Cliché Love

#26 Saviour of Love

smoking kills, the sign had read. He stomped on another cigarette butt, remembering the first day he had read that, slow torture to death seemed fit.

smoking kills ever wondered if that motivated someone to pick up a lighter?

smoking kills in other words, set your own expiry date.

smoking kills Oh please, no one's listening, you're killing more than you save.

Ever heard of break up limbo? The feeling of endless struggle to move on whilst your heart only claims to love that one person you want nothing to do with anymore. Maria was stuck in that exact oblivion. One entire year had passed since she had seen him or spoken to him yet her mind still wandered to him and compared every possible suitor to him. Why? Maybe because he was the first love she knew, or maybe it was because he was the first heart break.

Maria was a professional photographer, loved pictures and what they represented perhaps that's why she was frozen in a time she could never get back.
Maria often found herself wondering, did she really love him that much? Was he truly that perfect? Of course he wasn't, that's another issue with separation, your heart forces your brain to remember the good times and completely forget the negatives ever existed. Ironically, the negatives were the ones that pushed your hand to pull the plug. He had after all cheated on her on the day of her fathers death. A father she loved more than her entire being.

She was never the kind to be bothered by her love life, it continued on it's own. Now, she found herself in a soap opera where she had two men she knew felt something for her but unfortunately, she felt nothing in return. As she sat in her apartment on a lazy Sunday feeding the nicotine addict in herself, she thought of a lot of things going on in her life.
Drama had a way of following Maria around, that is for sure, whether it was ghosts from her past or the people of the present she always found herself in between.

Seth, her childhood best friend, was always there when she cried over a guy that no longer bothered. Was it wrong for her to talk about her love for a man in the arms of another?

Jay, her colleague, confessed his love for her after only a year together. Yet not a bone in her felt the same way.

She often found herself mirroring all the female leads in the romance novels she had come to criticise. Unfortunately, it isn't all black and white when you're at the centre of it all.

The door bell rang, breaking her from her deep thoughts and she hurried to put out the almost finished cigarette. Smoking was something Maria had always been against but somehow amongst the work pressure and depression, she felt her hand inching towards a smoke at odd hours of the day. Her mother was pretty vocal about her strong dislike of the degrading habit but Maria was too far in to care. Though, in the presence of her mother she always made it seem like those days were behind her, the poor lady had been through enough. So, suspecting her mother to be behind the door she sprayed the room fresher and popped a mint in her mouth.

She opened her door to find a tall man with an annoyed scowl on his face.

"Hello?" She said not knowing what she had done to trouble the man.

"Hi, I'm Ryan. I shifted to the apartment just above yours," he said without a trace of a smile on his clean shaven face, "I was wondering if you could stop smoking in your balcony."

"I'm sorry?" How dare a stranger walk up to her and try to control her activities in the premises of her own home?

"Yes, you see, the smoke travels up and at first I was not going to say anything but you smoke a lot." He widened his eyes in exaggeration giving her a view of his honey coloured irises.

"Should I be apologizing for something that I do in my own balcony?" Maria couldn't understand why she was getting irritated by the young man before her. Was it because he had the good looks to give Theo James a run for his money?

"I'm not looking for an apology," He said, his eyes now holding a tiny bit of amusement though his face still expressionless, "I am an asthma patient, actually, and the building owner reassured me that there was a strict no smoking policy." Maria's eyes widen at his statement, it was in fact true, in all honesty, it was one of the reasons she had not hesitated to shift to the two bed room flat. Of course, at that time she did not know she would become a chain smoker.

"Guess I should be apologising then." She said with a nervous chuckle, "I'll keep the smoke out of your nose." She added in hopes of lightening up the mood.

"That would be ideal, thank you." He was turning around to leave and suddenly she felt compelled to extend the conversation.

"I'm Maria, by the way." He looked her way again this time with a small smile, "Thought it would be better if you remember me by a name than be that lady who smokes."

"Will keep that in mind," He paused giving her a lopsided smile that made her heart skip a beat," Maria." He left but Maria could not stop her nasty mind from repeating the husky voice over and over in her mind.

"You are putting yourself in more trouble." She mumbled to herself.

Thankfully, the only day of the week that Maria stayed home was Sunday, so she was free to smoke the other six days and would have to leave her building to smoke at the end of the week, not much of a hassle.

So, when the next Sunday rolled by, Maria with a pack of cigarettes and a lighter made her way to the roof of their building. Technically, it was not in the building.

She swung her legs off the railing and light the stick on fire. She took a deep breath and welcomed the nicotine, the drug easing all the tensions of the week.

"Seven minutes." Maria almost fell off the edge as she heard a voice too close to her ears all of a sudden, "Whoa, easy there." A hand held her bare forearm steading her. She left electric tingles running up her arm originating from the place of contact.

She turned around her come face to face with Ryan, one person she was hoping to avoid while burning away her lungs.

She climbed off the ledge and stomped on the cigarette butt.

"This should not be bothering you, you know?" She said in her defence, "I'm out of your breathing space."

"The roof top is the place I come to when I want fresh air, above the city's pollution." Unlike the last time, Ryan was not annoyed, he enjoyed watching her squirm.

She let out a sigh in frustration and slipped the white box and metal lighter in her coat.

"Seven minutes." She looked at him with a raised eye brow, "That's the amount of time you're taking away from your life each time."

Maria let out a laugh, walking towards the exit, "Sounds good to me." She left not before throwing wink over her shoulder.

Ryan stood at his exact spot staring, as the women slammed the metal door and disappeared. He had seen something in her dove like eyes, the same look he had not a few months back. But unfortunately for him, nicotine was not the escape.

He could see she was hurting and suddenly, he wanted to be the one to save her.

TO BE CONTINUED

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Why am I giving cliffhangers in a compilation of short stories?

Thoughts?

Love,

Rojesta.