Unrequited Love

Chapter 15

It had been exactly six days since Gina had come face-to-face with Ste Vaughn. She has two weeks off from work and the Güner Taskin project was handed over to someone else. She didn't bother to ask whom. Sitting on her lush sofa she had been watching re-runs for the past two days. Travis called and said he was stopping by today. She asked him to bring her pizza and soup. A weird combination was what Travis called it, but she didn't mind she wasn't going to eat them both simultaneously so whatever. 

Staring at her 52" plasma, she was reminded of the fact that she was home with a knock on her door. Gina got up sluggishly and reluctantly to answer the door. Since her incident with Ste Vaughn, Gina had called a locksmith to put five additional locks on her door. Looking through the peephole, she recognized the face of the character standing outside. It was Carlisle. She hadn't seen him since the incident. It was now almost one week. Why did he bother to show up? She missed him but the pain wasn't worth it. Three days after that night she found out, he was leaving town. She didn't know if it was for good or not. She didn't call to ask him, because if he wanted her to know he would've told her.

"Are you going to let me in Gina?""Should I?" The first bolt she opened drowned out her reply. Allowing her fingers to find the others, Gina opened her home once again to Carlisle. Not standing at the door to welcome him in, she made her way to the sofa and told him to bolt back the door. Decisively, he did as he was told. Carlisle then came up behind Gina and placed his right hand on her shoulder. She jumped. "Could you not do that please?""Ok."He walked around the sofa and sat down across from her. He stared at her. Taking her in, she was dressed in blue, grey, and white stripe cotton pyjamas and grey bunny slippers with matching coloured skull socks. She looked radiant."What do you want Carlisle?"The annoyance in her voice was not one that told him she was annoyed by him, but one that told him that she had had enough of his games. She loved him but she was tired of doing so. With an exasperating sigh, Carlisle looked at Gina. Knowing that what he was about to say was going to crush her."I am leaving town." He waited for the look he anticipated to impregnate her face but it was blank. "Gina?""I heard you the first time." She looked up at him with so much sadness in her eyes and no fight left on her face. She was staring right through him. He didn't know what to do so he continued talking."I got a contract for my company, Think Tank Solutions, in Europe. I decided to take it. I will be away for a while to get things started and then I will return home."Not allowing him to finish his thought Gina looked up at him and cut him off."Don't bother Carlisle, I got the picture a long time ago. This was never going to work between us anyway, remember. So don't feel sorry for me. Go."Carlisle sat on the sofa looking at this woman, knowing how much he yearned for her but never told her. Knowing how much he loved her but could not tell her. Knowing how much he wanted to hold her but was afraid that it was too late. She caught his stare and the look on her face asked why didn't he try? They were interrupted by the knock on the door and the word flugenschnieber being said. "Excuse me. That's Travis."Looking through the peephole once again to make sure, Gina opened the door to her assistant, who was also on a two-week break from work. There was never a day he left her alone. They were always together. He was now camping out in her living room sleeping on the futon she took out of her closet. After the incident, it was a protocol that they both went through therapy so they could be signed off for work once again. The therapist made it known to Travis that Regina was going through more than he was and he needed to keep an eye on her because she can fall into depression at any time.  From that day until now, Travis had never left her alone. Well except for now.Travis sauntered into the apartment clutching bags of food with smiley faces on them to his chest. Greeting Carlisle, he made his way to the kitchen. Gina returned to the sofa. Sitting down slowly, she felt her body no longer going down on the sofa, but forward into Carlisle's arms. "I think you should go," she muttered against his chest. She said the words but she was hoping for his response to go against her volition. She was hoping that he would not let her go. Carlisle held her closer and kissed her forehead. Carlisle decided that he will not make this any harder than it already was, so he was going to leave. Before he could do it, she pulled herself from his embrace and looked up at him. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she told herself not again, she was not going to let this man see her cry. Knowing that she couldn't speak or the tears will definitely come, she used her eyes to motion him to the door. Carlisle got the hint and took it. He made his way towards the large wooden frame with six locks on it. He realized she didn't bother to close it knowing the possibility exists that he would leave soon. Reaching for the doorknob, she was only seven steps away from him when he heard a whimper. He refused to turn around because the look on her face will change everything like it almost did moments ago. She was watching him. She was staring at his broad muscular frame concealed by black fabric from head to toe. He twisted the doorknob slowly, willing her to stop him. But she never did. The door was now askew and he waited once more secretly begging her to stop him. But she didn't. With a loud sigh, he opened the door fully and walked through it. Closing the door behind him he heard her sob. It sounded as if she was holding her breath the entire time. He continued his strides towards the elevator, waiting for a few minutes before he pressed the down arrow. He thought he would give her a few more minutes to stop him. He looked at her door, hoping it would open, but instead, he heard the deadbolts.                                                                                              **** In the dead of the night, I think of you. In my waking moments, you are stuck on my mind. In my dreams, you are my fantastic reality. In customary moments, you occasionally pass through my mind. In between, you are my magical realism. As the thoughts flow through her mind, she ended her day's entry. Gazing into the ambiance of the peaceful atmosphere she chose, a girl thinks of the one she is hopelessly in love with. Someone who, no matter how hard she tries will never give her the time of day. Someone whose sophisticated presence had her incandescently in love with him. Someone who effortlessly keeps her smiling. Someone, she can not even if she tries, stop thinking about. The girl closed her journal and allows the thoughts in her head to linger. With an exasperating sigh, she arose and changed her position. Standing erect, she decided to come to terms with her reality. She will never get him. He will never fall in love with her or even love her as much as she does him. He will never see her the way she sees him. Leaning over the rock hard precipice she stared at the disturbed waters below as it crashes against the jagged rocks, and in an instant, she feels herself falling, flailing in the wind until harmony was made with nature.

Gina awoke on her therapist's chair, feeling like a new person. It had been two months since Carlisle left, and she was still in therapy. She was signed off for work but decided that she would continue therapy for herself. Her workmates had no idea of this private matter.

When Gina was able to form coherent thoughts her therapist told her he had used hypnosis on her to loosen her up so she could feel light once again and free. He told her of the girl she spoke of who after writing in her journal, apparently threw herself over a cliff. All the while the therapist spoke Gina was looking past him and to the image in the mirror. Her image. She was staring at herself and made a final and mental note that it was time. She was ready. The girl who threw herself over the cliff exists no more. It was her time and this was the end of it all.