Amrita

Reunited

Those first few years were sheer torture. I did everything I could to erase him from my consciousness. I thought I was able to move on from all the pain and devastation he caused me in the past, but hearing his voice awakened something deep inside. In the end, it turned out that not even the passing of a lifetime was enough to make me forget.

The silence between us was so loud. My mind was filled with a million questions and even more emotions. He looked at me with amusement on his face, as if he had cornered the prey he had been following for so long.

"Quaint," he smirks, as he looks around the apartment. "Not much furniture... Simple. It's cute. I didn't think that you could keep such a low profile."

"Fuck you."

"Is that really the way you're going to greet an old friend? After everything I've been through to see you again," he says, standing up and moving closer to me.

This time, I didn't have it in me to move. I balled my fist so tight that my nails pierced through my skin. I could feel blood trickling down the palm of my hand, but it was nothing compared to the open wound that stirred in my heart. I was frozen in place, shocked by the sight of the one person I had cursed in my head over and over for so many years.

"There's nothing for you here. Just go, Phawin."

"You do remember me," he says, that disturbing smirk seemingly plastered on his face. "It's nice to see you again, Teerayu."

"You have no right to call me by that name," I respond, through clenched teeth. "Teerayu is dead. You killed him."

His previously cocky demeanor softened a bit, and he averted his gaze for the first time since I walked through the door. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought that he got hurt by what I just said. But I did know him. I knew him enough to know that he didn't care about anyone. He certainly never cared about me.

"Fair enough. I don't go by Phawin anymore either; just Win. Nicknames are better, don't you think?"

"Cut the bullshit," I say, defiantly. "What do you want?"

"All these years, and I still annoy you..."

He smiles at me with that charm that used to disarm me so easily. Now, it only made my stomach turn even more.

"I said, cut the bullshit. What do you want?"

Phawin comes closer, so close that I was able to breathe in his scent, that still familiar scent.

"I've lost count of the years," he says, taking a damp chunk of hair on my face and tucking it behind my ear. "It's been so long... I'm so happy to see you again."

I flinch. It wasn't his touch that disturbed me; it was the way my heart leaped when he did. He's made me feel this way with him so many times before, that I've been able to give it a name: Longing. Even after so many years, nothing has changed.

"Here," he says, handing me my phone back. "You dropped this. I know how important this junk is nowadays."

I snatch it from his hand, snapping back to reality, steely determination in my eyes. "I asked you a question. What do you want, Phawin?"

"Why did you run?"

I chuckle, thinking of the many times that people have betrayed me or sold me out. My instinct now is to run; it's my second nature. This is the first time in such a long time that I've had a semblance of a normal life, and it's only because of the "simple" surroundings I've kept myself in. This life I've built despite everything, this life that I've learned to be content with, he so openly mocks. What an asshole.