25-Roads To Forever || One Shots

Memory Of Love

Maria POV-

It's been 5 years since Jim and I divorced, and I still miss him and have never stopped loving him. I hope he feels the same. We got divorced because Jim and I are completely different, and our thoughts never really aligned.
We don't have any children, as we decided to spend our lives together without children coming between us.

But the memories of Jim still lingered, haunting my every thought. I told myself I needed a fresh start, a new environment to escape the shadows of what once was. So, when I found a cozy apartment within my budget, I didn't think twice. It was small but charming, with just enough space to rebuild myself.

The moving day was exhausting. As I carried boxes up the narrow stair, I noticed the door to the flat next to mine was slightly ajar. A warm smell of coffee drifted out, mingled with faint laughter from the television. For a moment, it felt... familiar. But I shook it off and focused on settling in.

Later that evening, I stepped out to grab some groceries. Just as I closed my door, the neighboring door opened. My heart stopped mid-beat. Jim.

He froze too, his eyes wide, mirroring my shock.

"What... are you doing here?" he finally asked, his voice softer than I remembered, as if the year apart had taken something from him too.

I stared at him, my thoughts racing. Of all the apartments in the city, of all the places I could have moved to, fate had brought me here, right beside him. I swallowed hard, struggling to find my voice.

"I... didn't know this was your flat," I said, my voice barely a whisper.

His lips twitched, almost like he wanted to smile, but didn't. "I guess fate has a strange sense of humor."

And just like that, the distance I had worked so hard to create felt meaningless. The walls I had built began to crumble, brick by brick, as his gaze lingered on me.

The next morning, I woke up earlier than usual, the unfamiliar sounds of the new apartment keeping me restless through the night. I brewed myself a coffee and stepped onto the small balcony, taking in the soft morning light. For a moment, I felt calm, almost at peace. Until I heard his voice.

Jim's voice.
I peeked over the railing instinctively, and there he was, standing on his balcony with someone else. A woman. She was tall and elegant, her laugh light and melodic as she leaned closer to him. Jim was smiling-really smiling-something I hadn't seen in so long, not even in the last months of our marriage.

I froze, the warmth of my coffee forgotten as a chill ran through me. My heart sank, twisting in a way that felt all too familiar. He had moved on.

I told myself it was bound to happen. After all 5 years was a long time. People heal, they rebuild, and they find happiness again. That's what I had wanted for him, hadn't I?

But watching it happen felt like a punch to the gut.

I retreated inside, my thoughts a mess. Every step I took back to my kitchen, to my half-empty boxes, reminded me that I was the one stuck in the past. The one who hadn't moved forward. The one who still thought about him every night.

As I sat down at the table, staring blankly at my untouched coffee, I tried to remind myself why we ended things. Why we thought we were too different to make it work. But seeing him now, so effortlessly happy, made all those reasons feel like weak excuses.

Maybe it wasn't just that we were different. Maybe I had failed to try hard enough. Maybe I hadn't fought for us the way I should have.

The sound of her laugh drifted through the balcony door again, and I clenched my fists.