Lucien
The walk back to my dorm was uninviting. It must've been known by now throughout campus that Amara was in the hospital. I heard so many whispers and rumors that she got ran over, got hit by a car, died even. People came up to me and consoled me, saying how sorry they felt for me for what happened, hugged me, hell I even had one guy offer to do an assignment for me, and I didn't even know what class we shared! They kept acting like Amara was dead which made me extra guilty.
I just kept walking, brushing the stares and the whispers off until I was in my dorm. Finn, who happens to be my roommate, was busy lifting weights, when he noticed me enter and stops.
"Hey man, sorry to hear what happened," I grunt and throw myself on my bed. "This is probably the umpteenth apology I've heard since I've stepped foot on campus. I don't need any condolences, I'm not the one who's lying on a hospital bed."
He whistles, sitting on the edge of his bed to face me. "You're right, sorry. Lina came and... told us what happened. I will say, she does feel bad for wrecking your relationship. It was the first time I've seen her concerned about someone other than herself."
"I'll believe it when I hear the apology come out from her mouth," I hiss.
"Do you think she'll ever be okay?" he asks. I sit upright and turn to face him.
"She'll be okay. I," I sigh, harshly rubbing my face.
"I don't think you should beat yourself up about this. You were always true to Amara and she knows that you love her. Heck, the whole school knows and we all agree that you're soulmates. You didn't mess up and you didn't let her down. Things happen for a reason. Just .. be there for her," he suggests, looking at me solemnly.
"I think me being in her life is causing her more pain than she already endures. Goodness, I have so many people telling me to be there for her, but what about my decisions? What if I decide that she's better without me huh?" I flare.
"Life isn't fair Lucy, but whatever decision you make, just know the real ones will always be there to support you."
***
I spent the next few hours driving to visit Mr. Chester to describe the events that occurred in the last 48 hours. The sun was out and the wind was blowing through the trees. I could feel the heat on my skin but the cool breeze kept it nice.
A car ride was something I really needed, just to get away from reality. here, I can let my brain roam free and my heart explore new thoughts. Every day when I drive, I find that there are fairly long stretches when my mind wanders but I seem to manage to stay on the road, making all the right turns. How am I doing that without crashing or going off the road? How is my brain compensating for my lack of attention? I let my thoughts wander to how crazy life has been these past few weeks.
The people I've met, the things I've done, the new experience and the memories I've made. Never would I have thought that love would be a part of it all. My love life in the past is one heck of a story and for the most, I never had great mentors or role models to teach me all about it. I never could've figured out the strength that comes out of meeting some as equally or... more mature than you, someone who could share into the memories you create and can look back on them together.
When I met her, it's like she felt my pain. She accepted my flaws, the flaws that gave her so many warning signs to run and never come back. The day I met her I knew that she was my soulmate and you may think it's an ironic thing to say when we've only known each other for 3 months, but, that's what I've always felt. But the outside; well let's just say it wasn't some romantic movie ending in a kiss in the rain. We faced so many setbacks and challenges throughout our relationship, but our souls always found ways to come back to each other - even if at times we tried our best not to, thinking it was for the greater good.
Maybe it was nothing like in the movies, but for me it was like a dream come true.
Coming to the realisation that I was on the stretch of where Mr. Chester lives, I bring myself together and pool all my words together, thinking of how to explain myself. I pull into his driveway and blared my car horn, seeing as the house was tightly shut.
A few seconds later, I see his figure marching to the front and looked through the window to see who it was. When he noticed my car, he bustled the front door and opened it. I shut off my car but left the keys in the ignition. I get out and walk up to the foyer where he was now sitting, all dressed up, looking neat and dashing.
"Lucien!" he greets, "I'm happy to see you didn't forget what today is, however you're a little late for the event. W-W-Where's Amara?"
I slowly make my way up the steps, trying to figure out what he was talking about. I take out my phone from my pants pocket and light the screen, nearly facepalming as I saw what day it is.
I clear my phone and chuckle. "Yeah, something happened with her but... I wouldn't miss it for anything," I half-smiling. His smile turned into a sign of concern. He motions for me to join him on the bench and I oblige.
"It's okay if you forgot, however I want you to be discreet with me," he announces, eyeing me keenly.
I sigh, fumbling my fingers over my lap. "It's Amara. S-S-She's in the hospital with a collapsed lung. The doctor admitted that she'll wake up in a few hours but it's more than likely that she'll feel the same as before."
His gaze shifts elsewhere, thinking for a moment. "Well, thank you for telling me. But by the motion of your body language and the twitching of your eyebrows stipulates that there's more to the story than you're letting on."
I sigh, scratching at my neck nervously, not knowing where to start. We sit in silence for a while.
"You know Lucien," Will breaks the silence, "I can tell when other's are confused or under conflict just by watching them. I'm also a pretty good listener and believe it or not, talking your problems out helps you to have a better understanding of how you feel and how you can respond appropriately to the situation."
"Well, before the accident," I explain, "Amara saw a misunderstanding. An ex, if I can call her that, tricked me into thinking we were just going to talk, when she pushed herself onto me and Amara saw the whole thing. I confronted her and I tried explaining that my intentions were good and I told the ex to stay away from me since all I wanted was to be with Amara. When she didn't believe me, she started running away from me and out the gates of the campus. As I chase after her, I saw he collapse in the distance. Even if she wakes up, she's still going to hate me, despite me trying to explain. To add to it, my mother is also in the hospital-"
"Oh my goodness! Does she have cancer too?" he exclaims.
I shake my head no. "I'm not sure, I'm still waiting on an update from my father. I'm just having a hard time trying to figure it all out."
"So I'm guessing the conflict is: you don't know who to choose, who to support, isn't that right?"
I nod. "I mean it should be a pretty easy answer, but when you have two people you truly care about in the hospital, no matter how badly you've hurt them, you still want to be there for them both. It could be Amara's last and it could be my mother's last. What scares me is that what if I'm in one place and in the next, something happens and I'm not there? It would've worked out if they were both in the same continent but.. I'll have to go back to my home country, France, to be with my mother," I say, my breathing became shaky.
"Look Lucien," he starts, "I don't see it as a surprise to see someone having a hard time figuring life out. Life isn't supposed to be easy, and it's a cruel world but we just have to work things out and make the right decisions."
"Well since you're so great with your words," I chuckle, "what do you think I should do."
"Well I shouldn't be the one you ask this question to because I'm not in the relationship with you. Though you're one good looking guy," he laughs and I laugh too. "Go to Amara, explain yourself and she will understand. I know she will, because she loves for you."
"Yeah, I've heard this all day."
"Well maybe you need to hear it. I will tell you a short story. There was a time where my beloved Josephine and I had a serious fight. I thought she was pulling out of our relationship. We were so into each other for the first two years, until coming to the time where I thought of proposing to her, she kept acting really strange. I didn't ask questions and it showed her that I didn't care about how she felt and it made it seem as though I wasn't concerned," he stumbles, staring out to his front yard.
"So I decided to be the bigger person and well... I confronted her about it and she confessed that she was scared of falling in love, with me. She had a rough experience with love before she met me. She didn't want to re-experience that.. that pain all over again. That's when I knew it was the right time to propose, to give her the reassurance that I was never going to follow up on what occurred in her past."
"You really loved her didn't you?" I smile inwardly, looking at the old man fondly as he explains his take on love to me.
"With all my heart, I recall that now. The more I'm being surrounded by physical things, the memories just rushes back to me."
"Did you think there was ever a time that one simple mistake you make would've pushed her away?" I ask."
"To be honest with you, I thought it was the end of us after the argument. But when she declared that she was going to put all of her faith and trust into our relationship, I knew that she wasn't giving up on love, on our love," he now turns to me and clears his throat. "You see son, love is the most powerful force on earth. To love is to recognise the divine in another person, and with that recognition, dedication, compassion and caring flow naturally. To be loved this way is like coming home, finding your authentic self and discovering that you are not alone. Love takes us deeper into the self yet goes beyond self. Josephine made me feel entirely whole, intact, like I was at home in a home. You and Amara remind me so much of how Josephine and I was when we were your age. Love comes with arguments but if you really love each other and you listen and understand each other, things will work out just the way you had hoped."
"I do hope you know how much your advice really helps me out of tough situations Will."
"That'll be $375 for your therapy session," he playfully held out a hand as if wanting money from an unrealistic therapy session and I give him a high five.
"Think of me saving your life as your payment," I giggle, my eyes twinkling.
"Speaking of saving my life, I was really hoping that you both could've visited the gallery. Since you already know that I own it and it's been closed since forever, it really doesn't have much of a purpose in my life. Until I met you."
I stare in confusion. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying," he fishes something out his pocket and reveals a shiny gold key. "I'm giving the art gallery to you and Amara, as a token of appreciation and for the whole "saving my life" thing."
"I laugh sarcastically, thinking it was all a joke. When he didn't laugh, I stop and look back and forth between him and the piece of material he was holding in the palm of his hand. "Wait, is this really happening right now?"
"Lucien," he cuts me off from my rambling, "you've done so much for me, so much that I didn't even ask for. Josephine would want me to move on and so I'm doing it."
I lean back a bit and look around, lost in thought. "Now this definitely makes me rethink flying out to France."
"Here's a suggestion, why don't you just.. surprise Amara with this and maybe she'll rethink of hating you, not that I'm saying she does but, the odds of you two mending things is in the favour of this gift."
"You have no idea what an honour this is Will. Thank you."
"Also," he hands me the necklace that was once Josephine. I go to decline, knowing how valuable the locket is to him. Unfortunately he was still able to shove it in my hand. "This isn't a gift, more like a history being passed down to the new generation of love. I want you to give this to Amara and never let her go, no matter what decision you make. If she really loves you, she'll let you go to do the right thing. Now go before it's too late."
***
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