The Note
The dusky sun shines through the living room window, lightning the empty apartment except for the long shelves full of books. She stares at the books for a few moments before taking some of them in her hands and setting them into a box, packing almost the whole shelf until a thin small book calls her attention. She frowns, puzzled and surprised, but takes the book nonetheless, running her palm against the cover. She smiles sadly in a nostalgic moment, tracing the lines of his name with her fingertips. The first book he has published.
She still remembers the day he last showed up in her life, just for a few hours before leaving again. There was no undying love declaration or great gesture of passion. On the contrary, it was all very serene and peaceful, as his persona had always been. And in a way, it was all very familiar, with no extravaganza.
He asked an afternoon with her, she pretend to consider as if she didn't want to be in his company just as much as he wanted to be in hers. In the end she gave in, as she knew she would do from the very start and they went to a café.
Their conversation mirrored the relationship they had shared. Comfortable in its own way, simple words that carried heavy meaning and subtle gestures that spoke would speak volumes. The hours slipped through their fingers and there was nothing they could do to make time stop until finally the night arrived and they couldn't pretend it could last anymore.
'Goodbye' never seemed such a hard word, but neither knew what else to say. Empty words and impossible promises were out of question and confessions of feelings that supposedly didn't exist anymore seemed too cruel to the situation. So, with a fake 'see you soon' he gave her a copy of his book, a kiss on the cheek and walked out of her life again.
And now, two years later, she still finds it hard to hold his book in her hands, not to mention to read it. She has tried to read the whole thing several times, but for some reason she never got through with it. However, today there is something was some different in the air, an unsettling feeling and a despairing emptiness, and she thinks it's time to find out how the story ends.
Without any ceremony she sits on the floor resting her back against the shelves and opens the book with a sigh. A few hours pass until she is halfway half way though it, exactly where she had stopped the last time. After a moment of hesitation she carries on and dives into the plot that sounds way too familiar.
When she finally turns the last page a note falls from the book and with spontaneous curiosity she stretches to get it. She stares at it shocked, recognizing his handwriting and not believing she had never found the small piece of paper that had been left pressed between the pages for so long. She reads it over and over again, little by little letting an innocent smile take over her face. After a few minutes of indecision she bites her bottom lip and reaches for the phone.
"Hey, I know it's been a long time, but… I hadn't finished your book until a few minutes ago; I had never seen the note before. I don't know if it still means something…"
She holds the phone against her shoulder and smiles, "No, I'm not busy… right, same place… half an hour? Okay, see you there."
She hangs up and traces the note, a smile gracing her lips and she whispers for the first time what he had written so long ago. "Does he ever get the girl?"