Lucas did not budge at all. He sat still in the living room, enduring the uncertainty, waiting with a fixed gaze directed towards the door.
It would open soon. Velia would come home.
It was nearly nine o’clock at night. Lucas had been waiting for almost six hours. However, that meant nothing to him. He could wait longer if it concerned Velia.
Lucas took a deep breath. For the umpteenth time, he tried to suppress the urge to forcefully bring Velia back from the hospital.
Damn jealousy. Lucas truly wanted Velia to come home right at that moment.
A glimmer of sanity managed to warn Lucas. Their situation and Velia didn’t need to be aggravated by further conflict. Everything that had deteriorated could become even worse. Forcing Velia would only pour gasoline on the flames.
Lucas tried to stay calm. He tried to be more patient.
Velia would surely come back to me. She would definitely come home. She’ll be home soon. I just need to be patient a little longer.
Like a mantra, Lucas kept repeating that sentence in his mind. Whether as a form of conviction or perhaps hope. Maybe even a hope that Lucas believed would soon become reality.
Waiting was never pleasant. Especially with the complexity of the situation, Lucas found that patience was almost impossible to achieve. He tried to suppress his emotions to the lowest point in his life. Giving in was not his nature, but this time he would do it.
Velia needed time. Unfortunately, it was a boomerang for Lucas. Time only made his mind spin with thoughts full of accusations.
She’s right. If only I had let fate take its course. Resigned to her departure seven years ago, none of this would have happened.
It’s easy to imagine what kind of life they would be living now if Lucas hadn’t insisted. He would focus on work and the women introduced by Sandra, while Velia would enjoy her days without any heartache.
If only I could have let her go back then, all these calamities would not have befallen her. She would still have an intact family. Perhaps she would be happy with her new family now.
It all started with Lucas’s insistence. Sandra’s actions that led to all these catastrophes began with her determination to find Velia.
Unfortunately, what could Lucas do? Losing Velia made his life empty. His entire being screamed and struggled. He only wanted Velia.
That conviction was what made Lucas stand firm in his stance. The past days had already given him a warning that he could not turn away from Velia. His life and death were intertwined with Velia alone.
A familiar voice made Lucas’s face lift. The door opened, and he immediately stood up. There was Velia entering, with weary steps.
“Ve.”
Velia suddenly stopped. Their gazes met with an unfamiliar impression.
“You’re home.”
The slight doubt that once clouded Lucas’s mind vanished. He, who had been wondering about Velia’s return, became calm. There was even a glimmer of hope that flickered.
She still cares about me. I just need to give her time. No woman would easily accept a man like me, the son of the woman who destroyed her family.
Lucas understood that. He could comprehend it.
“I…”
There was an internal struggle in Velia’s eyes. Lucas could clearly see it and despised whatever it was that made Velia think that way. Whatever it was, it surely was something she didn’t like.
“… will leave, Luc.”
A bomb seemed to explode right in front of Lucas. His vision instantly darkened, and the world stopped spinning.
“You-you want to stay at the hospital?” Lucas tried to deny the reality. His hands rubbed against each other in an attempt to suppress his trembling, appearing flustered in the impending panic. “Is that so? How many nights will you stay?”
Velia closed her eyes, refusing to witness Lucas’s chaotic state. “You know what I mean, Luc. I really can’t stay in the same place as you.”
Lucas froze. Velia’s words were painfully clear to be understood. He could not find any openings anymore.
Unfortunately, Lucas could not accept that. Just a few days of remaining silent together had already caused him suffering, let alone if Velia really left.
“I beg you, Luc. No matter how long we wait, we can never be together.”
Lucas swallowed his saliva. Paleness colored his face with traces of fear. It seemed that emptiness would truly overshadow everything.
“Ve, I love you.”
Ignoring all self-control and patience, Lucas disregarded everything. He stepped forward and grabbed Velia’s body to face her.
“We have to be together. I really don’t want to lose you again.”
Velia bit her lower lip. “Tell me, Luc. What can this love give us? A future? Happiness?”
Without waiting for Lucas’s answer, Velia shook her head through tears. Her tired face conveyed all the despair.
“Or just suffering? Conflicts? Tears?”
“I-I will marry you, Ve. You know? Since the first day we met again, I truly wanted to marry you,” Lucas said, losing control. He tried to convince her with fading reason. “We will build our own happy family.”
“With your mother hating me, Luc?”
Lucas fell silent. Velia’s question silenced him in a thousand languages.
“Do you think I can watch my husband struggle with his own mother just because of me? Can I see the harmonious relationship between a mother and her child be ruined just because of an outsider like me?”
Velia’s eyes dramatically closed. A tear fell uncontrollably.
“Do you know that? How can I be sure that our life will be happy with all of that?”
Lucas shook his head. “No. Please.”
Lucas could not do much about Velia’s decision. He spent the remaining days pondering, only to realize that their love was no different from a cruel fate. There was no hope accompanying their feelings.
It was heavy, to say the least. There was nothing else a woman desired but to spend her life with the man she loved. Unfortunately, Velia might not be one of the fortunate women.
Perhaps their meeting was never meant to end up together. Maybe their love was never destined to find happiness.
Velia lifted her face and looked at Lucas without any pretenses. She revealed a piece of love in her heart that had been torn apart by painful scratches.
Lucas was stunned. He froze as Velia lifted her hand and cupped his face.
In a gentle and slow motion, Velia tiptoed. She closed the distance to bestow a kiss upon Lucas’s lips. It was tender and full of emotions.
Lucas became numb. He held his breath as he saw tears welling up in Velia’s eyes.
“Let’s end this, Luc. For the sake of everyone.”
Velia was hurt. So was Lucas.
“Ve,” Lucas called out.
Velia withdrew. She headed to her room and began to pack, only to realize something. Everything there belonged to Lucas. Even the clothes that clung to her body belonged to Lucas.
A pair of arms enveloped Velia from behind. Followed by a warm whisper in her ear.
“Just a moment. Please, let me hold you for a little while.”
There was no refusal that Lucas received. Velia stayed still and did not break free from his embrace. They both remained motionless in the fleeting passage of time.
Lucas closed his eyes. He savored each passing second, holding Velia, a precious opportunity that might never be regained. He deeply breathed in Velia’s gentle fragrance, a scent he had longed for seven years ago. A scent he would long for again for the next seven years. And countless seven years after that.
“I’m the one leaving.”
His eyes opened. No matter how bitter and painful it was, reality could not be avoided. The remnants of sanity led Lucas to make his final decision.
“This is your home. Everything I’ve given you belongs to you.”
Velia braced herself against the turmoil. Her fists clenched, and she bit her lower lip as hard as she could. She suppressed her sobs, even as tears continued to flow.
“I’ll go, my love. And for that, I hope you remember something,” Lucas whispered softly as he placed a kiss on the top of Velia’s head. “I will always love you.”
That kiss became Lucas’s farewell. He left.
Lucas truly left Velia, who instantly fell to the floor, collapsing on her knees. The suppressed sobs exploded. Tears of anguish could no longer be contained. All the pain broke loose, as if wanting to shatter her from within.
Velia hugged herself. She pounded her chest. The pain inside truly squeezed her heart.
“Luc.”
Lucas’s name was whispered softly from Velia’s lips. Filled with love, but also overflowing with tears.
“I love you, Luc.”
Velia took the risk with that decision. She knew it would never be easy to be in a relationship with Lucas. The tragedies that had occurred were too significant.
So, Velia tried to endure. The trial began on the first night without Lucas. She had to get used to his absence wherever she went.
In the office. The place where Lucas always finished his work accompanied by Velia.
In the dining room. The place where they enjoyed meals together, discussing many things.
In the living room. The place where they spent a lot of time relaxing and chatting.
In the bedroom. The place where Lucas ceaselessly adored Velia as if she were the most beautiful woman in the world.
No Lucas anywhere. He truly vanished from everywhere, except in one place. That is, in Velia’s heart and mind.
Lucas continued to occupy Velia’s thoughts. Even when she had to go through her days fulfilling police calls and accompanying Harry, who had started his recovery therapy after waking from a coma, Lucas could not completely leave her mind.
Velia always tried to keep herself busy. From morning until evening, she worked, talked incessantly, and then everything seemed meaningless. It all became futile when one voice asked her.
“Ve, have you come home?”
Lucas welcomed her arrival as usual. He smiled, and Velia blinked.
It was all just imagination. The product of desires from the deepest recesses of her heart, rebelling in pain and longing.
Velia screamed. She called out Lucas’s name amidst her tears. Her consciousness was slapped with one reality.
There will always be something that distance cannot make disappear.
Lucas.
*