Swept Off

Prologue

I was shattered by "The Destroyer."

He was never supposed to mean this much to me. I was never supposed to fall so hard. But I did. It's strange, even terrifying, how someone can go from being a complete stranger to becoming the center of your universe.

I know I was too young, and many would consider me foolish and naive, but it's true... I loved him more than I ever loved myself.

His eyes were the most endearing I'd ever seen, and his smile, the cutest, could steal my breath away. He had a way of making me laugh every time he spoke and gazing into his eyes made it impossible to look away. He wasn't just my bodyguard; he was my everything.

Sounds cheesy, right?

But yes, he was my everything because I made him my world without realizing that this would slowly kill me every day...

People say love can heal a person, that it can mend all wounds. But nobody mentioned that love could also destroy a person, that it could empower someone to break you. To love is to destroy. To be loved is to be destroyed.

I closed my journal upon hearing approaching footsteps. I had been pretending to be engrossed in checking my emails on my laptop. The person was entering my office.

"Hi Babe."

I hadn't even looked at him yet, but I knew that voice all too well. He was the only one who called me "Babe," my best friend, Karen. She had started calling me that eight years ago.

She had just returned from Paris after a two-month fashion show assignment. I jumped out of my chair excitedly and embraced her tightly. I had missed her.

"I know you missed me, which is why I rushed here," she teased.

"Hindi kaya." I pretended to reply and playfully pushed her away.

"Sus! Wala ka ngang boyfriend kaya 2 months kang malungkot dahil wala ako." Pang-aasar pa nya.

"Shut up! Kadarating mo lang at ang lakas mo nang mambwiset ha." I retorted, crossing my arms and giving her a playful glare.

"I saw you writing in your journal again. Move on kana kasi kay Mr. Destroyer mo! You have so many suitors, Babe. You should entertain them."

Here she was, giving me a sermon again. She seemed eager for me to have a love life, and she believed that my failure to do so was due to my inability to move on from my first love. Perhaps she was right. I couldn't forget him. I had tried so many times, but it was difficult because I kept going back to where and how it all began...