» and just like that, the story is over «
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• 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."
She nodded, understanding and holding onto his hand tight. "One day at a time, yeah? For today, it's your birthday and I don't want you thinking or worrying about anything tonight, okay? You've come a long way and achieved so much at this age that you deserve to realize that and pause for a moment to just be grateful."
Gunner understood that she was right; he was a hard worker but often times forgot how to stop working. Angelica always seemed to sense that at the right times and managed to pull him away from his work, almost like a little guardian angel.
He pulled her close to him and hugged her tight, burying his face into her curly hair. For the rest of the night, he did just what she wanted. He stopped overthinking and allowed himself an extra slice of cake. He laughed more and reconnected with some friends who he hadn't talked to in months. He genuinely had a great time and went to bed, tired but relaxed.
Over the following months, he had to travel quite a bit to schedule meetings and meet other possible clients face to face. One such trip took him to Italy where he had a really good time and decided to stay for longer than he'd planned to. He visited some famous landmarks, tried some of the highly recommended restaurants but liked the ones far more that he would find on accident, tucked away on street corners or hidden in plain sight.
As he made his way farther into Northern Italy, he came upon the city of Crema, a perfectly enchanting countryside view with old and grand architectures and it's abundance of gardens. It was a breath of fresh air as he easily strolled about the streets, enjoying the lack of hustle or bustle of a normal city life. He didn't need Angelica here to remind him to forget his troubles and live in the moment, although he did wish that she was here with him. She would've loved the place.
Gunner was able to find a small local hotel where he stayed the night in a small but comfortable room. He dozed off on the bed sometime around the evening and woke up suddenly hours later when it was all dark outside. His watch indicated that it was 5:45 am and not being able to fall back to sleep again, he opted to go out and get an early morning jog. After all, being a man who always practiced what he preached, he always recommended the benefits of an early morning jog to all his clients, believing that that was best way to start any day.
It was close to 6 am by the time he left the silent hotel and he started on a path that took him farther into many unknown gardens. It was half an hour later that he decided to sit down and catch his breath on the grass.
Gunner was in the middle of retying his running shoes when he caught a glimpse of a figure close by. He looked to his side to find someone sitting under the shade of a tree, with a rectangular notebook on their lap, as the person scribbled away intensely onto the page.
It wasn't the brightest at this hour but there was a slight breeze as the sun slowly started to rise up the horizon, but it was still too dark for Gunner to see the person under the tree properly.
He looked away, assuming that he'd just been startled at realising that there was another person in this quiet vicinity other than him. He tightened his laces once again and was about to get up and resume his morning jog when he heard the person underneath the tree slowly stand up and make their way out onto the path and away from the shade of the tree.
Gunner froze.
A small smile was playing on the face that emerged from the under the tree, and it only got wider as she observed her drawing onto her sketchbook, like she was satisfied with her results. Her hazel eyes danced up and down and across the page as they looked about for any critical errors or flaws that she might have missed. Then her eyes shifted from the page and onto the horizon where the sun was rising. She tilted her side to the side and just seemed awestruck at the beauty of nature all around her.
For a few minutes, they both stayed the same, not daring to even move lest what they're both seeing would vanish in a blink; her at the magnificent sunrise and Gunner who stared at her in turn, basked in the earliest golden rays of the sun.
She blinked twice and closed her sketchbook, tucking it under her arm as she started to walk away.
Gunner, whose trance was broken all of a sudden, started off the grass and stepped onto the path, just a few feet away from her. She seemed to realize that she wasn't alone and turned around swiftly, her white headscarf whipping about her wildly at her sudden turn, but she froze when she saw Gunner.
A thousand emotions ran through them both silently.
Her eyes softened.
His chest ached at her familiar face.
They smiled. And it conveyed everything.