One Love Forever
Hey. What are you up to? Fancy meeting up? Where? At our usual café Perfect, Im already here waiting for you. Anthony slipped his phone into his pocket, still smiling.
He and Natalie had known each other since school. She was beautiful, gracefulthe girl of his dreams. Meanwhile, he was just an ordinary bloke, hopelessly in love with her. He knew he wasnt tall or particularly handsome, but since when was love only about looks? If shed just given him a chance, shed have seen all the good in him.
He followed her around like a loyal puppy. Natalie was kind enough to accept his attention but never returned his feelings. He watched her date one guy after another, sick with jealousy and bitterness. In spite, he dated other girls, but his heart never strayed from her.
«Hey!» Natalie slid into the seat across from him.
Anthony was so lost in thought he hadnt even noticed her arrive.
«Hi.» He couldnt hide the desperate joy in his voice or tear his eyes away from her.
«Earth to Anthony!» Natalie laughed, bright and clear.
He looked away, his chest aching with the urge to hold her. At the next table, a man was staring at Natalie too. Anthony clenched his fists, barely stopping himself from snapping, «Shes mine!» Except she never had been.
«Fancy fetching us some coffee?» Mischief sparkled in Natalies eyes.
Anthony hurried to the counter and returned with two cups and Natalies favourite slice of cake. He sat back down, tore open a sugar sachet, and stirred it absently.
«Something wrong?» Natalie studied him, the playfulness fading.
«Just wanted to see you, thats all.» He slid a fridge magnet across the table.
«Thanks!» She picked it up, turning it over in her hands.
Theyd met in this café for yearsalways the same cosy spot with its rich coffee smell. Ten years ago, right here, Anthony had confessed his love. Natalie had said he was lovely, but they could only ever be friends.
«Look aroundplenty of girls here. You could make any of them happy.»
«But not you?» Anthony asked.
«Sorry.»
Hed been so angry they nearly fell out. Natalie warned him thenif he kept pushing, shed cut contact. The threat terrified him. Even if all they had was this café, at least he could see her. Maybe one day
After that, Anthony buried his feelings. He tried moving ondated, even married, hoping it would kill his love for Natalie.
She congratulated him when she saw his wedding photos online, genuinely happy for him. He didnt reply. Later, he posted honeymoon shots from a tropical island, waiting for her reaction. It took ages. Maybe she was busy. When she finally liked them, she commented how happy he looked with his wife, how shed love to visit there too.
«You couldve been her,» he thought bitterly.
He called her, suggesting the café. They slipped back into old habitsbirthday flowers, little souvenirs from his holidays abroad. She liked his travel photos; he read too much into her excited comments. Natalie would admire his tan, listen to his stories, but whenever he edged closer to confessing he wished shed been there, shed tuck the souvenir away, thank him, and leave.
Years passed. He divorcedhis wife couldnt have children, and he wanted them. But Natalie had her own life, no room for him. Then she married someone else.
The jealousy was unbearable. He drowned himself in flings, trying to forget her. Nothing worked.
One day, he saw a photo on her profilea tiny newborn hand, a hospital tag with Natalies name and her sons birthdate. He congratulated her, screaming inside. That shouldve been his child. His.
Anthony married again. When his wife, Emily, gave birth to their daughter Lily, he almost believed happiness without Natalie was possible. He posted family photos, captioned «My two girls, my world.» He avoided Natalies profile.
Then, one day, he forgot his phone at home. Emily snooped, finding old messages with Natalie. Nothing incriminating, but the sheer existence of them She tracked Natalie down online, saw his comments.
The moment Anthony walked in, Emily erupted. Why was he still messaging a married woman? Just friends from school? She didnt buy it, accused him of cheating, even threatened to ruin Natalies looks with acid.
«You wouldnt.»
«Try me,» Emily spat, her eyes terrifyingly cold. He promised to cut contact, scared for Natalie.
Things never warmed between them. Even Lilys laughter couldnt lift the chill.
Then Natalie called. She wanted to meet.
He flew to the café. She looked differentstill beautiful, but dulled. Her husband was cheating; she wanted a divorce. Tears glistened in her eyes.
«Your husbands an idiot. What can I do? Want me to talk to him? Or punch him?»
She refused, calming herself before asking about him.
«Fine. Made another mess of my life. Nearly divorced.»
«But youve got Lily!»
«Your husband had a sondidnt stop him.» He sighed. «Ive been with so many women. Thought I was the problem, got checked. Then Emily got pregnant. But I still I cant forget you. Its like a curse.»
«Youre mad. I thought youd moved on. Its been years!»
«You decided were friends. Not me,» he whispered.
«Anthony» She covered his hand with hers. «I shouldnt have called. Im selfish. I never realisedI was leading you on. I should go.»
«Wait.» He gripped her hand. «You are selfish. Blind. You offered friendship, and I took it just to see you. You never cared how I felt. You call when youre hurting. I married to forget you. Youre my obsession. Like in that *Twilight* lineimprinted. I cant help it. How much longer will you torture me?»
Natalie stared, stunned. He stood, tossed cash on the table, and left.
He drove for hours, raging at himself, at her, at the world. He wanted to scream, to floor the accelerator and end the ache.
«Whats so special about her? Beautiful and cold. Shell fade, end up alone, and regret it. Enough.»
He stopped calling, stopped liking her posts. From a distance, he saw shed divorced.
Then, months later, they bumped into each other outside a shop. She was with her son. Shed changedsofter, happier.
«Hey! Whereve you been?»
«Nowhere. Still living in the same place. You? Not remarried?»
«Never again. Men arent worth it. Were fine, right?» She smiled at her boy.
«Right,» he agreed.
Anthony ached to say he still loved her, but her sons eyes stopped him.
«Need a lift?»
«I drove.»
«Let me walk you to your car, then.»
She buckled her son in, turned to Anthony. «Good seeing you.»
«You too.»
As she drove off, he memorised her number plate, then followed, honking, flashing his lights. They weaved through traffic like kids, laughing until she turned into her estate. He drove on.
«Whereve you been? Shopping at the other end of town? Wheres the food?» Emily snapped.
Hed forgotten everything the moment he saw Natalie.
«Been with *her*, havent you? Shes free now. Want a divorce? Go ahead!»
The split was ugly. Emily threatened to keep Lily from him. He gave her the flat, bargaining for brief weekly visits. His mum piled on guilt.
One icy day, he took Lily to a soft-play centre. And there was Natalie, with her son.
The kids played happily. «We look like a family. If only.» His chest seizedpain, darkness.
«Anthony! Someone call an ambulance!» Natalies voice cut through.
«Whos ill?» he wondered, before blacking out.
He woke on a stretcher, struggling to breathe.
«Dont worry, Ill take Lily home,» Natalie said. Her face swam above him before medics whisked him away.
She visited him in hospital.
«You scared me. Thought it was a heart attack. Thank God it wasnt.»
«Ill godont want to run into Emily. She said horrible things when I dropped Lily off»
«She wont come. Nat will you visit tomorrow?»
A week later, discharged, they sat in the café again.
«Should you be drinking coffee?»
«One wont hurt.»
«When you collapsed I was terrified. I remembered school, your little gifts, our café meetings Thinking I might lose you Weve known each other so long, its like a marriage. The passions gone, but theres something deeper. Maybe we could try»
«Natalie.» He couldnt speak.
All those years, and it took a near-heart attack to hear «lets try.»
The next day, he convinced her to sign the papers.
«You just divorced. Shouldnt we take it slow?»
«No. What if you change your mind?»
Their wedding was quietjust the café. They saved the honeymoon for later. Natalie longed to see the ocean, but she refused the places hed been with his exes. He suggested the Canarieseternal spring, black volcanic sand, exotic birds. Sometimes, yellow clouds rolled insand blown from the Sahara.
When her son slept, they lay tangled together, listening to the waves.
«Nat, Im so happy.»
«Me too. All that wasted time.»
«Well make up for it. Weve got forever. They walked hand in hand along the shore at dawn, the sky painted in soft pinks and golds, the air warm and salt-kissed. Lily and her son splashed in the surf behind them, shrieking with laughter. Anthony squeezed Natalies hand, no longer chasing ghosts, no longer haunted by what-ifs. This was real. This was now. And for the first time in decades, his heart felt light, full, at peace.
