And those were the days of roses,
Poetry and prose and Martha
All I had was you and all you had was me.
There was no tomorrows,
We'd packed away our sorrows
And we saved them for a rainy day.
"Hello, Regina Mills on Mifflin Street, Storybrooke, Maine, please?"
Robin sighed. He had promised himself not to do this, to just keep his life in line and not interfere with the way things were going. And actually, they were going pretty well, even after all this time. He was married to Marian. They would even celebrate their fortieth wedding anniversary in four years. His only son Roland had just turned thirty. He was a newlywed with a little girl on the way.
Dear God, where did the time go?
Robin and Marian were happily retired, finally free to do the countless things they have longed to do for so long: painting, travelling, and very soon spoiling a beautiful little princess.
But it wasn't enough. It was never enough.
Because he didn't have Regina with him.
The call went through.
Will she even remember my voice?
"Hello, who is it?" he heard a female voice say.
He would always remember hers.
"Hello there, is this Regina?"
He heard her gasp at the other end of the line.
"It's Robin Locksley. I'm calling to… ask how you've been", he hesitantly said.
"Robin. Yes. I never thought I would hear from you again. Ever."
"Well, yes, here I am. How are you, Regina?"
This felt so uncomfortable. He had to remind himself of the fact that they were nothing to each other anymore, at least he was nothing to her. Hard to imagine, when you once were each other's everything.
"I'm fine. Just a bit gobsmacked to hear from you after, what, forty years?"
"Yes, exactly forty years", he said, "but who's counting?"
He was.
He continued, "I feel much older now, I can tell you that."
"Yes, that tends to happen over time."
He chuckled awkwardly.
Silence fell over the call.
"How is Daniel? And Henry? Anyone else?"
"Everyone is fine, Robin."
"That's great to hear. I'm glad you have them in your life." He swallowed hard. "You know that I got married too? To Marian. We have a son, and he's ma–"
"Robin, I don't have to hear all of that. Please", she interrupted. Her voice fragile as ever.
"Will you hear me out for a minute?"
"Robin, I–"
"Regina, please. It won't take long."
She sighed audibly, "Fine."
"I was impulsive. I have always been that way, and I guess that I still am, calling you out of the blue like this. Back then… Oh Regina, we were so young. We were living on a pink cloud with no tomorrows, only todays. We could only count on each other because all we had was each other. But, well, I just guess it was never meant to happen between us. But…"
He started to sweat, his mouth dry and his head burning. He breathed in, tears flowing down his face.
"But, you see, Regina. The thing is, I… I love you."
Complete silence.
"Ro–"
But he missed it. He had hung up the phone. He leaned his forearms against the wall and started banging his head against it. How could he have been so stupid? That's not something you do, just calling someone after forty years to tell them you love them.
Enough. That's enough.
"Robin, I love you too."