The Goodbye We Never Said

Angrily, I threw my phone onto the bed. “This girl…” I muttered to myself. Bzzz Bzzz my phone vibrated again. I glanced at the screen. It was a long paragraph, full of complaints about how immature I was, how I never listened to her. Back then, I brushed it off, but now when I think about those days… maybe she was right. Maybe I was the problem. It was the weekend. We hadn’t seen each other in a while, and I thought maybe that’s why we were arguing so much. So I decided to meet her, to stop the fight. I texted her, “There’s no point being angry with me, darling. Is there?” Surprisingly, that one message changed everything. She calmed down. She started replying to me like she used to. I sent her a reel she reacted to it. I felt so relieved, like the sky clearing after a storm. I asked her to meet me at the café we used to go to all the time. She agreed. When the time came, I texted, “Okay, I’m leaving home. Be there on time.” She replied, “Okay.” I reached the café and waited. She wasn’t there. I tried calling her, but her phone was switched off. After five minutes, she appeared across the road and I saw her turn her phone back on just before crossing. That small action hit me. Was I really that bad? Was she ignoring me? Or maybe it was just the leftover tension from our fight earlier that morning. We went inside, and finally, she spoke. “After so many days, huh?” she said. I had missed that voice soft, sweet, like honey. “Yeah,” I replied, smiling. I ordered coffee, and as we sat there, I found myself lost in her eyes. They were beautiful, deep, and full of emotion. Her curly brown hair framed her face perfectly, and her skin was smooth, like creamed milk. She looked so perfect… and me? I was just an average guy with no real direction in life. Still, I leaned in and gently wrapped my arm around her waist. She blushed and looked down, but didn’t stop me. She wanted me closer. So I leaned in further and kissed her softly. It felt warm, right. Like something familiar. Like home. Then I whispered in her ear, “I love you.” Normally, she would say, “Love you too,” but this time… she said nothing. Just silence. She looked down, then slowly nodded. It didn’t feel right. It felt like the calm before a storm. I could feel the distance between us, even as we sat so close. But I held her hand until it was time to go. We left the café and stood outside. I waved with my left hand and said goodbye. She turned back for a moment and said, “Bye.” I glanced into her eyes one last time. They were still magical but there was a sadness in them I couldn’t ignore. Neither of us said it out loud, but we both knew… that was our last moment. Those two hours we spent together were a strange mix of emotions terrible, beautiful, and the most romantic hours of my life. It was our goodbye. And sometimes, goodbyes can be beautiful too. The End.