𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 | 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗵𝘂𝗿 𝗟𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗰 |

𝐀 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦

Heavy footsteps were echoing on the creaking floor throughout the corridor. The light that was penetrating through the open door at the end of the corridor was moving away from me. The faster I tried to run, the farther away my exit was.

As I was running away, I turned my head towards the person I was trying to run away from. He was walking slowly but he was still catching up with me.

I turned my head back forward and suddenly I appeared in front of the light.

I went in, but I had to cover my eyes because the light was shining so strongly on me that I couldn't really see anything.

When the light receded, I uncovered my eyes. I was on the beach. A little boy was playing in front of me. He was building a sandcastle. As I was getting closer to him, I heard his laughter louder in my ears.

His childish laughter could be heard along the entire length of the beach.

Out of nowhere, a cold breeze blowed me from the left side. I turned in the direction the breeze came from. A flock of seagulls flew past me. When they flew away I saw an older boy sitting on the sand and looking into the endless sea.

I turned my gaze back to the little boy who was playing next to me a while ago. He was no longer with me. He was gone with his laughter. Not even his sandcastle remained.

I walked closer to the older boy and I sat next to him on the cold sand. I first looked in front of me on the sunset and then I looked into his face. I smiled at him.

"Mick?..."

I said happily.

"Vic..."
.......................................

Flashes triggered in my head. My mind snapped back to reality.

"How often does it repeat?"

Anastasia asked me, sipping the tea in her hand. We were sitting in the living room of my apartment where we were watching our favorite series, eating sweets and most importantly we were gossiping. It was Friday, which meant we had a girl's night. It is, so to speak, our tradition.

"Every night, same people, same place, even the same time. But... I don't understand something."

I said a little thoughtfully looking at the ground. I sat down more comfortably on the sofa and looked at her, hoping to find in her eyes the answer to my question that I was about to ask her.

"What?"

"I'm constantly running away from that guy, but when I turn to look at him, I can't see his face. Like it was blurred."

She remained silent for a moment. Her silence meant that she was thinking about what to say to me.

"Maybe it represents your childhood fear that you are trying to escape from. But Vici,...- she moved closer to me and grabbed my hand-... you know you're only hurting yourself, you have to stop it, you have to do something about it."

A sense of fear for me came from her. I felt it, but there was nothing to be afraid of.

"I know but it's hard, that 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚, that conversation with him is so real, Mick is real. I can't, I don't want to give up the only place where I can be with him without living here on earth with a burden on my heart that I carry with me every day."

Small tears began to peek out of my eyes at the memories of him.

"Look I,... I understand you, but how long do you want to torment yourself? Sometimes it's easier to let go, accept what happened and try to move on."

A soft smile found its way onto my face for her. I knew she was trying to help me, but holding on was easier for me than letting go even though it hurt.

"I'm going to get some tea."

I left my warm blanket on the couch with Stacey. I went to the kitchen with an empty cup in my hand. When I was refilling my tea, I decided to tell Anastasia what happened in the last few days.

"So... -I started talking as I walked back into the living room-... there's something I'd like to tell you..."

I put the cup full of tea on the table and took my seat again. Anastasia was looking at me full of expectation of what I was about to say.

"Do you remember when you asked me before qualifying in the paddock who I was looking at?"

She thoughtfully nodded her head in agreement so I continued to talk.

"I met someone there. And later that day when we went to the club, I met him there again. That's why I wanted to go back to the hotel. I thought then that I would never see him again, but I was wrong. Yesterday, when you wrote to me that something important came your way, I was already in a cafe waiting for you and as I was leaving, someone bumped into me. Well, that someone caught me because I almost fell and when I looked into his face I realized that it was the same guy."

I blurted out quickly. I didn't want to hide it from her anymore. She gave me a sign with her hand. A sign that I should give her time to process it. It took her a moment.

"And then?"

She asked curiously. I didn't expect that exactly this question would come out of her.

"And then he walked me to the door."

Anastasia looked at me in surprise.

"Do you know what's his name?"

It was obvious that she had many questions running through her head.
I didn't expect this question, so I was a bit taken aback. There was silence from my side a while, I was just looking at the hands I was playing with in my lap.

"Arthur.... His name is Arthur Leclerc."

As I finished, she jumped out of the couch at the speed of light. Like she had some super powers. She was jumping from one side to the other all over the living room and squealing.

"Stop it. The neighbors will kill me for the noise you are making."

She stopped and walked over to the couch.

"Okay, okay, okay.."

She threw herself on the couch.

"Shit Arthur Leclerc"

She said breathlessly. Then she turned her head to me.

"So talk...- curiosity was visible in her eyes-...How? Did you kiss?"

I shook my head in disagreement.

"No. Nothing at all happened between us."

She leaned on her elbow to see me better.

"Why? Is it because of that promise of yours?"

She knew me. She knew me very well. I just nodded my head because I didn't know what to say to her.

"God Vici, it happened a long time ago. You should finally move on in life."

"Yes I should, but can a person move on in life after all this?"

I asked her with tears in my eyes. She lowered her head and there was silence between us. A silence that could say more than ourselves. She finally broke the silence between us.

"Okay. You are right. What you went through, everything that happened to you was not fair to you, you are right with that. All I'm saying is just that if you don't move on in life as soon as possible, you'll get stuck here and then you'll regret it in the future. Take it as advice. As good friendly advice."

One part of me was screaming with joy that I had finally told Stacey everything and I had nothing to hide from her anymore. But the other side just stared into empty darkness with pain in the heart.

_/🏎/_____________________________

𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝘀? 🤭

𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐧♡︎