The Forgotten Love ✔

24 Dannie

Dannie POV.

During the five-hour flight, David and I fall asleep next to each other. Thirty thousand feet above the ground, our hands remain clasped together.

I feel like a tree. Just when I thought I was withering away, I found myself revived, with branches growing inside me.

It's like a line I read in a book: "When a person faces the abyss of life, the only one who can make him or her feel better is himself or herself."

I paint in the mountain village, drawing serene lakes like mirrors, vast fields, and children playing together.

When summer arrives, Anthony appears at my dormitory door. "Are you done with your paintings?"

I nod. "Yeah, I finished all. I've painted a total of fifty pieces, enough for a small exhibition."

"Are you sure you want to donate all these paintings?"

"Yes, I want to use the money to establish a foundation to help children in impoverished areas of Mississippi go to school." I smile and add, "I'll spend some time every year specifically painting for them in the future."

"Welcome back, Dannie," Anthony hugs me.

We bring the paintings back to New York and plan the exhibition together.

On the opening day of the exhibition, the gallery is crowded, and half of the paintings has been booked by collectors.

The media is also present, contacting Anthony for an interview with me.

The questions revolve around why I stopped painting and why I returned to the art world, and why Mississippi?

Finding it uninteresting, I let Anthony handle the media while I focus on something more important.

David's home has a fingerprint lock, with my fingerprint recorded. I open the door, and he hasn't finished work yet.

Two cats are sleeping inside the house. They open their eyes upon hearing my footsteps. After recognizing me, they come over and gently rub against my legs, welcoming me warmly.

I feed them, then barefoot, I bend down to take clothes out of the open suitcase.

Then there's the sound of the door opening from outside, David is back.

I turn to him and smile, "I'm back and won't leave anymore. May I stay here?"

David is momentarily surprised, then immediately smiles, his eyes sparkling with tiny stars.

He hugs me almost irrationally, breathing heavily, his voice choked with emotion. He hugs me, sometimes saying "thank you," sometimes "I'm sorry," and I have no idea what he's trying to express.

It took him a long time to compose himself. He slightly bends down, leaning on my shoulder like a stubborn child.

Then he asks, "When did you come back?"

I think for a moment and say, "A week ago."

David hums, a bit displeased and a bit cautious. "Then why did you come now?"

I say, "The exhibition started."

"Oh," David pretends to be cold. "You ignore me when you are busy, only think of me when you're not busy. I'm not even as important as those two cats in your heart..."

I find him childish and can't help but laugh. Then I whisper in his ear, "There's a lace lingerie in my suitcase, do you want to see it?"

David turns to look at me, his eyes suddenly lighting up, like a cat seeing food, pupils dilating for a moment.

But I never expected that, as night falls and we lie breathless on the bed, David would continue the conversation we didn't finish in the afternoon.

"No, I'm still not happy."

"?"

I turn to look at him.

David kisses my cheek and then says, "You paint mountains, waters, and children, but never me."

He's even jealous of children? I can't believe it.

"I can paint you too," I say.

David sits up suddenly, very pleasantly surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah," I say, "A crew cut is easy to paint."

David is discouraged again. He raises his head to touch his short hair, consoling himself, "It's okay, as long as it's you painting."

I smile.

We fall asleep together, my head on his arm, my hand around his waist. We're close together.

I close my eyes, count to one hundred, and when I open them, he's still here.

"I love you," David says.

"Me too," I reply.

Life may have its blizzards, but the sky will eventually clear. As the snow melts, the pain will gradually fade.

Everything will revive, including my heart.

<Ending>