For The Moment – G.
Something, or rather, someone, was exciting the villagers of a certain peaceful town; young maidens grouped together and whispered feverishly, mothers shook their heads and smiled at their teenage daughters' flirtatiousness, and fathers kept their watchful gazes on the young man who had recently arrived in their village, as though daring him to steal their precious little girls away.
But this dashing man, the elderly innkeepers knew only too well, had eyes for none of the young ladies who came to sneak peeks at him at the inn every day. No, he has come to see an old flame, to see if she was still doing well, and to thank her. But the strange thing was, he had not appeared once before her, even though it has been a week since he came.
Yet, day after day, he would leave the inn after breakfast; where he went to, the innkeepers did not know, but it was definitely not to her home. Why, they asked him one quiet night, as he sat alone in the lounge, staring out of the window with a steaming mug of coffee before him, wouldn't he visit her, when it was clear that she was the reason he returned?
He only smiled, somewhat wistfully, before vaguely commenting that even he was afraid of loneliness. At this, the elderly couple exchanged sad glances; perhaps, they thought, even without having to meet her, he had already sensed it. Yet, he will go to her eventually; that, they knew.
And he did.
The words that he could not say when they had to part years ago, he will probably never be able to tell it to her now, he thought, a little bitterly, when the picture of a happy family met his eyes; she sat on the same stool before her home, laid her baskets of produce on the same straw mat, and sold the same vegetables, but she now had a man by her side, a man who, judging from her smile, had been treating her well.
Their child sat between them, one chubby fist grabbing tightly to her laughing mother's favorite white dress, the other reaching out desperately for the chocolate that her playful father held just out of her reach.
It was a picture he could not bear to taint with his appearance, and so, he chose to walk away, this time for good. But before he did, he raised a hand, and placed his palm lightly against his own chest, gaze still fixed on her.
There it was, the familiar lubb-dubb of his heartbeat. He had her to thank for this love, this bittersweet memory.
And as his hand slipped slowly back down to his side, he turned, and began to walk away.
She had spotted the redhead even as she distracted herself with her child; how could she not, when that shade of red belonged to the man she once loved? Yet, she did not turn, she did not acknowledge him, even when she noticed that he had not forgotten the little gesture they had shared before they had parted.
His heart was still beating, and that was all she could ever ask for. With that throbbing pulse, G. will be able to find a woman a million times better than she ever could be to him.
But, if a "next life" existed, she would want their hearts to beat as one.
As usual, please read Last Words: Version Primo, if you haven't, because this story continues from there.
G. retains his position in the second chapter, as per Last Words! XD
I'll admit it - when I said in the previous chapter that I had many ideas for Primo's version, I actually really meant that many ideas for G.'s story kept coming in. His story can progress in so many directions, and I really want to write them all! But this version is my favorite, so...
Hmm. Would you consider this a happy ending? Or a sad one?
Anyway, I think up next would be either Lampo or Giotto, stick around for it!
