Love

Here is a story I wrote for the heck of it. Not one of my best works I admit.

The first time he saw her she was talking to his best friend.

She was looking gorgeous in a yellow summer dress falling just below her knees. Her hair was the colour of daffodils and her eyes were like the blue sky in spring. Every time she laughed, it was like the tinkling of wind chimes. Later he found out that her name was Mary-Jane.

Neil had fallen for her hook, line and sinker. She only knew him as her boyfriend John’s, best friend. He knew that he was committing the gravest of sins by falling in love with his best friend’s girlfriend, but he had no control over his feelings.

Every time he saw her, he felt in heaven. She was the only thing he knew, she was the only thing he heard, she was the only thing he felt.

John wondered why the usually confident and charming Neil would turn into a blubbering fool around Mary-Jane. He couldn’t fathom why Neil was suddenly so quiet and withdrawn.

Neil on the other hand, was fighting a battle between his heart and mind. His mind told him that he shouldn’t jeopardize his friendship with John over a girl and his heart told him that he should tell Mary-Jane how he felt. He could not make up his mind and tried his best to hide his feelings from everyone.
Days passed and Neil’s inner conflict continued. His love hadn’t decreased. On the contrary, it had grown even more. Every time he decided to tell Mary-Jane, his courage would fail him and he would fear the consequences of his actions. Mary-Jane had no idea how her every action affected her infatuated admirer. She had no idea how Neil worshipped her and went on with her life in blissful ignorance.

Neil decided to go away for a few days so that he could sort out his mixed feelings and told everyone he knew that he needed a holiday. He wanted no one to contact him for anything. In reality he needed to get away from Mary-Jane. He hoped that maybe it would ease his conflicting emotions and help him go on with life. He asked God why he had ever set eyes on her, and why fate had dealt him such a bad hand.

His little trip helped him come to a decision and when he came back home, he started preparing for what he was going to do. He steeled his resolve and soothed his palpitating heart. He stopped by the florist’s on the way to his destination and picked up a single long-stemmed red rose. He rehearsed his lines over and over again in his mind all the way there.

He walked up the road and saw a wedding going on in the church. He walked towards the car decked up with flowers and streamers and wondered whose wedding it was. When the happily married couple stepped out of the church doors, his heart stopped beating and the rose fell from his hand.

He watched with tears in his eyes as Mary-Jane and John drove away in the car towards a new life together. All he could do in the end was walk back home with his heart shattered into a thousand pieces. The solitary rose lay on the pavement where it had fallen, the symbol of a broken heart, of lost love, a moment gone, a chance thrown away.