Michaelishious - Vol. 2021

Dec. 14th: True love never fades

"Where do they keep the damn syrup in this store?"

I was mumbling angrily to myself while I walked through aisle after aisle of what surely were thousands of different groceries. But because of my poor vision, it was hard to find what I needed. So after searching for a good five minutes longer, I decided to ask someone.

"Excuse me? You don't know where I can find the syrup, do you?" I asked some random guy, but he just ignored me and moved on. I think he was too young to bother with someone like me.

"Kids these days," I grumbled, and I heard someone chuckle behind me. Someone who obviously also was a man, but probably more around my age. Meaning in the sweet sixties. Sweet my darn butt...

"Are you alright?" he asked, and I squinted to see what he looked like.

"Yeah. But today's kids... Their mamas have done a terrible job raising them, because they don't even answer when people are talking to them."

I scoffed and grabbed a box of blackcurrant tea, since I obviously found myself in the coffee and tee section. At least I could check one more thing off my list without asking where to find it.

"I don't usually come here. I used to buy groceries at the little store down at Jameson's street. I knew exactly where to find things there, because they were in logical places."

I emphasized the two last words just to show exactly how annoyed I was, and the man chuckled again. I knew that laughter. But from where?

"Always such an attitude, Ms. Rowan."

Rowan? Nobody had called me by my maiden name for decades. It was always Terence, my belated husband's last name.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" I asked, confused, and once more I got this overwhelming feeling that I did.

"Yeah. A long time ago," the man sighed. He sounded a bit sad, and I couldn't understand why. Until he spoke up again.
"I'm Mr. Louis. Your English teacher."

I gasped with an open mouth. How could I not recognize his voice? This man had been my entire world for quite a few intense years. Although few... He had been a physical part of my life for three years, and turned into a dream that I missed for the rest of it.

"Trevor? Is that you?" I asked, and I suddenly felt flushed with emotions. Old memories of young love and burning passion were suddenly fresh as if it was yesterday, and my heart started beating a little faster while my eyes welled with tears.

"How are you, Elizabeth?"

Just like he did then, he insisted on using my full name. He said it was too beautiful to be replaced by Betty, which was my nickname.

"I-I... Oh, gosh. Is that really you?" I stuttered in total disbelief, and like he always used to do back then, he took my hand and gently kissed it. So many years, and my body still tingled by his mere presence.

"I think so," he chuckled warmly, and I wished so desperately that I could see what he looked like. Like, really see, and not just the blurry contours of a head. But I managed to see that he was just as tall and slim as he was back then, only a bit more hunched over in the shoulders.

I kept standing there, completely stunned, and shaking my head in disbelief. I thought I'd never meet this man again. He'd transferred to a school in Pennsylvania right after my graduation, while I stayed in Milwaukee. Some of it was my parent's fault since they were horrified when they found out that I had a secret relationship with my teacher. And I wasn't even of legal age. They instantly thought the worst, and didn't believe me when I said we'd only kissed a couple of times. According to them, it was a disgrace to the family and would be a public humiliation if people knew. But we managed to keep it that way. A secret. And then he moved, and I never saw him again.