THINGS I NEVER TOLD HER
SHE was in her wedding gown. She knew she looked beautiful in it. Walking down the aisle beside him holding a red rose bouquet, she was having the time of her life. She looked around searching for familiar faces. But there weren’t any. She was on her own. She turned to him realizing he is all what she has. The next moment all the people disappeared. In shear panic she turned towards him but she was terror stricken. He was gone too. Suddenly a coffin appeared in the middle of the church. There he was, lying motionless inside that coffin.
Lisa opened her eyes opened her eyes to see Joe sleeping on the couch beside her bed by the window. The moonlight lit up his face along with half of the room. She kept looking at him, reassuring herself he was fine and it was only a nightmare. All day he had been right alongside her fearing she might do something stupid, though she had no such intension. She couldn’t do that to him. She wouldn’t end her own life and put him in pain.
Joe was special. He always cared for her like her parents did. When he is around her, the void that the death of her parents left in her heart seems to disappear. He is different from all those guys who wanted to strike a relationship with her. He never did anything that he normally wouldn’t just to impress her. He was always keen to show the real Joe to her even if it meant tarnishing his own image in front of her and he knew when to give her space. He has always been there for her when she needs someone. He is like a silent guardian. Someone, who might go on loving her even if she hadn’t loved him, and now she has put him in the face of danger, No matter what he says.
She couldn’t go back to sleep anymore. She rubbed her face and got off the bed making sure she didn’t wake him. Just as she walked past him, she was startled by the sound of something hitting the floor. She turned to direction where she heard the sound. It was Joe’s phone on the floor. But Joe seemed to have not been aware of that fact. Lisa quickly grabbed the phone and walked out of the room.
She switched on the lights in the balcony and settled down on the easy chair. The sky looked beautiful. The full moon stole show.
She glanced at Joe’s phone. Not a scratch. It seems he cares for everything and everyone that is dear to him. She thought maybe she should take a peek inside. Joe wouldn’t mind. After all he had told her his password.
Asil, Lisa in reverse.
To her surprise it opened into a text document. She was intrigued by the title.
Things I never told her
It covered a whole page. Lisa was at first curious to find out what it was. She knew that the ‘her’ was indeed herself. But then she started having second thoughts. Is it the right thing to do? How would he feel? But in end her curiosity beat it all. She scrolled down.
But she was wrong .It was not something that was written for her. It was a story. She didn’t know he wrote. Pages into the story she realized something. The female lead of the story was indeed her. Sure the name was different. But she saw herself in those pages, things that she had said, things that she did, conversations that she had with Joe. It was not something written for her but it was about her. Joe had written a story about her!
She read the whole write up. It was not yet finished but the last line touched her heart. She wished he had said it to her in person. It went like this
I know you see me, but you pretend you don’t. I know you hear me but you pretend you don’t. I don’t know if you don’t love me but I know this much, I love you. I always have and always will.
Shruthi’s words replayed in her mind. ‘You are blessed to have him. Don’t ever lose him’
That moment she decided something. He had done so much for her .It’s time that she did something for his well-being. He will no longer put his life on the line for the sins of her parents. What needs to be done now, she will do it herself.
Lisa sat in front of Joe’s laptop staring at a blank page. She closed her eyes and thought of all those joyous moments that she spent with him. All of it flashed across her mind like a motion picture. She opened her eyes and started typing.
Joe,
You are the only person left for me in this world. And you have done more than what I could ever ask for. I know you love me enough to sacrifice your life for me, which is exactly why I can’t let you do that. I am leaving, Joe. I will end this myself.
But I want you to promise me something .if I don’t return alive, don’t waste your life. Move on. Find someone else. Live your life.
I love you. I always have and always will.
Yours and yours only
Lisa.
P.S: I am taking your phone and the car.
She took a flower from the flower pot and placed it beside the Laptop. She walked to the room where Joe was sleeping. She slowly opened the door, stayed there watching him until tears blurred her vision. Wiping the tears, she gave him a flying kiss and closed the door.