I stayed frozen on the spot as if a statue as tears continued to pour down my eyes. I had been so busy in getting myself engrossed with Vampire and my own feelings that I had completely forgotten that Lewis was also a human being with a heart. He also had emotions that he couldn’t share unlike Vampire.
I remembered how I used to love this quality of his back when me and my husband were still dating. A shallow smile formed on my lips when I remembered that day.
That day, I had just arrived back from my daily work only to find him home, waiting for me at the doorsteps. We were sort of having a cold war because of some argument I couldn’t even remember, and we hadn’t seen each other for nearly three weeks. I was beginning to miss his presence, but I ended up focusing on my ego more than anything else.
So when I saw him sitting beside the front door with his head down and snoring, all of my thoughts of anger vanished into thin air. I didn’t even remember whose fault it was, but I knew that Lewis had done everything he could to make things right.
I remembered shaking him up as he jolted awake. For a moment, I remembered seeing a trace of confusion flashing in his eyes that made him look almost like a cute teddy bear waiting for me to hug him with all my effort.
I suppressed my smile and tilted my head. “When did you come?”
Then as if he had suddenly realized that this was really happening, a hint of joy flashed on his face as the corners of his lips curved up. He got up instantly and handed me a small box wrapped with gift paper. “This is for you.”
I frowned and glanced at the small box carefully before opening the ribbon tied at the centre. But before I could open it fully, he grabbed my wrist and said with an embarrassment written all over his face.
I became even more curious about the content inside this gift and went to open it instantly right before his eyes despite hearing his words. He made a movement to stop me for the second time, and I quickly stepped back while continuing to open the box.
I finally managed to open it, and a smile broke out on my face. It was a necklace with a small button cut into it. I slowly lifted it up and placed it on my right collar bone. It was a beautiful silver chain with a small button in the middle. I looked at him, and he was still standing there with his eyes on my necklace.
Back then, I didn’t know that I had to open the button and there were words written on it that Lewis had personally engraved with his own hands. So the handwriting was a bit messy, but it was beautiful.
But at that time, when I opened the gift for the first time, I only looked at the necklace and smiled while a teasing expression flashed on my face. “Lewis, you were worried about nothing. Seriously, did you think I would hate it?”
Lewis pursed his lips and finally averted his eyes from the necklace before he parted his lips. “I got it from my job.”
Then when I turned to look at him, a small smile on my lips, I was startled to see that expression of his eyes turning into an emotion unlike before. It was almost like he wanted to say something, but he kept it aside for later.
I was more overjoyed, seeing the obvious love he had for me that made his eyes light up every now and then. For a moment, I felt as if I had seen a ray of sunshine piercing through a thick cloud. It was a feeling of happiness that had never been experienced.
“Let’s go inside?”
He nodded and glanced at the necklace before averting his eyes again. I could only look at him in confusion about why he was looking at my necklace again and again like this.
It wasn’t untilI was alone at night and accidentally opened the button when I found out why in the world Lewis was acting like that. In the centre of the necklace was a golden platform behind the button and I could see a few words engraved in weird handwriting.
“I love you, Elise.”
I stared at the necklace for what it felt like hours before finally managing to react.
What the heck?!
This was the first time he had said those words to me, and it was also in such a way that I couldn’t possibly react! At that time in our relationship, we hadn’t yet said those words to each other, but we were lovers.
And Lewis had taken confession to another level that made my heart swell back then.
At the present day…..
I still had that necklace in my possession, but it was thrown somewhere in my cupboard. I had completely forgotten about it until now.
I glanced at my husband who was lying unconscious on his bed while the monitor beep echoed continuously in the background, making me realize that he was still alive.
But why?
Why did we drift apart like this despite loving each other so much?
Tears welled up in my eyes when I thought of how Lewis had suffered for me while being in debt. He continuously went to find a job only to be rejected again and again because of debt. He knew he probably wouldn’t get a job if he took the loan, but he did that to coax me.
And what did he get other than empty hands and hurtful words from my mouth?
My heart filled with immense guilt at that as I sobbed while keeping my hands on my face.
It hurt a million times more than what I had experienced after breaking up with Vampire. Of course, I did love him at some point, but the feeling of guilt was so overwhelming that it felt like a piece of me died just now.
I had made my husband suffer just because of my emotions, and he didn’t say a single thing. He continued to hold my hand, without any intention of letting go.
Where in the world would you find a lover like that?
I couldn’t help it anymore. I wanted him to get up and tell me that he had forgiven me for all of my mistakes. I wanted him to hug me and caress my hair like he would usually do.
Whatever mistakes we committed in the past, I knew I couldn’t go back in time and correct them, but we could definitely learn from our mistakes and refrain from repeating them ever again.
But what about now? My heart was breaking apart bit by bit without anyone caressing it. That night, I finally couldn’t help myself and hugged my unconscious husband as I cried in his arms for the entire time. I knew that my eyes would be swollen after waking up, but I couldn’t help it.