♥A Wistful Farewell: Parting♥

CH. 2: A Mocking Fate

The next day, the father wanted the girl to leave with him immediately. The father even hired bodyguards to protect her. As soon as the family left the house, they spotted the boy sitting outside the gates, sleeping. The girl shrieked and yelled, and the boy instantly snapped his eyes open, desperately trying to break through the bodyguards, but the bodyguards were way too strong. The family's car took off, with the boy running with all his might to catch up with the car with tears brimming in his eyes, and with the girl looking back, her heart shattering to pieces as she cried even more.

Eventually, they had no choice but to resume their everyday lives. The boy found a new job and worked even harder, the girl moved to another city and continued her studies. Both of them may looked as if they had moved on, but their hearts had never left each other.

The months gradually become years. The two are now in their fifties, and they had already married. The girl, who was now a woman, had two daughters and two sons. The boy, who was now a man, had one son. Yet, both of their partners had passed away, thus leaving them forever.

The woman's family had already died, and now, the woman was no longer wealthy. However, she continued serving her mother-in-law dutifully, for she loved the family that she had here a lot. The man was a sailor, but now he had moved to another district to have his own coffee shop.

One day, the woman went to the market as usual. She noticed a new coffee shop around the area, and she decided to try out the coffee. She entered the shop, and to her surprise, she saw the man-who was the boy that she loved so much-was right at the coffee shop experimenting with coffees. The man looked up, and he could not believe his eyes, as the woman-who was the girl that he loved so much-was standing right in front of him. Neither uttered a word, as thoughts filled up their minds. After years of seperation, they could not think of what to say even though they had reunited.

The man was the one who reacted first. Slowly, but carefully, he walked to the woman and embraced her tightly. The woman embraced him back, the tears in her eyes threatening to fall down. Still, no words were exchanged, as both of them just stayed silent, hugging each other. They did not know if anyone saw them; and they did not care anyway. They just wanted to stay at this position for now.

Later on that day, the two happily caught up with each other on everything. It had been thirty years, but neither of them forgotten how the opposing party looked like, nor had they forgotten their relationship. Delighted to have seen each other again, the two decided to rekindle the relationship that they had lost, and spend their remaining lives with each other.

Meanwhile, unknown to them, the woman's oldest daughter and the man's son had begun dating. They were working at the same hotel, and despite all the bickering and fights, they gradually fell in love with each other and they made up their minds to tell both of their parents. They did, with the woman and man agreeing to their marriage happily, without knowledge of who their children's partner's parents were.

The two families decided to dine out together one day. They set off, and they met, but the woman and man were surprised when they saw each other. Right at the spot, they told everyone that they were actually lovers thirty years ago and had reunited only after such a long period of time. Of course, everyone was taken abacked. They returned to their own homes, but on the woman's side, the woman's mother-in-law collapsed afterwards.

The woman, full of remorse, took care of her mother-in-law, telling her daughter that she would break up with the man. Despite her daughter's protests, her stand remained firm. On the man's side, neither he or his son would take one step back on the matter, so it ended unsuccessfully. However, he received a phone call from the woman.

It was difficult convincing the man, but the woman was persistent. The man sighed, and agreed, before telling his son the good news, or perhaps bad news. Naturally, his son was overjoyed, missing the sorrow in his father's eyes.

Both the man and the woman went outside as they looked up at the sky. All they felt was regret. Regret that they had not made it through thirty years ago; and regret that they had not made it through now either.

The woman, however, thought it was worth it. She would do anything, and everything for her daughter. Besides, she was old. It was foolish for her to think of having a companion even at her old age. A bittersweet smile eased on her face.

The man, on the other side, thought that it was a waste. The woman had never once left his mind; and even though they could be together now, they had to give it up for their children. He was worried for the woman, but he knew when she had made up her mind, nothing he could do would change her mind. A bittersweet smile eased on his face. Those were good old days.

A few days later, the woman's mother-in-law got better after hearing the decision that she had made. Her other daughter and two sons agreed to it a bit reluctantly, as they wanted their mother to have her own happiness as well, but they managed to accept it after hearing her reasons.

However, there was also another bad news. The man told his son that he would be leaving the district to sail again. His son tried to persuade him to stay, but nothing would change the stubborn man's mind. He told his future partner the news, and his future partner told her family the news later on. Everyone was shocked, especially the woman. She instantly went to the man's son to ask him when the man would leave, and he answered her query. At 5pm, that man would leave.

Why the title "A Mocking Fate"?:

I was really contemplating what the title should be for CH. 2, but since fate really seems to be mocking the two I decided to put that as the title :P By the way, the woman is a really nice mother. Just saying ^_^