This day would be coming the day she said, 'I do.' And Sheba knew it. She knew that, one day, she would have to say goodbye. Sheba packed her bags with tears streaking down her cheeks, and had to hold herself back from screaming in anger, fear, and regret as the last latch was closed on her suitcase. Anger; for getting herself into this situation in the first place. Fear; of the unknown and her future. Regret; for taking herself away from those she cared most for. But it was for the best, for them all.
Taking in a shaky breath, she took the handle in both hands and lifted the heavy case out the door, her mind in utter turmoil, memories racing about as if they were flies, insistent on being at the forefront of her mind. First, the very day she met Solomon. It had been a perfect day in December, with a light falling of snow and icicles hanging from the awnings on every shop. Sheba and a friend had gone out to get special hot chocolate, and on the way back to Sheba's apartment, the heel of her boot ( why she chose to wear heels in that weather was still beyond her to this day ) caught in a hidden grate and she slipped. Landing hard with a twist of an ankle, she actually cried out in pain and surprise. Her surprise was furthered when a tall, dark haired man rushed over from the other side of the park to help her up.
"You okay?" he had asked, a hand outstretched to her with one of her shopping bags in the other, while her friend hid a smile behind her palm. Sheba, taking his hand with a raised brow, hesitantly pulled herself to her feet and took a step forward, then almost immediately fell back down. But the man's hand holding hers kept her from landing on her bum again. Looking up to him with a warm smile, Sheba said, "Your name, if I may be so bold?"
Next was the day of their first date. Not anything particularly spectacular, but romantic and sweet all the same. A short trip around his favorite book stores in the sleepy college town, with a stop at a local hole-in-the-wall diner. He took her home, not asking for anything, and waited for her to make the first move. Sheba twiddled her thumbs and looked up to the lamppost, anything she could do to avoid his gaze. Then, before she could think to far into it, she stood on her tiptoes, kissed his cheek, and went into the safety of her home.
She could have sworn she heard a laugh from the other side of the door, then his car door slammed and he was off.
And next, the day of their wedding. She was all dolled up, her gown as white as the snow on the day they met…. And Sheba was no where to be seen. In truth, she was hiding in the back of the chapel, her face in her hands as she hyperventilated. There was ten minutes till the ceremony, and she just… Couldn't do it. she couldn't.
That was, until Solomon himself went looking for her, finding her in the nick of time with a hand over his eyes, so he wouldn't jinx their big day.
And after that, the day after getting home from the hospital, her son now in her arms. and Solomon hovering over them every second of the day, until Sheba flicked his ear for insisting she not get out of bed when Aladdin started crying. Shaking her head and rolling to her feet, she went to their newborn's room and picked him up, cooing at him, before she began to hum a lullaby under her breath.
Sheba stayed like that until she looked over her shoulder, seeing Solomon leaning against the door frame with a peaceful smile on his lips.
That was five years, two weeks, and three days ago. Everything seemed idyllic since then, until her past caught up to her. Before the day she met Solomon, she had been a drug runner for a large gang in the major city an hour away. And she had gotten into a massive amount of trouble. After all, who suspected the innocent looking, rose haired sweetie?
Her bag now out the front door, and the full moon high overhead, Sheba looked back to the little blue house that had been her home for the past five years, and said this.
"Goodbye… Both of you…"