One Love Forever
«Hey. What are you up to? Fancy meeting up? Where? At our usual café Brilliant, Im already here waiting.» Antony tucked his phone into his pocket, still grinning.
He and Natalie had gone to school together. She was the sort of girl who turned headsslim, striking, the stuff of his daydreams. He, on the other hand, was painfully ordinary. Not tall, not classically handsome, just hopelessly smitten. Did love only care about looks? If shed given him a chance, shed have seen all the other things he had to offer.
He trailed after her like a devoted squire. Natalie tolerated his attention but never returned it. He watched her flit from one bloke to another, stewing in jealousy, resentment, and frustration. In petty defiance, he dated other girls, but his heart never budged.
«Hi!» Natalie slid into the seat across from him.
Antony had been so lost in thought he hadnt even noticed her approach.
«Hi.» He couldnt hide the desperate joy in his voice or tear his eyes away.
«Earth to Antony!» She laughed, bright and teasing.
He glanced away, his chest aching with the urge to pull her close. At the next table, a man was staring at Natalie too. Antony barely stopped himself from snapping, «Eyes off! Shes mine!» Except she never had been.
«Fancy grabbing us some coffee?» Mischief danced in her eyes.
Antony bolted to the counter and returned with a traytwo steaming cups and Natalies favourite cake. He sat, poured sugar into his coffee, and stirred with unnecessary focus.
«Something wrong?» Natalie studied him, the playfulness gone.
«Nah. Just wanted to see you. Here.» He slid a fridge magnet across the table.
«Cheers!» She turned it over in her hands, examining it.
They met here occasionally, in this café that smelled perpetually of roasted beans. Their café. A decade ago, in this very spot, Antony had confessed his love. Natalie had called him sweet but said theyd only ever be friends.
«Look at all the girls around. You could make any of them happy.»
«But not you?»
«Sorry.»
Hed been so furious they nearly rowed. Shed warned him thenif he kept pushing, shed cut him off. The threat terrified him. Better this than nothing. Maybe one day
After that, Antony buried his feelings. He tried moving ondated, even married, thinking it might kill his love for Natalie.
She saw his wedding photos online, congratulated him sincerely. He didnt reply. Later, he posted honeymoon snaps from a tropical island, waiting for her reaction. It took ages. Probably busy. When she finally liked every photo and commented how happy he looked, he seethed. *You couldve been there instead.*
He called her, suggested meeting at the café. And so it wentbirthday flowers, March 8th gifts, souvenirs from holidays abroad. She liked his posts; he mistook her enthusiasm for hope. Natalie accepted the trinkets, listened to his travel stories, admired his tan. But the moment he hinted at wanting her beside him in those far-off places, shed tuck the gift away, plead busyness, and leave.
Years passed. He divorcedhis wife couldnt have children, and he wanted them. Natalie had her own life, no room for him. Then she married.
The agony was unbearable. He dated spitefully, trying to erase her. Nothing worked.
One day, he saw a photo on her profilea tiny hand with a hospital tag bearing her name and her sons birth date. He congratulated her, howling inside. *That shouldve been my child.*
Antony married again. When his wife, Emily, gave birth to their daughter Lily, he almost believed happiness without Natalie was possible. He posted pictures of his «two favourite girls,» avoided Natalies profile.
Then he slipped upleft his phone at home. Emily snooped, found old messages with Natalie. Nothing incriminating, but the mere existence enraged her. She stalked Natalies profile, saw his comments.
The screaming match that followed was spectacular. Why was he still messaging a married woman? Just friends? She didnt buy it. Threats flewacid, poison.
«You wont.»
«Try me.» Her glare terrified him. He promised to stop.
They patched things up, but the chill remained. Even Lilys laughter couldnt thaw it.
Then Natalie called. Wanted to meet.
He flew to the café. Shed changedstill beautiful, but dimmed. Her husband was cheating; she wanted a divorce. Tears glistened.
«Your husbands an idiot. How can I help? Want me to talk to him? Or punch him?»
She refused, calmed, asked about him.
«Fine. Made another mess. Nearly divorced.»
«How? Youve got Lily!»
«Your husband had a son and still strayed. Id have left if not for her. Had loads of womennone got pregnant. Thought it was me. Then Emily did. But I still cant forget you. Its like a curse.»
«What? That was school! Its been years!»
«Your decision, not mine,» he muttered.
«Antony» She covered his hand with hers. «Im sorry. I shouldnt have called. Im selfish. Giving you false hope. I should go.»
«Wait!» He gripped her hand. «You are selfish. You invented this friendship game, and I played along to see you. You never cared how I felt. You call when youre hurting. I married to spite you. Youre my obsession. Like in *Twilight*imprinted. I know Im no Hollywood hunk. How long will you torture me?»
Natalie gaped. Gentle Antony, erupting? He stood, tossed cash on the table, and left.
He drove for hours, cursing himself, her, the world. Nearly wept, nearly slammed the accelerator.
*Whats so special about her? Beautiful and cold. Shell fade, end up alone, regret it. Enough.* He stopped calling, liking her posts. He gathered shed divorced.
Months later, they bumped into each other outside a shop. She was with her son. Older, softer, but still radiant.
«Hi! Long time. Whereve you been?»
«Nowhere. Still here. You? Not remarried?»
«God, no. Never again. Were good, right?» She smiled at her boy.
«Right,» he chirped.
Antony bit back declarations. Her son was watching.
«Need a lift?»
«Ive got my car.»
«Then Ill walk you.»
She opened the door; her boy clambered in.
«Good seeing you.»
«You too.»
«Bye.» She waved, drove off.
He memorised her number plate, followed her car. Honked, flashed his lights. They weaved through traffic like kids, laughing until she turned into her estate. He drove on.
«Whereve you been? Shops at the other end of town? Wheres the food?» Emily pounced as he entered.
Hed forgotten everything seeing Natalie.
«Met *her* again, didnt you? Shes free now. Want a divorce? Go ahead!»
It was ugly. Emily threatened to withhold Lily. He gave up the flat, bargained for weekly visits. His mother piled on guilt.
One cold day, he took Lily to a soft play centre. And there was Natalie with her son.
The children played happily. *We look like a family. If only.* His chest constricted; darkness swallowed him.
«Antony! Someone call an ambulance!» Natalies voice pierced the fog.
*Whos ill?* Then nothing.
He woke mid-transport, a weight crushing his ribs.
«Dont worry, Ill take Lily home,» Natalie said. Her face hovered above him.
«Step back,» a paramedic ordered. Doors slammed.
She visited next day.
«How are you? Scared me. Thought it was a heart attack. Thank God it wasnt. Ill godont want to run into Emily. She screamed awful things when I brought Lily home»
«She wont come. Nat will you visit tomorrow?»
Discharged a week later, they sat in the café again.
«Should you be drinking coffee?»
«One wont hurt.»
«When you collapsed I was terrified. Remembered school, your souvenirs, our café Thought of losing you Weve known each other so long, its like a marriage. Passion fades, but habit and care remain. Who knows which matters more? Maybe we could try»
«Natalie» He couldnt speak.
All those years, and it took a near-heart attack to hear «lets try.»
Next day, he dragged her to the registry office.
«You just divorced. Shouldnt we wait?»
«No. What if you change your mind?»
The wedding was quietjust the café. They postponed the honeymoon. Natalie longed to see the ocean, but refused the places hed been with his exes. He suggested the Canarieseternal spring, black volcanic sand, exotic birds. Sometimes, yellow haze blurred the horizonsand blown from the Sahara.
When her son slept, they lay entwined, listening to the waves.
«Nat, Im so happy.»
«Me too. Wasted so much time.»
«Well make up for it. Weve got forever. The years slipped by like pages in a well-loved bookquiet, full of small joys and shared silences. They walked the beach each morning, hand in hand, Lily and her son racing ahead like siblings born to the same tide. The café back home waited for them, its door jingling their return. And when the grandchildren came, Antony would sit with Natalie on the porch, her head on his shoulder, and whisper, «One love, forever,» the way he should have said it decades ago. This time, she believed him.
