Forgive or Forget

Untitled Part 1

In a stormy afternoon, where the sky looks more of a dark-angry dragon spouting thunderbolts rather than fire, Emily sat in her futon couch watching the turbulent water drops hit the window sill. She sighed after moments later, then she disposed of her favorite pastime to do the dreading chores that awaited for her. Emily's bedroom is big enough to have a king size bed, body-frame mirror, two night tables that accompanies the bed, two fake Tiffany's lamps that she bought on Ebay, her vanity table with her makeup and hair products doing a mismatched colorful combination, her cream colored futon that sat at the corner next to the window so she can have a relax-reading time whenever she doesn't feel like being inside her bed. The walls of the bedroom were painted in soft gray so it can be easily cleaned after a mess. The room was in a state of mess, a big stack of papers were on top of her bed, next to it a box full of pictures, and on the floor, shoes of different sizes and a basket of freshly laundered clothes.

        Emily stood up from her semi hiding position and confronted the fearing papers. Before she took a grab of the stack, she sat next to the box of photos and began to rummage in it. She found a picture that described a different time in her life. In it, her former college boyfriend Alex and she were smiling, her blonde hair was in a disarray blown by the wind, her gray eyes had a twinkle and her sun tan skin reflected on her happy mood. Alex brooding frame overtook the picture, his black sleek hair maintained his suave features, his blue eyes were watching her rather than the camera, but his reflection revealed an adoration and love that to this day, took Emily's breath away.

       The Johns Beach waves, as always were angry to peaceful swimmers that wanted to bath in its colder-salty waters even though it was the middle of summer. Emily sat on top of her pink beach towel and adjusted her coral bikini to take a well-deserved tan. It was a different case to Alex, he was taking pictures with his newly purchased Nikon, he was a sucker for professional cameras, and he totally refused to use his smartphone.The reasons are still a mystery to Emily. After she closed her eyes for a brief moment she heard the snap of the camera, she opened her eyes and said, "Seriously, Alex? Shouldn't you have to ask before taking a picture?" Alex lowered his camera, smiling he said, "Why? The best views are the ones that are hidden in plain sight, I'm just capturing the most beautiful view of them all."Emily tried to maintain a stern face but failed miserably, instead she smile and responded, "Why don't you sit beside me so we can take a selfie?" Lowering his big frame onto the pink beach towel, he put his left arm on her shoulders and with his right hand, he raised the camera to take the photo.

       Before he took the selfie he said, "smile like you've received the best news ever" he whispered in her ear. Emily smiled, her gaze directed to the camera, whereas Alex's was directed to her. When he press the button, he whispered, "I love you Ems"

       Emily grimaced at the remembrance and took the picture away from her sight, "it does not matter anymore," she thought. Sometimes people tend to promise the moon and stars only to reveal their true self in hard times. Time has a weird remedy to broken hearts and she wasn't immune to it. Emily proceed to recollect all the mess of shoes, and organized them inside of the closet. Afterwards, she was trying to read her favorite book, but the stack of papers and the box of pictures still kept her attention differ from her reading, with a shake of her head, she proceeded to open the box again, and rummage through the photos. In the bottom of the box, she found a beautiful unopened package, tears stung in her eyes at the memory. The small box was wrapped in a beautiful white with pink and blue dots gift paper, on top of it was a small business card, in it was the words written, "For Alex, with all my love, Emily." Emily did an unconscious shake of the box and proceeded to open it, inside of the box, she saw the reason of her pain. It was a bright reflection, like the sun at dawn, where the brilliant rays caress and blind at the same time with its beauty and harshness. Emily couldn't help the sob that escaped her, she set the box aside, closing her eyes, and immersed herself in the memory, the sorrow that carried that moment.