched his smile and the small wave he gave her through the taxi window until the car disappeared from sight.

“Have you been waiting long?” Clement asked as he rode his motorbike over to Emma.

“About ten minutes. But I'd rather wait for you than watch you ride like a maniac. You idiot!” she said as she climbed onto the back of his bike and wrapped her arms around him.

“Do you remember the female character Francesca from The Bridges of Madison County?”

“Yes. And I remember you once said you didn't like her.”

“No, that's not what I mean now. I want us to go watch the movie together sometime.”

“I've never said no to you.”

Clement reached one hand back and gently took hers.

In the cool breath of the early autumn wind, she felt just how warm Clement's hand was.

.

.

Sometimes, you feel sad without knowing why.

It's as though you've lost something incredibly precious but have forgotten what it was, or as though you miss someone you've never even met.

And you don't know where that sadness came from, either…