**One Love Forever**
«Hey. What are you up to? Fancy meeting?» His voice was light, hopeful. «Where? Our usual café… Perfect. I’m already here, waiting for you.» Anthony slipped his phone into his pocket, still smiling.
He and Natalie had gone to school together. She was beautiful, gracefulthe girl of his dreams. He, on the other hand, was nothing special. Average height, unremarkable looks, just another boy hopelessly in love. Did love only care about beauty? If shed given him a chance, maybe shed have seen the restthe kindness, the devotion.
He followed her like a shadow, always there, always watching. Natalie accepted his attention with polite detachment but never returned his feelings. He watched her with other boys, burning with jealousy, throwing himself into meaningless flings just to spite her. But no one else ever measured up.
«Hey!» Natalie slid into the seat across from him.
Anthony hadnt even noticed her approach. His breath caught.
«Hey,» he managed, unable to hide the desperate joy in his voice.
«Earth to Anthony!» She laughed, bright and teasing.
He looked away, his chest aching with the urge to pull her close. A man at the next table was staring at her too. Anthony clenched his fists under the table. *Shes mine.* Except she never had been.
«Grab us some coffee?» Her eyes sparkled with mischief.
He obeyed instantly, returning with two steaming mugs and Natalies favorite slice of cake. He stirred sugar into his own cup, focusing on the swirl of the spoon.
«Something wrong?» Her playful tone had vanished.
«No. Just wanted to see you.» He pushed a fridge magnet toward her.
«Thanks!» She turned it over in her hands, examining it.
Theyd been coming to this café for years, ever since that day a decade ago when hed confessed his love. Shed smiled sadly. *Youre sweet, but were just friends.*
«Look around. Plenty of girls here would be lucky to have you.»
«But not you?» he asked.
«Im sorry.»
Hed been furious then, nearly ruined everything. Shed warned himpush too hard, and shed walk away. So he buried his feelings, married another woman, tried to move on.
Natalie congratulated him on his wedding photos online, genuinely happy for him. He ignored her. Later, he posted pictures from his honeymoontropical beaches, crystal waterswaiting for her reaction. It took weeks. When she finally liked them, her comment was polite. *You two look great. Wish I could go someday.*
*You couldve been there with me,* hed thought bitterly.
He called her anyway, met her at the café. Flowers on her birthday, little souvenirs from his trips abroad. She listened, smiled, thanked himthen left when things got too real.
Years passed. His marriage endedhis wife couldnt have children, and hed always wanted a family. Natalie married someone else. The day she posted a photo of her newborns tiny wristband with her name on it, Anthony congratulated her through gritted teeth. *That shouldve been mine.*
He remarried, had a daughterAnnie. For a while, he almost believed he was happy without her.
Then his second wife found old messages. The screaming match that followed was brutal. *Youre still obsessed with her!* She threatened Natalie, swore revenge. He promised to stay away.
And then Natalie called.
Her marriage was over. She sat across from him now, tearful, hollow.
«Your husbands an idiot. Let me talk to himor punch him,» Anthony offered.
She shut that down fast. «How are *you* doing?»
«Fine. Made another mess of my life. Nearly divorced.»
«What? You have a daughter!»
«Your husband had a son. Didnt stop him.»
He couldnt help himself. The words spilled outyears of longing, of pretending. «You call when *you* need someone. You never cared what it did to me.»
She stared, shocked.
He stood, tossed cash on the table, and walked out.
Driving aimlessly, he cursed himself, her, the world. He wanted to scream, to floor the accelerator and end the ache in his chest.
*Shes beautiful and cruel. One day, that beauty will fade. Shell be alone. Too late then.*
He stopped calling. Stopped liking her posts.
Months later, he bumped into her outside a shop. She was with her son. Still stunning.
«Hey! Long time no see,» she said lightly.
«Not really. Still live in the same place. You? Not remarried?»
«God, no. Never again.» She ruffled her sons hair. «Were good, right?»
«Right,» the boy agreed.
Anthony bit back the words clawing at his throat. *I still love you.*
«Need a lift?» he offered.
«Ive got my car.»
«Ill walk you, then.»
At her car, she smiled. «Good seeing you.»
«You too.»
He watched her drive off, then followed, honking, flashing his lights like a teenager. She laughed, honked back, until she turned into her estate. He kept driving.
His wife was waiting. «Wheres the shopping? Or were you with *her* again?»
Hed forgotten everything the moment he saw Natalie.
The divorce was ugly. His ex-wife fought him for Annie. He gave up the flat just to see his daughter a few hours a week.
Then, at a soft play centre, he collapsed.
Natalies voice cut through the fog. *»Call an ambulance!»*
He woke in a hospital bed, her face above him.
«You scared me,» she whispered.
She visited every day. One evening, over coffee (decaf, nowdoctors orders), she sighed.
«When you collapsed… I remembered everything. School, the café, all those years. Its like weve had this long, quiet marriage. No fireworks, just… belonging.» She hesitated. «Maybe we should try.»
His heart stuttered. After all this time*now*?
The next day, he dragged her to the registry office.
«Slow down,» she laughed.
«No. What if you change your mind?»
Their wedding was smalljust the café again. The honeymoon waited. She wanted to see the ocean, but not where hed been with his exes. Sothe Canaries. Endless spring, black sand, exotic birds.
Some nights, after her son was asleep, they lay tangled together, listening to the waves.
«Im so happy,» he murmured.
«Me too. All that wasted time.»
«Well make up for it. Weve got forever. The sun rose over the black sands, painting the sea in streaks of gold. Back home, the café waited, their usual table empty but reserved in memory. Annie called them every night, giggling as they answered together, always in sync. Years slipped by, quiet and full. One evening, as Natalie slept with her head on his shoulder, Anthony watched the moon rise and whispered, «One love. One life. Forever,» and for the first time, it didnt feel like a dream.
