The Woman With The Headscarf

» 20 • epilogue «

» and just like that, the story is over «

••

• 11 years later •

Entering into his thirties, Gunner had that common bittersweet realization that his life was half over and as his friends and family crowded around him, voicing their congratulations on his 31st birthday, he kept a steady smile on his face, nodding whenever he felt necessary.

He caught his wife's eye for a brief moment and she understood almost immediately that Gunner needed a moment alone. She walked towards him very casually, passing a quick remark to Gunner's mother as she passed by, and caught a hold of his arm as she slowly drew him away from the crowd in the living room.

They walked out into the backyard and closed the door behind them, and Angelica turned around, concerned and sympathetic. "It's the thirties blues again, huh?"

He ran his hand through his hair as he walked around the yard. "Yeah. That and everything just seems to remind me that I'm... aging. I mean, my hair has some distinct streaks of grey —"

"Silver," Angelica intercepted to soften the blow but it hardly helped.

"Doesn't matter. It's not brown is all I know."

As her husband paced around, frustrated at time and all things natural, Angelica couldn't help but smile fondly at him. She had spent 5 wonderful years with this person and while they were into their fourth year of dating, Gunner had finally proposed and she'd been over the moon. He wasn't happy about the idea of growing old itself but she wanted to grow old with none other than him - even if, he did get a bit grumpy overtime.

Yes, his hair did have streaks of grey but it wasn't a rough or worn out look, rather it made him seem a bit more refined and sophisticated. His green eyes never lost their colour and joy and they still sparkled up, more times than Gunner would admit himself. He did have a couple of hard years when he'd been in his early twenties, but so far, things only seemed to get better.

Before he'd been struggling to get employed anywhere because of his few months behind bars, and Gunner had little luck and would only find jobs that didn't pay much. But he'd started to build himself up and researched to become a full time coach and personal trainer. He underwent a lot of changes, learned to manage his diet, spent hours at the gym and became a certified coach after three long years of hard work.

He was working with a handful of selected people as their personal coach and tended to them on a regular basis, slowly building a reputation for himself. A long term plan of his was to create and manage his own gym someday but that required more time with more experience.

Angelica was happy that he had such a drive for achieving his goals and in comparison to him, she seemed like the more easy going type who didn't mind taking her time and enjoying the view whenever she could. In a way, this was healthier because it bought balance to her and Gunner's relationship. Every time he overworked for far too long, she would be there to remind him to take a breather every now and then, persistent in her own gentle way, and that allowed him peace of mind.

She held her hand out to him then, and he strode towards her, placing his hand in hers. It was a soft touch that always soothed Gunner whenever he seemed too anxious and he smiled down at her. "Thanks."