Interlude

248 3 0
                                    

Ateera wiped the bitter tears that stubbornly ran down her cheeks as she replaced the almost worn-out notebook where she had just read the last letter, back in her lap. She had promised herself to grieve but not to cry. Her pathetic one-sided love story deserved mourning, but it doesn't deserve her tears.  

She closed her eyes, silently breathing the fresh air freely offered by the foreign beach, before opening them again, taking in the beauty around her. 

It was breath-taking. The sun was fully shining, but it wasn't emanating heat like how it does in the Philippines. The clear water was a mixture of aquamarine and lapis lazuli with the hodgepodge of corals and sand underneath sparkling like jewels. Trees line the shore along with a few bungalows, serving as residences for the simple people of this simple town. 

Simplicity. It was the reason why she had chosen to retreat in this place, renting a beach house, which Demi's friend owned. Even though this foreign country as a whole is a modern one, this town located in its most laid back region seemed to retain its customs and traditions, making it seem like a flashback in time.  

No one knew her here. No one cared about her here. No one would judge her here.  

It's the perfect place for pain and bitterness. 

Ateera smiled, bitterness marring the otherwise perfect curving of her mouth.  

People deal with pain differently-some want it to be over soon while some want to drag the pain until it slowly fades away through time. 

Ateera had chosen the latter. She wasn't masochistic by nature, but she's a realist. She knew that the only way pain will stop abruptly was to end one's life and she values her life, thank you very much. Other ways won't work because one cannot just decide to instantly forget a pain caused by heartbreak without it coming back tenfold as revenge. 

She needed the surest way possible--- so she chose to feel the pain again and let it go slowly. So far, it's working for her. The pain becomes fresh as she reminisced the moments which led her to where she was now. 

But today, she's had enough. 

Ateera stood up, dusting the pecks of sand off her denim shorts and pristine white blouse. 

"It's been 20 days," she whispered.  

She walked away from the beach with a slightly lighter heart. 

81 days more to go and she can be free.

101 Days of Heartbreak Series Book 1: Letters of HeartbreakWhere stories live. Discover now